Basic help

[Ron]

Im a car person and im pretty a mad one too i cant help motorbikes i see are too sexy i need some information about basic things like


how much miles is too much
things to look out for

if anyone know any website which have basic things will be nice to share

thanks guys

[007]

I would stay under 20,000 miles is good
check the steering limiters(when you turn the handle bar to full lock, its the thing that stops it), make sure it is ok.
closer to stock the better(except exhaust doesn't matter)
Check for rust, cracks in fairing, dents, scratches, e.c.t same as a car
let the bike warm up and slowly go through the rev range checking to see if its smooth.

it depends what type bike you are looking for, with sport bikes this is the rule of thumb

Honda cbr :Comfy
Yamaha y :Pretty
Suzuki GSXR : Fast
Kawazaki Ninja : standard good bike

they are all fairly similar though so i would just look for a good deal.

[Rake]

Bikes generally see far less mileage than cars. Since the engines are smaller and rev higher, they wear differently. Something with a high revving (10,000+ rpm) engine I doubt would be likely to live past say 100,000km, if that. My bike has 77,000 on it and it's getting pretty long in the tooth. But yeah, that's constantly spinning at 2-3 times, even 4 times the speed that a car engine.

I imagine bigger bikes (1.x litre tourers, cruisers etc) would suffer from this less, they are torqueier, rev lower, and don't get ridden as hard, thus have more longevity. No experience with this though.

Things to look for .. wear on the grips, seat. Leaks around the fork seals. Chain - adjustment (slack), if it's been cleaned/lubricated when required. Check sprocket wear. Tyre wear will tell you how it's been ridden (lean). Make sure the throttle snaps back cleanly / closes itself. Check for rust in the fuel tank. A little bit on an older bike is no big deal, but still good to ensure there's nothing too nasty going on - a torch is a good idea to take when inspecting a bike. Inspect pads and disc thickness - a 5 second job on a bike.

Start it up cold. Most new bikes seem to be coming out with EFI now but EFI hasn't been a 'normal' thing until recently, whereas it was normal for cars 20 years ago. Even some new bikes still run carbs. So the chance you'll be on a carby bike, is quite high. See how she runs cold, and test use of the choke.

[Dug]

Something with a high revving (10,000+ rpm) engine I doubt would be likely to live past say 100,000km, if that.

Not disagreeing if a bike like this gets a lot of track days.
My GSXR750R has 194,000 km on it with no noticeable sign performance wear or oil usage.
The period of time I find that a bike on the road needs to access peak revs is quite short, getting up to speed, a squirt out of the corners, but riding it like you are at the Isle of man is more of an issue for the riders life than engine life .

Revs considered high for cars are mid range for bikes, the piston acceleration on bikes is low at these revs and the reciprocating parts are lighter also.

But all the same some bikes get thrashed, so less K's is the safest bet, high Km bike don't hold a lot of value anyway so you should be able to exclude them easy enough.

Good tips above, all I can think to add is if it is not too hard to take some weight off the front wheel check the steering head bearing motion for notchyness, a sure sign of wheelies.
Look for scratch marks on the pegs etc for signs of its riding history. Also scrapes on parts that might not have been replaced after a fall.

[Dug]

I thought of something else, though owners can be reluctant, make sure you test ride it.
When riding it release you grip on the handle bars make sure you have enough speed to safely coast with the bike being stable and without surprising anyone behind you.
Also pick a spot where the road camber is very little. The bike should track straight without any input from your hands on the bars. A mild drift off line could be the road or a good wheel alignment needed but if you have to move your weight a lot immediately you keep it straight it could have a twist in the frame.

I have followed bikes where you can actually see the wheels at different angles to each other off vertical.