Properly cared for and maintained, the VN's will do 100K miles no problem.

 

When one looks at used Goldwings and the like they all have 50,000 plus miles and I'm told that they are good for 100,000 plus miles.
Dale

Take this figure with a grain of salt. As Ken said:

Properly cared for and maintained, the VN's will do 100K miles no problem.

I think he hit on the most important aspect, more important than the miles. Too many riders buy a bike, ride it for the summer, then just drive it in the garage and leave it sit. Worst thing possible for a machine is to sit idle, especially if it wasn't stored properly. I have a riding buddy who also heard that "goldwings are good for 100-200 thou miles easily", bought one in excellent condition but had several owners. He has spent many thousands of dollars and I don't know how many hours trying to keep it running reliably. If you could find a one owner bike that was maintained and stored properly, but looked *used*. I would go for that bike any day over a bike that looked prestine. Ask the owner what he does before he stores it, if you get a blank look, or he brags about just driving it in the garage and leaving it, run don't walk away from that bike.
The problems my buddy has had with the wing wouldn't have been major problems if you were the original owner, they would have simply been minor maintenance items that you would have performed as normal maintenance.

 

My daily rider CB750 has 135K on it, never rebuilt. Runs great. Your definition of very high miles is 25K? If it is in cosmetically excellent condition, and the maintenance is up to date, and you have a trusted bike mechanic give it his blessing, I wouldn't be too afraid of it. Bikes die from lack of maintenance, crashing and neglect; Not from use.

 

Thanks for the input so far.

The 2K Nomad has about 41,000 miles and is at a dealership on the floor asking about $5K for it. I'm not sure yet, but it didn't smoke when started on the floor and sounded fine, but it would still need to be looked at by a mechanic if I go any further with this.

Dale

 

Welcome to the forum D!

With that many miles I think I would have a competant mechanic of my choosing check her over! He should be able to tell if the bike has been well maintained.

Glad to have you & keep us posted!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

...but it would still need to be looked at by a mechanic if I go any further with this.

Dale

Good advice for any used bike. Even a new bike, it doesn't hurt to go over it - sometimes things end up loose when it gets shipped to the dealer.

 

In thirty years I can count the times I screwed up a new bike on the fingers of one hand. I was paid to be the expert. I worked at the Kawasaki dealer next to CTRider for six years.

 

In thirty years I can count the times I screwed up a new bike on the fingers of one hand. I was paid to be the expert. I worked at the Kawasaki dealer next to CTRider for six years.

Wait, there's one next to me? You mean I've been driving all the way to New Haven for nothing?

 

Thanks for the input so far.

The 2K Nomad has about 41,000 miles and is at a dealership on the floor asking about $5K for it. I'm not sure yet, but it didn't smoke when started on the floor and sounded fine, but it would still need to be looked at by a mechanic if I go any further with this.

Dale

welcome to the site Dale. that doesn't sound like too bad of a deal, and i wouldn't be too worried about 41K as long as you get a mechanic to give it an overall "ok"

 

Willow's Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, Polaris
1555 Highland Ave (Route 10)
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203) 272-7201
www.willowsmotorsports.com
They rule (And Jimbo's my old BOSS!)

 

Willow's Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda, Polaris
1555 Highland Ave (Route 10)
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203) 272-7201
www.willowsmotorsports.com
They rule (And Jimbo's my old BOSS!)

Actually, I did try them out. I must have gotten the slacker of the bunch. The time I was there, I practically had to latch onto the guy's arm to keep him from walking away on me. He twitched about like he had to use the bathroom the whole time (heck, maybe he did!). In addition, it was 10 full minutes from the time I walked in until I decided no one was going to help me. I had to seek assistance myself. On the other hand, the young kid that immediately sat on the 1000cc sport bike got assistance right away.

In contrast, the dealer in New Haven spent well over an hour with me, despite telling him I wasn't ready to buy any time soon. He spend time going over all the features of the bike including the location of many engine components. He even went out of his way to locate a brochure that had a bike the same color as I was interested in on it (i didn't ask him to do that, either). I received similar treatment from the Honda dealer on the Berlin Turnpike.

It sounds like things have changed a bit recently. Perhaps I'll give them another shot, since it sounds like my experience may not be typical.