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I was looking through some old bike mags recently and found this article in Bike May 2005.
I find this sort of thing interesting as a motorcycle owner so thought I'd post some highlights.

The fella in question is a courier called Stan, who was in his early 60's at the time of the article.
His list of bikes is as follows, along with the mileage he put on to each:

1983 Kawasaki GT550 - 15,000 miles
1984 Kawasaki GT750 - 184,000 - "Worst bike I ever bought"
1986 Yamaha FJ1100 - 30,000
1987 Yamaha FJ1200 - 14,000 in 3 weeks - returned to the dealer due to excessive vibration
1987 Yamaha FJ1200 - 90,000
1988 Honda VFR750 FJ - 140,000
1989 Honda VFR750 FK - 149,000 - knocked over at an airport, then traded in
1990 Honda VFR750 FL - 852,000 - engine replaced at 440,000 after it blew its head gasket
1996 Kawasaki ZZR1100 C3 - 252,000
1997 Kawasaki ZZR1100 D1 - 60,000 - written off
1998 Honda Blackbird - 410,000
2001 Honda Blackbird - 205,000 - current bike at the time of the article

Some mega mileages there, just goes to show those who worry about their bikes getting to 20 or 30k miles have only just scratched the surface.

Some other info:
Oil and filter changed every week - using Honda oil filters but 10w40 car oil - the cheap stuff (that's what he used in the 852,000 mile VFR!!)
RK chains last far longer than any others - usually 80,000 miles
A Scottoiler is used to keep the chain 'saturated in oil'

The VFR750 I'm looking to move on has done 140k miles, at the very least...

It's from the era where Honda over-engineered everything, so it'll probably do another 100k miles easily.

They had to to regain any credibility after the chocolate cams debacle

I recall the article...I think I read It in MCN....same publisher. Its remarkable the mileages he achieved, and the weekly services. The guy must have a backside made of granite. Hell of an advert for Honda, I wonder if modern fare would/will achieve such miles.

A mechanic at a local dealers told me that a lot of the problems with bikes are a result of infrequent use and prolonged periods of sitting in garages doing nothing.
Petrol goes off, and seals dry up and perish,
Regular use and servicing are the secret to reliability and high mileage according to him

When dispatching i very seldom had the speedo connected but used to service once a month tyres used to last about three months for the back probably get an extra month out of the front Avon SM rear's front and back

My First BMW was an R80 with an rs fairing which I had for 12 years when sold which was a big mistake it had covered 169 thousand miles

Last year at Holyhead while waiting for a ferry I got chatting to an old boy on a K1000 I think it was, turned out he was 82 and had just done a tour of eastern Europe. The bike had turned over 100k miles on the tip and was his third 100k Beemer. There is hope for us all

bikesnbones wrote:I was looking through some old bike mags recently and found this article in Bike May 2005.
I find this sort of thing interesting as a motorcycle owner so thought I'd post some highlights.


1998 Honda Blackbird - 410,000

Bloody hell! The only other Blackbird I know of - that has been ridden as much is............




Naomi Campbell......

Al

Blackal wrote:

bikesnbones wrote:I was looking through some old bike mags recently and found this article in Bike May 2005.
I find this sort of thing interesting as a motorcycle owner so thought I'd post some highlights.


1998 Honda Blackbird - 410,000

Bloody hell! The only other Blackbird I know of - that has been ridden as much is............




Naomi Campbell......

Al

I suspect the 410K one was alot less hassle though

As with many things .. it's all about the maintenance.

Deleted.

I am just curious, what is this chap's average mileages for say each day, week, year? How many hours a day was he in the saddle? Indeed, what job would he have had to total that sort of mileage, not a London courier?

oyster wrote:Indeed, what job would he have had to total that sort of mileage, not a London courier?

Yes he (at the time) was a London courier, but you must remember that as such, he would have been riding all over the country.
When I was doing it back in the 80's, it was not unusual to do 500 miles in a day.

Although I dont use the bike for work as much as a few years back, I still regularly do 300 mile a day, and im not a courier, so although at first it looks almost implausible, 90K a year is probably easy for those guys, as Dai said 500 a day, even if you only ride 40 weeks of the year is 100K, jeez, I wouldnt like the tyre and service bill, my 13GT has cost £3500 for tyres and servicing in 2 years, and thats only 20K per year ave.