Why such a low mileage?

[redbikejohn]

These mileage threads pop up every now and then. It's a real shame people don't use their bikes but it does give us a chance to buy nice bikes without taking the new bike hit. I was window shopping the new Africa Twin a few months ago on eBay and the vast majority had nearly no miles on the clock so it made some of them a real bargain. Makes my 95.6k xt660z look positively rocket ship like and zero hope of selling on.

[P4ulie]

I was window shopping the new Africa Twin a few months ago on eBay and the vast majority had nearly no miles on the clock so it made some of them a real bargain. Makes my 95.6k xt660z look positively rocket ship like and zero hope of selling on.

Just keep it going until it dies, some bikes owe you nothing. My lil CRF has covered 43000 miles, I reckon I have spent 8 grand all in inc insurance in it's 3.5 years, some of that recouped as I use it for work & get essential user & business mileage. I reckon I would have spent nearly £12000 commuting on public transport & would still have to provide a vehicle of some sort.

Financially I can now afford not to buy brand new on cheap finance so it's good to know that when it finally gives up I can find a low mileage bargain & begin the whole process again

[Nigel]

maybe he had a controlling wife that wouldnt let him out to ride. we all know how hard it can be to get a weekend pass from the wife

We don't all have that problem

[mark vb]

I confess I'm guilty of having some hardly-used bikes. e.g. my 2006 MT01 has done under 3k miles, and only around 100 miles since its last MoT in 2014; it was in fact re-MoT'd today. It's a work of art to look at and is a blast to ride on the occasional sunny day, so why not? Values are now in excess of purchase price, not that that matters at all! As said, each to their own, there's no right/wrong/good/bad.

[redbikejohn]

I was window shopping the new Africa Twin a few months ago on eBay and the vast majority had nearly no miles on the clock so it made some of them a real bargain. Makes my 95.6k xt660z look positively rocket ship like and zero hope of selling on.

Just keep it going until it dies, some bikes owe you nothing. My lil CRF has covered 43000 miles, I reckon I have spent 8 grand all in inc insurance in it's 3.5 years, some of that recouped as I use it for work & get essential user & business mileage. I reckon I would have spent nearly £12000 commuting on public transport & would still have to provide a vehicle of some sort.

Financially I can now afford not to buy brand new on cheap finance so it's good to know that when it finally gives up I can find a low mileage bargain & begin the whole process again

Actually my xt paid me to buy it and I saved money by buying it! Ok I sold my 916 to put 3k down and the rest was on 0%. The money I saved on petrol was more than my payment, i.e. i was 20 quid better off a week . I do bitterly regret selling my ducati though. That had 27k on clock. My gsxr has about 60k on. 450exc had over 500hours before rebuild then two more years racing. Bikes are for riding !

[Peterpoddy]

Sorry but I don’t get this “preserving the value” of a bike by not riding it. What’s the point of buying something then not using it? The more you use it, the less each mile costs.
Personally I’ve never had an issue selling highish mileage bikes, I look, after them, but I use them a lot. My last bike was a Honda NC700X I sold with 48,500 miles on the clock at less than 5 years old. It’ll do the same again no problem. New owner was very happy.
But it has a flip side.... We replaced our two smaller bikes with one big one, an Africa Twin. some berk had spent in the region of £14,750 on a a CRF with ALL the kit. Panniers, grips, stand, crash bars, fog lights, Termi can, satnav mount, etc etc. Then they’d done precisely 1495miles on it in about 18 months and PXd it. I paid £8395 for it from a dealer. If they passed it on for what thy paid plus costs, let’s say he got £8k max for it. That’s £6750 loss. That’s £4.51 per mile depreciation!
If I’d used my NC for 48500 miles and GIVEN IT AWAY it would have cost me 10.6 pence per mile. (i paid £4295 for it at 8 months old with 8k on the clock) I think I got £2400 for it though, so it cost me 4.7p per mile.
We don’t do as many miles now but we’ve already done 3174 miles on the CRF.
I once sold a bike because I wasn’t using it enough.... that was 4000 miles a year...!

[qcnr]

Just MoT'd my Morini Scrambler and only done 600 miles since last year but it is my Sunday breakfast meeting bike and worth keeping

OOOO nice bike

[92kk k100lt 193214]

I bought a 97 K1100LT last October with 58k miles on it. Its done another 16,000 miles since I got it and getting its 3rd set of tyres next week.

Lots of miles and smiles.

[redbikejohn]

Tonight my xt tripped over the 96k mark tonight on the way home. I really do miss the old mileage on dials so you could watch it slowly click over on a big number. Digita just isn't the same.