Disconnect the odometer on a bike to misrepresent milage

[lucas]

Hi all,

How reliable is the stated milage on the odometer on bikes for sale these days? Isn't it easy to disconnect the milage indicator to misrepresent the actual miles on a bike?

I am going to be looking for a second bike and I see ads for bikes with like 3 to 4k miles that are 10 years old. Can this be trusted like it can in a car?

Thanks

[jfudo]

It depends on the bike.  If the odometer is disconnected, then the speedometer will also not work.  I've never heard of someone getting screwed on an issue like this.  The mileage you state isn't out of the ordinary.  My wife's bike is 11 years old with about 7000 miles on it.

You can also get a pretty good idea of the miles on a bike just by looking at the condition.  How beat up is the engine from getting hit by stones and whatnot, evidence of oil leaking from the engine, sprockets and chain that look worn.  

You may want to find someone with an eye for things like this to go shopping with you.

[Tundrahog]

Yeah this isn't uncommon.  People buy bikes then find out they don't like riding or don't have time, so they sit in a garage for years.  You can get some good deals this way, but plan on putting some time and money into the bike as well.  Plan on cleaning the fuel system out, replacing all fluids, new tires, battery, and the electrical system can be flakey depending on how and where it was stored.

As said above take a knowledgable friend, or better yet, see if you can get it to a mechanic to look it over.  The money you spend there may save you a bunch down the road.

Good luck!

[victor55]

Depends on the model and year. I can't disconnect my odo as my B12 K1 has electronic facilities. The fuse covering my speedo and odo gave out once and the odo still registered the milage (I think)

[elofdahl]

Hi all,

How reliable is the stated milage on the odometer on bikes for sale these days? Isn't it easy to disconnect the milage indicator to misrepresent the actual miles on a bike?

I am going to be looking for a second bike and I see ads for bikes with like 3 to 4k miles that are 10 years old. Can this be trusted like it can in a car?

Thanks

Hmmmm...I saw a Bandit speedo tach combo on Ebay that sold for $50...the odometer read 6500 miles!  I wonder if the buyer planned to sell a high mileage bike for top dollar?

[0to60]

When looking at motorcyles for sale with low mileage try to look at other things on the bike to indicate high mileage or abused. I once saw a late 80's model VFR 750 advertised with fair mileage( about 15,000 or so), but the owner never serviced the brakes on the poor thing. The calipers were well dug into the rotors ( half the depth at the caliper level) and the rotors were rusted. If this kind of damage is plain obvious then no telling how the bike was treated. It probably was rode hard and put away wet regular basis.


 

[tacoman]

I don't think miles are a big concern for bikes unless its real high (80-90k mi).  A frequently ridden, well maintained & stored bike will serve you much better than a bike that is rarely used and exposed to the elements.