Well I'm happy to say.... my bike and I have made it to the 200,000 mile mark!

[dwarf]

Sorry if this was covered but you're saying you picked up the bike with 19 miles? First owner?

Either way, congratulations that's amazing. Hope you make it to 300k!

 

[Carlo]

40,000 plus miles in a year.

I don't care what anyone says about high milage contests, that's an accomplishment.

I'm not sure I could manage that many miles on a bike like that! Even on my several more ergonomic bikes, I'm only averaging around 12,000 a year, including commuting.

And I too would really like to hear a brief maintenance history.

 

[DULLYJAY]

NICE!!! I got 70k on mine. Its up for sale and folks are saying to many miles.

 

[thirdgenlxi]

Thanks everyone for all the comments and compliments! Glad you all enjoyed the vid and story!

If you're heading to 300k, then you need to keep heading west and hang out along the west coast for a while...got some good roads here too!

Oh believe me I'm planning on it! Just gotta clear the time off work (which should be no prob), and I'm tentatively planning an epic roadtrip from NC to Monterey, CA to watch the MotoGP races at Laguna Seca. Been wanting to get out there for a loooooong time now. If I end up going, I'm gonna do a northern route on the way out there, ride down PCH through Cali, then a southern route on the way back, making some key stops at cool places to visit

Enjoyed the vidio..........Thanks for the post.

And she still looks good after all those miles

Thanks!! She's definitely had a few bumps and bruises along the way (hit the ground a couple times), but I always fix her back up, and try my best to keep her clean and presentable

Good on you! Yes the video was well done. Any chick ever says anything about you being commitment-phobic just point to your two Honda's (car and bike). The most I've ever done on one bike is about 25k, but I've gone through about 75 bikes. And never been married.

Ohh yes being single and having no kids definitely helps a lot!!

 

[thirdgenlxi]

Cool story bro! I love to hear about bikes (and people) making it for so long.

Thanks! I love hearing the same thing about other people and their bikes too

I assume you've done a top end and cam chain? A couple times....

No top end rebuilds... cyl head is 100% original.... original valves, valve seats, valve guides, cams, cam gears, cam chain guides, etc... hell it's still got the original valve cover gasket and original ignition coils. I did replace the original cam chain at 177,428 miles but not because there was anything wrong with it, it was still working just fine. I had a spare one laying around (brand new) and wasn't really sure how long the chains were supposed to last for, so I put it in. Rather be safe than find out the hard way how long they last. Old one still looked and felt perfect though... nice and smooth with no kinks

 

[thirdgenlxi]

you know... if i were you i think i'd contact honda america and let them know your story. i think that they might be very interested and might even use you for some type of advertising. and the perks that could follow... man.

what percentage of people have accomplished what you have? and on a sportbike no less... pretty damn incredible. i, for one, am VERY impressed.

good on you,
david.

Thanks dude!! I actually did contact Honda... I had written them a letter and sent some pics back in 2007 when it turned 100k. They wrote me back and sent a couple little things (t-shirt, hat and mug). I wrote them again last month and sent recent pics and a copy of the above vid, and the dude from Honda actually called me and we talked for a bit last thurs... I was actually kinda surprised. They sent me a couple more small things (another hat, some posters, etc), but on the phone he said he was forwarding all my stuff to the press dept... so we'll see if I hear anything from them. Would def be pretty cool!

Sorry if this was covered but you're saying you picked up the bike with 19 miles? First owner?

Either way, congratulations that's amazing. Hope you make it to 300k!

Yup I bought it brand new 10-17-04, it had 3 miles on it when I bought it... it was a showroom display model for about a year or so. The pic is at 19 cuz I didn't have my camera with me at the dealer (wasn't even planning on buying a bike that night, just kinda how it worked out, lol). It was a 16 mile ride home so that was the first pic I had of it.

NICE!!! I got 70k on mine. Its up for sale and folks are saying to many miles.

Nice! Always love seeing higher mileage bikes

 

[DaveT319]

That's pretty incredible dude. That's a lot of riding. How many states have you been though so far?

 

[thirdgenlxi]

Congrats Bro!! I'm on my way with 107,000 on the clock. It's good to see a bike get that far. Curious to know if anything major was done? I have had a main harness, starter, TPS sensor, and the periodic maintenance and valve adjustments. Ride safe bro!

107k on the '06 R1?? Awesome dude... like I said before, love hearing stuff like that!!

Only one kinda major repair that was actually do to wear and tear...back in 2008 at 114k it started jumping out of 3rd gear. Kept getting worse and worse, so I ended up having to drop the engine and split the cases, replaced 3rd and 6th gears and the shift fork (worn gear dogs, and the jumping out tore up the fork). I replaced 2nd gear too even though I was having no probs with it, just cuz that one usually takes alot of abuse. Didn't do anything else to it though just fixed the trans and put it back together and it's been good as gold ever since

The only other major thing was absolutely no fault of the bike whatsoever... it was running flawless, just an unfortunate mishap. Back on Dec 17th 2009 at 177,428 miles, I was on my way to work, veering off on a road to the left and hit some oil/coolant/diesel fuel or something super slippery in the road and the bike went ZIP right out from under me (I was almost straight up). The bike went down on the left, and all was fine until it slid off the road and hit a curb, causing a little mini highside. Well the first thing to hit the curb was the stator/flywheel. Loooong story short, it bent the end of the crankshaft and cracked the case, both beyond any repair. You wouldn't believe how devastated I was when this happened... I was literally in tears (and I'm not an emotional person). My goal was to see 200k on a sportbike, and I had already come that far and was soooo close when this happened... so yea, to say I was upset would be an understatement of the year, lol. Yet another long story short... I ended up buying a used engine, but I didn't want to just put the whole engine in, I wanted as much of my original engine as I could possibly use. So I tore them both down to the bare blocks, used ONLY the crankshaft and case from the engine I bought (the only 2 parts damaged in the wreck), and transferred every single one of my original parts into the new case. So it's still on original: pistons, rods, rod bearings, rings, transmission, clutch, clutch basket, cyl head, oil pump, etc. I'm talking down to the neutral indicator switch.... -EVERYTHING- except the crank and case that were damaged (oh and stator and stator cover too). My bike was still on the original stator at 177k when I went down... never a prob with it.

If you've got some time, here's the thread on that whole ordeal. It's a long read, but I've been told it's worth it

http://www.600rr.net/vb/showthread.php?t=180767

My original engine is still spotless inside.... put it next to a brand new engine and I can guarantee you you won't be able to tell the difference between the two. When I took it apart at 177k it still had textbook perfect crosshatch on all 4 cyl walls

I'd love to hear about the maintenance; how many wheel bearings, head bearings, top ends, clutches etc.
How many rear shocks, fork seals, fork oil etc

Really haven't had that many repairs, and mostly just little stuff. Aside from the trans thing I mentioned above, it's been:
-2 CCT's (32k and 100k... replaced with APE manual never a prob since)
-2 regulator rectifiers (100k and 156k)
-2 cooling fan blades (159k and 191k)
-2 clutch cables (65k and 200k)
-1 neutral indicator switch (114k)
-1 speed sensor (129k)
-1 set steering head bearings (165k)
-1 set front wheel bearings (165k-ish). Only one was bad, and was due to a leaking axle seal letting water get in and it rusted the one bearing. Other one was still good but replaced it anyways to replace as a pair
-1 fork rebuild/fork seals (175k)
-1 rear shock (100k...due again now)
-1 water pump (202k)

Other than that it's just been a few batteries, a few brake rotors, a couple very minor wiring gremlins (ground wire connection in the headlight harness connector/main harness connector... common F4i bug) and then some water getting in the stator/reg-rectifier connectors, so I cut them off and hardwired (solider + heatshrink) the wires together and never had a prob since

Bike is still on the original factory clutch, which still grabs perfectly. Top end is 100% original, cyl head has never been touched other than spark plugs and valve adjustments. Original fuel pump, radiator hoses, radiator, oil pump, injectors, all sensors, throttle bodies, etc.I have a new set of forks sitting here in my kitchen that I need to put on.... when I had them rebuilt last year the chrome on the fork tubes was starting to pit, and he said they may start leaking again, which they did (only the left one, same as before).

As far as maintenance stuff goes.... I change the oil like clockwork every 5000 miles with Mobil 1 10w-40 and a Purolator PureOne filter, spark plugs every 20,000 or so, then change out brake fluid, coolant, and fork oil at least once a year, sometimes twice. Valve adjustments I've always found them to hold their clearances extremely well, so I stretched out the intervals to more like every other one, and check them every 30-40k or so. They're usually always in spec, had to adjust a few exhaust valves at 100k but that's been it. I run a BMC air filter and I pull that out and clean it every 10-15k or so. Chain/sprockets, brake pads and tires whenever needed... been through quite a few of all those, lol

Bike has never once broken down or left me stranded... anywhere... ever. Always fires right up every time and runs perfectly. Never even had an FI light come on . Doesn't burn or leak any oil, and still gets the same MPG as when it was new. I've gotten more than my moneys worth out of this bike.... definitely can't complain!

 

[thirdgenlxi]

That's pretty incredible dude. That's a lot of riding. How many states have you been though so far?

19 states.... hoping to add a few more this summer

 

[Wicked4Racin]

WOWWW! thats soo cool man! Being from north carolina, I can only imagine how many beautifull roads you have been on. I lived in boone and we would ride out to the draggon mostly. If you come out this was for moto gp, a supper fast direct way would be to get on 40 (i started in hickory) and follow 40 all the way out her through tenn, arkan, oak, tex, NM, AZ, and into bakersfield area, then get on hy 5 and rip to the bay! Its a great trip, I did it in the summer of 08 in a f-250 7.3L disel guzzling beast... with my dog too! lol Good luck with Honda and write up somekind of report (the iron butt mag lets readers submit).. Cheers!

 

[Gary J]

Congratulations Jared on some serious riding miles! That coming from a fellow ride-em-down-to-the-nubs kind of rider.

Only one kinda major repair that was actually do to wear and tear...back in 2008 at 114k it started jumping out of 3rd gear. ............. The only other major thing was ... I ended up buying a used engine

As cool as it is to see some high mileage number stories of folk's bikes, especially sportbikes, the reality of wear-n-tear in the world of mechanical devices has limitations that just can’t be skirted; no matter how high the level of maintenance and care.

Being the owner of a Ninja 250 that’s logged about 120,000 very hard miles, and got well deserved (the bike) notice by the media and even the manufacturer (Kawasaki), I’ve seen this high mileage thing from both sides.

As notable as the hard use and mileage was on the overall bike, not every part on the bike was “original” at the first milestone 100K mark, and continued to diminish more by the 120K mark . The beyond normal tires/brake pads/oil filers/etc maintenance/repair-replace item list included:

• Original, and two “EBAY” swap-out engines (around 50K/engine)
  Frame (cracked @ 110K)
  Rear brake rotor (wear)
  Rear suspension linkage bearings/seals (wear/weather)
  Ignition coil (fail)
  Clutch cable (broken)
  Throttle cable (broken)

Due to these realities of mechanical devices, if one really digs deep enough under the covers and gets all the facts on most very high mileage bike ownership stories (including this one), there’s invariably some “replaced this”, “repaired that” skeletons that will eventually be dug up. It’s just reality, as stuff does wear out with use; no matter how robust the original engineering design, how high quality the original manufacture, or how much the owner wants the bike to last forever.

In the case of the CBR-600, the already surfaced laundry list of “not original” items include:

• The majority of the gears and inner working components of the transmission (wear/fail)
  Complete engine cases (incident)
  Crankshaft/bearings (incident)
  Stator (incident)

Despite the complete engine tear-down being driven by the crash damage, the fact that this extreme level of disassembly/assembly was done and the fact that some major items (like main bearings, crankshaft and the cases) were changed out for new/lower mileage ones than the original motor, can’t be ignored as factor to consider in the “all original” perspective when weighing the milestone of durability represented by the odometer’s reading.

You are most certainly worthy of a big “thumbs up” recognition as a top member of the diehard high-mileage rider club, despite the additional considerations on the bike’s total original equipment status. There’s also no question that the Honda F-Series 600’s were a solidly built machine and one that many riders have found to provide extremely high mileage with very little problems.

I too wish that my 120,000 mile Ninja 250 was rolling on 100% original parts at the time of reaching some of the upper milestones in mileage, as I truly love the bike. However I realized I had to accept (and acknowledge) that there are some items that just can’t avoid the sharp knife of “wear-n-tear”; no matter how well a bike is designed/built.

Regarding a manufacturer wanting to use the mileage history on a bike for PR stuff, that’s an area where such skeletons on items that have been replaced/repaired (like the transmission items and crank/cases in this case) can derail that process quickly (from what I found in my experience at least). The non-matching engine cases to the original bike, being a potentially big one!

Each item that’s not “original” as to what came on the bike when new, is like a big splash of ice water on the impressions of readers to a “look how reliable our bikes are” PR story.

Wishing you lots more miles ahead on your F4i; original parts or not.

 

[Abunai]

O.O that ironman label says it all.

 

[ThumperX]

Love it! love it!

 

[ninjanewbie]

you're the man Jared, many more miles to you dude.