If the price is right, would high mileage still turn you away?

I posted this on a forum specifically established for a particular model Honda bike and got overwhelming response how great the bike was and that high mileage meant very little to them. It's been said that's a biased group and other riders would disagree. Well, maybe the Harley guys, sure!
So, I figured I'd leave the model a mystery, and ask for a more unbiased answer from any Honda enthusiast. Would high mileage make you write off a Honda from consideration, even if priced right? Naturally higher mileage choices should cost you less. Some like touring bikes and rapidly put miles on them in just a few years, and some live in cold climates, only getting maybe June-July-August to actually get out and ride, making it a 20 year old bike before it's "high mileage." Some may also think 40,000 miles is high, others 200,000 miles. I'll leave the numbers in your mind as to what high mileage is. We are talking about a street bike, not modified for track/racing or off road.

I'm sure there are more ways to answer this than what is in the poll, but you can click on more than one possible answer, and yes or no is really the percentages I'm looking for.

Thanks for the help.

I wouldn't lose interest because of mileage. However, it would place more weight on how the bike was maintained.

If the seller could document simple things such as oil changes and tire changes, it makes be feel more comfortable with buying a bike with higher mileage versus one with lower mileage but no service history.

I have never been one to let mileage scare me away. Hell when I was younger that's all I could afford. Drove a few cars well over the 100K mark. Some people feel differently. The guy I bought my first motorcycle from sold it to me with 8K on the speedo, and claimed that any motorcycle was ready for retirement on or around 8,000 miles. I put quite a few more on the bike before my first motorcycle crash.

P.S., my 929 is up close to 52K on it right now, and runs like the day I picked it up. Your mileage may vary.

mileage wouldn't scare me so long as the bike seemed to be well maintained. If its just been used for street riding then the engine probably hasn't seen much stress. Unless its owned by some clown then it would rarely ever see redline and not for any extended period of time. No reason a bike can't go 100k miles.

doesn't type of engine play into this as well: V-fours .vs. in-line 4? :ears:

For me I'd say it depends. What bike? What condition is it in? How well has it been cared for, and how does it appear to have been ridden, etc? The vibe I get from the previous owner (if they had it a significant portion of it's life) in some cases means about as much as the bike itself.

I don't want to know what bike he's looking at, I'm saying that's one of the factors my decision depends on when shopping used. Next time I'll have to spell everything out letter by letter to avoid any misinterpretation.

Hmm...is there no longer a "poke" smiley?

Model can be a factor just as much as any other variable, if you don't take that into account on a case by case basis then you're shopping blind. I understand what he's asking, and I guess my answer may be that the model would affect my personal threshold for what mileage is "high". If I'm shopping for anything used, I find out the weakness' of that particular model and do my best to ensure that they aren't present on the item I'm looking at, for me that's all part of the "buying used" equation. I figure it's very hard to find something when you don't even know what you're looking for.

Taking into account that the mileage threshold for "high" may be partially determined by model, I would still not be afraid of a high mileage vehicle that appears to have been taken care of. However I would never choose a high mileage vehicle over a lower mileage one without significant monetary savings, all else being equal. I would have to weight the amount of savings against my perceived wear for the extra mileage.

I can't remember the last time at looked at the miles on a bike a bought It's more a matter of what implements are needed to remove it from its hole and load it.

If it runs and you can ride it you should learn all you need.

Either of those bikes, or ST11/1300. I bought my 5th gen VFR back in 2007 with 38k miles on the clock and other than regular maintenance stuff, it's been bulletproof. I don't think VFR breakin is done until 100k anyway.

Not to mention what is parked next to it...

LOL the SV has extremely low miles but it hit the track with about 200 street miles (if that) on the clock. For me it would be all about knowing the history of the bike. I've only bought one motorcycle, my RC51, used but I know the guy who traded it in so I knew that it hadn't been abused.

My latest VFR750 I bought with 36k on the clocks and traveled to NYC to pick it up, sight unseen. The one it replaced (VFR800) I bought wrecked with 25k on the clocks and sold it to a friend 10k later. That one replaced my first 750 which had 55k on the clocks when I sold it to a friend who now had over 100k on it. That first VFR ran noticeably better/smoother right around the 25k mark, and the fuel economy improved too ... it was finally done with initial break in