What is considered "High Mileage" for a Honda Shadow?

Question

Considering buying a used Honda Shadow, probably in the 750cc range. At what point do these bikes start to break down, and be considered "High Mileage" bikes? I know a lot of it is going to come down to how it was driven / maintained, but as a general rule? With cars, it tends to be about 75,000 miles, but I've never seen a bike listed for sale with that many miles on it, so I have to assume it's less. I see most of them for sale with only a few thousand miles on it, most I've ever seen is about 35k.

Answer 1

7500 miles/year

Answer 2

I read somewhere that 1000 miles per cc on average is what a bike will normally last. I'm sure if taken care of properly some will last much longer or if not maintained well they won't last as long.

So if you buy a used 750cc bike with 30-35k that has been taken care of you can reasonably expect at least another 40-45k out of the bike. Unless you ride quite allot that should last you several years.

You'll see allot of low mileage bikes for sale as people think they want to ride than after a few thousand miles they lose they're desire and decide to sell. I rarely see a bike with more than 40k on it no matter how old it is. However I did see a '96 Yamaha Royal Star with 110k on it and still running strong.  

Answer 3

I saw a statistic once that the average life of a motorcycle is under 20,000 miles. I think most of that is from neglect though. I know several people with over 100,000 miles on their motorcycles, and I know people who were looking at major work needing to be done at 10,000 miles.

If I was looking at a Honda Shadow, I would first look at how the bike had been maintained. I would rather buy a high mileage bike from someone who really cared for it than a bike that had super low miles because it had been sitting for a long time.

I agree with the other poster. I would feel best looking at bikes that had about maybe 4,000-7,500 miles per year put on them. Of course, I have seen really high mileage bikes go for next to nothing. They could be the best deal of all, but you would be taking your chances.

Good luck. Even thought I didn't really give you a direct answer, I hope the information helps.