After 16 days...

[Keys]

Well, I've had my brand new HD200 for 16 days now...it now has 1519 miles on it.  And most of those are two up!!!  Great scooter! 

--Keys

[scosgt]

If you keep that up you will wear it out in 5 years!

[Dibber]

I've known Keys for at least 3 yrs through Modern Buddy.  This guy likes to ride.  Glad to hear you like the HD.  I'm looking at getting one too, but I won't give up my Buddy.  Dibber

[Keys]

Hey Dibber!  Hi there! Yeah, I like the HD a lot.

 Matter of fact, I put over 14,000 miles on my Buddy in a mere 12 months!  Of course, that was two Helixes, one Bajaj, one Kymco and a Genuine Rattler ago...no wait...I still have the Rattler.

--Keys

[Syd]

If you keep that up you will wear it out in 5 years!

That brings up a good question.  Keys put on 14k in 14m, BoneGirl put on 40k, Kaos had about 20k on his seriously modified Buddy before he pancaked a valve.  Given those kind of numbers, how long do you think a water-cooled, well mantained, quality engine (as we all believe the HD's engine is) can last?  Personally, I'm thinking of car-type longevity myself.  What do you think?

[steve_rolfeca]

Even with 4 valves and water cooling, I don't think that you can expect car-type longevity. Unless you're the type of driver that keeps your car continually running between 5,000 and 8,500rpm, with lots of WOT!

Small motorcycle-type longevity seems reasonable, though. Figure 40,000 to 45,000 miles with careful maintenance?

It's not uncommon for larger liquid-cooled singles (Kawasaki KLR650, BMW F650, etc.) to last well into the 60,000 mile range, but they don't hit their redline nearly as often as a CVT-equipped scooter.

As a recent convert to scooterdom, that's the one thing I don't like about CVT's. With a manual clutch and gearbox, you can always gear up when you're cruising at a relaxed pace, saving on fuel and extending engine life. On my HD200, even if I'm doing 40mph on a nearly closed throttle, my engine is still spinning at high rpm.

That's one of the reasons why motorcycles can often wring better fuel economy numbers out of a larger, more powerful engine. The Honda CRF230 is a good example...

[SYMmike]

Hey Dibber!  Hi there! Yeah, I like the HD a lot.

 Matter of fact, I put over 14,000 miles on my Buddy in a mere 12 months!  Of course, that was two Helixes, one Bajaj, one Kymco and a Genuine Rattler ago...no wait...I still have the Rattler.

--Keys

Are you selling the Rattler? If so how much?

[Keys]

It's an '09 with just over 9000 miles and a few mods.  I need to get a grand for it.

--Keys

[Keys]

Thirty days now and 2051 miles!  How do I know when it's broke in???

--Keys

[steve_rolfeca]

When you start leaving Corvettes for dead at traffic lights...

 

Seriously, though, I would say that 2500 miles is probably enough to start running synthetic oil without worrying about affecting ring sealing.

[Keys]

Owned this scooter for just under two months and it now has 3148 miles.

--Keys