High Milage SV650

[21QUEST]

I was speaking to a guy on an SV650 which had done almost 160,000 miles on the same engine and discs. I was surprised to learn from our conversation that his maintainance consisted mainly of changing the oil and filter every 5,000/6,000 mile. I do mine every 2500-3000 in the interest of engine longevity and was therefore dismayed to find out I have been wasting my money Main problem is he has now lost sixth gear and the front brake discs are more like 1mm-2mm in thickness.

So there you have it the SV is definitely a high milage/bullet proof bike. So assuming you are a weekend warrior doing 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year, your SV could be the only bike for life requiring nothing more that the occasional oil change to keep it going.


Cheers
Ben

once every three years for cloggsy then

[Viney]

Originally Posted by 21QUEST

So assuming you are a weekend warrior doing 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year, your SV could be the only bike for life requiring nothing more that the occasional oil change to keep it going.


Cheers
Ben

Ah, this is where i think the myth ends. If you dont use the bike, then i am a great believer that this causes problems in the long term.

If you use the bike daily and look after it, then i am sure this is waht creates the longevity of any mechanical device.

So given I change the oil filter every 10,000+ miles I could have an engine that could do 200,000 miles

[Sid Squid]

As it's such a high miler it's a fair assumption it does long trips and probably many long days, where the engine gets and stays hot, as such it may have done no more - or perhaps even fewer - cold starts than the average 20,000 - 40,000 mile engine, for instance if you were to have a commute of 10 miles twice a day, that would be 10 cold starts for every 100 miles, your working week, but perhaps if you were a courier who did 100 miles per day, in the same working week you'd cold start half as often for 5 times the miles, as the great majority of engine wear occurs at cold starts before the oil is hot and the lubrication system is functioning correctly, used that way an engine would be living a much happier existence.
Bear in mind that the oil change at 'X' miles, assumes certain operating circumstances, an engine that has spent all of it's time at 70~80 mph in top gear on the motorway, may well have turned fewer revolutions in 6000 miles than a bike that spends all of it's time in town at 20 mph in 3rd gear has in 4000 miles.
Horses for courses, oil is still cheaper than bearings though.

[21QUEST]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

As it's such a high miler it's a fair assumption it does long trips and probably many long days, where the engine gets and stays hot, as such it may have done no more - or perhaps even fewer - cold starts than the average 20,000 - 40,000 mile engine, for instance if you were to have a commute of 10 miles twice a day, that would be 10 cold starts for every 100 miles, your working week, but perhaps if you were a courier who did 100 miles per day, in the same working week you'd cold start half as often for 5 times the miles, as the great majority of engine wear occurs at cold starts before the oil is hot and the lubrication system is functioning correctly, used that way an engine would be living a much happier existence.
Bear in mind that the oil change at 'X' miles, assumes certain operating circumstances, an engine that has spent all of it's time at 70~80 mph in top gear on the motorway, may well have turned fewer revolutions in 6000 miles than a bike that spends all of it's time in town at 20 mph in 3rd gear has in 4000 miles.
Horses for courses, oil is still cheaper than bearings though.

Are you sure you don't know the guy? He was indeed a a courier.

Cheers Ben

[Sid Squid]

Is it a kinda ratty blue naked one?

[Viney]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Is a kinda ratty blue naked one?

Only on cold days when he forgets his jacket

[embee]

Originally Posted by Viney

Only on cold days when he forgets his jacket

as for the engine life thing, Sid's spot on. The easiest life an engine can have is to be run 24/7 at mid speed and mid load, like 70mph on a motorway. Last forever.

The engines that gave us most problems when I worked for a car manufacturer were the school trip/weekly shopping ones. Cold start, never goes above 2000rpm (big car+4Lt engine+auto box typically), drives 2 miles then stops for several hours, repeat for 5 days/week.

Lots of problems with valve deposits and loss of compression, rings sticking etc etc.

A typical car engine needs to get above about 3000rpm to get the valves to rotate. Pottering about means they tend to stay in one place and don't clean the seats effectively, then after a while they won't rotate at all.

If you're buying a 2nd hand car, a rep-mobile that's done 70k on motorways is a much better bet than a granny car that's done 20k on shopping trips. Regular oil changes does the business.

Originally Posted by embee

If you're buying a 2nd hand car, a rep-mobile that's done 70k on motorways is a much better bet than a granny car that's done 20k on shopping trips. Regular oil changes does the business.

My POV too. I'm always surprised that people consider the car they bought off "a little old lady who just used it as a runabout in her town." to be a bargain. I think they imagine, Wow, such low mileage, it's practically new! Invariably, these cars have been parked outside, used for very few miles each time they're used and are sometimes left standing for a few weeks at a time. My mother is getting rid of her Daewoo Matiz which had this sort of treatment. 5 years of owning it from new, 6K miles on the clock. Aesthetically it looks the same as it did when it came out of the showroom. Probably looks like a bargain to someone looking for a first car/a cheap runabout.