Highest mileage: old school inline 4, air cooled

Discussion in 'Old's Cool' started by PBOB, Nov 3, 2012.

  1. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2012
    Oddometer:
    462
    Location:
    East coast
    **********************
    When my charging system went bad. Basically it never wanted to keep battery fully charged. I bought an Electrosport stator and rectifier. Fixed it. Charged perfect.
    If I can ever figure out how to post pic's on here since they changed it I will. It's somewhere in Richmond being rode I'm sure still...
    #21
  2. Gham

    Gham tritagonist Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Oddometer:
    2,655
    Location:
    Auburn Hills,MI.
    [​IMG]

    Only 24k on this 1982 F but I've only owned it 6 years:rofl

    Bought it with like 11K,it's needed tires only and a valve check.Probably keep this one until I die.
    #22
  3. genespleen

    genespleen Been here awhile

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2010
    Oddometer:
    186
    Location:
    mid-Missouri
    61K on my '85 CB650sc Nighthawk. Runs like a top!

    [​IMG]
    #23
  4. Skowinski

    Skowinski opposable thumbs

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2009
    Oddometer:
    15,485
    Location:
    High Desert NM
    Almost 80,000 miles on my 79 Suzuki GS1000S. Runs great, you could ride it across the country right now. Been into the bottom end once, and the top end twice, but not because it really needed it, especially the bottom. Bikes always need big bore kits, etc. :D
    #24
  5. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2012
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    462
    Location:
    East coast
    **************

    Nice!
    #25
  6. newride

    newride Been here awhile

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2008
    Oddometer:
    706
    Location:
    San Fran
    Great thread!
    :D
    #26
  7. chazbird

    chazbird Long timer

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2009
    Oddometer:
    33,880
    OK, a triple, but still air cooled. '78 Yamaha XS750. Sold it with 78,000 miles on it. Engine was fine, negligible oil use. Toured on it quite a bit in temps well over 100f, and used as a urban bike. A coil went went bad, but it had three, so it limped home - that was it for reliability issues. The rest of the bike was very tired by 78k, seat, suspension, etc. It became a torture rack so instead of updating those I sold it to some people who came down from the hills who wanted to use the engine for a log splitter contraption. I have no idea how that worked out.

    Also seen, curiously another Yamaha, a Seca II that piled on over 200,000 miles in a few years as a messenger bike. It looked it.
    #27
  8. tkent02

    tkent02 Long timer

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2008
    Oddometer:
    3,391
    Location:
    Littleton, CO
    I had 120,000 on my 1977 GS 550 sometime in the early to mid eighties. Whipped the crap out of it daily as all of my friends had bigger faster bikes. Took it apart to fix leaks, the engine still had great compression, and had little wear showing anywhere.

    New rings and gaskets and slap it back together, rode it a while then sold it to my brother who rode it for years, I don't know how many miles, but mostly his only transportation so it was quite a few. We painted it, a unique homemade blue stripe paint job. He sold it to another guy, didn't mention the odometer had been around once.

    Ten or so years later, my brother and I were at some family reunion or something,standing outside, there goes the old 550 with it's unique blue stripe job going down the road just fine. We just looked at each other and laughed.

    I have a 1983 GS 1100G now with 90,000 miles, it's going just fine, no leaks, no funny noises, no oil burning or anything.

    It should outlast the 550 I would think.
    #28
  9. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2012
    Oddometer:
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    East coast
    *******

    Awesome! Can we see some old pics of it?!
    #29
  10. ArtCuisin

    ArtCuisin Been here awhile

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2011
    Oddometer:
    104
    The examples in this thread are shocking me. I got into bikes
    in 1973 and it seemed that every air-cooled Japanese twin and
    four with more than about 15K miles had oil seepage around
    the head gasket. I figured that if the metal and gaskets couldn't
    keep the oil in, they would also let the important stuff change size
    over time as well, that they wouldn't see mileage over 50K without
    rings and valve jobs. I guess I figured wrong.

    Me, I never kept any of my air-cooled multi-cylinder bikes past 20K miles.
    Singles, yes.

    Good thread.
    #30
  11. Dave in Wi

    Dave in Wi Long timer

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    Feb 25, 2007
    Oddometer:
    3,070
    Location:
    Madison WI (40 Square Miles Surrounded By Reality)
    LOL I bet it's still sitting in their front yard.
    #31
  12. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2012
    Oddometer:
    462
    Location:
    East coast
    We need more guys!
    #32
  13. norton(kel)

    norton(kel) Long timer Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2010
    Oddometer:
    4,939
    Location:
    Berthoud CO.
    Not the highest mileage but quite a reliable old workhorse. '78 yamaha xs11. 92,000. 80,000 of that after the sidecar attached. Never been apart, regular oil changes & tune ups and it just keeps going:clap.
    #33
  14. jehu

    jehu ∩HƏſ Supporter

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2006
    Oddometer:
    9,074
    Location:
    Vail,AZ
    The Z-1 on the left currently has 108,000 miles on the original engine and the bike has never been restored. Not my bike BTW. The owner is a participant in a local vintage group.

    [​IMG]
    Z1's by AZjohnny, on Flickr
    #34
  15. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
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    Location:
    East coast








    NICE!
    :evil
    #35
  16. PBOB

    PBOB MOTO NUT

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2012
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    Location:
    East coast



    good call. 102k on original stator, NTS.....(not too shabby):D
    #36
  17. East Coast Rider

    East Coast Rider Just Me...

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2007
    Oddometer:
    4,206
    Location:
    Stuck somewhere in motorcycle Purgatory
    My much beloved Ole Girl (82 GS1100EZ) has just over 80K miles on the clocks. Original stator & R/R...I have been doing some suspension mods, which turned into quite a long running project b/c of needing money for other things. But here she is:

    [​IMG]

    :raabia

    I'll be swapping out the oil cooler line fittings, and converting fasteners to SS gradually. That's a 2001 Bandit 1200 front end with 89 GSXR750 triples (top clamp is Speigler adapter), and rear rim/brake in the stock swing arm. Shorai LiFe battery, V&H street megaphone & old school Mikuni VM33s for good measure. :D Still need a chain, turn signals and some minor wiring to sort thru, but the Ole Girl sounds FANTASTIC.
    #37
  18. MODNROD

    MODNROD Pawn of Petty Tyrants

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2009
    Oddometer:
    3,060
    Location:
    single lane highways
    VM33s on the street hey?
    I bet your right forearm looks like Popeye!
    #38
  19. East Coast Rider

    East Coast Rider Just Me...

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2007
    Oddometer:
    4,206
    Location:
    Stuck somewhere in motorcycle Purgatory
    :lol3

    They are jetted quite mildly. Good manners so far, but holy crap what a difference in power. I'm actually running the vacuum port on the carbs and using 'run' position' on petcock, instead of plugging things off and running on prime. Still very glad for push/pull throttle cables, though :D
    #39
  20. nanno

    nanno Been here awhile

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2009
    Oddometer:
    343
    Location:
    Linz, Austria
    My 1981 Z1000J

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    has got around 70k on the clock but has been crashed at least twice and judging by what I saw when I took the engine apart I would say, somewhere around 150000km is what it must have done, before I took the engine apart last Autumn.
    With 9 or 10 pre-owners I wouldn't exactly expect, that it was always treated gently.

    Cheers,
    Greg
    #40