according to Kelly Blue Book
What is the average yearly mileage for a motorcycle?
Obviously mileage will vary from year to year and model to model. A simple guide could be to consider the type of bike you are looking at: If the bike is a sportbike 600 c.c. to 999 c.c., and since these bikes are traditionally weekend only bikes, you can expect to see lower miles, about 3,000 miles per year. Tourers or Sport Tourers usually see a lot of miles, but these are generally freeway miles, between 5,000 to 6,000 miles per year.
this site claims just over 1900 miles on average
http://www.ridetowork.org/files/docs/Trans_Facts.html
When I lived in San Diego I put 10 to 12k a year on my bikes. Now that I'm in northern California its about half that.
The guy that lives across the street from me bought a new bike in either 06 or 08, can't remember which, but I think it was 06. Ran into him the other day on my way out for a ride. He asked how many miles were on the bike now, and I said 17,000 and something. He says I don't know how you do it, mine just turned over 1671 miles. ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY ONE. My dealer bought a bike from a customer he sold the bike to 4 years previous and it had 40 miles on it..FORTY!
I just find things like that incredible.
People buy bikes for many reasons. Some to relive their youth, or they want that "bad boy" image a new Harley offers, others the mystique of being that lone rider on the country road or wanting to be part a group. Unfortunately, much of the thrill bikes offer can quickly wane if the buyer was not really into the bike, but more into the reasons I listed.
My next door neighbor has a Vulcan cruiser that is about 3 years old. He uses it to ride to work a handful of days per year and to ride to Hooters or Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football games. I've never, not once, have seen him go on a on day, weekend or week long road trip. I think his bike has around 1600 miles on it now.
You should have seen his face back in June when I told him that I had just returned from a 9 day 3,484 mile trip to Nova Scotia; he thought I was nuts!
Gentlemen,
I bought my H-D Road King brand new in 1998. So it's now 17 years old and it has 9200 miles on it (541 miles a year). My Yamaha TW200 bought new in 2010, now 5 years old and it has 867 miles on it (a whopping 173 miles a year). My CB1100 is now 2 1/2 years old with 4200 miles (1680 miles per year). This does not reflect how much I enjoy my bikes however as I like working on/modifying them as much as riding. Cheers.
Chip
I put 10000 km on my CB during its first year. To that I added some 8000 km to my little pcx125 over the same time frame. Usually the CB only comes out on the weekends while the pcx is my daily commuter...
(11-20-2015, 06:37 AM)ChipBeck_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Gentlemen,
I bought my H-D Road King brand new in 1998. So it's now 17 years old and it has 9200 miles on it (541 miles a year). My Yamaha TW200 bought new in 2010, now 5 years old and it has 867 miles on it (a whopping 173 miles a year). My CB1100 is now 2 1/2 years old with 4200 miles (1680 miles per year). This does not reflect how much I enjoy my bikes however as I like working on/modifying them as much as riding. Cheers.
Chip
Agreed, sometimes going out to the garage to do simple maintenance, reorganize a bit or even just dust and polish the bikes with a cold Sam Adams in one hand is a pleasurable and relaxing as a 50 mile ride.
(11-20-2015, 04:35 AM)LiveToRide_imp Wrote: [ -> ]When I lived in San Diego I put 10 to 12k a year on my bikes. Now that I'm in northern California its about half that.
I do around the same in SoCal.
Definitely over 10K per year. Probably closer to 12K. I've put almost 5000 on the CB since mid-July. And that's at least 90% city miles for me.
I average 6K miles per year on the CB11 and about 5K miles per year on the CB750. These days my truck is lucky to go 3K per year.
I know a lot of people that own motorcycles that hardly ever ride them. Actually, I'd say the majority of them ride less than 1,000 mile per year. Folks like that tend to bring the overall average down.
Back in my more industrious days, some friends and I used to restore garage queens. It wasn't unusual to find 20+ yr. old bikes with just a few thousand miles on the clock.
I do 12-15kms a year on my bike. Almost entirely pleasure riding with an average of around 700kms per trip. I find it's easier to put big miles on the bike because it's actually fun to just ride to nowhere, something I'd never really do in my car. Getting ~54 MPG also always puts a huge smile on my face, as compared to my car (10 mpg city, 12 highway) it feels almost like it's free.
I never get the guys who put no miles on their bikes. I always talk to guys with Ducatis (not meaning to stereotype at all, it just stands out), or see them for sale, with like 3500kms on a 4 year old bike -- never understood that.