How many miles should I get out of my XS ?

[Scrambled]

Just curious , how many miles should I expect to get out of a fairly well maintained XS 650 ? I have seen four cylinder Hondas that had over eighty-thousand miles and I have owned used Hondas that had over 50 and the PO claimed it had never been rebuilt ( I believed him , would have made the bike worth more if he said it had a fresh engine ,right ?)

So, I have 24 thousand K on my bike, it has had a few owners ( some of them must have been good ,) so it has only averaged around 700 K a year since it was new , it must have sat for long periods , maybe years at times , but it runs like new now . I know the last PO didn't do too much and the one before him did replace all the worn out bearings and stuff , but I don't think it has ever been rebuilt .

I plan on keeping this bike for a while ,so how many miles should I expect to get out of it ?

 

[retiredgentleman]

I know you do first class maintenance, and if the PO's did the same, you could expect the engine to last to as much as 80,000 kms. Important to keep the camchain and valves adjusted, and regular oil changes/oil filter changes or cleaning.

If its never been apart, the front camchain guide may start to destroy itself................you would see black plastic when you drain the oil.

These engines are super tough.

 

[5twins]

Yes, if the front cam chain guide is original, it may need replacing. Unfortunately, the glue is failing on them after 30 years and the rubber strip is falling off. It's not really a mileage thing, it's age. Even if you had under 10K on the thing, that front guide might still go bad.

 

[Scrambled]

So far no bits & pieces in the oil filter. One of the previous POs ( I think the one just before me ) did the sump filter and I have the racing type cooler filter . I have changed the oil a bunch of times , I run the old oil through a gauze screen before it hits the pan. Haven't seen any particles at all . Maybe I got lucky and some other PO changed it . No sign of forced entry anyway .

 

[pamcopete]

I got 80,000+ miles out of my '78/E before I sold it. It was still running then. I changed oil on condition but not later than 1,500 miles. Usually 1,000 Miles. I changed the oil sump screen shortly after I got it and I was careful to not over rev the engine before it had a chance to warm up. I checked the sump screen about every year or two and I think that habit worked because the sump screen was still good the last time I checked.
Kept it tuned up. I did install an oil cooler at the same time that I changed the sump screen, so that may have helped as well. I used off the shelf Pennzoil 20W50 the whole time, but that option is not available now because they changed the formula and reduced the zinc content. I now use Valvolene 20W50 Motorcycle oil mainly because it is readily available at my local Advance Auto store for a reasonable price. Over the years that I had the bike I tried various exotic motorcycle oils, but didn't see any particular advantage. If you buy an oil for $20 a quart you have a tendency to want to stretch the mileage , but changing the oil frequently is more important than trying some miracle oil.

I also had the habit of shutting the engine off at long stop lights in the heat of the summer. This is because I also installed an oil pressure gage and saw that the oil pressure actually went to zero on a hot day while idling.

The oil pressure gage also let me see the effect of the destruction of the polymers by the roller bearings in the crank. When the polymer molecules get destroyed, the oil reverts to its base viscosity, so a 20W50 oil becomes a 20 W oil which is not good, especially in the summer. This is just an unfortunate characteristic of engines with roller or ball bearings in the crank. The point of contact is actually the size of a molecule so it literally crushes the polymer molecules. There is an argument there to use single viscosity oil, especially in the summer, something I never tried.

 

[Tron]

1,000,000.

 

[Renagade7]

On the day I got my bike I still had it strapped in the back of my truck and I was waiting in a parking lot for my buddy show up to help unload the thing.


I was sitting on the tailgate and this older guy on a xs650 saw my bike in the back and pulled up so we sat there and bullshit for a few minutes. That guy ended up being the original owner, and I looked at the odometer and was absolutly over 80,000 miles. It was mostly stock.

 

[Scrambled]

Has anyone installed one of the high flow oil pumps on a stock engine ?

 

[Scrambled]

I got 80,000+ miles out of my '78/E before I sold it. It was still running then. I changed oil on condition but not later than 1,500 miles. Usually 1,000 Miles. I changed the oil sump screen shortly after I got it and I was careful to not over rev the engine before it had a chance to warm up. I checked the sump screen about every year or two and I think that habit worked because the sump screen was still good the last time I checked.
Kept it tuned up. I did install an oil cooler at the same time that I changed the sump screen, so that may have helped as well. I used off the shelf Pennzoil 20W50 the whole time, but that option is not available now because they changed the formula and reduced the zinc content. I now use Valvolene 20W50 Motorcycle oil mainly because it is readily available at my local Advance Auto store for a reasonable price. Over the years that I had the bike I tried various exotic motorcycle oils, but didn't see any particular advantage. If you buy an oil for $20 a quart you have a tendency to want to stretch the mileage , but changing the oil frequently is more important than trying some miracle oil.

I also had the habit of shutting the engine off at long stop lights in the heat of the summer. This is because I also installed an oil pressure gage and saw that the oil pressure actually went to zero on a hot day while idling.

The oil pressure gage also let me see the effect of the destruction of the polymers by the roller bearings in the crank. When the polymer molecules get destroyed, the oil reverts to its base viscosity, so a 20W50 oil becomes a 20 W oil which is not good, especially in the summer. This is just an unfortunate characteristic of engines with roller or ball bearings in the crank. The point of contact is actually the size of a molecule so it literally crushes the polymer molecules. There is an argument there to use single viscosity oil, especially in the summer, something I never tried.

I think cold starts with 40 or 50 weight oil would be very hard on these engines . The quicker you get the oil flowing to the top end the less damage you do .

 

[pamcopete]

I think cold starts with 40 or 50 weight oil would be very hard on these engines . The quicker you get the oil flowing to the top end the less damage you do .

Right. The other factor is that the cold thick oil going through the sump screen is what causes the hole in the screen, in my opinion. If the bypass valve in the oil filter opens due to the cold thick oil and high initial pressure, that just makes things worse because it increases the flow through the sump screen. That theory is evidenced by the fact that my sump screen lasted for 62,000 miles (I installed it at 18,000 miles) and was still going good when I sold the bike due to my habit of not revving the engine until it was completely warmed up. If this theory is correct, then you would have to be extra careful if you installed a high capacity oil pump.

 

[Scrambled]

You must live on your bikes ! Even with a 12 month riding season you put down some serious miles . Any news on the electronic advance ?

 

[gggGary]

Poor or misadjustment of the cam chain is an issue. I have seldom found one properly adjusted when doing a "wake up". Those long 'rest periods' may be equal or even be worse than total miles traveled. Rust on bores and valve stems may "wear off" when you get r going again but old stiff valve seals don't heal very well and rust is a pretty effective abrasive.

 

[Scrambled]

Yes, prolonged storage is a killer . Just from the low miles I know my bike spent lots of time parked , but at least it seems that it was stored with some care , not just shoved out to the barn cause it wouldn't start . Stock paint and chrome with no major rust or pitting . I think I have the valves and cam chain adjusted properly , it is running better than I ever thought it could . ( I thought it was running good when I first got it ) It was on the road , licenced and insured and being used when I bought it , I have just made some improvements .

 

[pamcopete]

You must live on your bikes ! Even with a 12 month riding season you put down some serious miles . Any news on the electronic advance ?

Well, I bought the bike in 1996 with 18,000 miles on it and sold it in 2008 with 80,000+ miles on it, so 2008-1996 = 12 years 62,000 miles / 12 = 5166 MI./Yr or 430 miles per mo. for a 12 month riding season or 430 / 4.3 = 100 miles per week or if I rode for 5 days in the week, then 100 / 5 = 20 miles per day in a 12 month riding season. That's easy to do if you throw in a few longer trips in the spring and summer.

Waiting for the weather to continue the road tests for the advancer. Won't be doing 20 miles a day this week for sure!

 

[Scrambled]

Well, I bought the bike in 1996 with 18,000 miles on it and sold it in 2008 with 80,000+ miles on it, so 2008-1996 = 12 years 62,000 miles / 12 = 5166 MI./Yr or 430 miles per mo. for a 12 month riding season or 430 / 4.3 = 100 miles per week or if I rode for 5 days in the week, then 100 / 5 = 20 miles per day in a 12 month riding season. That's easy to do if you throw in a few longer trips in the spring and summer.

Waiting for the weather to continue the road tests for the advancer. Won't be doing 20 miles a day this week for sure!

Ya but you own more than one bike . Do you ride all of them or just the XS ?

I used to ride 12 months here in Ontario , even then the most miles I put on in a year , spread over three bikes I was using at the time was just shy of 30 thousand K . I was 21 years old when I did that, couldn't imagine doing that again .

 

[pamcopete]

Ya but you own more than one bike . Do you ride all of them or just the XS ?

I used to ride 12 months here in Ontario , even then the most miles I put on in a year , spread over three bikes I was using at the time was just shy of 30 thousand K . I was 21 years old when I did that, couldn't imagine doing that again .

Well, I only had one bike during 10 of those 12 years. I was younger too. Back in '96 my threshold of pain was 40F. I even grew a beard so I could ride when it was cold, but I have added 1F per year and I'm up to 56F now, but prefer 60F+, so I may not be riding as much as I did "back in the day".

I also just bought a '07 Miata 6 speed and I really enjoy driving it around with the top down, even at 50F, so until the newness wears off the Miata, I may be riding even less.

You gotta remember that now when I ride, it's work! But, somebody's got to do it...

 

[tonyc]

I once put 115000 on a bmw r-65. It was done commuting 120 miles a day and long pleasureable week-end rides. This was done in an eighteen month period.