[Merkurwwu]

Being somewhat new to the motorcycle world after being immersed in the automotive world for 30 years, I’ve been wondering something that I can’t seem to find online.

What would you riders who’ve been on the street for a while think the general perception would be about motorcycle brands in terms of reliability. Say if Consumer Reports was to do a survey, what kind of order would it be?

In the car world, (and I work designing vehicles in the truck biz so I don’t necessarily agree with this next statement,) the general perception is that Toyota is #1 in quality and then #2 is Honda and then anything below that you’re a damned idiot for buying and you deserve what you have coming to you (which is usually hundreds of thousands of good miles with minimal trouble- but that doesn’t make for good internet banter.)

I’m hoping for my next bike to be my “tool” for getting around and when it gets to be a few years old with, say 30k miles, I don’t want to be working on it much. Which bikes, in general seem to last the longest? What do you think is the average life of a well maintained bike in mileage? Are they like cars and go 100k miles without blinking these days? I’ve heard it said average life of the V4 in my old Interceptor is about 40k miles. (YIKES!)

I know individual experiences may vary, but just looking for general perception.

[Ben]

These are the general impressions of the ‘big four’

Honda – Generally pretty comfortable with a rock solid engine

Suzuki – Generally seen as some of the fastest motorcycles around, more of a ‘ricky racer’ type of bike.

Kawasaki – Generally seen as ugly, but kawasaki engines are pretty reliable. Also known for their dirt bikes.

Yamaha – Good bikes, but in my mind they are ‘poser’ bikes. Everyone and there mom wants a Yamaha r6. They are very high fashion.

If you want a bike that will last a long time I would go for either a Honda or a Kawasaki. Most bikes i’ve seen rarely get past 25k before they are crashed and totaled. The ones with the longer lives are usually sport touring bikes since those riders generally take less risks and ride for longer stretches. The most mileage I’ve seen on any bike personally was a friend who had a early 2000 Kawasaki Ninja 250 with 80,000+ miles on it. I don’t know if I would recommend that for everyone, but it speaks to the quality of kawasaki bikes.

If I were going to get 1 bike to last me for ages I would probably go with a Honda VFR or maybe a BMW. That being said a lot of bikes will last quite a while if you keep up with the maintenance.

Ben

~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Amoryl]

I was looking at the yamaha V-star 250 for my first bike…but I don’t wanna be a poser….

guess I’ll have to get that Goldwing for my first bike. hey, I hear some of them even have Airbags…that’ll be safe…right?

[BoOZe P-ti Motard]

good he has same op as me.. i said honda and kawiz good but have doubts on gixxerz and lol posers…coz of their parts… m solid on my choice.. a z750

BoOZe
Solomolo Rider

[Author]

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