Offer a grand...then get a new engine once that one fails (if)

Wow, thats high...as long as you get it checked out, and ask for what maintenance (with receipts if possible) has been done...you should be alright for awhile. Just keep in mind you might have to replace it eventually, so keep an eye on website prices/ebay for a lower mileage engine.

Guiness can you clarify if that's 60K kms or 60K miles?

My 03 600 has 57,000km on it as of right now and runs fine.

You'll want to find out

1)was the maintenance scedule followed IE oil changes and valve Adj
2) who did #1, are there reciepts to back it up
3) All the lines should have been changed in 04(every 4 yrs), Brake, fuel, vaccum etc if not that'll be an expense to consider.

4) any Leins
5) has the bike been crashed
6) age of tires and mileage on them

i thought i saw somewhere on this site that a guy has over 100k miles on his and the odometer wont work past that point. but he did make it to 100k. so if all the maintenance is recorded as done and the bike runs good and you get a price reflecting the mileage then i would say go for it. if any of these things arent there then pass and look for one with a bit fewer turns on the odo.

my 1100 had 220k kms on it....which is about 130-135k miles. it needed new rings around 100k, but I just never bothered with it. It still runs, but smokes alot.
In reality you can add about another 20k miles to that because my odometer stopped working the day I pinned past 280kph.

Simple answer: a compression test will tell you if those were gentle 60k miles or rough 60k miles. Could be either.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Re: How much mileage is too much?

Compared to high mileage on cars, I'd say if the bike has been well maintained, it's a safer bet.

I bought my 2000/600 with 12k miles on it...and I thought that was high.

Re: How much mileage is too much?

The supposed average milage for a bike is 5k/year .

Regardless of how many miles you can get out of the bike, I'd expect a deep discount for that kind of mileage. There's plenty of low-mileage examples for reasonable prices. Plus, it's not like you put the miles on the bike and know how well it's been serviced and cared for...

It is 60K kilometers...

Here's part of his ad

So it seems he should have records. I'll check with a local dealer on the price for a valve adjustment.

Cyberpoet - you're right, the compression test is the way to go. Don't know why I didn't think of that myself, I've even got a guage I use on my 2-strokes! Do you know what reading I should be getting?

Ask the dealer the rate for the 15k mile service (rather than specifically the valve adjustment) -- it'll include everything wrapped together... Around here, going rates for that service, including oil, filter, labor, is $310 US or so.

Absolute values on the compression test should be the range of 120 to 200 psi (won't normally start/run outside that range), with 165-170 being typical of a brand new bike that's recently been broken in, and 150-160 being ideal for an used bike in "ideal shape" from what I understand. Personally, I'd skip on any bike with readings below 142 psi on any cylinder (seriously, literally).
Also critical is that all four of the cylinders are within 10% of each other, or the bike simply won't run smooth no matter what you do (it would also be an indication that something is off, such as bad oil bearing journals on one end of the cam, a broken valve, etc).

Low compression in one cylinder usually indicates a bad exhaust valve(s), valve seating, seriously misadjusted valve clearances (such as failure to do them in a timely manner), a broken piston skirt or piston out-of-round.
Low compression in two adjacent cylinders of a four-cylinder bike typically means you have a bad cylinder head gasket.
Low compression in all cylinders would tell you the rings and cylinders are worn and the engine needs to be overhauled (skip buying).

If the reading is particularly low in a cylinder, squirting in a bit of gear oil (say 70 to 90 weight) and then immediately redo the compression test for that cylinder -- the retest values will tell you if the problem is low down (rings/piston skirt/etc) or high (valves). The heavy oil will seal up the typical ring-gap better and so low-down problems will normally be masked temporarily by the heavy oil (compression values go up to normal), while valve problems will be unaffected (compression values won't change).

Finally, offer to share the results with the seller... then consider whether to charge for them

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

I have close to 30k on mine in a little over a year. I keep very good care of it. Runs fine. So as long as it has been taken care of it should be ok. Offer about a grand for it.

Hey Guinness

That's MY BIKE you're looking at! ha ha ha ha. I didnt realize it until you quoted what I wrote on my sale page. I read this thread earlier but I didnt realize it was me because you said it was a 2000 katana whereas mine is a 2002 (bought at the end of 2002 so closer to a 2003 bike)

For those running on the imperial system, 59500km (which is rounded up) translates to about 36971 miles

60000MI would be 96560km, although I expect the engine to hit well over 100000km, I'm not quite there yet.

A compression test is hardly necessary to test the piston rings of this bike. Those who remember my post remember that during the winter ....



I drain the gas tank and carbs, take out the spark plugs, put a capful of oil into each of the cylinders and crank them once to coat the inner walls with oil. I then hand tighten the spark plugs and store it in my hallway at a balmy 20ºC/140ºF or whatever room temperature is.

Of course, the drained gas tank is also coated with oil on the inside to prevent rust.

So who also remembers the 24 LED parking light mod?



LED dash lights?



VDO oil temp gauge (thanks cyber!)



Tail light decal



LED tail lights And of course, my absolute ultimate mod, flip plate (show purposes only!)



and no more wisecracks about my bath robe.

Of course, if whoever buys the bike doesnt want my flip plate mechanism, I'm sure that someone on this board would be more than happy to take it off my hands for more than a few dollars. I'm just bought and F4i and that flip mechanism is katana specific so I'll have no use for it once the bike is sold.

Dooood, The picture of your parents (assuming) in the living room is PRICELESS, they are like "Are you kididng me?"

I can't stop laughing...