everlasting bike?
 

Maybe a bit of an ambitious title, but it reflects the general idea.

My 1100 GS failed on me (broken gear box, don't want to go into it) and I 'm looking for a new bike.
She was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute I rode... but not so much the times she didn't ride.
It wasn't thàt often, but I 'm still quite afraid to make the final balance for that bike (My guess isn't very optimistic)
Anyway, she stopped at 250 000 km (that's 155 342 mile, google tells me) a bit less on the display though :oops2:
(I took it the last 150k km in three years)

Now I 'm looking for something new, something that might last me a bit longer.

I am hoping to find a bike that will go for 300 000 km, with fairly limited technical interventions.
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect a sorrow free ride, but I don't want to strand up every half a year either.
And not needing to spend the same amount on repairs every two years as the bike costs itself.

Does it still exist, are manufacturers still making machines that simply work?

So if you would happen to know a bike (any model, any make) that fits the description (or at least the 300 000 km part) and would care to list the costs made to keep it on the road...



I'll start, although at the moment i'm only listing the things I experianced...

R 1100 GS '94
small stuff during use: let's estimate that at 500 euro
120k km: clutch pushrod stuck; 800 Euro
190k km: clutch started to slip; 250 Euro
220k km: driveshaft broken; 650 Euro
240k km: gearbox broken; 300 euro's trying to find a cheap replacement and gave up
(for a guaranteed replacement: 1500 euro)

while searching for a gearbox solution, I overheard that the previous owner had some serious repairwork on the same items not long before he sold.

that would mean that about every 110k km I'd be looking at the above total.
that's not really something I appreciate in a bike so I'm hoping to find an alternative.
(i'm not including regular maintenance because that's the same for every bike)

Who would like to write a testimony about a bike that was is everlasting?

I hate to bring the bad news but no bike is everlasting…

You will have hard time finding anything that’s better than what you have. Maybe a R80 G/S with a rebuild gearbox will do it, but I don’t think you will find a modern dual-sport that lasts longer.


I find the price for fixing your gearbox a bit high. If it gets overhauled before it stops to work it should be around less then half that price.
Some people overhaul there gearbox every 100kkm,.

I think you did well with the R1100R.

There are a few bikes out there that will match it and fail in different ways and so might be easier to repair (eg. R100's, Triumph Bonneville), but honestly I don't think there is such a thing as a 100,000 mile bike never mind one that does better.

I don't know why this is as I drive a Skoda for work that's done 115,000 miles with nothing except oil changes 10% past the recomended limits. Bikes I'm afraid are designed for weekend warriors who'll decide they are unfashionable long before they wear out, even when made out of toffee/cheese/wet cardboard etc.

The alternative is to repair what you have. This means either learning the skills and getting the tools to fix that BMW gearbox yourself, or going for something like an Enfield that you are going to learn about repairing very easily but very quickly.

Andy

Hate to think how long it would take to cover 250,000 km on an Enfield!

The only bikes that I would think stand any chance of covering that sort of mileage without anything more than oil changes are other BMWs such as the K100/1100 or R1150s.

It sounds like you are wanting an HPN, but instead of using an old donor bike you should start with new parts which will then be modified and improved by HPN. This sort of bike can last a life time and when you think it is at the end of one life time you strip it apart and rebuild it from scratch to start its next lifetime.

hpn

This might indeed be true, it 's very probable that my bike won't break down when doing enough precautionary repairs.
It's very difficult to get a correct maintenance scheme for this.

Anyway, it might just be me, but i don't have much trust in models that require that kind of maintenance.
(to an extend obviously, i'm not going to wait for breakdown before maintaining my bike)



I am starting to realise that.
I 'm just hoping there is still one model out there that defies this design.


I did most of my repairs myself (else those prices would be a tiny bit higher)

Repairing a gearbox is beyond my capabilities, but that 's not relevant as it was completely smashed (repairing what was broken would take about 3000 euro)



It would probably take me just as long as on any other bike...


Would someone know a place I could find maintenance costs for large distance motorcycles?

Any of the big Japanese touring bikes will run mostly problem free for many many miles. I think you can do better with most Japanese stuff.

I had an Africa Twin (1991 model) from 20.000kms onwards to 105.000kms. The only mechanical glitch during that time was the countershaft bearing behind the sprocket, which very nearly lead to a big catastrophe at almost exactly 100.000, but luckily the fault was found & fixed, otherwise it probably would´ve blown up the engine. Even this was a freak occurrence, and could have been the result of having the chain adjusted too tight somewhere along the way. I didnt sell it because of this.

If I´d have to try to get real big mileage out of a bike, I´d probably still go for the Africa Twin, or possibly a DL1000 (or how about a 1200 or 1250 Bandit?)........ the km´s mentioned are huge, however, so your personal riding habits, choice of routes, and how good you are in maintaining the bike will probably have a huge impact on the outcome.

Bikes in the "developed" world are generally used as a secondary vehicle to a car, say. And they're not designed/expected to rack up huge (100k+ miles) mileages without major overhauls, here in the UK a bike is "high mileage" if it does more than about 3k miles/year... If you want a machine that'll seem to cover high miles reliably look towards, say, a Fireblade in any of its incarnations, or that old faithful the Cub (seriously!).

Not too sure about the new one but the old Honda Deauville 650 use to do it all, had one for a year and a half, only thing that went wrong was a wheel bearing went but i was told its cause i was riding it too hard :thumbup1: (who said a deauville cant get both wheel off the ground!!!). Couriers love them so the better more loved 2nd hand ones are hard to find.

Anyway the new one is suppose to be the same but as usual quality of some of the pairs is just not what it use to be.

Apart from this maybe the Honda Transalp but its got the usual chain drive which can add up costs over a high milage bike.

I agree with the sentiment of others on here...no bike is everlasting or without sorrows every so often.

BUT one bike that should be in the running...with some minor alterations...would be the BMW K75(no ABS)...

These bikes consistently rack up the mileage and the punishment with minor drama...

The biggest drama is the final drive splines but the costs of swapping that out is almost equivalent to the maintenance of a chain and its complimentary sprockets. Heck a buy in Canada(Bruno's Machine Shop) has developed a permanent fix by remachining the worn splines, rebuilding the final drive and the driveshaft for about $1k USD.

When you consider the cost of acqusition, pre-trip adjustments, maintenance, and farkling...the K75 has got to be about the cheapest to get you 300k miles.

Its not a sexy looking enduro bike...but it will get you wherever *there* is...

HTH

Go Guzzi! They last, parts are cheap, they are easy to fix, they are good and strong runners (the big blocks that is) - the closest motorcycle equivalent to a Perpetuum Mobile in my opinion. But then again I'm totally unable to see any flaws in any Guzzi. I'm totally in love with these bikes and love makes blind they say... ;-)

Everlasting bike? BMW R1100GS !!

Milestone for my GS - ADVrider

Second on BMW K75 that is made in the early 90s. I had an K75RT which the German police itself still uses. The cops beat the crap out of the RT and ride so hard that the clutch is the first thing to be replaced regularly, but it keeps on running. If you don't ride as hard or need to chase after some mafia, the bike is well known to have lasted 300-500K km. Don't trust anything else newer in BMW except your 1100gs. They are getting more complicated with too many bells and whistles. Yes, watch out the spline, also look after the rotor start after 100,000 km and if you leave the bike on the street through winter.

An everlasting bike? It's got to be a YAMAHA XT600 :thumbup1:

Only if the exhaust system has been replaced :rofl:

Andy

I'm not convinced of this:nono: Plenty of bikes do over the 100,000 mile mark, check out the mileage of some courier bikes. Also there is a guy on the Triumph Trophy Group, that has 225,000 miles on his Trophy, never had the head off:thumbup1:


Trophymick

I guess it's true that most engines will do over 100 000 km and a lot of them will quite easily do 200 000 km.
But a bike isn't just engine, now is it? ;)

And that's about the same story with Monique, her engine is still in marvelous shape, but I 'm getting a bit afraid about all the other costs.


And that is why I 'm hoping to find a bike where all those parts are equally unbreakable.

Might be an impossible mission I suppose...

Exactly. I also think there are many bikes, which (if properly taken care of, and maybe repaired just something minor along the way) would still have their engines run just fine after 100,200, or even 300 thousand kms.... they arent so far apart from car engines these days, and even if they rev higher, especially the 1000 and bigger powerplants have substantially less load to drag around.

But after that much riding, and many, many years of use, the wear will be everywhere. I think that is the real problem. For example: springs in the suspension will die, swingarm bearings (among others) will have developed just a little slack that wasnt there when new, rear hub shock absorbing rubbers have worn, brake discs surfaces have wear, and their thickess is close to renew limit, brake callipers need at least new seal sets, possibly brake pistons, too, the headlights have dimmed a lot, and many parts in the electric system are also starting to show their age, too. Etc, etc...

Even though none of them would be serious, or very expensive problems on their own, combined they will mean there´s always something to be done with the bike... and you´ll probably need good mechanical skills to be able to maintain it yourself, or be prepared to pay someone to do it for you.

A major overhaul of almost every component of the bike would probably cost so much it would make no sense (if one compares to the market prices of the same model), and still it wouldnt make it 100% new in every way.

Any bike can be everlasting as long as parts are still available for it and you have the ability to fix it .
I have several bikes over 30 years old.
There is no such thing as a bike that will not need parts from time to time as things WILL wear out .
A bike is a relatively simple machine and eveything can be fixed whilst parts are available and you have the time and cash to fix it .

If you truly want an everlasting bike ,I suggest that you build it yourself based upon a model that has proven longevity .Maybe look at the XT and XS Yamahas , Airhead beemers , Harley Davidsons [ !!!] or check out what the cops are using .However it will be a labour of love and not really worthwile unless you enjoy wrenching and have an affinity for your bike.

These days it might pay to just do what the motortrade want you to do and buy a new bike every 3 years .

Almost any bike can last for ever. As has been said above; as long as you can still get bits for it.

Its like Trigger's broom in Only Fools & Horses.

Everlasting bike
 

I was on ADV and you can few report of R1150GS or R100GS with over 300000 miles, I don't how many repair they did but its still incredible on one bike

Why not the r80 g/s?

.......................

Yes, it was to be expected that there wouldn't be a simple answer.
I guess there 's always some luck involved, but I do believe that most candidates are listed in this thread

- R 1100 GS
- K75
- Transalp
- XT 600

allthough I'm starting to wonder whether some smaller sized thumpers might be distance absorbers...

Does it mean that a Hpn modified bike will never have a problem or not will fall down? driveshaft for instance?

I really wonder that.

Sami

Everlasting is a relative term, everything can break.

Guess you refer to the standard paralever driveshafts? Mine broke after more then 150 kkm.
Most HPNs are based on other swing-arm solutions then the standard airheads, they will probably not last forever but I expect the lifespan to be 10-20 times the life of a chain/ sprockets. My plan is to open mine and inspect it after 50kkm.

I guess you know that you can get serviceable driveshafts for the standard GS?

Obviously, but then again you can change the chain/sprocket in 30 minutes every 15000 km's (more or less), even carry a set with you to change in case it wears out somewhere in Ulan Bataar thus being independent of DHL in that respect, have a set of sprockets made in the middle of nowhere in Russia en route to Vladivostok etcetera and so forth. Chain and sprockets are more available than any drive shaft, so given that "everlasting" is a relative term and that everything can break, I'd go for a chain driven bike if I'd go for a really long trip through more or less desolate places - the exeption being Guzzis, of course.

I have not met anyone carrying a spare shaft, but I have met people carrying 2 u-joints for the shaft. I would estimate that a set with u-joints is 200 gram. If you like to carry parts, the weight is as follows.


R80/R100GS shaft 1.990 kg
R80G/S shaft 1.104 kg
R1100 shaft 2.376 kh
F650GS (2*Sprocket +chain) 0.220 kg + 0.978 kg + 1.710kg=2.908kg

I don’t know how the weight of the HPN-shaft, I will guess 2.3 kgs.
The R80G/S-shaft will last almost forever.

You will have problems finding chains and sprockets in most of Africa, Asia and South America. Same goes for shafts.

If you change a set with chain and sprockets in 30 mins you work pretty fast. I have 2 bikes with chains and I always use more then 30 minutes. I also need tools hat I don’t carry on the bike. To change a paralever-shaft I will need 2 hours, all the tools are in my toolset.

When I was in Kenya a guy fabricated a front-sprocket. It looked okay, but a few weeks later I met him in Ethiopia. The sprocket had killed his chain and he had used a week to get the bike to Addis Abeba where he waited for parts.
I’m sure you can find similar examples where shafts have broken.

But everything that moves can fail, shafts just lasts a lot longer. It’s not “everlasting” but it outlasts a chain.

Really? I thought those countries in particular had a lot of chained bikes, being where most 2 wheelers are used thus having access to at least some sort of chain/sprocket? With regard to your friend: Home-made sprockets are for emergency. The Mondo Enduro guys had one made far East in Russia, and it worked pretty well IIRC. In any case, if a set of chain/sprocket gets you say 15 000 kms and you change to your spare set en route giving you a range of 30 000 kms I'd say you have plenty of options. Plus your old not-so-worn set may be kept as back-up. My point was that if the final drive fails you're probably - but not always - in deeper shit than if you have worn out your chain/sprocket. But by all accounts, I know that the Guzzi shafts too are up to serious km's given a spare u-joint of two. Besides, if you look at it costwise vs total riding lenght I'm sure you're in the same ballpark with chain/sprocket compared to shafts

You will hardly find a bike bigger then 200cc. The chains are not the correct sizes and the quality is poor.

everlasting
 

If changing a chaine and sprokets is maintenance ,why do we call working on a drive shaft a failure.I saw many chaines breaking and many sprokets loosing teeth but I took it for a normal part of the life of a part.

Forgive my ignorance if you don't understand me

I suppose that's the best argument for using a small capacity bike, e.g. a Honda C90 Cub or a tough Suzuki 125, for going into the really desolate places. For Africa, leave your GS back home :-)

I have more then 70kkm in Africa on the same bike, no shaftfailures;-)

I have no problem understanding you. Since I started to drive BMW people have told me that shaft fails (often in catastrophic ways) but all the problems with chain and sprockets are maintenance.

It’s one of the myths, and it looks like it’s important to keep it alive.

There, there. There are no such things as right or wrong when it comes to shaft or chain/sprocket. Go for whatever makes you feel comfortable and what will leave you in the shallowest shit if anything should go wrong. Which it usually does, sooner or later.

Now, I'm a Guzzi-head and have no problems with shaft drives on bikes. On the contrary. But sometimes when the u-joint starts bugging me seriously I envision this:

A BMW paralever shaft:

http://micapeak.com/bmw/gs/images/paralevr.gif

A set of chain and sprockets:

http://www.te-motorcyclespares.co.uk...20Sprocket.jpg

Now call me a mythologist or whatever, but somehow the latter picture seems in general more Africa-friendly in a way. Not saying that there aren't shafts out there which withstands everything, I mean, people have been riding shaft bikes since dog-knows-when and I know that e.g. my Guzzi's shafts are so solid. But IF something goes bust, I'd like to be the one with a chain/sprocket bike and a spare set on my bike to replace it. Nothing against the one or the other - just gut feeling.

Someday they'll invent chain & shaft drive just to prevent discussions like this ;-)

One thing has struck me about BMW final drives is that they are trying to put too much horsepower through a single sided swing arm .The design did not change from the airheads to the 1150 .The boost in horsepower for the 1150 brought the problem of overloaded FD s to light .
Even a redesign for the 1200 did not make the problem go away ,the splined hubs seem to wear fast .
Sidecar specialist builders and desert racers have favoured putting an auxiliary second arm on the rear of the bike to strengthen up the rear end and "take the strain" off the FD .
Seems like a damn good idea to me and certainly something I would consider if I wanted to load a big beemer up to the nuts and abuse it on bad roads .

This is not clear for me AliBaba !
Mine is a 96 R80 GS Basic and I am not sure if I need a servicable/greasable driveshaft for it as it is at 50K kms now. Or if it is a good solution?
I don't know if it is helpful carying U joints for that too ! Technically a bit poor yet :helpsmilie:

Yes that’s exactly true! They are different but what suits you it’s up to you.
What makes me fed up is that people with no experience about one of them tell everyone it’s shit.


Nice picture!
It might look advanced, but it’s just a shaft and a beveldrive, much less advanced then what you find in cars and people go everywhere with cars.


I see your point and lot of people think like you, but if you are willing to carry chain and sprocket then remember a shaft is lighter.

Would have been nice! Winter-project for your Guzzi?



The design of the swing-arm has changed, and on 11xx/1200 you will hardly find a shaft-failure. But you will find FD-failures. I’m not sure if that’s progress.
They are trying to reduce unsprung weight (and cost), but they might have gone a bit too far.
The first 1200s had problems. It’s better now but I don’t think it’s cured.
The beveldrive is a very simple construction (2 moving parts and 2 bearings) and if it is designed properly it can hold hundreds of hp.
The K1300S (175 hp) has a single sided swing-arm.



I don’t know much about sidecars but on desert racers they have not used double sided swing-arms since the G/S It ended production more then 20 years ago.
Nowadays Moto Guzzi and BMW use paralever swingarms and I’ve never seen a double sided paralever.
Even HPNs Paris-Dakar version of the 1150 used a single sided swingarm.

It’’s not easy to say. When my Basic had 88kk I started a 50kkm trip with the original shaft. The shaft finally broke 1 year after my return.

If you are planning to do a bigger trip I would have removed the shaft and inspected it. It’s nice to know how to remove it anyway…
The price of rebuilding it to a serviceable shaft is lower then buying a new one. Spare u-joints can be attached to your frame under the tank. I’m not sure how long time the rebuild takes.

Hope this helps…

If you are going to make something, copy MZ. A simple but well made grease gaiter gives 50,000 miles plus using industrial chair. You can change the chain in an hour using tools you'd carry on the bike (it can have a split link chain because they used a bigger chain than 23 hp needs).

The key design factor is that the engine has a built in lip for the gaiter, it isn't an afterthought. Nailed on gaiters just don't work.

Chains in Africa are readily available, BUT, they are not your gold standard X-ringed motorcycle jobs. The Bonnevilles O-ring chain is on 15000 miles half with the sidecar and a decent chunk in mud/snow. It'll go to probably 25,000. I'd expect a heavy duty X-ring, set up by me from day one and without the period before I sorted my oiler, to hit 30,000 miles. An industrial chain (and worse, hard to replace sprockets, Africa wise) would be gone in under half of that. I can get Industrial chain for about a tenth of the cost, but the sprocket wear makes it uneconomic in Europe never mind practical in Africa.

Can't the GS have a grease nipple fitted to help things?

Andy

To fit a grease nipple you have to change (or rebuild) the u-joints.
It’s possible to do this on a standard shaft but the u-joints are not meant to be replaced so
it’s not a roadside repair.
The shaft can be rebuilt so it’s easy to change u-joints and then you can use grease-nipples. A friend of mine did this and it looks good!

My GS had two of those failures though...

100.000 km each.

Yes, and that’s interesting!

The first I one I can understand because the first 1100s had a weak shaft. I wonder what shaft was refitted.

A friend of mine broke a shaft on one of the first 1100GS after a jump in 130 km/h.
He went to BMW, gave them the information they wanted (year of production, type of bike etc) and the BMW-guy started to order the “old” shaft. By accident he got corrected by another BMW-guy so he got the “new” shaft. But it was close…

Maybe the same happened to you?
In my ETK (part-diagram) this is corrected now.

so, new shafts will never die?

Everything, and everyone, will die.

evrlasting
 

I am not that sure Alibaba, the myth may remain and the memories are still serving us pretty well.Its like the Baja 1000 and the XR650R ,I am sure that many bikes are now better but should I do the Baja the XR650R will be my weapon of choice.The important factor is not what we drive but how much we enjoy the ride, Bemmer have been the mount of choice for many and still is,the KLR650 has the same reputation and still had the dooky problem and guess what ?,many still use it.I own many bikes with similar issue and to be honest I still enjoy the ride on my 1200 gs or my Xr.Now the everlasting response should be more can you fix it or do you have to rebuilt it, I was on ADV and you can find some post with GS rider way over 300000 Miles,now that great.

Possibly you can get over with a shaft failure if you carry spares , but what about clutch failure ? It's much easier to change wet clutch disks on Japanese bike than to change dry clutch on a BMW . And I think the wet clutch is more durable .

A dry-clutch should last more then 100kkm, it does not require any special tool to change it. It can be relined all over the third world and it’s not sensitive to “car”-oil.

Like a wet-clutch you can ruin it in one day.

Yes!!!!!
Yes!!!!!

My apols , I should have been more specific ,the crown wheel and pinion and their supporting bearing design did not change until the 1200 .
The swing arm design did change substantially of course .

If you mean the 1100 from Texas ,it has about 420,000 miles on it now .
3 rear ends ,one gearbox rebuild and some engine work .It was maintained by a BMW mechanic and he used high quality synthetic oils .
This is exactly the sort of good reliability record that every BMW should achieve.

A variety of answers.
But only one true answer

But firstly there is no everlasting bike, just:
>One thats cheap to rebuild completely
>One that has a good blood line where you can source spares for peanuts
>Or a one where you are too scared to ride it!

Honestly the realistic bike has to be the BMW K75...
Ive had one and it is remarkably well made, I put about 100,000miles on mine in a little over 3 years. Brought for £600 and sold for £400 with a total cost of repairs (not maintenance) of £900 including final drive shaft.
The K75 has a balances engine whereas the K1000 range diddnt (I'm fairly sure you can obtain a more technical explanation)

For those who want an off road K75, heres the solution.
Mototurisme Catalunya :: Veure tema - NOVA? BMW K75 GS


For the Singles I have an XT 600 and I feel that a single cylinder will require allot of maintenance and work in order to make it do these high mileages thus making it cost prohibitive, but there are a remarkable number of 20+ year old XT 600's around! So this should be on the list, Its also designed only around bits that serve a very simple purpose. Making it a phenomenally reliable bike
But a Twin is a better design for distance bikes, preferably water cooled

The BMW R800GS would be my best guess as a GS designed to last the distance, smaller power output for the exact same design means less wear and tear on parts.

Then theres these guys...
Dieselmotorcycle Made in the EU
A bunch of dutchies smoking one day came up with an idea and "Voila" having passed the stogie to the right hand side, they eventually have a diesel bike in production for BMW prices.
If ever there was a vehicle designed to go the distance it is a diesel.

Then theres that URAL, based on a good if aged technology and forged from a cliff face it has lasted through an amazing amount of crap and is very fixable.

In conclusion incontestably the one Bike that will last forever is that 2004 Honda Monkey Bike!
:scooter:

Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Thieving B*****d scum swine stole my bike, so I wouldnt put any hope into an everlasting bike, some Pikey will steal it.

Gits.

Apologies, still feeling tender

The everlasting bike is the one that moves your soul and fits your application. As most machines are designed by committee, corrected by evolution and diluted by accountants, mechanical perfection is sadly un-attainable.
My opinion is ride what makes you happy and fix what you have to and thank god we no longer live in an age where regular disassembly to "de-carbon-ize" your cylinder head and piston crown is no longer required.

Enjoy The Road Fellas: Mike:mchappy:

There's a nice closure :)

Got myself a 600 Transalp in the mean time.
I'll see what the future brings me...

I have two Africa Twins - one at 100,000 miles and the other at 70,000 miles; No major problems. Lots more miles to come.

I'm not saying buy an @, as they're old tech now. Though you could do much worse. And you won't get skinned alive for repair costs. But there's your "100K bike". :thumbup1:

Give us some history please? What do you call a major problem? I consider any ride on the recovery truck or not getting where I want the same day to be major, but it's a hard one to define.

I have my own theory, but it's going to take a while to prove as I am now a bit of a weekend warrior and don't get to put the miles in as much as I'd like. The theory is:

1. Buy a new bike and run it in yourself by simply riding in a gentle-normal way (or get one with a history you know).
2. Get one whose technology you understand.
3. Never let a "workshop technician" near it, use a well trusted mechanic (if you can find one) or DIY. Stuff the warrenty it's worthless compared to a well sorted bike five years down the road.
4. Get a design that has been in production for over three years in roughly the same form.
5. Get something other people are saying is tough.
6. Do the service work religeously, but don't go OTT.
7. Don't be afraid to change what's not tough enough.
8. Get something other people are using, so parts are easier to get.

The Bonneville is only on 14000 miles, but out of all the bikes I've ever owned is showing least signs of any problems. I've had the recovery truck to it twice, but not since I re-wired the battery/fuse area and replaced the coil with one that I sealed. This compares very favourably to other bikes I sold before this milage due to bigger issues, but on which I didn't follow the points above due to inexperience/lack of skill/believing advertising.

Can we beat the manufacturers by careful use?

An interesting, possibly :offtopic: point. In 2006, Triumph sent me a new service book changing the oil change intervals from 4000 miles to 6000. Could it be they were getting more hassle from their grease monkeys stripping drain plugs and their dealerships not stocking oil filters than they made from selling the oil? Maybe BMW/Harley/Ducati were selling more bikes because of the down time difference? I'm certain Triumph service had no concern for how many weeks a year I get to ride my bike.

Andy

I completely agree - the whole concept of putting a bike into a dealer to do the servicing is anathema to me, partly because I enjoy doing it but also because I want to know it has been done and done right. This is one of many reasons why I am going to buy the low tech carb fueled KLR650 and change the doo spring with its first major service. I will also rejet the carb and hey presto, for 2-3 hours spannering and $150 (+the buy cost!) I will have a bulletproof low tech bike. 'Nuff said.

Well, Bonnie; hassles were as expected - fuel pump and regulator/rectifier; they're known for this. If I had been wise I'd have changed them before failure. But I wasn't. :rolleyes2: I don't call this major; for me major is a big stripdown, not replacing an external component like those mentioned. Part of the reason for longevity is this bike's detuned/softtuned state -there is a price for reliabilty. You win some, you lose some. That's OK.

PS My @ choice fits most of the criteria you've created. But I repeat, I'm not promoting this bike or any other. Run what ya brung.

My experience
 

First real bike, (after many teenage garage projects); R60 Beemer bought at a German Police auction while stationed in Germany... many long, hard rides for the next 4 years with minimum maintenance (hell, I paid $800 for it... who cares?)... in the winter, I'd pull the battery and throw a tarp over in in the back yard.
Second bike, R80GS in Tuscon when they were first released... no surprises... sold it in '91 with 130,000+ miles when I bought my new R100GS P-D... added white power shocks, had to replace junk ignition coil (the grey one) installed Thunderchild rectifier and added zerck fittings for driveshaft...
My Beemers have never left me in a bind... from the deserts of the Southwest US to Alaska to Argentina to the Black Sea... and still ride it (108,000mi)... never busted a shaft or toasted a rear-end... smashed a few pipes, rims and hard cases... broke the rear brake lever a couple of times...
Bought an '83 R80RT with 126,000 km really cheap here in Poland about 4 years ago for easy (lazy) asphalt touring in Europe with the wife...
I dunno... they work for me... as for the new stuff... well, when a group of 'em are sittin' at the gas station 'cause someones' paralyzed with a bad sensor or a slung chain... I'll roll out the tool kit and try to help... :mchappy: I've met people all over the world, driving all sorts of stuff... and they seemed pretty happy... I'm happy with my Gummi Kuh...