When looking at sportys on ebay I see lots of them with less than 2500 miles. Saw one the other night with 15,000. I have 36,579 on mine right now with another 50 before it goes in the garage after arriving home from work today. How many miles can I expect to get from this bike before needing engine work? I had over 87,000 on my Suzuki Intruder 1400 before I sold it and never had any engine work done. Hubby has almost 100,00 miles on his Kawi 1500 with no work done yet. Someone told me recently that I could only hope for about 50,000 miles on the sporty- if this is true- then should I start a savings account for a new motor or just trash the bike and get a newer one from someone selling their low milage bike on ebay?

 

there was a thread about this the other day. if you search for it it had a couple people with i think like 80 without any major work.

 

I keep hearing the "only expect 50,000 miles (or less) on a Sportster", and that is garbage as far as I am concerned.

The "improved" EVO engines on the Sportsters should last as long, or longer, than the EVO's we have been running on our Big Twins for years.

Of course it depends on individual owners, but a well maintained EVO should go around 100,000 miles without any major problems. I know many EVO owners, including myself, that can verify that fact.

Since a very small percentage of Harley owners actually post on internet bulletin boards it would be hard to imagine how many miles some people have on their Sportsters, but I know a guy with a 2004 1200C that had right at 60,000 miles the last time I talked with him.

 

Saw one on ebay with 120,000 miles and darn if it didn't look great anyway!

 

Well I didn't give mileage that much thought when I bought my bike.... I know the old engines got about 60k or so, but the more I learned about the EVO's... and the way I take care of the drive components... no telling... too far down the road to even think about now... lol

Charlie D.

 

My speedo broke at about 50k, rode a year or so before I replaced it. My new one now has about 28k on it. Still runs great. I told my OL to bury me with it.

 

Sporties keep going and going and going. Tim

 

hello,a friend of mine who has been a machinest (sp?) at a harley dealership for decades said a friend of his had 100,000 miles on a 883,he did say the 1200 wears out faster.
i am a firm believer in oil changes every 3,000. if you rag on it sure its going to go bad sooner.

 

I hope that the number of miles you get would have a direct coorelation to how well you maintained the motor. To old fender guys post I think if you take care of it who knows how long it will go.

 

I had 80,000 on a EVO Roadking and the wife had 47,000 on an EVO Lowrider. Niether bike had ever hand any engine work, and both were running great when we sold them. I know of several EVO's with over 100,000 on them without any major problems.

Keep it well maintained and you will get 100,000+ without any problems.

Regards,

Bill