100,000 mile (Km) club?

[stuo]

Back in the day when I was a member of the Slant Six Club of America we had a 200,000 mile club, where members would list their cars when they passed that mileage mark. I would be interested in knowing how far we can expect to ride our scooters before the engine/clutch needs rebuilding or replacing. I have yet to see one with high mileage, even more than 20,000 miles, but I'm fairly new at scootering. I have gotten over 100K miles from my BMW motorcycles, but they are known for durability.

So...does anyone out there have a Kymco with what you consider high mileage on it? I'd like to hear your story: the year and model, the mileage (duh), your secret to longevity, problems along the way, words of wisdom, etc.

[de dee]

  2011 DOWNTOWN 300I   86,600  Km. thats a little over 50,000 miles,  at that milage it started to miss fire took it to the dealer and got the news it would cost over $ 3,400.00 to get it running again , canadian dollars,  kymcos parts cost a mint. here,  so I ordered from powersportswarehouse.com   and it cost me $ 580.00 for ECU,  HARNESS,  STATER,  REG.,   PLUS DELIVERY  us dollars,   it ran very well for over 5 years,  now no electricity, no spark, tried to start it with all the new parts in and still no spark,  now back to the dealer for electric check up,  with diagnostic.

[stuo]

Interesting, dee de.

I go on this website daily:  http://www.searchcraigslist.org/. There are several Downtown's on there for very good prices. What I have found is that you can often find very low mileage scooters at low prices but, damn it, not close by. I almost bid on a 2013 People 300GTI with 380 miles on it on ebay, but it's 2700 miles away and the shipping would cost me $700, plus the stress of not being able to kick the tires before committing. I recently bought my 2014 DT 300i with 3200 miles on it for $1900.

Have you considered chucking yours and looking for another?

[de dee]

  yes I bought a new 2016 Piaggio BV 350 ABS/ASR  scooter for $4699.00  canadian dollars.  + tax,  top speed limited at 85 MPH. no red line good power all the way,. break in oil is full syn. oil 15/40 ,  from the factory,  I changed it at 360 Km.  and at 3,000 Km.  factory spec. changes is 600 Km. then 10,000 Km. ,    it has a wet clutch and uses # 90 oil for wet clutches,  110/70   16 front wheel      150/70   14 rear ,,,   rides much smoother then my downtown,  one CON.  no Tach. on the bike so I bought a electronic Tach. installed it and have to program it for 1 cyl. motor it keeps going to 2 cyl. mode  for some reason,.

[CROSSBOLT]

Good topic idea! I am on my second DT300i and it is just over 4k miles so not even broken in yet. Will try to find this thread when the first problem happens.

Karl

[de dee]

Good topic idea! I am on my second DT300i and it is just over 4k miles so not even broken in yet. Will try to find this thread when the first problem happens.

Karl

  your probable good for over 50,000 miles as you have no 90 degree to - 40 below weather to contend with,. 

[ole two wheels]

.I am a fan of the DT300i also. Mine is a 2012 with just under 5K on the clock. With it's reputation for
longevity and durability. I expect it to out live me. Between the two bikes I have, I really don't put a lot of miles on either one. The DT's performance amazes me. Never would have thought a 300cc engine could deliver such, off the line and top in  speed. I wouldn't hesitate to start out on a cross country ride, if my health would permit. I would rank it as one of the best, all- round bikes I've ever owned.
Stuo, there is a white 2013 DT300i in Arkansas, with very low miles, for $1900., But your already have one now.  CHROMO sexual, sooooooooo funny. Hee Hee

[stuo]

Hey, de dee: Strange that the break-in oil is synthetic in your BV 350. One would want a little more friction to get those rings worn in quickly. My R1100RT was still using oil at 20K miles so I went back to dinosaur oil and it finally broke in at around 25K and stopped needing oil between changes.

The rear ends of the old Guzzi's we used to restore would leak if we used synthetic gear oil in them: it's too slippery for those old seals.

Have you noticed any loss of power in your DT after all those miles? Excessive oil consumption? Tendency to overheat? Let's face it, 50K miles on a scooter is comparable to 150K miles, or more, on a car. My Camry is turning 3200 RPM at 70Mph, my DT is doing what? 8000?

[de dee]

  My downtown allways ran well,  it was the electrical that gave out, it ran better every year after year,  that is why I am rebuilding it,  it never used oil, even with a slow leak, from the crank case, just below the fill hole,  I broke it in hard, first 25 mi;les up a steep hill at 65 miles then down the hill at 65mph. with closed throttle then changed the oil, next change at 50,.,, 100,.,  200,.  400,.  600 the dealer did it for the warrenty,.  I played with the variator, changed the ramp so the sliders went right out for high gear, my rpm is 65 mph at 6000 rpm ,  at 6500 rpm 75 mph,. 

[CROSSBOLT]

That first DT had over 20000 miles when it was destroyed by thieves never used a drop, did not leak anywhere and like De dee's ran better as time went by.

Karl

[Forbes1964]

it simply amazes me how engines last so much longer than they used to. We're talking about a little 300cc one cylinder engine lasting nearly as long as automobile engines used to last. Think about  it. The slant 6 engine was noted for it's durability , yet back then 200,000 miles was seen as simply remarkable. The average engine was near the end of its life at 100,000 miles. Now dealerships sell used cars with that many miles. And the 210,000 miles with no engine or transmissionon my Mother's  2001Grand Marquis or the 220,000 miles on my 2007 Lincoln town car are seen as unremarkable. I'll confidently take EITHER of them on a long trip right now.
And folk are speaking of nearly 100,000 miles on a SCOOTER! Cars and scooters may have their share of electrical and hardware problems. But engines simply have come a LONG way.

[ole two wheels]

The two biggest factors that effect the longevity of today's engines is : #1 the closer tolerances within the moving parts of the engine. This has only been possible since the advent of computer controlled milling, drilling and boring machines combined with SPC,(Statistical Product Control). The computer also plays a major role here., and #2 the advancement in motor oil technologies. There is as much difference in today's motor oils , compared to the oils of yesteryear, as there is between the Mayflower and the Enterprise.

[klaviator]

I bought a 2009 Super 8 150 around 7 years ago.  It has a small air cooled motor that has to run hard almost all the time to keep up with traffic.  So I haven't babied it at all and now have 29,000 miles on it.  It's still running strong but does burn a little oil.  I would expect the bigger liquid cooled motors to last a lot longer than a small air cooled one. 

[Forbes1964]

The two biggest factors that effect the longevity of today's engines is : #1 the closer tolerances within the moving parts of the engine. This has only been possible since the advent of computer controlled milling, drilling and boring machines combined with SPC,(Statistical Product Control). The computer also plays a major role here., and #2 the advancement in motor oil technologies. There is as much difference in today's motor oils , compared to the oils of yesteryear, as there is between the Mayflower and the Enterprise.

That’s 100% true. Evidence of the close tolerances and improved motor oils can be found in the fact that whereas engines  used to require 10w-40 or even 10w50 now require 5w30 or even 5w20 motor oils.
Even the lowly high Reving Scooter  engines frequently now recommend 10w30-10w40 !

Oh, and don’t forget fuel injection which has all but eliminated the cylinder destroying  rich running .
 
I’m told that PART of the credit in automobiles can be attributed to tough emissions standards. Engines are REQUIRED to hold their low extremely low emissions for at least 80,000 miles. TO accomplish this, they need to remain in TIP TOP shape for at least that long because emissions increase LONG before performance deteriorates.
Uncle Sam’s strict regulations actually indirectly benefitted the consumer in this case. Lol.

Also, engine sludge is nearly unheard of in the modern engine unless it’s been SEVERELY neglected.


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[ole two wheels]

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