Blackbird longevity - just what is the truth?

[mickvfr800fiw]

I know a couple of couriers that use birds for their work, both say that it isn't the cheapest bike for the job, but, both say it's up there with the most reliable, as long as it gets oil and filters changed, both have had electrical issues, and both have more than one bike, they choose the birds if they know they have long runs to do, and smaller bikes for the towns, i think one is over 150 thousand miles on it now, the other just under a hundred thou!! :dunno:

part timers :wank:

 

[ceoils]

my slow white one bhp done at the bash couple of years ago was 134 bhp and has now done 75k.
fast red one bhp is 167 but is a 1200 and stage 1. however electrics have gone on it so not going anywhere at the mo till if can sort it out. that has also done over 80k miles

 

[McMuckles]

JAWS, can you please qualify what you are saying here. Are you saying that individual birds have done 1,000,000 miles, or that collectively, all the birds you have worked on have done millions of miles.

If the former, what was the profile of the users? Just how come they did such massive mileage?

Best wind up since the american bird rider -because this is a wind up surely

 

[Paddysteel7]

110k miles

Mines has done 110k miles had reg rec, cam chain tensioner, gearbox done due to rough treatment. Balance shafts disconnected 25k miles ago.
Never had a valve shim check just oil plugs and filters.
Gearbox is now a mixture of carb injection parts.
96 P reg

 

[andyBeaker]

This thread has gone on longer than I expected

 

[Sled-driver]

Best wind up since the american bird rider -because this is a wind up surely

Huh? WTF makes you think it's a wind up?:bang:

If someone claims that a bike has done a million miles, that is very unusual. It would be interesting to have some more details, don't you think?:wank:

If not, why are you even in this thread?:bang:

 

[andyBeaker]

Oooooh this looks like it might get interesting


Np0pc0rn41i

 

[Sled-driver]

Nah. It's just that I have heard these statements of million mile bikes several times, but never with any attached information, and I'm interested to know more.

A million miles is quite an achievement. I'd like to know more about it. What maintenance the bikes have had. Just how come they did a million miles? That's over a 1000 miles a week, every week, all year long, even on an early '96 Bird!

 

[McMuckles]

Huh? WTF makes you think it's a wind up?:bang:

If someone claims that a bike has done a million miles, that is very unusual. It would be interesting to have some more details, don't you think?:wank:

If not, why are you even in this thread?:bang:

Oh dear, looks like someone may have issues...



If you were looking for detailed technical information, maybe better posting in the "help" section, any other help you need I would ask your nurse

 

[Cyclops]

Getting the popcorn in @tu*

 

[Jaws]

1,000,000 miles at say, 5,000 miles a year is 200 years of riding.
Good luck with that.

I have NO idea what you base that number on Baz, even as a non professional rider I still do more than 12000 miles a year on two wheels !
What do you do, sit and look at your bike ?? !

Long distance dispatchers are not of the same breed as most peeps.. We were expected to do stuff like Aberdeen and back to norfolk in a day, and be ready to do collect the b4 9 deliveries at 6am the next day

Even back in the 80's on a plastic Maggot, on an unshared bike ( as in it was my own so only ridden by me ) I was averages 2500 miles a week.. And I was one of the lazy sods !

That equates to around 125,000 miles a year.. 8 years mate.. not exactly hard to rack up the miles when you ride for a living

I honestly cannot say too much but an awful lot of the bikes are NOT privately owned and share several riders ( no idea how many. As far as I can work out they are on the road, literally, 24 hours a day

 

[Tinytim]

Nope sorry. I just cannot comprehend mileages like that constantly AND amongst swathes of Blackbird riders in this country. Difficult to imagine ( no matter how passionate WE are about Birds) professional riders/couriers that do imaginary million miles to press, staying with a fookin dinosaur rather than more modern, efficient machines. As I say, I do not for a moment think you are talking complete bollox again, it's just my small mind that can't comprehend the astronomical mileages involved.


p0pc0rn41

 

[andyBeaker]

Nope sorry. I just cannot comprehend mileages like that constantly AND amongst swathes of Blackbird riders in this country.

Please do not stereotype, I am a Bird rider who has no problem comprehending milages like that. I am on mine for less than 2 hours 5 days a week 40 weeks a year and have racked up over 150k - not sure how many years, maybe 6.

Honestly.

 

[McMuckles]

Please do not stereotype, I am a Bird rider who has no problem comprehending milages like that. I am on mine for less than 2 hours 5 days a week 40 weeks a year and have racked up over 150k - not sure how many years, maybe 6.

Honestly.

Quick calculation, if I used bird on my daily work commute over 6 years mileage would be 114,750, so in effect if I commuted the same route for 53 years, I could exceed 1million miles

 

[andyBeaker]

Quick calculation, if I used bird on my daily work commute over 6 years mileage would be 114,750, so in effect if I commuted the same route for 53 years, I could exceed 1million miles

the bit of the sum you are missing is the time it is in use - you are probably about the same as me (ish). But if you were on the bike 10 hours per day, or if the bike were to be available to more than one person (such as couriers) it starts to make sense.

 

[McMuckles]

the bit of the sum you are missing is the time it is in use - you are probably about the same as me (ish). But if you were on the bike 10 hours per day, or if the bike were to be available to more than one person (such as couriers) it starts to make sense.

Agree, that it is achievable with multiple riders over multiple shifts ,but would imagine for example that Police bikes would be sold off at around 100k

 

[Boggymarsh]

The bikes we have own here in Kent are only allowed out when it's dry and the sun is shining and so the mileage on them is never that high; highly polished, over serviced and hardly ridden. :-0)

 

[Pow-Lo]

Well if I commuted from home to my office, I'd rack up 14,000 miles a day which, based upon working 47 weeks a year, would equate to 3,290,000 miles a year.

Why are some people so intolerably thick? It ain't rocket science!

 

[Sled-driver]

I have NO idea what you base that number on Baz, even as a non professional rider I still do more than 12000 miles a year on two wheels !
What do you do, sit and look at your bike ?? !

Long distance dispatchers are not of the same breed as most peeps.. We were expected to do stuff like Aberdeen and back to norfolk in a day, and be ready to do collect the b4 9 deliveries at 6am the next day

Even back in the 80's on a plastic Maggot, on an unshared bike ( as in it was my own so only ridden by me ) I was averages 2500 miles a week.. And I was one of the lazy sods !

That equates to around 125,000 miles a year.. 8 years mate.. not exactly hard to rack up the miles when you ride for a living

I honestly cannot say too much but an awful lot of the bikes are NOT privately owned and share several riders ( no idea how many. As far as I can work out they are on the road, literally, 24 hours a day

Thanks JAWS. Very interesting, and confirms the rumours I had heard previously. Amazing stuff.

 

[ScottyUK]

I've just had the shims checked on mine at just shy of 60k miles.

Nothing needed doing! Could have left it but I guess now I can just carry on until the tacho says 120k!

Will Honda ever make such a bike again?