My wife got her license this year, so we bought a Kaw Vulcan for her to learn on. Now that she has some experience and is quite comfortable riding, she would like to buy a Deluxe. We found a used '05 at a local dealer in excellent condition. The bike has a complete stage 1 with V&H long shots, a wind shield and is fuel injected.

She really likes the bike, but we have concerns about the 21,000 miles on it. How many miles is too many?

Anyone have any thoughts on miles and how long HD's last? Should we be leary of buying a bike with that many miles??

This year we put over 4,000 miles on my Heritage, with our trip to Sturgis and other rides. I would expect similar next year.

Thanks!

 

I will never understand why people automaticly assume that anything over 15K miles on a bike is alot. Seriously, would a car with 20K miles be that much, especially after 4 model years? TC motors in the stock form are good for over 100k miles, Im sure the bike is fine. Treat it like a used car and have a carfax done, and have an indipendant mechanic check it out. Take a test ride and youll know if something is wrong. Onlything I would really want to take a look at is the cam chain shoes, they could be starting to wear.

 

I put 19k on my deluxe and it's an '07!!! ....so i guess the '05 is "low" miles :-)

 

You got new, she deserves new also. If for nothing else to get the 6 speed.

21k is nothing as long as it's been maintained properly. I'd definitely get it checked out well by an indy.

Your wife will love the Deluxe, it's what my wife started on and while I wouldn't recommend it to others as a starter bike, she's done fine with it. It's her pride and joy.

 

I only wonder when I see a 6yrs old bike with 2,000 miles.

 

The DELUXE is the way to go for her......... I have 2500 miles and I'm thinking of selling to move up to a SG......
pm me if you're interested.

 

That amount of milage is nothing. If anything, at this point, that bike is probably running smooth.

 

HA!! Yep, it's because of my "new" Heritage that we are looking at a pre-owned Deluxe! LOL

Actually my wife has demo'd the Deluxe and quite frankly, they are like one when she's riding it. Must be a natural fit. Now to work out the financing...

 

Dont want to hijack your thread but I was able to put 19,000 on my Road King in the past 11 months.Am I going to retire it now,dont think so..By the way my wife just bought an 08 Heritage with the 6 speed,it is a sweet bike..

 

In this market you could do much better than a used 05 with 21k miles. Also, with 21k miles, those cam chain tensioners may need to be replaced...