Question for you road king guys?
Question for you road king guys?
My brother has been itching to get a new bike because with his wife riding with him a lot the kawasaki he has isn't to his liking. Today I went with him to go look at a 01road king and it was a beauty. The odometer had I think 50kmiles on it. Is that a lot of miles for an 88 ci? I know some people on here put a lot of miles on their bikes but I was just asking for things to look for as far as problems or issues. The bike was garage kept and was real clean. Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 66
Likes: 1
From: Quakertown, PA
I bought my 2000 RK with 72k miles. It runs fine now and I only bought it 3 months ago. It now has 75k on it. I have had no problems. Then again the bike was in good shape when I bought it. If you feel the bike is clean and so does your brother then he needs to decide to pull the trigger.
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 944
Likes: 2
From: Ct
Theres no way to say, it depends on how hard the miles were and how well maintained the bike was during those miles.
Every bike is going to be different.
You could get lucky and be fine for 50k or have issues after 10k more.
Look at the services recommended for that many miles and at what intervals, if the owners did all the services and maintenance it should be fine.'
In my opinion,
The general rule of thumb is buy the newest bike you can afford.
The fewer the miles the better then you get to take care of it through all the later miles.
Dont buy an 01., 88" because the one he saw was a beauty, buy the newset drive train you can afford to get and go from there is my advice.
You can slowly make these bikes look great and add what you want to them for chrome, pipes, etc.. so dont get blinded by a really well dressed bike with a lot of miles when you can get a newer bike for less and add that stuff yourself but feel better about 17k miles or 22k.
To each his own and everyone has an opinion, I wouldnt be afraid of 50k if I saw the bike, drove it, and heard it and could judge for myself, but I wouldnt even look at an 88 these days unless my budget was 6k or under.
I just saw a 2010 Road King police with 17k miles sell for 9500$ that I would have bought in a second.
I just bought an 07 Road King police for 10,5 with 32k on it.
Lump
Every bike is going to be different.
You could get lucky and be fine for 50k or have issues after 10k more.
Look at the services recommended for that many miles and at what intervals, if the owners did all the services and maintenance it should be fine.'
In my opinion,
The general rule of thumb is buy the newest bike you can afford.
The fewer the miles the better then you get to take care of it through all the later miles.
Dont buy an 01., 88" because the one he saw was a beauty, buy the newset drive train you can afford to get and go from there is my advice.
You can slowly make these bikes look great and add what you want to them for chrome, pipes, etc.. so dont get blinded by a really well dressed bike with a lot of miles when you can get a newer bike for less and add that stuff yourself but feel better about 17k miles or 22k.
To each his own and everyone has an opinion, I wouldnt be afraid of 50k if I saw the bike, drove it, and heard it and could judge for myself, but I wouldnt even look at an 88 these days unless my budget was 6k or under.
I just saw a 2010 Road King police with 17k miles sell for 9500$ that I would have bought in a second.
I just bought an 07 Road King police for 10,5 with 32k on it.
Lump
Last edited by lumper; Sep 30, 2012 at 06:36 PM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,598
Likes: 3
From: 27°51' N, 082°17' W
Trending Topics
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 755
Likes: 32
From: Delaware
Unless he's getting a smoking deal for it, I'd say pass on it. There are a few reasons I say that all of which are going to be agree/disagree type things for him but for what its worth:
-He can probably find a newer bike with fewer miles for a similar price
-He is going to have a bitch of a time re-selling it
-The odometer is only going to go up turning lots of people away
-Its already 12 years old, it ain't getting any newer
-Difficult to get financing on a bike that old if the buyer after him would need
-Is it carb'd or injected? Seems lots of people here don't like the MM injection
-He should not be paying more than $6k for that bike, $7k at the absolute most, if the seller is asking more than that, I'd walk.
-If you get the VIN, a dealer should still be able to pull any service records for it. Of course, whoever owned it, rode it and there is a good chance they did their own fluid changes.
-He can probably find a newer bike with fewer miles for a similar price
-He is going to have a bitch of a time re-selling it
-The odometer is only going to go up turning lots of people away
-Its already 12 years old, it ain't getting any newer
-Difficult to get financing on a bike that old if the buyer after him would need
-Is it carb'd or injected? Seems lots of people here don't like the MM injection
-He should not be paying more than $6k for that bike, $7k at the absolute most, if the seller is asking more than that, I'd walk.
-If you get the VIN, a dealer should still be able to pull any service records for it. Of course, whoever owned it, rode it and there is a good chance they did their own fluid changes.
Last edited by carrmat; Sep 30, 2012 at 08:39 PM. Reason: formatting didn't take
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Verdad Gallardo
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,717
Likes: 35
My brother has been itching to get a new bike because with his wife riding with him a lot the kawasaki he has isn't to his liking. Today I went with him to go look at a 01road king and it was a beauty. The odometer had I think 50kmiles on it. Is that a lot of miles for an 88 ci? I know some people on here put a lot of miles on their bikes but I was just asking for things to look for as far as problems or issues. The bike was garage kept and was real clean. Any insight is greatly appreciated.