200.000 miles soit 321.869km en 8 ans !!! C'est ce qu'a annoncé ce 25 mars 2007 un américain de Wichita dont je vous livre le texte ci-dessous. 3 jeux de plaquettes (il doit pas freiner souvent), 3 câbles de compteur (seulement !), une soupape changée à 151.000km, 3 membranes de robinet d'essence, 3 jeux de roulements, joints spy de fourche changés à 264.000km.
Un autre lui a répondu que sa GTR de 86 avait tenu + de 267.000miles (430.000km).
Et après, on dit qu'une bécane fait peur au delà de 100.000km !?! Pas la GTR en tous cas... Pour l'heure, ma jeunette n'a que 118.000km et toutes ses facultés !
My ’99 Connie rolled past 200K miles today, at the end of a 4500 mile Spring
Break trip out west this week. Don’t have any secrets to share. Use Castrol
GTX 10W40 dino oil and either STP or Fram filters (‘cause that’s what they
sell where I dump my oil); change the oil every 5-8K miles, as I can get to
it. Check the valves about every 24-30K miles, now, but only actually
changed one the last time at about 94K, and then just to move it back to the
loose end of spec since I was already in there. I think I adjusted them at
600, 6K, 12K, 20K, 36K, 54K initially. Never had any out of spec, but always
moved them all to the loose end of spec each of those times. Probably
cleaned the air filter every 30K miles or so. Put a new battery in after 6
years just as insurance. It’s on its third set of brake pads, third
speedometer cable, third petcock repair (replaced the diaphragm the first
two times, the entire petcock the last time), and third set of wheel
bearings. Changed the brake and clutch fluid twice. Still have the original
antifreeze in it. Oh, and the fork seals needed replacing at 164K miles.
Can’t remember the last time I washed it with running water, but it gets
wiped off regularly.
Well, maybe there is one “secret”: I pretty much ride it like (pleasurable)
transportation and not a toy or an outlet for aggression. I’ve put almost
another 200K miles on a second bike during the same 7.5 years, so tire life
is a major concern. A modicum of throttle management goes a long ways toward
longer-lived rear tires; prolonged power train life is a nice correlative
effect. :-) I think it’s only been over 5K rpm twice, early in its life.
Yeah, that Big-K howl and pull above 6K were a rush, and the road does stand
straight up in front of you doing the ton, but as a general rule, not only
does persistent use like that ruin tires and perhaps the power train, it’s
hard to think of anything legal, sane, or safe I’d be doing in that upper
rpm range, anyway. And the valves don’t move much this way, either.
At this point I sound like that old joke where an old guy brags that he
never drank, never smoked, and never chased women and has lived to be 95,
where upon the other asks “Why?” I guess my real point is that my bike has
made it just fine through its first 200K with care that some of the more
anal posters might term nearly abusive, or at least neglectful. On the other
hand, I’m not stressing the bike much, so I’ve been able to get by with a
minimum of upkeep and repairs.
So, why am I thinking of an old Click-and-Clack show? Ray says “Yeah, that
Corolla is a well-built car. You’ll have no trouble getting 150,000 miles
out of her. Of course about then, you’ll want to destroy it with a sledge
hammer just so you can get something else.”
Not that I’d know what to do with a better bike, anyway…right? <grin>