I’ve had four ST1300s, first was a ’05 I bought new and put over 174K miles on it before selling it to one of my sons, and he is still riding it. The last three have all been wrecks. Two ‘04s and a 2010. My first ’04 was complete, just banged up pretty good - I've put about 37K on it in three years. My 2010 with ABS was missing 100% of the front plastic, including the speedometer - I've put about 34K on it in two years. The last, ’04, was in the worst shape. Even the forks were bad on it! And I have now put about 6K on it.
So with that little knowledge, here is my take on what to look for in a used bike.
First would be: What can you afford?
Then I would start looking for the newest, lowest mileage bike I could afford and then look at the condition of the bike in general. To me, the outside is just as important as the internals. The reason is, if they didn’t keep it up on the outside, I doubt if they did any better with the inside. (Yeah, I know, I’ll get some grief over that, but that how I look at them.)
Now, why do I say lowest mileage bike? These are great bikes, but there are some things I just don’t trust over age (that includes miles)! And these bikes are getting older…
Coolant Issues: These bikes are prone for coolant leaks. Most are found in the valley behind the thermostat housing and just require the clamps to be tightened. But, when you are talking a five to 10 year old bike, those hoses are starting to get old and hard (the more the miles, the harder they will be). Tightening those clamps could get you more leaks. Also, some of the ’04, ’05 & ‘06s had issues with their thermostat freezing open. Replacing that when replacing the hoses would be a good thing.
But once you replace those hoses, you should be fine.
Other issues are not as common.
Electric windshield going out, I’ve had two go out on two different bikes. The first one was caused from old age and trying to take a long trip, putting the screen up father than normal. The other, I had a wire (that I added) come in contact with the cables used to move the screen up and down. The first was replaced under warranty at 120K miles. The second I replaced myself since I had no warranty on that bike anyway.
Rear Flange Bearings are known to go out. You’ll know when they go bad when you change out your rear tire. I’ve had a couple other bearings go out too.
Waterpumps seem to go out at various times. I’m not sure what the lowest mileage bike to have a waterpump go out has been, but I had my ’05’s go out twice on me. First time around 50K and then again at 116K. My son still has it and it has around 185K on it now…plus or minus a 1K or 2K…
My ’04 #1’s waterpump went out at 67K, and is sitting on my lift waiting for me to get to it.
Left Headlight bulb….yeah, just keep an eye on it.
Locks and keys: While trying to adjust the gas tank lock, I had the key break in the lock. At the time the lock was not down on the tank, so I just replaced the lock. Others have had theirs keys break in the ignition lock. The stock keys can be weak.
Oil leaks: Some of these bikes develop oil leaks at the back of the motor, like my ‘04#1. I suspect the starter motor o-ring is leaking. I’m getting ready to replace all the oil seals and o-rings on this bike. Also, you might see oil leaking what looks to be from the head. It is just the inner valve cover seal leaking. They have a small space for the oil to leak out of the sparkplug area, so if your valve cover seal isn’t working properly, you’ll see some oil oozing down the engine.
The 5-way Tee… gets most when they aren’t looking. Just all of a sudden, the bike will run rough, and the FI light will come on. If you can get a code, it is usually the Map Sensor showing to be bad. There is a 5-way tee connected to it and that 5-way tee gets plugged up. Unplug it and you are good to go!
Anyway, good luck on your search!
