Question about high mileage STs

Hello!

The longer I have my ST1100, the more I think I'll keep riding it until it quits on me. So, here is the question I was wondering about on the way to work today: For those of you who have taken their ST1100's beyond 150k, 175k, or even 200k miles, what was it exactly that made you retire the bike? The excitement of a new bike? Your ST totally quit on you? What was it? I am curious to hear from Uncle Phil, or anyone else.

Thanks!

Bikerdrumr
(just turned 72k miles today)

bikerdrumr said:

Hello!

For those of you who have taken their ST1100's beyond 150k, 175k, or even 200k miles, what was it exactly that made you retire the bike?(just turned 72k miles today)

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Nothing - I still ride all three of my ladies on a regular basis. The ST1100 does everything that I want a motorcycle to do and they are much more capable motorcycles than I am capable rider! I feel pretty confident I will wear out before I wear out 3 ST1100s.

I drive cars until they become 'inconvenient'. That is mostly when we perceive that repairs are becoming too frequent, but also includes appearance. This has been anywhere from 100,000 or so (four cars) to 185,000 miles (2 cars), the rest somewhere in between. One, an early MGA, was a weekend maintenance hog from day one. It was definitely cursed by the Lord of Darkness so I parted with it at just 33,000 miles.
Getting long winded again but our decision rule has a lot of variability, inconvenient maintenance intervals to ... 'just lost its sparkle'. Same decision process for retiring bikes.

I heard that Alex Schmitt has over 400K miles on his ST1100 now , I believe on the original engine. I can verify that he had about 225,000 miles on it when he finished the 2013 IBR.

There was a post that I saw recently about a guy with a Gold Wing that had over 500K miles on it. But he had a problem with alternators - he replaced it twice in only 500K miles - sometimes these Honda's are troublesome ......

I'm expecting to die before my ST1100 does. I have only a little over 80K miles on mine...............

Uncle Phil said:

I feel pretty confident I will wear out before I wear out 3 ST1100s.

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You will achieve that due to proper maintenance and TLC...
Fully neglected also an ST might grow to a troublesome vehicle... coolant leaks, seized callipers, etc... whilst already a little care brings endless miles of joy... MHO, YMMV...

bikerdrumr said:

So, here is the question I was wondering about on the way to work today: For those of you who have taken their ST1100's beyond 150k, 175k, or even 200k miles, what was it exactly that made you retire the bike?

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Considering the ST is so reliable, I believe the vast majority that retire them do so because they want something different or quit riding altogether, assuming the bike was taken care of. They'll pretty much outlast 99.9% of the riders out there, if taken care of. Alex does have over 400,000 miles on his but he's done a little work on it, as to be expected.

Whoever built that Alternator on those '91 ST1100s did an awesome job!!
My Original 28 Amp unit FINALLY started to wear out at 250K miles = RETIRED BIKE & On to the ST1300.
No Complaints - Got my moneys worth.
Just to add - Those are great stories about the Half Million Mile WING, & Alex's ST11 with 400K !

Not retired yet, and doubtful that I ever will or will need to. 25 years old and 186K miles, but I'd have no worries about taking it to the Arctic Circle tomorrow, again!

John

Jim Van said:

I heard that Alex Schmitt has over 400K miles on his ST1100 now , I believe on the original engine. I can verify that he had about 225,000 miles on it when he finished the 2013 IBR.

There was a post that I saw recently about a guy with a Gold Wing that had over 500K miles on it. But he had a problem with alternators - he replaced it twice in only 500K miles - sometimes these Honda's are troublesome ......

I'm expecting to die before my ST1100 does. I have only a little over 80K miles on mine...............

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Amazing. Truly. I ride with a lot of BMW guys and MANY of them have told me that they used to have a Honda ST. Several of them told me they had no trouble with them but "stepped up" to the bimmer. Again, several of them said they missed the reliability of the Hondas. So, why would I rush paying top dollar and buying a brand new sport touring bike when I could invest in a second bike of another class? Maybe a dual sport? A classic brit bike? Or!....even a clean, early 90's CBR?

There's a part of me that wants to dedicate my riding life to seeing how long I can keep the ST. As you guys said, it'll most likely outlive me.

Thanks!

Bought mine used with 93k miles on it for cheap. Has 173k on it now and no sign of stopping! I hope to get her to 200k. I believe that mine has the original clutch still in it!

Ive had my ST for coming on two years, I normally change my bike every couple of years, but I'm struggling to find any reason to, the bike does everything I need it to do and I've done all the expensive jobs like rear shock, welding the swing arm etc... my only thing that I don't like is the clutch never liked hydraulic, they just don't feel right to me.
So do I spend more on a newer bike or keep the ST its done 69k uk miles, I would like to have it re painted to give it a new feel as the original paint is a bit tired.

I know the bike will do another 50k plus easily so will probably stick with it, sorry if a bit off topic, just thinking out loud.
Chris

On my ST1300 that I had since 1,285 miles I found that the acceleration dropped off slightly after about 50,000 miles. I did not measure the initial or post 50,000 mile cylinder compression but rather noticed the drop off on accelerations - which I did a lot of on the highway - from fast to a lot faster. Not saying that is important but is was noticeable. That might be the only reason I would go to a newer bike but again is was a slight drop off.

I've owned two ST1300s. The first was an '05. It went down in a deer strike at about 80,000 on the OD. The day it died....it ran like the day I bought it. I replaced it with an '07. I have 95 plus 1000 miles on that bike. It's runs like the day I bought it....
The plastic on the '07 is a bit tired. Seems like I've been the victim of a lot of stone strikes. I've changed the fluids on schedule...or earlier on both bikes. I pay attention and really take care of the bikes.

I've just bought my 3rd ST1300A....an '09. I suspect it will be the last big bike I buy in my lifetime.

I'll have my '07 up for sale soon.

My 2 cents worth is that you need to look at a bike as collection of systems, each with a few replaceable wear items. For example in the engine you've got clutch friction plates, cam belts and water pumps, in the cooling system you have hoses, the radiator cap and thermostat, in the chassis the bearings, springs, damper and bushings, and in the brakes pistons and seals, plus a random collection of other rubber items. All of these are on top of the normal tyres, brake pads, filters and fluids that are regular maintenance items even on new bikes.

If you are mechanically inclined, none of these are expensive or difficult to replace and so you can cheaply keep an aging bike running nicely, but if you are reliant on shop labour then at some point the value of the work will exceed the value of the bike. The ST is an understressed engine design so things like the pistons, rings and bearings would have relatively easy life compared to a more highly-strung machine.