25 Years 650,000 Miles

[TPadden]

I've been riding for about 60 years now. A certain Black Pearl pilot has asked me on several occasions to add up my annual mileage and I've not done it. I do keep track of my oil changes though. When I looked at my records for the last 25 years, what amazed me is not that I've riden over 650,000 miles during that period but that I've bought 15 new bikes in those years.

Tom

Bikes and last oil change:

• 1998 Valk .....................59,000
• 2000 K1200LT ............104,000
• 2004 R1150RS .............51,000
• 2006 ST1300 ...............48,000
• 2007 F800 ....................32,000
• 2007 K1200R ...............18,000
• 2007 Multistrada ...........41,000
• 2008 Sprint ..................26,000
• 2010 K1300GT .............35,000
• 2013 MV .......................12,000
• 2013 Triumph Exp ........62,000
• 2015 RT ........................51,000
• 2016 RS ........................29,000
• 2018 K1600B ................55,000
• 2020 RT ........................36,000

 

[W0QNX]

Well darn that there is a lot of miles on 2 wheels!

 

[TPadden]

Well darn that there is a lot of miles on 2 wheels!

... but you have that on 2 or 3 bikes.

Tom

 

[Sadlsor]

... but you have that on 2 or 3 bikes.

Tom

I just don't know what you have against BMWs and Hondas.

 

[Igofar]

I’ve been riding almost that long, and last time I added stuff up, I’ve ridden over 100,000.00 miles or more on several bikes, but then again, I think I’m on 68 or 69 bikes.
I’ve only had a handful of bikes that I put over 300,000 miles on. A Harley, a BMW, and a Honda pacific coast.
Wish I would have held on to some of them longer.
Outstanding job guys.

 

[Mellow]

That's some great mileage Tom, and just for the past 25 of 60 years...

This is just my 23rd year of riding so i got a late start, some years better than others and some bikes get ridden more than others.

96 Shadow 1100	2,000
99 Valkyrie	44,000
01 Wing	50,000
03 ST1300	27,000
05 Wing	53,000
08 ST1300	59,000
12 Tenere	22,000
12 V-Strom	17,000
14 Tenere	47,000
19 Tracer	12,000
21 R1250RT	9,800
	342,800

 

[Erdoc48]

You guys embarrass me…with riding over 34 years or so, I don’t think I’ve ridden over 100,000 miles in total. I’ll go hang my head in shame now…anyway:

1984 V30 Magna…15000
1992 CB 750…. 6700 (never should have traded it)
2000 ST1100…. 45000
1994 ST1100…. 20000
2003 FSC600…. 2200 miles (so far)
2004 ST1300…. 2000 miles in Colorado so far

 

[Uncle Phil]

Good job Tom - or should I say Toms?
And was all of that mileage done with all the Toms or just some of the Toms?

I'm only at 573,000+ miles on 15 bikes (6 were rentals) for 50+ years of riding.
446,000+ miles of them are on ST1100s in 26 years (shooting for 1/2 million miles on ST1100s).
I hope to ride a lot longer!

 

[TPadden]

Good job Tom - or should I say Toms?
I'm only at 573,000+ miles on 15 bikes (6 were rentals) for 50+ years of riding.
446,000+ miles of them are on ST1100s in 26 years (shooting for 1/2 million miles on ST1100s).
I hope to ride a lot longer!

I don't know why but for those 25 years I'm missing my oil change data on 2 additional new bikes: my 2001 Yamaha FZ1 and 2003 Suzuki VStrom. They were good for at least another 50,000 miles, the STrom made an Alaska trip in 2004. Sooo... that makes 17 new bikes in 25 years for the "no brand loyalty" Toms'.

 

[Al st1100]

I've been riding for about 60 years now. A certain Black Pearl pilot has asked me on several occasions to add up my annual mileage and I've not done it. I do keep track of my oil changes though. When I looked at my records for the last 25 years, what amazed me is not that I've riden over 650,000 miles during that period but that I've bought 15 new bikes in those years.

Tom

Bikes and last oil change:

• 1998 Valk 59,000
• 2000 K1200LT 104,000
• 2004 R1150RS 51,000
• 2006 ST1300 48,000
• 2007 F800 32,000
• 2007 K1200R 18,000
• 2007 Multistrada 41,000
• 2008 Sprint 26,000
• 2010 K1300GT 35,000
• 2013 MV 12,000
• 2013 Triumph Exp 62,000
• 2015 RT 51,000
• 2016 RS 29,000
• 2018 K1600B 55,000
• 2020 RT 36,000

Come on Tom, Your selling yourself short. Numbers don't tell the whole story, That's 25 times around the world, 82 times from pole to pole. Now that sounds a lot better than 650,000 miles. And better yet, use kilometers for the foreigners ( no offence , or should I have used a pronoun there? ) on this site it's a whopping 1046073.6 kilometers. Anyway you put it, that's amazing!... Al

 

[W0QNX]

I don't know why but for those 25 years I'm missing my oil change data on 2 additional new bikes: my 2001 Yamaha FZ1 and 2003 Suzuki VStrom. They were good for at least another 50,000 miles, the STrom made an Alaska trip in 2004. Sooo... that makes 17 new bikes in 25 years for the "no brand loyalty" Toms'.

I don't see the baby Triumph I rode once.

 

[TPadden]

I don't see the baby Triumph I rode once.

Damn, 2016 Bonneville, again no oil change file, 18 and counting... now you know why I don't keep track of my annual mileage.

Tom

 

[Al st1100]

Damn, 2016 Bonneville, again no oil change file, 18 and counting... now you know why I don't keep track of my annual mileage.

Tom

How many nights in a tent??

 

[TPadden]

How many nights in a tent??

Easy answer, 4 this month.
Nope, make that 5!

3 nights Key West, 2 nights Labelle Fla, Ortona COE.

Tom

 

[Mellow]

@TPadden which bikes had you wished you kept? or wish you'd never bought to begin with? Favorite one for twisties, or touring?

 

[SupraSabre]

That's a great milestone Tom!

I find it interesting just how many miles folks put on their motorcycles.

My son, Justin, bought my 2005 from me back in 2013, and in almost 10 years, he has put on just over 16K miles.
Then there's my brother, Dave, that bought his 2005 ST1300, a month before I bought my 2005, and he has just over 50K.

With ST1300s, I have over 396,000 miles now. When I add my other bikes to that (266,500), I have around 662,500 miles!

Bob's Motorcycles over the years

 

[TPadden]

@TPadden which bikes had you wished you kept? or wish you'd never bought to begin with? Favorite one for twisties, or touring?

Easy answer, 2007 1100S Ducati Multistrada to all the above, if only it could have kept tight valve guides in it's head and the Acerbis plastic gas tank could handle ethenol. 41,000 fun miles and I really loved/ hated that great bike.

Tom

 

[bdalameda]

I tried to list out bikes and miles - I've been riding since about 1968 so that's about 55 years. I know I have had at least 80 motorcycles in those 55 years, not all ridden long distances. I'm guessing around 500K miles maybe some more.

 

[Stump]

you are truely the manly tourer! congratulations on all those miles you rode, all the places you've been to!

Amazing to me!

 

[mortenk]

Wow. I tend to keep my bikes for a while, and mostly use for commuting, so a much simpler list:
- XJ900 (1988 - 1993): 60,000 miles
- ST1100 (1993 - 1997): 40,000 miles
- ST1300 (2013 - 2018): 42,000 miles
- FJR1300 (2018 ->): 25,000 miles (COVID put a damper on things...)