How long do they last?

steell wrote:

If you check the posts by Ronkz650 you'll find at least a couple where he mentioned the KZ650 that he has ridden around 160,000 miles.

If there were anything to look out for on the KZ650's, then he'd know what it is.

The KZ650's are generally known as nimble good handling bikes.

Ditto on that and what all the others here have stated. I bought my SR650 3 years ago. It had only 5820 miles on it and apparently had sat for quite awhile. However, after close inspection I saw no major or impending issues with the condition of the bike (which was in VERY good shape). In the last 3 summers my wife and I have put nearly 20K miles more on it (just turned aver 25,000 miles last night) without major problems.
I think this is a good price and probably well worth the money. As a side note about the CX500...in 1982 I rode with a guy across country, me on an old Harley, he on a CX500. I must say his bike was reliable and went from Detroit to Seattle w/o any problems. I always liked the CX500, kinda reminds me of a Moto Guzzi. My friend kept his CX500 for many years, selling it only recently with 132,000 miles on it. The only 'major' problems he had with it was a new water pump every ~30K miles or so. Thats it! Seems like the CX500 is a fairly good motorcycle too (despite the good-natured comments here about Hondas).
If I were you I'd keep the CX until you're sure you're sure which bike you prefer.
That's my 1% for the day.
Good luck!

I've got the one with 167,000 miles. Went from 30,000 miles to 165,000 without a rebuild and wasn't even tired :laugh: Well, it was pretty tired but still ran pretty good. Also have one I bought for $150 that had 25,000 miles on it and now has 61,000. Not bad for $150. The main problem with KZ650 is oil leaks. They use exactly 324 rubber orings in the engine (well not exactly, but A LOT), and they will all leak. Not from sitting, a engine that has sat will not leak. It comes from heat more than age. So low miles will generally not leak, high miles will leak proportionally to how much heat the orings have been exposed to for how long. OK, strickly MY OPINION, others claim sitting makes the rubber leak and that is apparently true, but in my 47 yrs of age I have not once ever had a leak from letting an engine sit idle, and I have several KZs that sit anywhere from 2 to 10 years between rides with never a leak. The high mileage ones are another story.

I've owned my 650 for 30 years and 152,000 miles.

I have heard that the engines are incredibly durable.

It seems that a common problem is dirty carbs (go figure) and tired wiring.

44,000 miles and going strong.

Handles like a log compared to new bikes, but fairly well compared to older bikes.

Mine is starting the season with 32k+ and by the end of the year it should be about 40k. These engines are solid.

I've owned mine since new - April, 1977. With over 46K miles, it still runs like a champ. I've had no problems I couldn't easily fix myself.

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I have a 79 Honda CX500 Deluxe and a 79 Kawasaki 650SR. I'm keeping both. The Honda has vintage plates and is very cheap to insure.
As for riding they are two different rides. The SR is very responsive and light; more like a crotch rocket with a better seating position. The CX has a big cruiser feel. It's not meant for get up and go or throw it into the corners. Its a comfy gentleman's ride.
But I like them both.

My mechanic says he has 81,000 miles on his bike. He drops the oil every 1500 miles and says that you have to put good oil in the engine not the car oil that most of us including me like to use. He said that stuff burns and tears everything up in the bike including the timing chain rollers and all rubber inside.
I rode with him yesterday. That bike sounds great and doesn't smoke at all. He said it is a bit tired after all those years but it looks fabulous. He told me that he used to beat the bike like a red headed step child with freckles and buck teeth.

I'm at 40000 Miles, cam chain noise is the only real complaint.

My daily rider is at 102,000 miles. I would head out for a 3,000 mile trip tonight without hesitation, except for the fact that I need to earn a living by going to work in the morning. Mine is in the 2008 calendar for October.

I'm finally rebuilding my KZ750 (which is based on the 650) after an unknown number of miles. I traded a $50 guitar amp for this bike, then had to dig it out of the side of a sand dune in Amarillo. I have no idea how long it'd sat there, either, but the electrical system was a mess! A lot of the rubber had dried out, the battery had leaked all over the connectors, it was missing a seat, and I had to drag it through the sand because the wheels wouldn't roll.

After a lot of work, a few new parts and a lot of salvaged parts, I rode it around like this for several years. I never had to get inside the engine and it was very, very reliable!



I put a lot of miles on it, not sure how many since I've changed speedometers several times now, switching to cleaner ones with less weathering each time. I've been constantly tinkering with it over the years, switching to a GPz fork and making my own rearsets for better handling, a Kerker exhaust, Mikuni carbs, K&N filters, etc. Compared to other bikes, KZs are not only more fun to ride, they're also more fun (and easier) to work on!

When I finally decided to tear my motor down it was because of oil leaks. The motor ran great the day I tore into it! I found that the front cam chain guide had broken (as sometimes happens on high-mileage engines), but it never complained.

I'd planned to just change a couple gaskets and get back on the road, but one thing lead to another and now it looks like this:



Anyway, after owning (and wrenching on) various brands of bikes through the years I feel I can honestly say that you'll be much happier with a KZ!