Hi All, my son is looking for a first bike and is considering a 98 EX250 with around 22,000 miles on it. Just wondering if thats alot for the 250 or not. Any other "high milers" out there, if so how many miles with no major troubles.
Thanks

 

High mileage on a motorcycle such as this would depend almost entirely on the previous owner(s) ability to maintain it. Mostly the oil changing is the critical thing to engine survival. General engine knowledge and to quote the dealer I bought it from "It'll last for as long as you decide to take care of it".

My basic maintenace items and at intervals:
#1 PRIORITY is oil change at the MOST every 3000 mi. (the 250 at 70 mph in 6th gear turns 8100 rpm). And ESPECIALLY after both break-in periods.
2) valve adjustment, they are most likely to get tight
3) carb synch
4) air filter cleaning - after about 800 mi of regular driving, or after a rainstorm or riding extremely dusty roads.
5) chain lubrication - when looking for the bike check to see how sharp the sprocket teeth are. If they look like shark teeth just walk away!

Also, it is important to know if the break-in was adhered to.

All this basically means is that if you ask the person you are buying this bike from about any of this stuff and get an "i-dunnoh" answer, then its probably not going to last long without work.

My own personal opinion, is that you need not set your sights so high in the mileage range because from my market research, there seems to be a point where the 250's stop depreciating and its somewhere between $13-2000 for bikes with miles between 9K-20K miles.

I can vouch for my 250 at @9400 miles that has run fantastic for every mile. I hope this helped!

 

I read somewhere about a guy that put on 88,000 miles on his 250 before the timing chain gave way. From everything else I ever read on the 250, it's engine should give you at least 40,000 trouble-free miles. I think most bike engines give out through lack of up-keep. It's not a car engine you know, you do have to put some extra time and effort into keeping everything up on your bike.

I your case, as long as the previous owner(s) took care of it, you'll be just fine.

 

Any other examples of how many miles on a NInja before a rebuild is needed?

 

I have 40,000 on my ZX10, and she still runs like new....Except for a couple of scratches....lol.

A buddy of mine put triple digits on his, until his tranny gave away. As long as you take care of her, she'll last just as long as that Toyota or whatever you're driving does.

The highest mileage 250 I have personally seen was an 1987, I think it was, with 60,000 on it. And that bike still runs. It's not by any means good looking, but she still runs good.

 

how much are you spending on the 98? you might just be able to find a newer model w/ lower miles cheaper

 

Yeah I bought my '04, 250 with 4k miles for $2K straight cash. I got a good deal. The bike runs perfect...no major blemishes and I LOVE IT!