Japanese reliability.......

[Seeker 77]

One of these bike purchases has been an unmitigated disaster. Which one though? The solid Japanese 12 year old thoroughbred or the 16 year old Italian with dodgy electrics.......

There's a clue in that the broken one is only half dressed!

[popkat]

how many miles has each done ?




.

[Seeker 77]

23k on the 996, 37k on the GSXR

[MGoBlue]

Great post considering I recently bought my first Duc ;)

[vtwin goody]

the only real problem with early dukes was a sh.t battery that couldnt cope with the added electrics the race bike didn't have prob as realiable as most bikes now,really nice example you have there mate

[VTR Phoenix]

If you need a hand with the GSXR Mark give me a shout. I'm off for 2 weeks now.

[Seeker 77]

Cheers Paul, very kind of you to offer. Have just got some new starter clutch and idle gear covers to fit once they arrive

[Seeker 77]

I hope......

[VTRDark]

It's the one with the helmet on the handlebars next to the washing machine. Is that the parts washer.

[Seeker 77]

Just to assuage any concern, there's a bin behind the crate of Fosters.....

[Seeker 77]

It's the one with the helmet on the handlebars next to the washing machine. Is that the parts washer.

[Stratman]

Have Suzukis ever had a reputation for solid build and reliability?

[agentpineapple]

surely it will depend on the previous owners, a well cared for bike can do very high mileage without many problems, where as a poorly maintained low mileage bike can cost a fortune to put right. my friend owns a k9 gsxr 1000, bought it almost new, been tracked ever since, it's done the best part of 8000 track miles, and he's a dedicated track addict, fast group rider, with many trips to the ring, portimao, tracks in spain, and all over the uk. and his bike has been spot on, even after 3 or 4 big crashes.
the reason being mechanically speaking, he looks after the bike very well.
sounds like you're have some bad luck with the bike atm, best of luck with it in the future mate

[sirch345]

My Suzuki GS1000 had covered 67,000 miles when I sold her on, the only failure I had was when the rectifier, regulator and alternator needed replacing. For many years it was ridden all year round as well,

Chris.

[StormingHonda]

Some bikes come with manufacturers faults, that's is for sure, or even bad designs, but most bikes are reliable if they are cared for an maintenance kept up.

When bikes age they need a bit more TLC than a new bike, that's just how it is.

For instance Harley Davidson motorcycles have a reputation for not being reliable.

If it were a Harley from the AMF years I would agree, this was due to them being built cheap, and poorly designed, the EVO model changed that, and they have proved to be good reliable bikes, however they are aging now and need TLC, and to be honest, they are so simple, that they are easy bikes to work.

I have had three Harley's, all of which have been EVO's they have been reliable and service schedule is simple to say the least, and when they have broken down its been easy to fix.

The Japanese model has always been build a bike that will last ten years with hardly any problems, then sell them another brand new bike, this is where Japanese bike gain their solid reputation, but as we all know, not everyone can afford a new bike, and then you get the people ( especially in the 90's ) who would like to fiddle and stick on crap that broke or faded quickly, this is why a lot of people seek out ' standard ' examples, where people haven't hacked into looms, bolted on cheap rubbish or tried to ' trick ' the bike to much, and a history service almost guarantees a botcher hasn't carried out his own oil and filter change once a year and not much else.