30K miles is pretty much it?

[goblin_dust]

It's a reliability question to those who had experience with high performance engines. How long should I expect the engine last before next rebuild?

Here is where I am coming from. I installed SE performance heads and pistons on my Sporty when it was almost new, about 2K miles. So, now another 33K miles passed I noticed crank pressure lost in front cylinder. After almost 3 weeks at service and engine rebuild the bike is back on the road.
But this is what bothers me. When I was picking up the bike I did ask what went wrong and why do they think my cylinders went bad that quickly. What they told me was that 30K or less is about what I should expect from cylinders with forged pistons, since these kind of pistons wear cylinders off much faster.
I am not a touring/cruiser type of rider, I like street bikes that are fun to ride. Yet, I want my scoot to last more than 30K miles. Should I now consider rice burner? How do they get away with more powerful engines? or they also last for about 30K before next engine rebuild?

[SpartanDen]

stock motor with 30k and no issues yet. I have seen or heard people getting anywhere from 20k to 100k on their engines. sometimes wonder about the higher mileage, but then everyone has different luck. I'm hoping a few more years before a rebuild.

[chardhin]

Would like to hear dan@nrhs's thoughts on this. Seems low milage for failure.

[sunchild2071]

A friend has a 99 883 with over 128,000k on it, it has never been apart. My 91 1200 has well over 100,000k on it, and has only been apart once (replace crank end, primary sprocket loosened and wore splines beyond repair).

As a general rule only (yes, many exceptions apply), as soon as you start getting away from stock configuration, reliability goes down. But 30,000 does seem low mileage for failure.

[CBAS5]

I am not a touring/cruiser type of rider, I like street bikes that are fun to ride. Yet, I want my scoot to last more than 30K miles. Should I now consider rice burner? How do they get away with more powerful engines? or they also last for about 30K before next engine rebuild?

I don't know too much about longevity of forged pistons, but for performance it depends on how much you want. I have 80 hp/ 80 tq with my stage 1 sportster and 40K miles on it. I think you could do a 85/85 or 90/90 build with harley parts and cleaning up a few things and still keep the reliability.

A stock/stage 1 buell would give you more performance over a sportster and probably last longer as would an xr1200.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. If it's 120+ hp, then you should get a high revving sport bike or a VRod.

[SuicideCharley]

Subscribed...curious.

SOme are unlucky and suffer failures but most major issues are owner induced. At least that's what I've been able to gather from my little experience.

[Geekster]

Subscribed, too. 30'000km on mine, running better than ever. I'm curious as where this thread is headed – did anyone mention the break-in voodoo yet?

[kowboi]

60,000+ miles on my 1200 and it runs like a champ.

[SuperTed]

30K doesn't sound right at all. I'm at 32K on the stock 1200 and she never misses a beat. I'd be interested to hear other's theories though...

[Rico 05R]

I've got 30k on my 05R, with cams, exhaust, Mikuni carb and a programmable ignition. Runs like a champ and uses no oil.