How Many Miles Does A Harley Davidson Last? Some Factors Of Longevity

You may know that motorcycle engines experience bad conditions, overheating, and also vibration more often than car engines. Also, motorcycle frames may rust and this will lead to big problems. So, bikes don't last as long as cars. But you also may know some owners of Harley Davidson motorcycles who have been using their bikes for well over 20 years or even more.

The question of the longevity of the Harley Davidson motorcycles is not that simple. What do we mean by longevity? How does a person maintain his or her bike? What climate is around for most parts of the year? Dozens of other questions can be added here to make the answer to the initial one even harder to be formed.

Here's what we are going to tell you today:

1. Longevity question for Harley Davidson bikes - why is it so different?
2. Engine and all main parts in HD motorcycles.
3. Frame, rusting, suspension, and other problems in Harley Davidsons.
4. How to understand that your Harley Davidson is already dying?
5. Can you get your HD motorcycle back to life?

Let's get started!

What's the longevity of your Harley Davidson?

At first, we want to clear the term. In some sources, you may find that the longevity of the motorcycles by Harley Davidson is around 70 000 miles and up to 100 000 miles. But some forums will tell you that people easily ride 150 000 and even 200 000 miles on their bikes. What's the problem with this difference?

Experts say that the longevity of a vehicle of any type should be counted in terms of the point when it's not rational to ride or drive this vehicle. So, the engine starts malfunctioning, the transmission needs repair, rust starts killing the frame or body, etc. In this case, it's cheaper to buy a new motorcycle than to repair the old one.

But other guys love their motorcycles and they are ready to invest money into them. So, the longevity of a Harley Davidson, according to the first point of view is somewhere near 75 000 miles. But according to the second point of view, Harley Davidson can go up to 250 000 miles. This is the maximum mileage we've seen.

How many years can you ride your Harley Davidson?

Well, on average a person can ride a motorcycle about 4000 miles a year. But we don't like these average figures. The average estimate means that one person rides 30 000 miles a year while 7 other people ride only 1000 miles a year. On average, they will still ride about 4000 miles a year each. So when we are talking about the longevity of the legendary motorcycles, average figures are not applicable.

And still, a Harley Davidson motorcycle is likely to be used at about 10 000 miles a year at maximum. This mileage includes quite a lot of intercity rides and nearly everyday riding in the city.

We know guys who use their bikes every single day and they still have these old classic Harleys from the 1990s. Their odometers show 200 000 miles and sometimes even more and they have been riding their Harleys for 25 years and more. But they have some secret, so we wouldn't say that Harleys can actually live that long.

Let's say, you can ride your new Harley Davidson motorcycle for about 10 to 12 years until it starts having bad problems and requiring an expensive repair. For these 10 to 12 years, you will highly likely ride about 70 000 to 100 000 miles, according to the average mileage.

Why do some people ride their bikes so long?

Harley Davidson has always been making quite good motorcycles. They are both durable and enjoyable, so people tend to buy them and ride for a long time without any wish to change them to new bikes. But time takes what belongs to it and any bike starts malfunctioning in some years of riding. Inevitably, the engine, transmission, frame, fuel injection system, the cooling system will start delivering more problems to you.

And here you come to the point where you have to answer one simple question: are you ready to invest money into your classic bike? And the answer is not always clear.

Here's what you have to think about:

• you will have to repaint the frame and rearrange the rust protection, otherwise, your bike will just rust down very fast;
• you will need to invest money into the engine - thorough repair is needed with changing piston rings and revising all the systems;
• you will have to replace a lot of small systems like fuel injection system and some parts of cooling system to keep it going;
• you will need to repair or even replace the transmission or at least the clutch because it's likely to be worn out;
• suspension parts will break - the problem is that original parts will cost you a fortune to buy and install;
• many other small parts will ask for replacement in the near future and you should be ready for this financially.

Repairing a Harley motorcycle is not that cheap. And financially it's very wise to sell your old bike, add some money, and buy a new one. But many Harley Davidson owners love their bikes and don't want any new motorcycles. In this case, you will need to prepare for expenses. When we talk about the maximum longevity of the HD motorcycles, they can go about 250 000 miles. But in the last 100 000 miles, you will be constantly investing money into your bike. And economically it's not wise at all.

Which Harley Davidson engines are the most durable?

We would consider Evolution (Evo) engines as the most durable and reliable in Harley Davidson history. But Twin Cam engines are also pretty good. You will not find them in new bikes, unfortunately, but they are wonderful in terms of longevity. Also, these engines can be rebuilt if needed. So you will be able to ride the bikes with these units about 250 000 miles with no critically big expenses.

They still have some common problems:

• cam chain problems are pretty often possible in Twin Cam engines and these troubles can destroy your unit;
• overheating is the most dangerous issue for Evo and Twin Cam engines, but Evo units suffer more;
• oil consumption can occur in both engines, you will need to repair the engine, to change the piston rings or valve seals;
• fuel supply problems are common, especially in older Evo engines with poor technologies and big mileage.

But we can say that these engines are very durable and they have rarely shown any big problems. Even if you need to thoroughly repair the engine, you understand it's because of the mileage or because of the poor maintenance.

If you are looking for a used Harley Davidson motorcycle, you may choose the one with Evo or Twin Cam engines - they are both very good and reliable and they don't need any expensive repairs.

How to prolong the life of your Harley Davidson?

Everyone wants to use his or her favorite things longer. So why not learn some rules that will help you get the pleasure of your Harley Davidson motorcycle for years without the need to invest a lot of money into it?

Here are some tips that will assist you in this:

1. Always use original oil or at least a specially prepared motorcycle engine oil. This will help you save the engine from extensive wear and ensure its long life.
2. Pay attention to the cooling system. In most cases, Harley Davidson engines start breaking because of overheating.
3. Look at the frame parts from time to time and try to figure out if they are OK or they need some additional rust protection.
4. Register the fuel consumption changes. If your Harley burns more fuel, you should check the fuel supply system and the engine.
5. Be careful with any minor breakdowns. They may be just the start of your problems, so repair your bike as soon as required.
6. Follow all kinds of service requirements that are given by the producer. This way, you will ensure the longest possible life of your motorcycle.

Everyone makes their own choice. You may forget about oil change and ride your bike for 30 000 miles or you may stick to the service requirements and ride it for 150 000 miles with no major problems. But anyway, bikes are not as durable as cars. They will rust faster and their engines will start showing problems sooner.

Final words

We know that Harley Davidson bikes are apparently one of the best options on the market. They have their own class and type of bikes and they are the leaders in this class. Also, now we know that Harley Davidson motorcycles are very durable and you can ride them for a very long time. An average bike of this company will easily go 70 000 to 100 000 miles with no problems at all. And some of them will even go 250 000 miles with only some expenses for engine and transmission repair.