[GabeBishop]

I'm currently looking at a 1999 bike that shows only slightly more than 9000 miles on it. It's a totally stock bike. Anyone know how I could tell if the odometer has been rolled back or replaced? Are there serial numbers to be matched up? Would there be telltale signs on speedo cables that a drill or dremel tool has been hooked and ran backwards? Would there be any safeguards on odometers that Kawasaki put in place for that year model? (I know this is a Honda forum, I just figured some of you guys might know)

This bike has a great price on it, but I don't want to get ripped off because I'm new to all this.
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Science.Dan]

Yeah I'd also like to know about this. I bought an 84 honda shadow vt700c with only 23k on it. I thought it was a great deal cause of the lower mileage considering how old it was, but I've been starting to think the mileage is not accurate considering some of the wear on the parts that I've replaced.

 

[tazman9]

It's not real unusual for a bike to only get 800- 1,000 a year. Sad, but many people buy thinking they will ride more than they do. Many bikes are also a year or 2 old when they leave the dealers floor. The difference in price on a 1999 bike with 9k versus 20k is very minimal. Not saying it hasn't been done, but not very likely either, IMO.

 

[Old Dad]

we have a new member here, I believe from maine, think her bike was 16yrs old when she bought it,,it had less than 1000 miles on it..

I don't think odo tampering is a big a thing with bikes as it is with cars.

 

[dernp]

Not sure if you can do this in your area or not but it should be investigated.

Get in touch with your DMV and provide them with the licence plate # and/or the vin # of the bike. In my area, the miles (km) have to be recorded every year the licence sticker is renewed. If there is consistency, then chances are it is accurate. If there's been a roll back, you should be able to see it too.

Worth a shot.

 

[Skunk]

Bought my Dad's 94 Shadow from him a few months ago and it only had 4300 miles on it. He simply drove it back and forth to his work during the summers which was only 4 or 5 miles from his house. His longest ride on it was 20 miles to the dealer and then back home. That's all he wanted it for, some folks just don't ride them that much or that far. Since I bought the bike I've already added 2000 miles to it.

 

[Kingshead]

My bike was 9yrs old when I purchased it with only 3700miles on the clock. It's not hard to tamper with the odometer but highly unlikely as others have said, "Low mileage is the norm, not the rare case."

 

[1rusty1]

It’s not unusual. I see a lot of older bike for sale with really low miles. I bought my 83 this spring and it had just under 7k on it (28 years old).

 

[joekool4]

it's not hard to change it back or replace it but why waste your time. if you have low miles on an older bike it usually means it sat for awhile usually without proper storage preparation.

 

[ernie12b]

one of my bikes had the speedo replaced after a crash smashed the old one. went from 33,000 miles to 17.000 but the title had the mileage on it so when i titled it i had them zero the miles since my bike was over 25 years old and at that age they don't care

 

[vukhoa_le]

one of my bikes had the speedo replaced after a crash smashed the old one. went from 33,000 miles to 17.000 but the title had the mileage on it so when i titled it i had them zero the miles since my bike was over 25 years old and at that age they don't care

Yah, I believe the title application at DMV has the part you can check as " is not the actual milegae" or " Milegage exceeds the Odometer mechanical limit", so you dont need to worry about getting trouble when you do title.
Back to the question, I think they can roll it back with the drill, but it really wastes time to do. I might not care about the mileage if the bike runs great and strong or engine got no problem. Especially, you told it's cheap.