Transcription
There's no denying that many motorcycles live much harder lives than the rest of the vehicles on the road. They're routinely ridden to redline; they're dropped; and they're stalled. But yet, there are certain bikes out there that reach unthinkable mileage without substantial engine work or rebuilding. Many bikes can bust 1 million dank caners without even breaking a sweat. While much of a motorcycle's longevity is a result of the owner—both in regards to the scrupulous nature of their maintenance schedule as well as their proclivity for squidly behavior—but despite this, there are some bikes that have just been unequivocably known to be downright unkillable. So, without further ado, let's talk about 10 ridiculously reliable motorcycles.
Speaking of unkillable, today's video is sponsored by our friends over at Rock Form. I'll tell you more about them later in the show. Let's get into it.
Honda has, by and far, become the poster child of reliability for the last 60-odd years, and it is not without good reason. From their motorcycles, scooters, cars, outboard motors, and lawn equipment, Honda machinery just works forever. Honda has people riding their motorcycles in every part of the world, in varying applications, amidst questionable infrastructure, and yet they just keep on running forever with minimal maintenance.
When you think of ultra-reliable motorcycles, you usually think of ridiculously simple, low-revving, small-displacement machines that are overbuilt for their low-stress applications. But the first bike on the list today is actually a sportbike: the Honda CBR 600 F4i, launched in the early 2000s. This motorcycle aimed to build upon the success of Honda's previous 600-class models while introducing innovations to meet the evolving demands of Y2K sportbike chads around the world. The 600cc 4-cylinder engine underwent improvements over their previous 600cc models to deliver a potent combination of horsepower and torque, making 110 horsepower and 46 claimed torques. The Honda CBR 600 F4i received widespread acclaim from riders upon its release. Its well-balanced performance, user-friendly handling, and comfortable ergonomics made it an attractive option for a broad range of riders. The fast-boy community appreciated the CBR 600 F4i for its versatility, capable of dominating track days while remaining comfortable enough for extended rides on the road. Reliability has long been a hallmark of Honda motorcycles, and the CBR 600 F4i is no exception. The four-cylinder engine, coupled with Honda's overachievement in quality manufacturing, resulted in a bike known for its dependability. Regular maintenance and care have proven to extend the longevity of the CBR F4i, and many riders have attested to its durability over years of ownership.
The next bike on our list is the humble Ninja 250R. Before the Ninja 400 became the gold standard for entry-level sportbikes, the 250 paved the way for burgeoning street squids around the world. The Ninja 250 allowed even the least experienced riders to dawn the Ninja livery and pretend they were Tom Cruise while ripping at a modest 65 mph when pinned in fifth gear. Introduced in the late 1980s, the Ninja 250R was designed to provide an accessible and engaging experience for novice riders while maintaining the sporty aesthetics synonymous with the Ninja brand. The bike's lightweight chassis and nimble handling contributed to its reputation as an ideal platform for learning and mastering riding skills. One of the Ninja 250R's standout features has been its general reliability. The bike's parallel-twin engine strikes a balance between usability and efficiency, contributing to its reliability and ease of maintenance—even if it is a little ugly and 80s-looking. The public reception of the 250R was overwhelmingly positive, establishing it as a perennial favorite among baby squids of years past. Its stylish sportbike appearance, inspired by its larger Ninja siblings of the time, appealed to riders seeking a visually appealing machine without compromising on user-friendly features. The 250R made way for the Ninja 300, 400, and the soon-to-be 500, which, in my opinion, we should have just stopped at the 400—that's the best one.
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All right, listen, if we're talking about unkillable bikes, some sport-touring bikes may come to mind. If there was ever a bike that was built with reliability at the forefront of design, it is one that is meant to be ridden for hundreds of miles at a time. A touring motorcycle that's known for being practically unkillable is the FJR 1300. This bike's been in production since 2001 in its current trim, and it still stands as the current FJR model, having evolved from the FJR 1200 and 1100 that had been touring stables since the mid-80s. The FJR 1300 has a big-blockin' 1298cc 4-cylinder engine that's been tuned to make usable and sustainable power. 140 ponies might not sound like a lot when you consider the magnitude of this bike, but that just means Yamaha didn't have to squeeze every last drop of juice out of this power plant; it's stressed and built to last. This bike's been in production for over 20 years, and Yamaha's made continuous improvements and advances that further the durability of this machine. Ask any sport-touring dad on bike night about the FJR 1300, and they'll all have a buddy that rides one with over 150,000 miles.
When talking about reliable motorcycles, it is impossible to not mention the Honda Gold Wing. Honda created the gold standard for touring motorcycles in its 50 years of continuous evolution. There are plenty of accounts of Gold Wings with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. There's even the 1 million-mile Gold Wing, which is impressive regardless of it having the SWA three times in those 1 million miles.
A motorcycle that has been easily eclipsed by the Gold Wing in the discussion of reliability is the Honda Valkyrie. The Valkyrie was originally produced for just six short years, from 1997 to 2003, though it was briefly reintroduced for the 2014 and 15 model years before being discontinued entirely. The Honda Valkyrie made its debut as a variant of the Honda GL 1500 Gold Wing. The Valkyrie, however, was reimagined as a power cruiser, featuring a stripped-down style emphasizing the massive 1520cc flat-6 engine. This engine, derived from the Gold Wing, was modified slightly to give the Valkyrie a slight bump in power. Even though the Valkyrie didn't have as many creature comforts as the Wing, it still used the same power plant and is equally as reliable.
Another motorcycle with a reputation for reliability is the Kawasaki KLR 650. If you want a motorcycle to last a long time, gravitating towards simplicity usually works well in the bike's favor, and the KLR 650 is about as simple as it gets. The earliest KLR models debuted in 1987 and were only one generation detached from animal-powered farm implements built for the same purpose prior to this bike. And despite its archaic utility, the first-generation KLR remained largely unchanged until 2007, and frankly, even brand-new motorcycle models are relatively true to the original design, although they are now fuel-injected. The KLR 650 uses a 652cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine that makes about 35 horsepower and 35 ft-lbs of torque. I feel like when the torque and the horsepower figures for an engine are nearly identical, that usually means it's going to be pretty darn unkillable. The KLR 650 is so dependable, the US military has used them in many applications, often times even modifying the units to be using diesel fuels. The KLR is a motorcycle that should have been bred out of Kawasaki's lineup many times over, but due to its reliable workhorse nature and grandfathered emissions, it's managed to stick around for almost 40 years.
And while the reign of the SV 650 is coming to an end as the influx of parallel-twin middleweight naked bikes shift the paradigm of the naked roadster, it still stands as a motorcycle that has stayed relevant far longer than you'd imagine possible. The eternal allure of the SV650 is, in part, due to the dependability of the platform. You can find a 6-owner SV650 with 35,000 miles that still runs like a top. These bikes are pretty darn approachable given their stature, though a bit more powerful than a traditional beginner bike. So, as a result, many an SV 650 gets bought as a first motorcycle and then crashed, or dropped, or rebuilt and turned into varying degrees of wretched custom monstrosities. The SV650 makes 75 horsepower and 47 ft-lbs of torque with a 645cc liquid-cooled V2 engine. Suzuki might not be anywhere near close to making the most progressive or boundary-pushing motorcycle, but the bikes work as intended. The SV650 can't be pushed hard at the racetrack or just used around town without fail. When SV650s ultimately die, it usually comes down to user error, like they ran it for 5,000 miles on that oil or accidentally dropped it into a car shredder.
The Harley-Davidson Evo Sportster has always been hailed as one of the most reliable motorcycles ever made as well. I know, a Harley, come on, Y'really? That is because it's so darn simple in its design and was built for nearly 50 years and either the 88, 83, or the 1200cc engine configuration. Both engines are incredibly unstressed; they rev as low as a V8 truck and make between 45-60 horsepower. These engines are so under-stressed that Harley-Davidson would sell you thousands of dollars worth of parts to make 25% more horsepower and still keep your warranty intact. They aren't even liquid-cooled, and there are whole message boards describing trying to figure out if the oil temperature at which an Evo Sportster overheats to the point of causing damage, and the consensus is that no one's managed to find said temperature yet. These bikes are not powerful, or modern, or lightweight, but if you change the oil every so often and don't do anything stupid, it can feasibly run forever. They don't even need valve adjustments.
Since the Evo Sportster is no longer around, the air-cooled Royal Enfield models offer some of the same ridiculously simple, air-cooled reliability. Royal Enfield motorcycles are super popular in India, where they're produced, where they're ridden on rough roads day in and day out. So their low-maintenance requirements and ease of use make them pretty darn reliable as well. The only reason they don't get a dedicated spot on the list is because some of the other cheaper components in the bike may not stand the test of time as well as the engines themselves.
Another class of motorcycle that is notorious for its unending desire to serve the rider for thousands and thousands of miles is the humble dual-sport. Dual-sport motorcycles are, again, praised for their bulletproof simplicity. Can you see a trend here? So if a dual-sport motorcycle is super reliable, a dual-sport from Honda must be the pinnacle of build quality. Before the current entry-level dual-sport in their model lineup, the CRF300L, there was the CRF250L. This bike was sold from 2012 until it was overshadowed by the 300 in 2020. It had a liquid-cooled 250cc single-cylinder engine that made 25 horsepower and 17 ft-lbs of torque. Utilitarian in its ethos, it had everything you need and nothing you don't. It was fuel-injected, had a neutral riding position, and all the necessary DOT lighting equipment. Using an engine from the CBR250R streetbike, these bikes can run forever with minimal wear to start, in contrast to a dedicated trail or race dirt bike with short service intervals. It is not uncommon to see people still going on post-apocalyptic adventures on their 250Ls with nearly 40,000 miles on the clock.
Aside from sport-touring machines, adventure bikes also necessitate bulletproof power plants with lax service intervals. If you're going to be riding from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, you can't be stopping to adjust your valves midway through. A motorcycle that's been known to roll ungodly numbers across the odometer is the BMW 1200GS. Just as the Sportster engine will run forever because of its primitive design, built with modern materials and craftsmanship, the 1200 GS is also using an archaic engine design that manages to exude functional simplicity. This adventure machine was manufactured from 2004 until 2019; it was then replaced by the 1250GS. Though, for our purposes of highlighting reliability, the models sold prior to 2013 that were strictly air and oil-cooled have been the benchmark for simplistic longevity, as were the 1150GS bikes that came prior. These air-cooled 1170cc boxer engines make 110 horsepower and 90 ft-lbs of torque, which further adds to the theory that the closer the horsepower and torque figures are, the more reliable of an engine you'll get. In 2006 and 7, the 1200 GS was the best-selling motorcycle from BMW and the most popular motorcycle sold in the UK. These bikes are essentially responsible for creating the adventure-touring category, and they've proven pretty darn reliable.
The last motorcycle on the list today is the Honda Super Cub. It is potentially considered to be a scooter by some, but it has an engine and two wheels, so it makes the list for today. The Super Cub was designed by Honda to be ridden endlessly in dense urban areas in the worst conditions possible. It is the best-selling vehicle in the world at over 100 million units—so not just the best-selling motorcycle, but the best-selling vehicle in general. The Super Cub isn't anywhere near the fastest or most capable, but at well over 100 mpg and a bulletproof engine based on 70 years of manufacturing history, the Super Cub is about as reliable as it gets on two wheels.
Thanks for making it to the end of the video. I hope you enjoyed this one. If you like these videos, be sure to subscribe so you can always catch the latest content. Thank you again to Rock Form for the support. I'll catch you in the next one.
Fact: In the 19th century, the famous American showman P.T. Barnum exhibited what he claimed to be the remains of a mermaid. The Fiji Mermaid was presented as a mythical creature, but it was actually a hoax created by sewing the upper body of a monkey onto the tail of a fish. Goodbye. Keep watching YY [Applause] n