‘It’s had 25 oil changes!’

Chris Faulks’ GSX-R1000 has 90,000 miles on the clock and is still going strong

WHEN I BOUGHT the Suzuki in 2008, it had racked-up 3400 miles and I never thought that ten years later, I’d be looking at hitting 100,000 miles on it. But the truth is, I’ve never been able to find another bike that can do everything I need. The plan was to put 10,000 miles on it and then move it on before the value fell out of it but I just kept going and then decided the best course of action was to keep it.

“The key to clocking up the miles has been constant use — the most I’ve done in a day has been 400 miles to Belgium. I’ve just used it — and it hasn’t let me down. Stuff has worn out though, as you’d expect.

“The engine has been bulletproof — I’ve had the oil changed at 3500 miles as per the service intervals, meaning the bike has had about 25 oil changes. The valves only needed adjusting once, at 40,000 miles, though. Now with the bike at 90,000 miles it still doesn’t use any oil and is as quiet as it ever was. It makes 163bhp on the dyno with Arrow exhausts and an ECU re-flash.

“However, I’m on my third ECU — this is one of the major weak points of the GSX-R — the pins break. It can be very expensive if you buy a new one but having bought a used one after the first failure, I found a company that could repair the ECU and re-program the keys for £200.”

“The bike still handles well — I had MCT refresh the suspension at 50,000 miles as the damping was shot and I got them to refresh the forks at the same time. It was a huge improvement. We found that there was wear on the linkage dog-bones, which aren’t a service item, so that was useful.

“My first set of discs lasted 70,000 miles but I’ve just replaced another disc as it had suffered from bobbin wear. I always go for OE discs – they tend to last well.

“The finish has held up really well (I clean it with Vulcanet wipes) and the problem is that I can’t think of anything to replace it with — I tried a new GSX-R1000 and the Aprilia RSV4 last year and they were just too lairy — this is a much better all-rounder. I ride with a mate who has a 70,000-mile original R1. People shouldn’t be afraid of high-mileage bikes. Look after them and they will look after you.”

Bike 2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 Total miles 90,521 Rider Chris Faulks Age 57 Miles per year 10,000 “My chain and sprockets last 40,000 miles. The secret? Clean with paraffin and increase speed gently to warm up chain when cold.” “I’ve had the SET exhaust valve seize twice. In the end, I gave up and fitted a de-cat pipe which saved weight and gave more midrange.” “Bridgestone BT-023S work well. A front lasts 11,000 miles and a rear 6000 miles. They’re cheap too: £230 fitted.”