This has nothing to do with any particular problem or issue Just wondering why these awesome machines from the late 60s and early seventies when times were good the world was ours we only put a few thousand miles on them? most of the bikes I've seen from the day have failed to trip the 5th digit on the odometer including my fully restored 1972 yamaha rt2 that had only had two thousand eight miles logged.Just curious as to others thoughts.

Half the owners went away to college, half went to work, and another half went off to Vietnam. Next thing you know, they're all marrying women dead set against outlaw bikers, even though an outlaw biker would not have been caught dead on a Yammie like these.
Myself personally, I made a deliberate decision not to ride after 1972 when I chose to be a professional violinist. I could not afford to break, bend, deform, or otherwise transplant anything in a fall or an accident.

We actually have a thread on that, hopefully see more feedback with high miles. Last year I picked up an AT2 with ~23k on it and 1st overbore. I didn't grow up with them but my first bike since being a kid was CT2 with ~2800 miles on it and now she is less than twenty miles from 6k, curious to see how many I can get on it...the WR250R is hindering that though.

www.yamaha-enduros.com/index.php/forums/...ration-enduro-thread

Well, for a trans atlantic comparison regarding mileage, the US folks could afford to buy cars when they were young, whereas a lot of us Brits couldn't. 

Any low mileage trail bikes down here would be because the speedo drive seized up or the cable broke early on from running knee deep in mud & water. So probably done 10 fold in reality.

Where I grew up, a lot of them had the gauges and lights removed when nearly new... 

But probably more important was things were just "different" back then.  Speeds were slower and I think we had a different sense of distance.  We'd travel to the new shopping mall in the next town maybe once a month...  it was a big deal to go that far.  I looked it up and the mall was only 10 miles away. Sure seemed like a long way a few decades ago. The nearest grocery store (other than a gas station mini mart) is 7 miles from where I live right now and it doesn't seem very far away. 

This really hit me a couple of years ago when I was visiting my parents.  It got late and I had a hotel room on the other side of town.  I remember saying and thinking I was tired and still had to drive "all the way across town".  Actually the "town" is now a much bigger city than it was when I was a kid but the hotel was where what used to be the far east side of town about a block from the old Mike Patrick Yamaha dealer...  turned on the GPS and it was only two miles away!  

It's two miles to the nearest gas station and CVS pharmacy where I live now.  And they seem really close by.  Perceptions and travel habits have definitely changed.