Questions on 08 Aprilia sxv 550

Hey everyone,

New to the forums but long time lurker ahaha..

So, I've read quite a bit on the 550 had a few questions for some people who own/had one.

The bikes an 08 with 6,500 km on it which is around 4,000 miles. Buddy is asking $6,500 but its been up for a few months seems quite high compared to some of what people sell on here. ( wish i would find someone that would ship to me on here! )

I know about the maintenance but of course not everything, I'll be riding about 3 days maybe 4 max figured roughly plan to ride about 600km max a month so about 2 oil changes every month and a half or so depending how i ride.

I've read that you gotta replace the piston and that every 9,000km ( about 5,500 miles ) is this correct? I've seen one guys whole motor go boom with only 7,000km (4,300 miles) on it which that makes me step back a little..I'm not worried about the oil I'll just make that my weekend drinking chore ahaha. But possibly replacing a piston ext. every like 6km thats a bit much for me

Also I haven't read anything about gearing has anyone tried to change the gearing so the motor doesn't work so hard?

So, just wanted to get some info that I get to read from my own post about the bike before I pull the trigger! If anyone can let me know anything else about the bike personal experiences that would be perfect!