A client of mine stopped by my office to show me his old bike. He bought it new in early 83. It has just over 50,000 miles on it and it looks new. He asked if I wanted to buy it as he knew I liked motorcycles. He wouldn't give me a price, told me to make a offer. I told him I'd think about it and let him know. Thoughts?

 

make a offer, that's what he said.

 

Those are great bikes! Make an offer, you won't regret it.
WF

 

Had one regret ever letting it go, seen them sell as little as $3500 up to $7500 or more if clean stock and unmolested.

 

And the upper price is just that...CLEAN, STOCK AND UNMOLESTED. Lotsa folks claim to have "stock" bikes, but when you take a serious look you suddenly find aftermarket Tawain Ted $hit all over it, chrome that shouldn't be, mods that never were from MoCo.

If you/he are serious, take someone with you that knows Shovels and someone who is very familiar with FXR model Shovels.

Take pictures, lots of them from several different angles, post them here and you will (for the most part) get an honest assessmnet. Just know that when a price is offered there will be some troll who claims he can get it cheaper.

Ask for receipts. At 50K he should have a bunch for maintenance done. Got 64K out of the top end of my 84 FLH before doing a freshen up. Still haven't split the cases or had to redo the tranny. Of course I do not hot-dog it nor did the original owner (I am 2nd owner). So at 50K you are just about in need.

 

I'd give it some lookin'....and toss an offer if you'd like a rarer model that is quickly (already has actually) becoming a collectors model.

 

That's a very significant bike in Harley's history and one of the keys to HD's comeback. First model year of an FX Rubber mount, 5-speed shovel in a brand new frame at the time. That '82 should have a winged bar and shield on the tip of front fender to note the first model year after the company buy back from AMF. I bought an '83 FXRS new ....and same old story as some others, wish I hadn't sold her. That '82 FXR should be a fun bike to ride.

edit: Since he's a client that makes things a little different. If the client thing isn't an issue, I'd offer $3500 and go from there. I'd say anything up to $8000 and you could sell it and get your money back easy if you wanted.

 

Man the FXR is a ridiculously awesome bike. They don't make them like that anymore. I would love to add one to the garage. I say buy it, but it's not my money.

 

Didn't '82 have that goofy lifter block oiler setup?

 

Panz pretty much nailed it. FXRs are great bikes as long as they haven't been dicked around with. Although a lot of the parts from that year are interchangeable with other FXRs and some Sportsters, they are on the verge of becoming a classic and therefore some people (Elvis) are asking ridiculous prices for some parts. It's going to be tough to find an unmolested bike that's better than 30 years old but they do exist. As Panz said, post some pictures if you can and we will be able to give you a more informed decision.