Exited yesterday to at the thought of owning my first HD. I went to see this "03 Sportster with the hopes of buying it and bringing her home. The seller said the title was clean, and the bike in excellent condition, with only 2200 miles. You'd never tell from the photo he posted on Craigslist, but this thing was a pile of rust. It had obviously sat for some time in water. The wheels were rusted out, chrome peeling off the primary, swing arm rusted, bolts all rusted, forks pitted and corroded...
This is the second Sporty I've seen which is in this condition. The bikes must have been in Hurricane Sandy, and are still floating around on the second hand market.
I've been looking for my first HD since last Fall, but still no luck. My guess is these Sandy bikes are popping up not only on the East Coast.
I want an '03 Sporty, I'll have to keep looking.

 

Yeah always makes me laugh when I see something advertised that's 10 years old but the photos are the ones they took the day it was new.

 

With used sportsters you might have to up your price range. That was my problem. I spent a little more than I wanted, but got an awesome bike in great condition. I ended up about $800 over my budget, but it was well worth it. You'll score a deal, there's tons of sportsters around, especially 03's.

 

just curious why you want an 03 vs an 04 or newer?? is it the 100th edition? I have a 100th wide glide, lots of nice touches on the bike for the 100th..


plenty of 01's & 02's out there too.

 

I just loved the '03 the first time I saw one. I know its not rubber mounted, unlike the '04 and up Sportsters, vibrates like hell,but that's the thing with bikes, right? they either speak to you or they don't, and the '03 Sportster does it for me. I was so looking forward to picking the bike up, couldn't sleep all night. A real bummer to arrive at the guys house and see this pile of rust on wheels. I'll keep looking.

 

right on,, , I bet it was a bummer, but I wouldn't touch that bike either, all the electronics are probably completely shot as well, I wonder why the guy didn't put an insurance claim on it.


I'm sure you find something, you should be able to get an 03 for a nice price, 90% of people are wanting the 04's & newer.

 

That looks like the gold key model as well. Buddy of mine has one.

 

Same thing with dating sites. Never trust the pictures and description - wait until you actually see her and hear her before getting your hopes up!

 

Might have just been a bike ridden through a northern winter, ignoring the salt and not cleaning it well. Harleys have no special rust protection that I've ever noticed. Does any bike, for that matter. Get some pretty rusty bikes up here occasionally.

 

On the other hand there are some used deals out there. i found the bike in my sig pic for $6200 with 3900 miles a couple months ago. NADA is over $8000

http://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycle...-1200cc/Values

I had to travel 250 miles but I do that all the time. I picked up a 2012 MX5 Special Edition with 19K on it yesterday for under $20K. Flew to Ft Lauderdale ($99) and picked it up in West Palm Beach drove it home... (thats gonna be my "trike")