Hi, I currently own a Honda Shadow..... and am looking at picking up a Harley, possibly tomorrow.

The one I am looking at is a 2011 Nightster 1200 with 9500 miles and they are asking $6500.

-First, is this a good price for the bike or do you think it is a bit high??
-I don't know a lot about bikes so, is 9500 miles considered a lot of miles, or is that just barely broken in?
-Also what are some things that you'd recommend checking during a test ride / prior to buying?

Thanks for the help and I'm looking forward to being active on here once I get an HD.

 

Seems about average price for a well maintained nightster.. Ask for any maintainence records and look for mods.. Does he have paperwork for anything after market? Pipes etc? All bargaining chips for price.. Most Indy mechanics will check a bike out pretty throughly for 100.00.. Ask him if that's ok..

 

9500 miles is hardly broken in. Thousand and thousands of miles left in that one. $6500 seems reasonable enough.

 

Thanks for the replies. The bike is at a dealership, so I doubt they will have any records. It is a cycle dealer but not an HD dealer, so I'm sure their mechanics will have checked it over but they are also the ones trying to sell it, so I am always a bit skeptical if their opinion is biased or not. As far as extras go, I think the only thing done is that the mirrors have been moved below the bars.

 

Think that's pretty reasonable. When ingot my first Sporty it was 2004 1200C with 10500 miles. Dealer gave it to me for $6500.

It had a lot of upgrades (all chrome, pipes, stage 1) and 10,000 mile service before I picked it up. And detailed of course.

See if the dealer will throw in the 10,000 service for you. And maybe t shirt lol

 

Should be a good price if the condition is right. Miles are nice for a 2011. Enough to know it was ridden which is better for a motorcycle than sitting in a garage. Probably traded for a different kind of bike. These motors are pretty bullet proof up to 100,000 miles and beyond so even if it winds up having a few surprise issues it is likely something you can sort out and then enjoy for years to come. MN has some good HD dealers (been a few years since I lived there so you should ask the forum members here for recommendations)

All in all, the Nightster is a great model so if it appeals to you it could be a great deal.

 

Thanks again for the replies. I'm going to go take a look at it tomorrow. From looking at the photos, it looks like there is a minor scratch in the gas tank (hopefully would buff out) and possibly a mark on the front fender, but I can't tell since the bike is dirty in the photos and the guy i've been talking to is worthless as far as getting me clean photos. Guess we will see tomorrow. I'm not in a huge rush to switch bikes since I'll just be storing it for the next 6 months, so if the deal isn't right, I'll walk and keep looking. I was most nervous about the mileage, but it seems like that really isn't that many on a bike.

 

Winter is a good time to buy a bike - when the snow is on the ground and the salesman is sitting all alone......

 

oh i wish i could get that .....not much chance of that here...in Colombia

 

Rode it home not too long ago.. I think I got a pretty good deal, they came down to $6000 for the bike and gave me almost trade in book value on my Honda.