i have an 05 1200 custom carbd. got 49.7 mpgs today with stage one and vance and hines. bike will fly and i can ride all day comfortable. with the rubber mounts i don't get botherd till around 80 mph and thats because of the wind buffeting. love my 05.

 

Guys.....this it a Feb., 2007 post!!!!!!!!

 

Not any more!

 

You will find the best deals on the 03 and older ones and the are built like tanks and will run forever, if I had a better back I'd get on my 10 year old one and ride it anywhere, right now I settle on real fast for short distances.

 

We picked up this 04 XL with 1200 kit and my GF loves it. I found it on Craigslist and ended up getting it for $4500.00 Rubber mounted motor does help with the vibes. There were also other improvements made on the 04 and up models, beefier swingarm, larger diameter axles.

 

Have had several Harley s including my 2013 Fat Bob which I like really well. Several years ago I traded in a clean little 97 883 Sporty for an 05 1200 Sportster, also a nice bike. I have always been sorry that I didn't keep the 97 Sporty because it was light nimble, had a great feel and sound and reliable as all get-out. Last week I found a 97 Sportster 883 with only 4600 miles on it for $3800.. Picked it up and rode it all over for the past two days. I have to say I'm enjoying it more than my Fat Bob for short rides around the neighborhood. Took it to my mechanic for an inspection and he also agrees that the pre 05 Sportsters are the best.. You can usually pick up a good one for around $3000 or 4000.

 

Nothing wrong with older bikes and I personally admire the hell out of them but generally you're less prone to find big problems, ghetto-rigging and ****-poor work on a later bike. That doesn't mean newer bikes can't have problems or ****-poor work performed on them. A couple of hours ago I dropped my '06 883R with 4k miles off at the local indy to have them install some mini apes because I know they'd do a much cleaner job than I could and as the guy was removing the hand controls we discovered BOTH ferrules were missing from the throttle cables! The throttle still worked fine but they were just sitting in the boss with no ferrules... lol. Other than that everything was fine but that goes to show you that you never know what people (idiots) are capable of.

edit - I've read that some '04 - '05 bikes are known to have bad valve seals that weren't properly installed causing serious oil consumption. HD dealers were replacing the seals as part of warranty but many people ignored or did not know their valve seals were probably soon doomed.

 

This thread is eight years old. Someone please kill it

 

Me too, best looking bike I ever saw.

From recent models, I would recommend a Nightster or a 48.

I have never tried ironheads, so cant comment on those. When I get more time I will definitely look at those as well.

Softail slim and crossbones are in future plans...

 

Thanks Oddjack, that is indeed gorgeous and a shame the MoCo doesn't give us something close to it today. Doesn't matter if this thread is 8 years old, it's worth it for that photo!