05 Sporty's...used...anything bad on this year?
#21
09-02-2014, 08:46 PM
'Zactly!
Well..was a nearly 1x hour drive for nothing! Drove up there...guy was fixing the kick stand on it..trying to get the spring on. Not a biggie by itself. But he told me on the phone, "always kept in a garage"...the chrome was freckled enough I could tell it wasn't kept well. Looking closer...that ding in the front fender...on the back part of it. How the heck? Left lower fork had a big scuff. Front engine jug had a cooling fin chipped..and it's neighboring fins marked a bit. Outer primary looked new, derby cover was after market, left passenger peg had an inch ground off her at an angle. Handle bar looked new. Left rear turn sig didn't work. Plastic choke plunger 'n assembly looked brand new. When I started it...shift control field weird 'tween neutral 'n second.
All in all...my head told me it went down on its left side, and he did a 95% complete job of trying to cover it up by replacing a lot of parts.
I asked the guy how it went down. He pulls a dumb looked on his face.."I was never told that it went down!" (he was selling this for his grand daughter that just bought a 750).
Plus he was playing the pressure game of "I have lots of bids from the ad on ebay plus I just got a full price "buy now" offer from my ebay ad...I won't answer it since you drove up and it's yours".
I said "good luck"...and left.
Felt so bad telling me wife "Nope don't want this one...it'll be a nightmare"....she loved it. What a grin on her face sitting on it. But I don't want her on a bike that's been down that hard as this one obviously was. Bent frame, possibly cracked, plus a front jug with likely micro cracks sure to bust loose down the road.
Well..was a nearly 1x hour drive for nothing! Drove up there...guy was fixing the kick stand on it..trying to get the spring on. Not a biggie by itself. But he told me on the phone, "always kept in a garage"...the chrome was freckled enough I could tell it wasn't kept well. Looking closer...that ding in the front fender...on the back part of it. How the heck? Left lower fork had a big scuff. Front engine jug had a cooling fin chipped..and it's neighboring fins marked a bit. Outer primary looked new, derby cover was after market, left passenger peg had an inch ground off her at an angle. Handle bar looked new. Left rear turn sig didn't work. Plastic choke plunger 'n assembly looked brand new. When I started it...shift control field weird 'tween neutral 'n second.
All in all...my head told me it went down on its left side, and he did a 95% complete job of trying to cover it up by replacing a lot of parts.
I asked the guy how it went down. He pulls a dumb looked on his face.."I was never told that it went down!" (he was selling this for his grand daughter that just bought a 750).
Plus he was playing the pressure game of "I have lots of bids from the ad on ebay plus I just got a full price "buy now" offer from my ebay ad...I won't answer it since you drove up and it's yours".
I said "good luck"...and left.
Felt so bad telling me wife "Nope don't want this one...it'll be a nightmare"....she loved it. What a grin on her face sitting on it. But I don't want her on a bike that's been down that hard as this one obviously was. Bent frame, possibly cracked, plus a front jug with likely micro cracks sure to bust loose down the road.
There are a lot of good Sportsters out there. I'll probably sell my 883 once I return it to as close to stock as I can. It's an '07 with just under 16k miles on it. For probably $3500 someone will get a good bike at a good price when I let it go.
I'd keep looking on Craigslist and you'll find one.
#22
09-03-2014, 12:52 PM
Road Master
#23
09-03-2014, 01:31 PM
Cruiser
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I too am looking, halfhearted though, for a sporty for my wife. Lots of $2800-$4500 bikes around here as well. Thanks for telling me things to look for when I seriously start looking. She'd really like to,get either the new Iron 883 or the Forty-Eight. Not likely to happen on the new one though. Besides, I'm kind of looking forward to the project bike.
#24
09-03-2014, 01:49 PM
I've owned 2 Sportsters, a 2004 and a 2006. Both 1200's and both carbed. Those carbs are super easy to work on. Don't worry about the extra power of a 1200. The 06 I owned was my wife's bike. She is 4' 11" and weighs in around 120. She could have wupped my a$$ on it, due to the weight difference, but she is not able to shift as fast as me.
Anyway, she went from a Buell Blast (500cc) to the 1200. Never had an issue with it "getting away" from her. She just did not like the vibration.
Both bikes were reliable. Her stator went out around 15k, and both of them needed new clutch spring plates. (But I used Energy One extra plate kit which eliminates that crappy spring plate)
We have both moved on to Softails for the cushier ride. (gettin old-needed more comfort)
I also did not like the fact that the MOCO eliminated the trap door to pull the transmission gears out. Now you have to split the cases if you have a trans problem...Never did, but traded both bikes around the 25k mark. Not an issue I wanted to deal with...
Around here, 883's are a dime a dozen. Easier to sell a 1200-usually not a huge price difference in our local market.
Anyway, she went from a Buell Blast (500cc) to the 1200. Never had an issue with it "getting away" from her. She just did not like the vibration.
Both bikes were reliable. Her stator went out around 15k, and both of them needed new clutch spring plates. (But I used Energy One extra plate kit which eliminates that crappy spring plate)
We have both moved on to Softails for the cushier ride. (gettin old-needed more comfort)
I also did not like the fact that the MOCO eliminated the trap door to pull the transmission gears out. Now you have to split the cases if you have a trans problem...Never did, but traded both bikes around the 25k mark. Not an issue I wanted to deal with...
Around here, 883's are a dime a dozen. Easier to sell a 1200-usually not a huge price difference in our local market.
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