I'm looking to get an Electra glide, and I found this one with low miles. I have been reading a lot of pros and cons of buying a bike that has spent more time in the garage than on the road and wanted to see if you guys think I should take a chance with this one. Also what is that horseshoe shaped tube behind the air cleaner? Does it have something to do with the sub par fuel injection system I read about on the first years of fuel injected Electra Glides, or is it carbureted? Oh yeah the guy is asking $8950 for the bike with 13K miles. Any info would be great, Thanks

 

99 was first year of the new motor.

problems with cam bearings, pinion bearings on many of these- ask for service records, see what has been done.

recall on the tip over sensor

99 is the last year for the single piston brake calipers...later brakes are much better for slowing a 900 pound bike

the tube is for the breather used with a hi flow intake kit ( good).

I can't tell if it has the EFI or carb from your photos.

The early EFI (1995~2001) performed worse than carb, got less mpg, was complicated and often a problem.

a carb has a round cover on the top, black plastic- but often with a chrome cover- a carb bike will also have a manual petcock.

that's alot of money IMO.

take your time, get to know these things so you can better evaluate candidates- I looked closely at about 12 bikes before buying my 09 ( in 10), I looked at about 20 before I bought my '95.
the HD dealer network may not be much interested in servicing an older bike- or stock parts. You'll have to come up with a support system for parts and major work- that's where an independent shop comes in handy.

kbb.com does pricing and a private party sale is usually a little more than 1/2 way between the trade in and retail values listed

mike

 

Maybe I am partial, I have a 99 Ultra. Looks like a good deal to me. I have 110K miles on mine. The pro's are that 99's have a forged crank which is a stronger crank. You can go gear drive & change the bearings to a better bearings while your there. Chain tensioners need to be looked at, I think that people had more problems with those with the lower miles (both of my sets lasted 50K miles each & still had life left to them, but my bike was seldom parked) and going gear drive takes care of them & the worries. The forged crank also means that more than likely it will be within specs to install the gear drive. As for carb or FI, I was under the impression that it was the Ultra's that had the FI & the Classics had carbs. If you can take a close up pic of behind the air cleaner & what is behind the horn, there will be a better chance of someone knowing which one you have. Good luck. I also have a freind that is selling his bike (which I think he is giving it away) I am thinking it's a 2005? 7500.00. I can get more details if you want & pics. He just wants to get his street rod done & needs the money to do that.

Toby

 

I have a 99 Standard, great bike, and as stated has the forged bottom end engine plus Timkin crank bearing, these were made from 99 to 02. My cam tensioners lasted 38k and 32k miles, I just did gear drive cams and will never have to worry about tensioners again, my indy will only do gear drive on 99 to 02 twin cams, he has had to many that had good crank run out but went bad later and destroyed the motor, he has never had a 99 to 02 do that, my run out was .001, the most you can have is .003. I paid $8k for my standard that had 30k on it, if that bike is a carb I would buy it, take care of the tensioners and it will go many miles, I just turned 75k on mine with no problems, thats over 35k in 2 years for me.

 

I put twenty thousand on mine when I purchased it used two years ago. It had 40k on it and I sold it as it ticked over 60k.

I did have some issues with mine and it did have fuel injection. It wasn't that big of a deal. They are just picky. They used that same fuel injection on the evo for a few years.