Ultra-Cheap 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster Running Great After $13 Repair

New owner of this 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster brought it home for pennies on the dollar, and fixed it with even less.

As many are well aware, the prices of new motorcycles – specifically, those that come from Harley-Davidson – are pretty high these days. That’s also true of autos and just about anything else, in all fairness, but there are always solutions to problems such as these. In this case, anyone looking for a bike to ride that doesn’t mind cruising around on something a bit more vintage can easily score something like an older Harley-Davidson Sportster for little money, and that’s precisely what motivated the purveyor of the YouTube channel Vintage Harleys Revived to hit Facebook Marketplace recently.

It was there that he had one particular goal in mind – find the cheapest Harley-Davidson he could find, and then fix it up as a true budget build. It didn’t take long to come across this 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH883 that was listed for sale for a mere $2,000, but there was a catch – it wasn’t running at the time. Our buyer brought some tools along and the seller agreed to let him see if he could get it cranked before he took it home, so he got to work adding a quart of oil and giving it some fuel.

After that, a little diagnostic work revealed that the floats and needle valve were sticking, and the diaphragm is “hard as a rock,” according to our host. Thus, this Sportster is going to need a little carb word, which helps bring the price down – to a mere $1,400, in fact. With that, our host loads up the Harley-Davidson Sportster and heads home, where he takes a closer look at things and assess the bike’s overall condition. Turns out, it’s the perfect candidate for a fun and cheap build.

In fact, the carburetor rebuild kit required to get it up and running cost a mere $13 on Amazon – pretty hard to believe, honestly. The process of installing it is simple as well, and it isn’t long before the bike is indeed brought back to life – albeit while running a bit rich, but nothing that can’t be sorted out. Our host proceeds to take his cheap Harley-Davidson Sportster on a nice 50-mile ride, and it performs flawlessly, proving that there are some great deals out there to be had – even in today’s expensive world.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.