Hi guys and gals .. I am looking at a 1999 fatboy, unknown miles dead battery and been sitting for a year.. owner passed but loves his bike.. whats a fair value ? up until august the kids said they would start it up and hear it run, once the battery died they stopped firing it up

 

I do Not understand "owner passed but loves his bike"... he didn't take it with him????
Anyway... Condition, modifications, mileage?
It has never seemed to me a good idea to start one and let it idle for awhile ... maybe once in a winter??? maybe... tho only to hear it...I can't see where it "helps" anything...
In a Perfect world... I would go with NADA, and even KBB... $4K

 

's' and 'd' are next door to each other on the keyboard, so perhaps he simply didn't read what he wrote before hitting GO....

 

That depends on a great many things not just if it starts or not.
Do you know the people selling the bike??
If so then I'd go out of my way to confirm the bike runs before making an offer.
If not then it's a non running bike and I wouldn't give more than $2.5k for it and that's if everything else looked good.
As for the $4k figure that assumes everything is in good shape tires, breaks, all fluid levels, paint, condition of tins, etc.....

I know a guy that loves his bike but I wouldn't give more than $1.5k if he offered to sell because it's in very rough shape.

 

Ditto on the above: If they get it running and if it presents well and all the rest, something like $4k seems right.

As it sits, non running, I'd be around $2k, assuming visually it checked out. As a matter of personal preference, it if has the early FI system instead of a carb, I'd pass.

The way I look at it, the kids could drop a few hundred into this thing, have an indy shop come get it, get the battery sorted, maybe new tires, fluid service, etc...cost them a grand or so. If they want $4k for the bike, they'd do that.

If they're selling it "as is", they are going to get an "as is" price, and to me, that's about $2k. Particularly in January. In Michigan.

 

Thank you for the advice.

 

If it were me, I would really like to hear it run before purchasing, unless a really good deal like really low, I just want it gone type of pricing.

You can tell how a bike was cared for by the appearance most of the time. If it was kept really clean and covered for storage, etc. then CHANCES are it was cared for mechanically as well, but you never know so buyer beware. It's kind of like looking at a used car...you can tell when one has been really flogged or abused...this doesn't always hold true, but helps.

Anyway to charge the battery or "jump start it" ? So you can hear the engine run??