Ok, so I really like the old school looks of a 1989 FLHS I found. It doesn’t have the fairing or trunk so I thought it was a sport model. However, I went to see it and it has a Fatboy front end on it with chrome solid wheels front and back. I know it’s a bottom breather and will pile some oil every now and then. It ran good from cold start, sounded good. Everything seemed to work like it should. Has straight dual fish tails on it. Has 96k miles supposedly rebuilt between 40-50k miles but no paper work. This guy is the second owner. I did notice a little bubbling on the front base gasket left side while running and hot. He’s at $5000. Thoughts from some of you that know the 89 model Evo?

 

Pretty much 100K bike... $3K maybe $3200 tops...

 

I'm with 98hotrodfatboy on this.
Almost anything in this age group is gonna require some TLC.
And maybe a lot of it.

Better history would help

WP

 

Looks like the stock FLHS front end to me. A Fatboy would not have the gauge pod in front of the bars, what do you see that indicates Fatboy ?

 

just what the current owner said.

 

Yeah all I know is what he said. He’s owned it for a couple of years and only out 1000 miles on it. It sounded great, looks great but I agree about the miles and not knowing. He’s got a spare windscreen, light bar and the manual.

 

If it's the factory service manual that's sure worth something.
I'd try to talk him into a good test ride on it if you real serious about buying the bike.
I don't mean a 10 min ride more along 30-45 min.with some town and hwy miles
Although that can be a stretch for some folks.

WP

 

How many disk brakes up front?

A Fat Boy front end will have only one disk.

5 Grand for an `89 FLHS with 100,000 miles...he is dreaming.

3 grand if in great condition.

If there is bubbling oil at the cylinder base, the cylinders are coming off.

Most likely the top end will need to be rebuilt at that point.

1989 Lifters were problematic, caused enough engine failures for the factory to re design the axle on the lifter.

Look carefully at the rocker boxes, `89 had some defective castings that were soft and were damned near impossible to seal up after they got old (I spent 800 bucks on OEM rocker boxes last year).

The front transmission sprocket up through mid `94 had issues with coming loose, which could cause expensive repairs.

If the bike still has the OEM carburetor on it, the carb is junk...

The clutch used from mid `84 through `89 was the first wet clutch, not a robust design...

The OEM starter on the 1989 model was the first year for the modern starter configuration, but it was wimpy at best.

You would do better to find a later model year bike, even one year newer would give you the better carb, clutch, starter.

I have gone through all this stuff on my 1989 Softail (140K) that I have owned since new.

 

Shop around..

 

As others have said, it's overpriced. 3k max in my book.