I recently bought a 97 Heritage that was kept in really good shape and only had a little over 13,000 miles on it at the time of purchase.I put a little over 400 miles on the bike so far and have not had any problems out of it, and have heard no weird noises or seen any leaks of any kind.Now this is my first Harley in 32 years and is the nicest bike I have owned to date.My question is this,I plan on riding this bike to Atlanta in June, which is 5 hours from where I live,with such low mileage do you think I would have anything to worry about with this bike or should I have it checked out by an experienced mechanic first?

 

Peace of mind says have it inspected and all fluids changed. With a bike sitting that long you may want to also replace the tires if that has not been done already.

 

I would think as long as it has fresh fluids it should be OK.

If you want a good status on it, take it to a reputable mechanic to have it thoroughly looked over. I wouldn't think it would cost you more that $1-200.

 

If you don't want to have it inspected and are competent in doing it yourself...check the drive belt for cracks, wear, or missing teeth. Check the tires. Replace all fluids. Check brake wear. Check all the hoses for cracks or hardening (oil lines, vacuum line, gas lines). Check primary chain adjustment. If you owned harleys in the old days and worked on them, this is a piece of cake. Do an oil change and pull the oil pump screen, if it is free of metal and nasty oil, then I'd have no concerns about riding it however far you want to go. Once you hit 30,000 miles though, plan on doing the tappets and maybe the cam bearing.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.This bike did not just set in a garage entirely, it was ridden and kept in shape as far as the tires and service goes, it just wasn't ridden much and was really well cared for.I don't think there would be any problems with her, but just to be on the safe side I figured on having the fluids changed, brakes, tires, ect... checked out first.