Cost of Ownership

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Feb 3, 2018 | 08:19 PM

#31

bigskyroadglide

Outstanding HDF Member

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 2,630

Likes: 185

From: Mountain West, Big Sky Country

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawg

You’ll get many opinions. I’ll offer mine for what it’s worth. 02 was a great year with the bottom end. If this is your last bike and you will be traveling and have limited income, I would preemptively put gear drive cams in conducive to your habits. Something like Andrews 26g as you will be two up presumably with luggage. Likewise, you would probably make wife happy by doing away with the cross over pipe. Get a tuner like power vision with canned map and then tweak it or get it dyno tuned. Then just focus on comfort mods for full touring like highway pegs, better seat, bars, rider backrest or whatever fits your needs.

listen to this advice, go gear drive, get a nice set of torque cams, do it once, be done

I would also change the lifters to s&s premiums, even thou the 2002 lifters are the good ones

Last edited by bigskyroadglide; Feb 3, 2018 at 08:20 PM.

Feb 4, 2018 | 11:33 AM

#32

big cahuna

Grand HDF Member

Joined: Mar 2007

Posts: 4,921

Likes: 264

From: Deep in the heart of New Jersey

Cost of ownership, Lets run some numbers then you can decide if the '02 is what you really want. You didn't say how many miles are on it, if the tensioner's have already been changed, what overall shape maintenance wise the bike is in. Tires aren't cheap, battery? brakes?,all other services? . Now the purchase price, I'd say anywhere between $6-$6.5k is the going rate for that bike in good condition. Mileage will artificially lower the price. If you want to install gear drive cams they usually sell for between $7-$800 for parts and expect to pay about that much in labor. The tuners are a few hundred, along with adjustable push rods , gaskets, bearings and all that happy crap that goes into it. Does it have stock exhaust? if you like that you good, but if you want more growl expect to cough up a few more dead presidents for that. Now you'll probably find a few goodies to add to make it personnel, to your liking. If the seat doesn't work for you there's another pile of money you can spend . The good thing about Harley's is you do have alot of choices. So the cost of ownership is usually more then you think or expect, and resale will always be less then you expect , no matter how much you "invest" in it.,,,

Feb 4, 2018 | 03:56 PM

#33

woodthumb2

Tourer

Joined: Sep 2016

Posts: 373

Likes: 83

From: FL East Coast /Western NC

one of my riding buds has an 03 ultra standard... the anniversary model... bought it new.. 36000 on it and has never done anything but batteries and tires... of course the usual fluid changes... he rides easy like me and recently had the tensioners looked at and they were good.... he will not think of getting rid of that bike....not even sure what motor back then.. 88 maybe ?.. 96 ? but it has been trouble free for sure...good luck.. safe rides

Feb 4, 2018 | 08:25 PM

#34

L88

Road Master

Joined: May 2014

Posts: 774

Likes: 320

From: St. Louis

Maybe shop for a 2009 or newer. Updated frame, motor, rear wheel and cam chain tensioner issue fixed or at least considerably delayed.

Feb 5, 2018 | 09:09 AM

#35

oakmossy

Road Warrior

Joined: Sep 2013

Posts: 1,920

Likes: 77

From: dallas

harley's are the most fun and interesting bikes IMO. I would never trade for another brand.
BUT:, for carefree trans national riding buy a goldwing.

Harley's are for us who like to 'interact' with our bikes on a continuing basis. Especially older hogs, they will need TLC, a lot.

Feb 5, 2018 | 09:51 AM

#36

frenchbiker

Elite HDF Member

Joined: Apr 2006

Posts: 3,948

Likes: 54

From: The Burgh

Are you sure you're not going to miss the cassette player of the Venture? Just kidding.
I had a Royal Star 20 years ago and this was the most top heavy bike I ever owned. Compared to the Venture, the Ultra Classic is much more nimble and much more balanced.
Good luck and whatever bike you end up buying, enjoy!

Feb 5, 2018 | 09:02 PM

#37

F150HD

Grand HDF Member

Joined: Mar 2011

Posts: 4,816

Likes: 1,320

From: Good roads, cold beer

Quote:

Originally Posted by grubsie

I picked up a beautiful, one owner, 2002 Ultra Classic. This bike is mint, only has 9700 miles on it.

From my understanding, at about 25K miles, it will need to have the cam plate upgrade to hydraulic tensioners so that is one expense I have to figure in.

The cam shoes need to be inspected at 30k, not necessarily replaced. Though you should plan on a replacement of some form eventually....

Somewhat depends on how many miles you log in a year....some shoes go for a while before any issues.

2005 Softail at 90k miles. See the pitting in the orange shoe. Original shoes replaced at 50k.

One shoe is behind the cam plate and you need a mirror to inspect it.

Feb 5, 2018 | 09:15 PM

#38

TSheff

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Feb 2013

Posts: 11,319

Likes: 3,652

From: SE Texas

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawg

They make tour pak relocaters if the minor adjustments you can do are not enough. I drilled mine and moved it fairly far back. Have a post in the DIY thread on how I did mine.

When I did my Quick-connect I moved the TourPak back 1", definitely mad a difference for both of us.