Never thought I'd buy a Harley

Buddy's dad has an immaculate, one owner 1200 Sportster that has some nice add on's and he's been on and off trying to sell (to support more track time in his Toybaru). Buddy called yesterday and said his dad had told him to just put it on Facebook and sell it for $2,500 because it was tough to stand out against the sea of ragged out Sportsters for $3k and he wanted it gone. Said he had mentioned if I wanted it it would be cheaper (I'm known to buy motorized things, if cheap, whether I need them or not).

So, I'm buying a one owner Sportster for $2k. Probably not the world's most smoking deal, but figure I can ride it for a season or two and get that money back out of it no problem. 

My questions: will the bike start if I'm not wearing a Harley tee shirt? Will it idle if I don't constantly chop the throttle? I'm new to this. 

Man, you're gonna spend more than that updating your wardrobe!

Leather chaps and vests, boots, chaindrive wallets, and all the bandannas are spendy!

I guess you wont need a helmet though.

Be sure to throw away your full face helmet.

Harley guys will be impressed if you can drag the pipes in a corner.

No-one else will though.

gsettle said:

Man, you're gonna spend more than that updating your wardrobe!

Leather chaps and vests, boots, chaindrive wallets, and all the bandannas are spendy!

I guess you wont need a helmet though.

You've jumped to the conclusion that my everyday attire doesn't include some, or all, of the above. 

In all seriousness, I lowsided in college wearing jeans, a tee shirt, MX gloves and a full face helmet. Road had curb and gutter and as I slid, my helmet hit the curb right where my chin/jaw would have hit. Cured me of ever considering anything short of full face helmet. Broke a bone in my hand, wore my ass cheek down to adipose, had to get bandages redressed by a nurse daily for a while, then every other day for a bit, then checked weekly. Got good at just walking in and dropping trow. I quickly went to wearing my jacket ALL the time and bought some over the pants riding leathers. Hot as E36 M3, but might literally "save my ass".

Harley Davidson sells motorcycles?

I thought they sold t-shirts, booty shorts, toilet seats, mailboxes, coasters......

In an EV world, all ICErs are all Harley guy.... WTH, there's good fun to be had there. I've thought about talking my dad out of his ancient flathead. It's rather valuable however, and I'd be afraid of the sucker getting stolen if I actually started riding it.

On a different note: I've heard that the new-ish Milwaukee-eight isn't even a bad motor.

What year Sporty? They're fun, I dig mine. Aftermarket is huge and cheap, so you can really kind of roll it in to whatever you want. This one is mine, went to for a sorta 70s chopper vibe, but with actual suspension. As far as Harleys go when it comes to suspension anyway.

fatallightning said:

What year Sporty? They're fun, I dig mine. Aftermarket is huge and cheap, so you can really kind of roll it in to whatever you want. This one is mine, went to for a sorta 70s chopper vibe, but with actual suspension. As far as Harleys go when it comes to suspension anyway.

Looks sweet. I think this one's an 07. Honestly didn't ask a lot of questions. I know every time I've seen it it's looked pampered, so figure 'what the heck'?

I had an '09 XR1200 for a while and it was a fun bike for what it was, but I could never get over how cobbled together it felt compared to a decent Euro bike. Obviously a bit more raucous than a regular sporty, but it would darn near bounce the front tire off the ground with vibrations at idle. It was smooth on the road though, so a good compromise, just a bit weird to experience. Overall, you can't lose for 2k even if you hate it. 

When I first moved to New Mexico I had access to a Softail from the corporate fleet.  After I stopped trying to make it be something it wasn't and accepted it for what it was I really enjoyed it.  It sucked at spirited rides through the twisties but it was great at loafing across the desert while enjoying the scenery. 

I distinctly remember the moment when I finally got it.  I was riding a two lane that meandered across the desert parallel to a dry wash and the railroad tracks on the other side.  I was leaned back against the back pack on the passenger seat with my right leg propped up on the highway peg mounted to the crash bar to avoid the stupidly located air cleaner.  I was going maybe 55 MPH with the big twin thumping along enjoying the sights and smells when the engineer of an oncoming train waved and blew the air horn.  OK, I thought, this is what this bike is all about.

A couple of my customers had the great big FLHTOMGWTFBBQ road sofas and I could never enjoy them when I was out on a test ride.

Then one of them bought a 90's Heritage Softail.

I get it, I like that bike, it was actually comfy and didn't want to fall over in corners.

I was at a local dealer and they had a reissue of the 70's boat tail Superglide. I sat on it and nearly brought it home.

I might actually buy one because they don't seem to have the "HD Tax" out here that used Harleys have on the coast. Problem is, a really, really nice MG California II just popped up on Marketplace.

I sold my Harley two years ago but I could see the appeal of the scenario described above.  That's my favorite part of riding-tuning in to the world around you.  I can do that on my Ducati as well but it stops and handles well too! 

We bust your balls for the Harley, but you're on 2 wheels, which makes us brothers. Seriously.

I've got a foot clutch death trap XS650 with a crappily welded hardtail, and a street legal wr450 currently on my insurance policy. Ridiculously cheap for liability only. Curious what adding the Sporty is going to add. 

If you're on 2-wheels, welcome to the club, let's go ride. It's not about the bike, it's about the attitude of the owner. I've bought 2 inexpensive 1200 Sportsters, spent a few hours here and there over the winter cleaning, polishing and doing little mechanical repairs and nearly doubled my money come riding season. They aren't a Jap or Euro bike, but not horrible to rip around on and certainly better than no bike at all. Buy it, fix whatever it needs and enjoy it.

lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) said:

If you're on 2-wheels, welcome to the club, let's go ride. It's not about the bike, it's about the attitude of the owner. I've bought 2 inexpensive 1200 Sportsters, spent a few hours here and there over the winter cleaning, polishing and doing little mechanical repairs and nearly doubled my money come riding season. They aren't a Jap or Euro bike, but not horrible to rip around on and certainly better than no bike at all. Buy it, fix whatever it needs and enjoy it.

i asked my buddy David what bike I should buy.  he said "whatever bike you're gonna ride."

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Except KTM. 

They're a weird bunch.

So far only thing I've noticed "wrong" is throttle tube has way too much slack. It's a really loose both in the sense that there's a bunch of take-up before you're actually pulling the throttle open, but also has some side to side wiggle. It's got one of those friction lock cruise controls installed, so I'm wondering if that's just not playing nice with the stock stuff. I had one on a sport bike way back when and remember it being fiddly, but too far removed to recall specific details. 

Will start with cables. Go from there. Step one is a battery that fits. Bought one at Batteries Plus and apparently their fit guide lies...what I got sent home with is far too tall. Will have to try again tomorrow. 

In reply to Spearfishin :

Funny thing about battery guides. Even at the major powersports retailers like Revzilla they can be wrong. I had to replace the battery in the int650 and even though the Yuasa website noted the correct battery for this bike, Revzillas battery guide said it didn't fit. So I checked the actual battery in the bike and it was the exact Yuasa battery that zilla said wouldn't fit. Check measurements and positive/negative side and location of the terminals. Also go the the battery manufacturers site and see if they list the battery to fit your bike. On top of that, good luck!

gunner (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Funny thing about battery guides. Even at the major powersports retailers like Revzilla they can be wrong. I had to replace the battery in the int650 and even though the Yuasa website noted the correct battery for this bike, Revzillas battery guide said it didn't fit. So I checked the actual battery in the bike and it was the exact Yuasa battery that zilla said wouldn't fit. Check measurements and positive/negative side and location of the terminals. Also go the the battery manufacturers site and see if they list the battery to fit your bike. On top of that, good luck!

I'm just bringing the old one along with me, leaving nothing to chance. My charger showed it had gotten back to "100%", but it's 4 or 5 years old, so figure it's worth the $100 to replace it while it's out. 

ANY bike that clean and nice for $2K is a screaming deal IMHO. Has someone told your about reverse on a Harley? OK, well whenever you are backing the bike into a spot, like along a curb at a popular coffee shop or ice cream stand, you have to rev the motor aggressively. Otherwise, it won't go backwards. 

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

ANY bike that clean and nice for $2K is a screaming deal IMHO. Has someone told your about reverse on a Harley? OK, well whenever you are backing the bike into a spot, like along a curb at a popular coffee shop or ice cream stand, you have to rev the motor aggressively. Otherwise, it won't go backwards. 

I posed a few stereotypes to my buddy's dad as operational questions while we were going over things and loading the bike up and he replied with: "You can certainly be a douchebag if you want to be, but you don't have to."

So, there's that. Haha. 

Nice! that looks like a Roadster with the dual disc front end and longer shocks. Probably the best riding and handling of that era. I like that 2 into 1 pipe also.