I lke the 85, but thats me

 

Thats my first choice as well, but my mate said the one with the evo motor ?

He said its more reliable.

 

Stay away from the 79. That's the sportster from hell.

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Stay away from the 79. That's the sportster from hell.

yes it is, I had one and the '79 was a bastard year.

 

Ditto on the 85'

 

i know it's not on the list, but i would look for one '91 or later...5-speed:know

 

' 79 = bastard = no parts support = pain in the arse.
'85 ironhead might be ok, but I agree with your friend........883 EVO!

Good Luck, Ride Safe and welcome to the club!:thumbsup

 

Figure I need to do something I've always wanted to do before its time to peg out and never did it :rollin

 

None of the above...Softail...:dunno

 

Definitely the '87. It's the latest generation sporty, not much has changed. It will be the most reliable and easy to get parts.

 

Yeah from what I've seen its just needing a seat and a lot of cleaning up.
The 85 looks to be a lot tidier, but the 87's nice and will clean up.

 

Because of my age kinda partial to the 85 Last of the Old Iron .. But probably better off with the 87 EVO ..

 

You Guyz are nuts,,,

OP !! get a modern sportster with the RUBBER MOUNTED ENGINE,,,
Personally I like EFI, but Carbs are well loved.

And get the 1200,,why ???
Same principal as a condom..
I'd rather have It and not need It,
Than need It and not have It XD

$5000 will buy a real nice 2005 or 2006 1200,,,,or an 883 in the 2007 or 2008 flavor
That way you can tinker all you like,,little stuff like what shocks do I want, or
my tail light burned out,,,,

You buy one of them old school sportsters and you will be doin some real wrenchin...
Not that thats a bad thing,,

but I'm just sayin....I prefer to ride..

 

Another vote for the 87

 

i had 79 too was hard to keep runing

 

I would say keep looking for something newer. I just got my first HD...a 2000 XL 1200 Sportster that has 14K miles approx. It has forward controls which I was not too fond of at first but they have grown on me.

I traded an atv for this bike and they were worth approx the same in value according to KBB so I got the bike for 3 grand. Love the power and the bike is actually easier to drive than my 06 Yamaha V Star 650 Classic. Lighter in weight as well.

 

Hell i'd love the prices here in New Zealand to be the same as you guys. Sadly were paying a lot more. A shitter around the late 70's and early 80's is around $5500 cheapest, going up to in some cases $9000. Its very rare to find a bargain. One like your talking is just on the ten grand region. Might be a lot better bike, but its more than I want to spend, and I want to spend some time doing one up.Take a look at this link.........

Harley Davidson XL1200C 2000 | Trade Me

 

Choose wisely...

I'm no expert but I would definitely go for the Sportster XLH100 1985 :nod. Easy to work on, and parts availability. The 1987 looks decent but the 883 would not give out the same power and apparently has high milage. The 1979 they say it's like a box of chocolates, then be mindful that you'll never know what you gonna get :dunno. Good luck and safe riding friend.

 

Yes I have disregarded the 79 on everyone's advice.The 87 power isn't an issue, I'm a novice and don't want to be opening anything up that will end up in me not being able to handle it.
I have done some checking and the 87 has a mileage of 59000kms. I checked through our motor vehicle licence people.Is that high ????

I'm no expert but I would definitely go for the Sportster XLH100 1985 :nod. Easy to work on, and parts availability. The 1987 looks decent but the 883 would not give out the same power and apparently has high milage. The 1979 they say it's like a box of chocolates, then be mindful that you'll never know what you gonna get :dunno. Good luck and safe riding friend.

 

2013 CVO Breakout...you know,.just for around town.....:laugh

 

I would think the 85 ...hands down. It looks stable and well taken care of.

 

Almost without exception, I said almost, buy the newest you can afford.

Bob

 

36k miles? Not at all.

 

So the 85 went by auction last night for over 6 grand NZD, quite a bit considering the work that was needed.So I bought the 87 today (Evo motor), just waiting for it to be shipped up from the South Island.......

Yay

 

Congrats! Thats the one I would have suggested.

 

Congrats. I'm sure you'll have a great time with it.


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Thanks

To all your advice guys.
I'm afraid all I got off the message boards here was WTF do you want a Harley for?
Too many haters with no advice at all.

You people have been great !!

THANKS

 

Haters. Are the people who wished they had a Harley but are to big of a pussy to admit it....

 

Hahaha.......So true !

 

Congrats on your EVO Sportster bimmanz! You made a good choice- the EVO engine is built to last! Be safe out there!!!
~Cheers!~

 

Thanks.
Its meant to arrive in a few days. First couple of jobs will be to find another seat and rear fender. Whats on there now is just a mess. There's a small leak in the oil tank that needs to be fixed and a choke cable. But everything else is going to be cosmetic I think (well I hope).

It looks worse than it really is lol

 

The 79 should not be bout unless you want to work on it rather than ride it, the 85 is the last year for the ironhead and is a decent bike but i would go with the evo. More reliable and less work required. Second year for the evo sporty so if untouched should be an 883 or 1100cc.

 

i have an old 77 xlh thought that was the Bastard year !!!!

 

haha, the poor bastards still got it up for sale (the 79). Its been listed for three months now. Five grand reserve price, so Imagine its going to stay there

Thats just over $6000 your dollar.

So my Evo 87 arrived. Its great