Hi fellas,
I have a guy meeting me on Sat to look at my old jeep that wants to trade me a 92 sportster. From pics it looks fairly clean. Looks bone stock, nice paint. Has 15k on the clock. He has only had it for about 4 months, and he is retired to Florida. He is from pa originally and brought this thing up when he came to visit kids. He said it is a 1200.

I don't know much about this era sportster, my last sporty was a 66 right shift, kick only. Cool bike, wish I still had it.
Anyway, he thinks it needs a starter. The way he described it, I think it has a weak battery. So what are some things to look at on this thing?

- how hard to change starter?
- how can I confirm it is 1200, not 883?
-any known problems with this era sporty?

Of course the jeep is worth a little more than this thing, but it needs work that I don't have time to do for selling. Furthermore, I don't have it largely advertised because I don't want to deal with Craigslist people. With him only having this thing for a few months he doesn't know much about it. He sold his ultra and bought this thing because he thought it would be fun. For him, he was apparently incorrect. I won't be getting rid of either big twin evos ever, just want to have a sporty to knock around. Once again any input would be helpful, thanks.

 

883 or 1200?

92 is solid mount engine. I believe they changed to a rubber mount frame, IIRC, 2004.

Overall a good bike, depending on how it was maintained over the years. Tough to say the value, but I'd peg a 1200 at around $3000-$3250 all depending on condition/miles/etc. 883 would be sub-$3000, IMHO.

 

You can check the VIN to see what it left the factory as 883 or 1200.


http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....4&b=1&Action=O

 

A '92 would be a five speed transmission. The five speed Sportsters from that era were good bikes and practically bullet proof. If in good shape, it's a good find.

 

For me, probably a half a day. Someone who knows what he's doing could probably do it a lot faster.

VIN decoder: http://www.tabperformance.com/harley...uide-s/224.htm

There are separate engine codes for 883 vs 1200

A lot of 883's get converted to 1200's (new jugs and pistons), but IMO, if the vin says 883, figure it's an 883 and price accordingly.

Super solid bike.

I'm with Hackd on the numbers. Figure $3k, more or less.

 

Thanks fellas, I have the numbers to look at on the frame written down. Anyone know where the engine number is on these things? I can crossreference that with frame number to determine if it's the original power plant. I know these are supposed to be one of the best sporty engines, and if the mileage is correct should be a pretty good find. Talking to this guy he clearly just wants to unload it because he is not into it. We shall see.

 

I believe it would be on the left side of the engine case in the area below where the jugs are. Not certain....

 

I would not do the trade unless I heard the bike run. A battery is 100 bucks. Have him put a new battery in before you do any trading.

Now you will know for sure if it is starter or battery. If starter, you can still push start it in order to hear it run.

You ou don't want to trade into a bad situation with that bike. Yd

 

You can't guess. You're getting a non running bike that the owner assumes needs a starter, could be a whole charging system. Your jeep runs, im guessing. So should his sporty. Put a meter to it if you can bump start it. Stator could be toast.

 

The bike does run and ride according to him. He said sometimes the starter sounds sluggish and the bendix makes a noise. So I am thinking weak battery, or the solenoid is starting to go. Yes the jeep run well, it's the body that is starting to go. I am planning on checking the charging system while running. Could be old battery with it only having 15k on it. Will have to check tires for age as well. It will certainly need a full service too, unless he can prove that was recently done. I see a lot of sporties/ trade for jeep locally and have passed on several. Trust me, I don't need another harley, and I don't need to get rid of the tj. Definitely has to be the right deal, I won't trade someone's 1500$ nightmare for my proven runner that I've owned for 14 or so years and have maintained accordingly.