+1 - My '06 with 3k miles was $6400, with a QD shield, hard bags and other addon's

 

The seller (private) is looking for $4500. I have about $2200 left from the insurance and could get the balance without going thru a bank. I've emailed him and might go look at it tomorrow if he's available.

I'm in the lighting industry. We build and sell safety approved lighting to fire departments, the shipping industry, etc. We also build caplamps for the mining industry. I'm the production manager and I've seen how much the orders have slowed recently. I don't think I'm personally at any risk at the moment, but I don't want to take on any additional payment until the economy turns around.

I may begin clearing the property this spring, but there's no pressure to build immediately. We already own a house and have a fairly low mortgage payment. I've been watching cycletrader, craigslist and ebay for more than 2 months now and haven't seen many exceptional deals.

 

You won't "see" the deal.You have to negotiate that.Bikes can be had cheaply in winter unless the seller isn't hurting for money.At that point in my mind the seller would list it in the spring when you can ride it around in Pa.

 

If he's looking for $4500 then offer $4000 do some haggeling. Since you say you can get the coin without the bank, I say go for it. Decent enough deal if you like the bike and the mods done to it.

 

4500 unless it has a kick *** paint job or something

 

This depends. I have "seen" lots of deals and bought based on those deals if they were right. Do you haggle for a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread? If you tried, the clerk would laugh at you and if the seller of the bike has the bike priced right for what he/she is offering the haggling may get you the same response you had with the grocery clerk. Some sellers intentionally price bikes high knowing the buyer will be low balling them anyway. I like the ones that are listed as firm as opposed to OBO. This often tells me the seller knows exactly what is being offered and what it is truly worth.

$4,500 is within the realm of this bike's true worth. If the bike turns out to be clean and well represented it's a good value.

 

By the way 2002 sporties have a history of clutch/trans problems.I found out after I bought one for my wife.Make sure you ride it and pull out hard in first gear.If it slips and grabs or jerks it has the problem.Another member on here has the same problem and has been replacing parts left and right.Still not fixed and the dealer is the one doing the work.

 

I couldn't find a listing for any TSB that may have been issued on the Sportster clutches for the 2002 models. I had a 2002 and never had any problems in the roughly 16,000 miles or 2 years that I owned it. This isn't to say that some people haven't had problems but then again there are a lot of people that don't ever bother adjusting the clutch or even checking the adjustment of their clutch. If a dealer is having issues with a Sporster clutch I would question that dealer's ability to be doing the job in the first place. They're not rocket science.

 

My opinion is that, to an extent, modifications don't matter that much. If he put the 1200 kit in, he is not selling it without the 1200 kit, so at the end of the day, he still only has one bike for sale that is listed as an 883. I like and own an 883, so I am not 883 bashing here, it is just that unless something of value for you is added, such as, they added the mods you would have added, they don't really count to the bikes value. I do hope that an 02 883 is worth $4500, since my 883R is an 03 and I would like to think it is worth at least that.

 

I just sold my 02 883R for 4000. 5500 is way to much for that bike.
And my 02 883R only had 1400 miles on her.