i am new here and looking for a little info if possible. i am wanting to buy my first harley. dont have a ton of cash to play with so im going to be going used and hopefully find something that needs some work. more of a project type of bike is what i would like to find. im pretty mechanicly inclined and come from the Automotive industry and have worked in car dealerships for quite a few years. this will be my first bike and most of the ones i am finding are older late 70s and early 80s Sportsters. which would be fine.
i dont know a lot about Harleys but really wanting to learn more about them, thats why i came here. is there anything major to look for on these older bikes?
also was there much diffrence in the older sportsters to the newer ones. i have seen lots of diffrent kinds of parts for all kinds of years but would parts from a newer sportster work on the older ones.
wouldnt even mind finding one that dosent run and needs motor work. im kind of a tinkerer type and would love to have one.
any advise on the older sportsers would be a huge help.

 

howdy from Arkansas and welcome to the forum

Might check the web sites for salvage bikes.. I looked on there for a while before i bought even though i didn't buy a salvage...u can pickup good used ones if you keep your eyes open and look for older ones....

 

Welcome and I hope you find the right bike for you. That is what is all about.

 

im hopeing i can find something in my price range and i think i can...been lookin on Craigslist in the area here and seen quite a few of the older mid 70s early 80s for $3000 or less which would suit me just fine for my first one. and like i said im kind of a tinkerer type and like to work on little stuff like that and thats kind of where im at now. been trying to save up as much cash as i can but im still not there yet but still trying to learn about all the models as much as i can as well. i know they have a lot of diffrent model numbers but im workin on it.
are the parts pretty interchangeable from the early years to the later ones?