https://sites.google.com/site/fltsho...forsale/sporty

A friend of mine who lives down in the Rio Grande Valley has been cycle hunting for his wife. Found a couple of bikes up here and was originally considering a Honda 750 (we met the couple several years ago when they bought my 750 Honda American Classic).
Well he ran across a 2006 1200 Sportster with 1K miles on it. Low miles for sure, but low miles are not always a good thing. So he called me up and wanted me to check out the bike. The link above points to my report on the bike.
Ends up my friend is buying the bike.
Any thoughts/caveats concerning the 2006 1200 that I should pass on. I like that it is carbed and he is a mechanic-type and that will probably appeal to him, too.

 

one concern, shouldn't a 1200 have black jugs on it? Or is it a converted 883?

 

The bike was purchased new off the showroom floor in 2006 by the existing owner. I would not expect that it was a converted job - they did do what appears to be a stage one kit.
Might ask the buy to provide me the VIN and see if it checks out as a 1200 - pretty sure I can do it that way.

 

Yes it should......

 

I know I can search and find it, but do you any you know off the top of your head what portion of the VIN would differentiate an 883 from a 1200?

 

sure, I happen to have my 06 owners manual by my desk.

5th position, M=883, P=1200

also, as it's a custom, 4th position model, 'CG' should be a 1200C, 'CJ' should be an 883C

so, 1 HD 1 CG P

 

checked the VIN and it shows to be a 1200 custom.

 

Good man, keep it up, soon all the Jap bikes will be ridden by Japs!

 

oh, zooming in, I think the jugs are black. Just really, really dirty.

pretty bike. Since your buddy likes to wrench, I think the '06 is the perfect bike.

 

They are really dirty and I was having to cross my fingers that my friend would buy it as I sure was wanting it as something lighter for commuting/around town than my Ultra (plus the wife has been making noise about a bike).
I made the mistake of selling a 1986 883 that I had for a short while last summer - sold it to make room for an electra glide, which I later traded for my current Ultra.
That bike was fun to ride and after a few tweaks to the CV and air flow, it was peppy. Would like see what a 1200 is like.
David, I can sympathize with your views, but until 2 years ago, all I had ever owned were Jap bikes - that Honda 750 being the last. Never, ever had one of those bikes let me down or stranded. Don't have but a couple of years of HD ownership to compare and I have not owned a "new" Harley.