Hey guys I'm looking at purchasing a 2006 ultra classic. It has had a champion trike kit installed. It only has about 4,600 mi but it hasn't been ridden since 2013. Can anyone give me an assessment of the value and what issues I might be looking at please.

FOXBOY
Update... The owner of this trike is my wife's employer. She mentioned that I was making a trip today to look at some trikes. The trike belong to his deceased dad at it has been in a storage building with a few classic cars for the past several years. He brought it to my house this afternoon and told me keep it as long as I wanted to just decide if I wanted a trike or not. The wife and I took an hour ride this afternoon, probably about 50 mi. He had purchased a new battery and drained the gas tank and put fresh gas in. The oil was full and clear. I did need to air the tires up for there was about 5 psi in each of the tires. The front brake lever is completely locked up I think maybe the pistons are seized and the caliper or the master cylinder is corroded completely. Other than that it ran great.
Any suggestions on an offer.?

 

Be prepared for the onslaught of 'every gasket will have dried out, you will need to replace every seal' and 'the cylinders are obviously rusted so you will need a total overhaul' and "Id rather buy a well maintained bike with a hundred bajillion gazillion miles than a super low mile older bike'. Sure, you're going to need fresh fluids all around. The cam chain tension issue was still an issue in 06, so for peace of mind you will have to decide if that's something that bothers you or not. Id base the rest of it on your own visual inspection. Was it stored warm and clean, or is it covered in dust and corrosion? Dust and grime not only means cosmetic issues, but possible poor storage can lead to rodent infestations in your wiring. As for value, a 06 Ultra is worth about 7K give or take, the trike kit seems to sell for about 10K, so Id guess you'd b able to get maybe 1/2 of that back. My numbers may be well off, other will chime in. However, this is a niche bike and Im guessing the seller will have a hard time selling it so feel free to lowball.

Honestly, if its a great price and it looks nice (I REALLY emphasize judging a book by its cover here) dont let the low mileage scare you.

 

Who knows what will happen. Clean out the fuel from carb or replace pump. boring stock jugs to 88" is great bang for the buck, and you will replace all top end gaskets and seals. If fuel injected might need new pump.

Its a project bike Tell them to bring it in to a shop and get it running if they don't like a low bid. I would bid really low, cause for me why buy it?

 

Its already an 88...no need to bore it.......gonna have some work to do on that one, ya just neve know!!

 

Old, dried out gaskets also have a way of sealing themselves once they start getting used again. (The oil swells the dried out gasket) I bought an old 82 Camaro from a junkyard years ago. This car had a mystery transmission oil leak. I could NOT find the source. Over time, I rebuilt the engine and the suspension from the ground up, but I never had the know how to dissect an automatic transmission so I left it alone. One day the leak just stopped. Im not saying leaks will magically seal themselves, Im just saying dont get yourself into a 3 thousand dollar rebuild over some fluid leaks. Ride it for a season or two and keep an eye on it.

That being said, Im neurotic about fluid leaks. I almost want to buy a shovelhead just so I can torture myself and learn to live with perpetual oil drops.

 

It may not be as bad as everyone is saying, ‘course it might be also. I wouldn’t be afraid of “the cylinders are rusted” but as you know there are other issues (brakes)
‘if you want to find oil leaks change the oil and replace it with synthetic, so what I’m saying is use regular Dino oil or you’ll be replacing gaskets.
‘if you find it’s leaking. You may want to just throw a 95’ kit at it. (1550cc) that will replace everything from the cases up. And a decent power boost. Keeplng that in mind I’d price it accordingly, $65-7500 for the bike leaves plenty of wiggle room for repairs. You can do the 95” upgrade for $25-3000 and you’ll have a decent trike for ten grandish, not a bad deal.

 

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm kind of liking this trike. He's pretty anxious to get it out of his warehouse so I think I'll wait on him to throw a number at me. I'll probably end up buying it. The major issue is the front brakes. Looks like a rebuild kit for the front brake system is in order. 🦊

 

Rear brakes too, including brake fluid.
And ALL tires need to be replaced too.

 

Foxboy, I ride a 2006 Ultra too. 103,000 miles on it.

A big thing to check on a touring Harley of this vintage is the cam chain tensioner system. It used springs and the plastic blocks that the chain ran on would wear out. If you let the blocks grenade it would ruin your engine. A few different fixes, I chose to do the Screaming Eagle hydraulic tensioner kit. Your bike doesn't have many miles so this mod probably hasn't been done yet. Other than that, have fun!

 

Definitely check the cam chain tensioners and do one of the upgrades if they are OEM....

You need to flush both F & R brake fluids... If needed, you can get a front caliper piston rebuilding kit #44313-01A @ $161.18. You could even get a new front caliper assembly #44023-00C @ $310.22. The front brake master cylinder piston service kit #45072-96E @ $52.56 and/or the front master cylinder cover kit #46423-05C @ $44.33 are syill available. If needed the whole master cylinder assembly still looks to be available #41700738 (replaces $45105-05A) @ $229.11.

I would also check the DOT date codes on the tires, as they most likely are timed out and should be replaced..

When the MoCo began offering official Harley Trike model(s), IMHO, the kit bikes values have gone down. Champion did, however, make a good kit.

Since the current owner doesn't seem to have any attachment to the trike, and wants to get it out of his shop.... I'm not sure I would pay too much more than the value of a good condition regular Ultra Classic...

JD Power says the average retail for that bike (no trike kit) is $6,180. I'd offer the guy $7K, mentioning the work you have to do just to make it a safe driver, and see what he says.. In any case, I wouldn't pay too much more than that...

Good luck... Post up pics and/or what you decide to do....