Considering a bike...

[phrogpilot73]

And I figured that at least one or two of you could probably help me out. One of the guys that used to work with my wife (he's retired now) is selling a 1980 Harley Davidson FLH Electra Glide. I can look up the blue book value, but that's for stock and this has been customized. We're interested, but he wants us to give him an offer and I have no idea what's fair. Here's a picture of the bike:

Here's the bulk of the info from his emails:

"This is a 1980 FLH That has been stripped down, stream lined and customized out the wazoo. It could use a paint job, as the one that is on it is acting weird.. and maybe some new pipes.. And of course have the seat covered.. I allready have the seat pan made.. Just needs to be sent to www.alligatorbob.com to have the cushion and cover of your choice put on.."

"Oh, I forgot to mention that it is both Kick and Electric start... So you can use either method to start it depending on how cool you want to look.."

"the seat pan that I made can be used for a temporary ride.. I used it to go from Eldersburg to the Cancun cantina this summer.. just not a comfortable ride until the cushion and cover are put in place.. I have put alot of money into it both into the motor as well as cosmetics, and bling bling.. There is less than 3600 miles on the brand new rebuilt motor.. and the motor was built to run.. I will let you guys make an offer.. Its a diamond in the rough, and wont take much to make it a show stopper. It has a lot of one of a kind custom pieces.."

What do you think?

 

[Uncle Fester]

I say do it, but start with a low offer. Bikes like that - old, customized but not-quite-show-ready - are nearly impossible to price out, and I'd bet he knows it. They're really worth whatever someone will give you for it. Since he's advertising this bike as "needs work," I wouldn't start at more than $5K, and see what he says.

You going to be riding this daily, barhopping or taking it to shows? I wouldn't recc it for a daily rider - '80 was at the end of the AMF era, when HD had serious QA problems, and with that much motor work done, reliability is unpredictable. For a barhopper, it'd work nicely, since you can put as much or as little work into it as you please. For a show bike, you're probably looking at several $K worth of work, especially the paint job, but it'll pay off - you don't see too many early-80's-era bikes.

Good luck, bro!