Keep telling yourself that! Not saying the older ones are bad, I had a 2006 that I liked very much, but I don't think it is possible to change to a more rigid frame or ABS. I consider those two things to be huge since the frame gives a much better ride and the ABS is a life saver.
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Your thoughts..? on buying early 2000-06
- Thread starter seew
- Start date
None of the years are perfect - but when I do go out and upgrade (just spent the past couple of years saving like a mad man to refi on the new house and cut my mortgage in half, then got 4% intrest rate yayyyy! )
- there are only going to be 3 options I'll be looking at and in the following order, (understand you might not see it the same way I do.) I really, really like doing all my own work in the garage and grew up on carbs, going to a dealer for service work for "anything" is just something I can't stomach easily... for my Jeeps - they are obdII and I'll work on that all day long with a standard scanner vs HD's proprietary bullshit.
97/98 e glide - last of the Evo's - rock solid and all the kinks worked out, must have a carb, the FI of this era blows donkey balls, if I can't find one with a carb, I'll convert it.
2002 e glide - for all the reasons mentioned previously - again , must have carb, if not it gets converted and a set of gear driven cams is also a mandatory upgrade.
07 e glide - 96" and 6 speed, real throttle cables to a TBI - lots of other little issues - but better cam chain set up that the 88" and not as much of a need to change to geared cams (runout on crank would probably make it not easily work anyway).
best of luck to you and I hope find a bike that makes you happy !
- there are only going to be 3 options I'll be looking at and in the following order, (understand you might not see it the same way I do.) I really, really like doing all my own work in the garage and grew up on carbs, going to a dealer for service work for "anything" is just something I can't stomach easily... for my Jeeps - they are obdII and I'll work on that all day long with a standard scanner vs HD's proprietary bullshit.
97/98 e glide - last of the Evo's - rock solid and all the kinks worked out, must have a carb, the FI of this era blows donkey balls, if I can't find one with a carb, I'll convert it.
2002 e glide - for all the reasons mentioned previously - again , must have carb, if not it gets converted and a set of gear driven cams is also a mandatory upgrade.
07 e glide - 96" and 6 speed, real throttle cables to a TBI - lots of other little issues - but better cam chain set up that the 88" and not as much of a need to change to geared cams (runout on crank would probably make it not easily work anyway).
best of luck to you and I hope find a bike that makes you happy !
highperactive
New member
Glad to see so many like the older bikes better than the new ones.Glad it's not just me.The newer EPA bikes just don't do it for me.You pay top dollar then have to spend another 2,000 to get them to kind of run right for awhile.You could buy a older bike go through everything have a good running,reliable bike and come out money ahead compared to a new one.
[email protected]
New member
If you don't mind me asking, where did you end up price wise? I am seeing $8K to $10K for 2000's. Haven't seen enough 2002's to know what the market is really doing there.
alliestrawberrymelon
New member
My RK is an '01, and like many others have said, get an '02 or better. I would if for no other reason than the better fuel injection. Good friggin luck putting cruise on a pre-'02 Road King. Sure you can, but it's twice as expensive and a pain.
'02-'06 will be good choice if you want a cheaper bike to make it yours. '07 and newer have 96 and 6 speed (more since '09) but when i ride, even with 96, i never feel bad on my '04.
I made the choice to put my money in modifications instead of changing it every 1 or 2 years.
my '02 cents
I made the choice to put my money in modifications instead of changing it every 1 or 2 years.
my '02 cents
smartixoxo
New member
couldn't agree with you more...
My history on HD's goes back to 63'. Would need a calculator to figure out how many I had. Yes, the new bikes have some improvements and most here have stated them. My two favorites going back in time would be my 03' RK and 89' Classic, should have kept them both. The new TC motors with the 6 speed don't measure up in my book. JMHO