I say, Buy what you can aford. While I have swung a leg over the newer models, I can truely say that I am more then happy with my 05 EGC. The 88 with andrews 26 cams and stage one intake will easily keep up and over take the newer models with only slightly higher revs on top end due to only having a 5 speed. She has just under 40K on her and doesn't use a drop of oil and runs like a champ.I paid less then 14,000 for it and added about 1,000 in goodies and I am still almost less then half what I would have paid for a new one. Heck with the money I saved, I can get it custom painted and still be money ahead. The days of them holding their retail or even being able to sell them for more then you paid for them are gone. In less then one year, you will be buried in it because you will owe way more then what the bike is actually worth, If you buy a new one. It will usually take 3 to 4 years of payments before your bike is actually worth more then what you owe on it.
Happy riding!!!!
Happy riding!!!!