help needed fast

Hi all, i am a harley novice but ride Blackbird, wife fancies a harley as an extra toy but i am stuck. Seen and like night train and been offered a 05 new one (not 200ml rear) but has ltd edition 200 paint job £14,000 reduced to 11 grand but it needs sissy etc as wife will fall off and has standard pipes, do i need stage1 and pipes. Also been ofered 03 night train with posh seat and sissy but with standard pipes with less than thousand miles £10,800.
last but not least 05 softail standard with stage1 V&H with seat sissy and rack 4.5 thousand miles with HD numberplate for £10,000, and i am well and truly stuck. I am keeping my blackbird as i will miss power and handeling (sorry to say so harley fans) but this is new teritory for me and as i will be a poor man after spending this dosh i need to make right choice.
It is now Tues morning 21/03/06 and I will be purchasing on Sat 25/03/06 so if anyone can give advice by then it will be great.
Rich H

[weedavie_j]

The first thing you will want to do is de-restrict it by fitting a free flow air filter and some nice 'loud' pipes of your choice(basically stage 1)
Plus if your wife wants a sissy bar.
These mods alone can set you back a few bob, but if you shop around you will save a fortune;)
11 grand for a new Nightrain is probably a good price with the paint job (if thats what yae want) but you will have those additional costs so take that into account.

On the other hand the 05 Standard sounds good too really depends on what yae fancy.
The night train has that blacked out theme goin on while the softail std.(basically the same bike underneath) has the polished aluminium and plain cast motor.
Have a look at what you want to do to the bike in the future and that might lead you in the direction you want to go.
Harley's are all about being that little bit different to the next one so 'the world is yer oyster' as the saying goes.

Hope this goes someway to helping you.Let us know how you get on.

Wacko

[snowflake]

Originally Posted by Rich h

Hi all, i am a harley novice but ride Blackbird, wife fancies a harley as an extra toy but i am stuck.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused here...not difficult I know....
Is the bike for you or your Dear Lady?
If the latter, I would hasten to suggest size matters! i.e. her height may have a bearing on things.
The price sounds good, although as WD has said, you are going to have to pay a few bob to get all the bits you are after.
Might be an idea to look around for something similar with everything you are after already fitted....

Agree with Snowflake - look for second hand some folks have the mods added when they order the bike (stage 1, panniers etc) or small stuff fitted at home/dealers. Can save you having to spend?

You can nearly always bet that the bikes been looked after and may have some individuality about it too.

[Monkeybrain]

aaarrrgghhh

[Monkeybrain]

If your Blackbird-cough.....little bit of sick.....is your ride of choice I would say keep with the Nightrain, its a complete package for most, the performance mods are a near enough essential thing to get the engine going like it was meant to.

On the other hand if you always wanted a HD from when you first had a bike, if you bought Jap Fours cos that's all your £600 would buy, if you took an electric knife to your seat to give it that lowrider feel, if you took the baflles out of the exhaust of your GS550 to see if it went potato-potato-potato but the closest you actually got was when some fool stuck a spud into your pipe for a laugh har-har, C yoU Next Tuesday.

If that was you then consider the standard, mine talks to me, keeps saying,
'Buy me this, this and this'

You will want to make it yours.

One thing to consider, at some of those prices you might me able to haggle a dealer down on an '06 train, they get a 5 speed box for starters, what I wouldn't give for a 5 speed box.....

'Buy me one, buy me one, buy me one'

Unlike the missus, the standard is never satisfied....

Thanks all for your advise it does help to talk to riders in the know rather than listen to just what dealers say. I am looking forward to getting my bike which ever I choose but have to take wife into account as she is buying it and that way I can keep the blackbird as well.
Many thanks
Rich H

[1sportyrich]

Originally Posted by Rich h

getting my bike which ever I choose but have to take wife into account as she is buying it and that way I can keep the blackbird as well.
Many thanks
Rich H

You lucky, lucky, lucky bastid. ;)

[banquo]

Cautious Scot says buy the new one. You don't know what kind of rider owned the other two, and you don't know what kind of abuse they could have seen over their short life and few miles. We've all seen the guy who fires it up from cold, and guns it down the street before the oil circulates or the pistons expand to fit the bores, or the guy who thinks it's smart to take it to the rev limiter on a stone cold motor...
OK, so you don't know they had that kind of owner, but you don't know they didn't either.
You need a Stage 1 if you want it to 'perform' and you need a sissy bar, but you don't need either now. Why buy a one or three year old bike, when you can have a new one, and treat it right from new?
Accessories are expensive; very expensive, but you can save a lot by purchasing from Guernsey (VAT free prices) or importing from the States (even if you pay the duty).
Used Harleys command prices that, as you have discovered, are as much as a new one. OK, so they have some expensive bolt-ons, but you can do that yourself later, and spread the cost.
Make it yours - not someone else's....

Had test ride on 05 softail with stage1 today and must admit enjoyed it,as luck would have it bumped into someone who new the previous owner before the dealer took it in. The guy said owner treated it like a baby and looked after it well as he does his other bikes. Dealer has offered to give a years warranty, only thing i dont like are the ape hangers thats been fitted and the colour but mate owns spray shop and drag night train bars can be fitted so it looks like this could be the one. Once again thanks for the help and advice.
Rich h