Hi guys, new to this forum or should i say new to all forums. I hope I'm posting in the right place I've never done this before. I have a question i hope some of you guys can answer or give me some advice. I have recently retired and am about to fulfill a life long dream. I'm 60y/o and I'm about to buy my first harley. I have the opportunity to buy a 2008 custom softail, it has less than 4,000km and is in pristine condition it on gets ridden once a month to keep everthing working i guess. I know the person and he keeps it more or less as an ornament ha ha ! It truly is a beautiful bike. I'm  looking for advice from you guys as to whether this model harley was a good bike, had any problems or just any advice about the bike in general.the price is 17,000 with new tyres lots of chrome and just looks beautiful. But I'm new to harley and have no real knowledge of them. Like i said just fullfilling a life time dream. The bike will only be used to do weekend rides around the tweed heads gold coast region, you know short weekend rides. Any thing you could share about this model would be greatfully appreciated. Thanks so much D

Welcome to the Forum.

Welcome, sounds like you have a good plan, your decision. Enjoy the bike, rides and forum.

Thanks guys for the welcome. Yes its a plan a dream and fair enough a bit late in life but i always was a late starter. Hopefully some others might have some experience with this particular model they could share with me.

Is it in the Anniversary Black and Gold ?  105th Anniversary special they were called

Mechanically they are well bulletproof if serviced every 4000 K's.

I had one from new in 2008 , loved that bike , did 66,000 K's on it with no dramas

The price you have been asked for it is nothing special in today's market , bike would have cost him $32K back in the day

The market for used Harleys has changed forever since then , so $17K may be a wee bit strong

PS I'm 58 shortly and intend to keep riding for as long as possible. My oldest riding mate is 86 , just converted his Harley to a trike 3 years ago !

Wow thats comforting to know. I used to ride back a long time ago my first bike was a honnda 750/4 followed by a kwaka Z1B 900/4.

That was riveting "hot and heavy" quite articulate, thanks for your input.

H & H is a real wordsmith.

Me 2

Hi ibcool,
I have a 2008 FXST I bought new which is pretty much the same bike but without the shiny bits and plush seat.
4000 ks is very low mileage for a bike that age. Even though it has new tyres, I doubt the old ones were worn out but it was a good move to change them as they deteriorate with age.
The biggest issue I had with mine was the anorexic front tyre. A 21 inch rim is good for going over potholes with minimum fuss but the width of just 90mm instilled a great deal of trepidation on wet, slippery roads. I put a wider rim on mine that takes a 120-130 mm wide tyre and feel better about it. However some blokes seem happy with the original.
If you live in territory where there are lots of mountainous corners other Harleys might fit the bill better. Like a Fatbob, or Lowrider. It is sometimes easy to get cuntstruck...er bikestruck on the first gleamin Harley you see without looking at the whole range.
The old saying "you are dead a long time" has resonance.
Fancy just dying in a few years and you have not bought that bike and have not had the fun of riding it. It would suck.

Mate , very nice bike to start your Harley journey with ... Have had my 08 Fxstc Anniversary model for near on 5 years now ... Had less than 2000 K's on it .. ( supposedly ) .. Proceeded to go crazy on it with mods and other assorted wallet emptying goodies but that's another Long Long story , Lol ... The low K's on yours is a definite bonus .. If genuine .. Living on the Gold Coast and cruising the Glitter Strip is an issue ... Most bikes will have Heating issues especially Harleys .. There are quite a few cooling choices out there from Oil Coolers .. ( only really work when bike is moving ) .. Fans , Werks is a good brand .. I have a Jim's brand , not bad ... And others , research is the way to go there ... $ 17000 while not the best price in town especially since it is not the Anniversary model but is definitely not the worst price either ... As long as it is a nice sound bike and you trust your mate and it's your Dream bike then go for it ... One piece of advice though if you have an a addictive nature like me these bloody bikes WILL drain your wallet , Lol ... I too started on a 750/4 and then multiple Z 9's and Z 1000's loved them but there is something about the Harley Brand that is very unique ... The non believers will never get it but that's Ok it just keeps the Harley Brand more interesting to those of us who do ... Enjoy the bike and have fun ... Tim .

Thanks to all that have chimed in on this and i did notice it has aoil cooler on it Tim. But sure i live on the gold coast but I'm not the sort of guy thats into cruising the glitter strip, to fake for me. I'm more into cruising the tweed or currumbin valley and up in the hinterland. So maybe the heating wont even be an issue. I guess i just put this buy out there to get that final bit of feedback and convince myself that it was the right buy for me and now i intend to bight the bullet and get the deal done. The only thing i intend on buying thus far is the big radius V&H 2 into 1 exhaust.