Post Listing Update: This XR1000 did not meet reserve despite 22 bids up to $15,110 on eBay in Hebron, Ohio.
The XR750 is one of Harley-Davidson’s most iconic motorcycles – though it was never intended to be street legal. But what if Harley took a XR motor and shoved it in a Sportster frame? Willie G himself had a similar thought, and the XR1000 was born. It would pair the new-for-82 XLX chassis with a motor that retained the Sportster bottom end but got fancy pieces up top. This, combined with Dell’Orto carbs, yielded a 20 horsepower bump from the stock Sportster, good for 67 ponies.
If you wanted more, you could even order a race kit from Harley with upgrades to the exhaust, cams, and compression ratio that was supposedly good for a total of 95 horsepower. Ignoring the race kit, the XR1000 cost just under $7,000 (a base XLX was $4,000). The steep price did not encourage massive sales, and less than 1,800 examples were sold in ’83 and ’84. For reasons I’ll never understand, the ’83 bikes were only available in grey. A year later Harley decided to also offer orange and black. For more on the old XR1000, check out this excellent article from Motorcycle Classics, where Clement Salvadori tries to determine if it was a Sportster for the track or an XR750 for the street.
This example was last ridden in 1989, since which it’s been “on display in a private collection.” It has just 213 miles, and the sale includes two keys and display tags from the dealership. The seller notes that the paint is in good shape but the fuel tank had some rust on the inside so it was cleaned and then Caswell lined. New fuel lines have been installed, but if you want to ride this you’ll need to give it a solid once over and presumably budget for a service, battery, tires, and presumably a carb cleaning or rebuild.
Find this XR for sale in Hebron, Ohio with bidding up to $12,800 and the reserve not yet met here on eBay.