Brand New 1984 Harley-Davidson XR-1000 In The Box

I could go about a million different directions with an eBay find like this.  Maybe I should reference Brad Pitt in the movie “Seven” when he is screaming “WHAT’S IN THE BOX!!!“?  Or I could write my own version of Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg’s  famous “Saturday Night Live” like song:

Step 1) Cut a hole in the box…

Step 2) Put a motorcycle in the baaaahhx…

Step 3) Never open the box… and that’s the way you do it. It’s a bike in a box!…

It’s not just a bike though. This is a 1984 Harley XR 1000, and yes it is brand new, straight from 1984 to your computer screen. You can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the story quoted right from the eBay auction:

Up for auction is a 1984 Harley Davidson XR-1000 Motorcycle. This bike was delivered to Thurnalls Harley Davidson in Clarksville Indiana. Due to slow sales at the time, the motorcycle remained at Thurnalls warehouse in its shipping crate. Mr Thurnall passed in 2003, and in 2007 the bike along with other motorcycle related items were purchased by the current owner. When the bike was transferred in 2007 a small C shaped cut was made in the crate so the local sheriff could inspect the VIN number. Other than that, the Motorcycle has been undisturbed in its crate.  I was able to take some pictures by inserting my camera through the C shaped hole. We have a clear Ky title in the current owners name showing 3 miles. Local pickup, is preferred, with payment of the balance at that time. We will ship if payment methods are acceptable.

Much like the brand new Bronco from a few weeks, I’m left wondering what the owner can possibly do with it?  It’s a crazy piece of history that is totally one of a kind.  Tearing the box off of it would potentially hurt its value, never mind ever starting it and riding it.  Sure, it would be amazing to tear up the streets with a brand new bike from the 1980’s, but let’s face it, once this thing has a couple thousand miles on it, its value will slice in half.  Amazing mechanical finds like these are always a blessing and a curse for me to see because I am always so torn up about what the “right thing” is to do with them!  Luckily, none of us will have to stress out about it, because the motorcycle sold yesterday for $30,000 to somebody that we don’t know (most likely).

Check out the eBay Item # 220942214431 for more pictures.

Jeremy Nutt

Hi, I'm Jeremy.

12 thoughts to “Brand New 1984 Harley-Davidson XR-1000 In The Box”

  1. I get the new in the box thing, but it’s still a Shovel Head Sportster, not the most beloved Harley motor. The next year was the start of the Evolution motor, of which I rode the Sportster version of for several years.

    1. The bike is called and Ironhead Sportster. Shovelhead was its big twin counterpart, with the main difference being the divorced transmission and the use of only 2 cams in the shovelhead while the Ironhead had 4 and transmission built into the case. 1984 was also the first production year of the Evolution engine not 1985.
      The true beauty in this find is that it is unheard of to see an ironhead that hasn’t been worked on for decades or the transmission case blown out or the frame chopped up. Also the ironhead is one of the most beloved Harley engine because its what allowed most people to get on a Harley to begin with, with its low cost and at the time abundance of parts. granted AMF wasn’t the most dependable manufacture of motorcycles but there is no denying that those engines had something that the modern evo engine is missing… SOUL those bike truly connected the rider to the machine, sitting there adjusting your points replacing gaskets and seals. Those bikes made the rider work on em and made them be connected as such. You couldn’t run to the mechanic all the time because you would go bankrupt, but unlike the modern evo you actually did more than just change out chrome parts. I have built and owned both ironhead and evo and yeah that old 72 of mine might only be 1000cc but it still took me everywhere and back. In its day it did it faster and better than anything out there. That bike represents a fresh look at the last of a breed the end of the era where American riders had to be industrious.

      1. Hi James,
        That nearly brought a tear to my eye, and I’m not even a Harley owner. That being said, I am somebody that does get emotionally attached to certain engines and other gas drinking machinery, so I can absolutely relate. Very, very well said. Thank you for the history lesson! 🙂

      2. Aint that the truth. Nuthin sounds or runs like a healthy ironhead with a good tune-up! especially with the generator disconnected

  2. mike p i guess you just dont understand,do you know what that bike represents,even out of the box it doesnt come close to your evo sportster wake up

  3. And lets not forget that the xr 1000 was also the flat track race bike of its day. you wanted speed thats the bike that had it.

  4. to the idiot that replied earlier the xr is not an iron head it is an alloy head each individual head was cast and sent to jerry branch in cal to be ported and polishished for a precison fit the tolerance is so close it does not even have head gackets i have an 83 and love it i bought it new and all the new age want to be bikers dont even know what it is from a harley rider since 1974

  5. Its real funny, reading all of the wrong details of the xr,s. I have one and was a pro dirt track racer…is a lot of people out there running on pure baloney…common mistakes are displacement, head work, production, etc…..DREAM ON

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