its worth fixing, but its old enough that finding a "competent" mechanic to do the work is the hard part - anybody who uses the word "cheap" in the conversation - RUN AWAY - there is nothing cheap about what a 84 thats leaking needs. very few dealers have mechs that can do any good on those - find the right mech first then work the $$
a wild wag is that if it needs fork work, it needs rear swing arm bushings as well - i had a 79 sportster and it had brass bushings that came undersize and you "ream them to fit" figure about 1.3 to 1/2 the price of a new sportster by the time you get the tools, pull the trans, split the cases, send the crank out, do pistons & cylinders and heads. then change all the itzy bearings in the trans, do the fork bushings and bearings, rear bushings, wheel bearings. engine assy has spacers such that you have to install the crank, check play, remove adjust & reinstall - same with the end play washers in the trans - very helpful to have a surface grinder with a magnetic vice. the heads have only a certain number of oversizes avail for guides, if its been "done" before there is a chance the heads are already oversize to the max.
then it will be good for 30k miles & they are fine for 65 - 70 mph all day, but buzzz over 60. rode mine a hundred k, two rebuilds in that time frame. sold if for 3/4 what i paid for it ready for rebuild number 3.
later
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