Stage one is covered fairly well in my previous blog http://texasontwowheels.blogspot.com/. Although, I will be adding stories from different trips as the days and weeks progress, which will help complete stage two.
Stage three is making the decision to sell and marketing the bike. I've actually sold the bike twice now. The first time was to drum up some money for a college internship. I posted to craigslist and my aunt, of all people, called and offered to buy the bike from me, with the offer to buy it back after I had recovered from the financial hit of an unpaid, 3 month full-time internship. This deal worked very well, and I graduated 12/15/2012.
Being without a motorcycle hit me harder than I'd expected, and so did my internship. Spring of 2013 I was in a bind, broke financially, mentally exhausted from 4 years of University, and scrambling to make my income match my expenditures. I landed an extra job as a social worker and began building up my finances again, however, I was working 67 hours per week. The pay was right but there was no extra time to enjoy my time on this planet. In August, I landed a professional job teaching social studies.
My income was up, my time off was up, and so was my stress. Teaching is absolutely madness, but that is the topic of a different blog. After two weeks of stress, I called my aunt to see if I could buy back the bike in installments. She agreed and I was back on two wheels.
Even though I had the bike, I never stop looking at bikes. My girlfriend and I went up to Dallas over Christmas and decided to check out some of the dealerships in the area. We haven't been by Strokers of Dallas yet but it's on the list. Short and long of it is that I found a great bike at the BMW dealership- 2003 K1200GT, picked it up, with helmet, gloves, and jacket for around 6k. Rode it back to Austin and I was suddenly a two bike household.
I struggled for a few months as to whether I would keep the Kawasaki and continue to customize it. I had looked at a limited edition Harley Softail with pinstripes, chrome front end, whitewall tires, and a studded solo seat. My idea was to develop the Vulcan into a nice custom cruiser. Lose the bags and extra weight and use the Beemer for touring and commuting, and the Vulcan for short distance cruising and show-boating. However, what I found happening was I would ride the BMW, which has superior cornering, acceleration, storage capacity, and manuverability, and the Vulcan was collecting dust. I'd take her out every couple weeks and polish up the chrome. It wasn't what the bike was made for though, and I knew it. The bike was made to ride.
In the last few weeks, my loans from school came a-calling, to the tune of about 700 per month, beginning very soon. I knew it was time to move the Vulcan. I had put it up for sale at 4200 and didn't get any real interest in it around January. This time, in May, I did some research. I priced the bike in a comfort zone where I would get enough money that I felt it was fair, and allow me to pay a sizable portion of my rotating, unsecured debt, meanwhile being the absolute best value for the dollar on Craigslist.
To determine value I addressed three main areas, brand, style, displacement, age, features, mileage, appearance, maintenance, and Kelley blue book value.
Being a vulcan, I first searched Vulcan prices to see what value was being put on this specific bike. Being a cruiser, I researched cruiser prices. The bike is a 2008, so it falls in with the later model bikes, which is a good selling point. However, to highlight that key difference, I identified modern features that allow the bike to stand out. Cheif among these would be the fuel injection, smooth rubber mounted engine and water-cooled motor. The displacement sits at a healthy 900 cc's which, were it 20 years ago, would be a fairly large bike, pushing, as it is, towards the liter-class. However, due to the bigger is better mentality, there are bikes as large as 2.3 liters at this point, giving the impression that the bike is in the middle of the pack concerning performance. Unfortunately, that puts the bike in first-time rider territory. First-time riders are great, because they are enthusiastic purchasers, however they also tend to be under-informed, and naturally, have not discovered their motorcycling identity and preferences. Being as my bike has higher mileage than many found for sale, it was important to stress the low maintenance cost, dependability, and the presence of records concerning the work done to the vehicle in the past. The appearance of the bike, overall, is very good. Even though I had a professional photo-shoot done with the bike, I chose to use a rough pic from my phone on the craigslist ad. Finally, the blue book value. kbb valued the bike at around 4200 in great condition.
On craigslist, in the 4200 category, there were many competitors. I did my finances and realized that the lowest I could comfortably go was 3000. To check to see if I would be able to reasonably expect that price, I scoured craigslist everyday for a couple of weeks. At 3000, my bike had the newest year, highest displacement, fewest mechanical issues, and in my opinion, was easily the best looking. Nervously, I posted the ad. I had a hit the next day and a man came to look at the bike. First time rider, he wanted to push the price down. I didn't allow it and he wandered off to look at some other bikes. Specifically, he was enamored with a 650 yamaha without current tags that had flames painted on the tank and fenders. I didn't have the heart to tell the guy how painfully aware of those missing 250cc's between the two bikes he is going to be the first time he has any sort of real hill, such as the one on 2222 leading up to 620. That is a lesson you have to experience to understand.
The second caller was very excited. He and his wife drove in from the valley, 137 miles to look at the bike. As it turns out, the guy, we'll call him Jesse, had owned a Vulcan before and had traded it in on a Harley. Now he is working in the oil fields and really wanted to pick up another Vulcan. It was a great meeting. In a lot of ways he already knew the bike because he was familiar with the model. The customization I had completed, with black pipes, mirrors, covers, and handlebars was right in line with what he was looking for. In fact, his ideas for customization were ideas that either I'd had, or ideas that I loved. Having a buyer that is there for all the right reasons made the sale much smoother. He knew he was getting a good deal and I knew that the bike was going to an individual that would continue the tradition that had been started by the very first owner, and upheld by myself-ride, ride, ride. He told me a few things that made me really comfortable with the sale: 1. He plans on getting the bike over 100k miles. 2: He doesn't trailer bikes. 3. He already has a Harley so he was buying the bike Because it is a Kawasaki Vulcan, not 'in spite of.'
When he showed up with the money, I was away from the house, so my roommate was able to handle the deal. When I rolled up on the Beemer, he was just backing out of the driveway. It was great, he had a smile on his face that is indescribable. If you've felt it, then you know it. He had that feeling you get when you have achieved a goal, but more than that, when you feel you are your best self. I'm happy to say the Kawasaki is still out there, eating up pavement, chasing down that 100k milestone. And me? I'm chasing 100k personal miles and excited to be on a BMW K1200GT, planning trips, getting to know the bike, and generally riding, riding, riding.
When I asked the Service Counter rep at Lonestar BMW for advice on keeping my bike in good shape he gave me the same advice I gave Jesse- Ride it.
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