Monday night, after the '85 Honda Nighthawk 450 fell through, my brother & I rang off near 10 pm. Told myself I should drop all this motorcycle business- of course, as I said this to myself, was looking through all the Craigslist ads again!
So just after 10pm, went through my whole list of CL locations, looking for something suitable newly posted; ETex, Deep Etx, Texarkana, Sheveport, Waco, Kileen, Austin, San Antonio, Little Rock, Ft. Smith, Houston- nothing! College Station, Dallas, Tulsa; Wait! There was something on Dallas after all:
1996 Yamaha Virago 250 V-Twin, shiny black, very good condition, windshield & saddlebags included, new batt last summer, clear title, 2700 miles. Near McKinney, TX, and a good price. Photos looked good. I called, though it was almost 10:30, & was told I'd have to wait till tomorrow to talk to the husband who was asleep- but wife confirmed that yes, it was 2700 miles, not 27,000 miles. Bought by daughter about 2 1/2 yrs ago. She took my name & #, said I was first they had talked to & he'd call Tues.
I figured,"Great. Here's another near-perfect bike, very good price(*Really* good for the DFW area, with the springtime bike-buying frenzy in full swing!), & I'll never hear from 'em again." After 2 months, trained in pessimism, that's me!
But he did call, about 2:30 Tue afternoon, we talked & he said he had another 8 calls + 10 emails waiting, & he would wait to answer them until I got there & looked it over. That was as good as I could ask for.(also let me know it was gonna be asking price or walk away) I was on the way by 3. Problems with road construction & a missed exit caused 1-hr delay, but it was worth the trip. Beautiful condition(shiny black looks *much* better in person than in photos), only a little "skin-up" on the bottom of the exhaust pipe, no dents anywhere, ran sweet, nice windshield, plus saddlebags, easy to flatfoot- and only 2700 miles! Oil was changed in Sept. 08, at 2600 miles- 2.5 yrs & 100 miles on the oil.
Hey, you knew I'd want to know about oil changes!
I paid, got signed title & transfer form, and then he & I tied it down on my utility trailer. Neither of us had ever done it before, but we got it done pretty well, though it took us awhile. He even threw in a scrap of plywood we used for a makeshift ramp. By the time I left they had several new calls & emails, several from dealerships. No foolin'. I headed back into the awful Metro Area traffic, got back to 380, and made it home without serious incident ~11pm Tues night, after getting a warning ticket from a friendly Tx Highway Patrolman because all my taillights, both truck & trailer, had gone out. We talked about motorcycles a little, & I limped 60 miles home on the 4-way flashers. Can anyone tell me, when did Texas DPS Troopers get so young?
And so ends the Great Motorcycle Hunt. Thanks for all the good advice & encouragement.
Some pix from the driveway, where my truck & trailer now have a finely sprayed coating of light gray mud(from before loading the bike), & the bike now has its required ETx coating of pollen. Can't get 'em to show, guess you'll have to click on 'em.
Pic 1
Pic 2
Odometer
So just after 10pm, went through my whole list of CL locations, looking for something suitable newly posted; ETex, Deep Etx, Texarkana, Sheveport, Waco, Kileen, Austin, San Antonio, Little Rock, Ft. Smith, Houston- nothing! College Station, Dallas, Tulsa; Wait! There was something on Dallas after all:
1996 Yamaha Virago 250 V-Twin, shiny black, very good condition, windshield & saddlebags included, new batt last summer, clear title, 2700 miles. Near McKinney, TX, and a good price. Photos looked good. I called, though it was almost 10:30, & was told I'd have to wait till tomorrow to talk to the husband who was asleep- but wife confirmed that yes, it was 2700 miles, not 27,000 miles. Bought by daughter about 2 1/2 yrs ago. She took my name & #, said I was first they had talked to & he'd call Tues.
I figured,"Great. Here's another near-perfect bike, very good price(*Really* good for the DFW area, with the springtime bike-buying frenzy in full swing!), & I'll never hear from 'em again." After 2 months, trained in pessimism, that's me!
But he did call, about 2:30 Tue afternoon, we talked & he said he had another 8 calls + 10 emails waiting, & he would wait to answer them until I got there & looked it over. That was as good as I could ask for.(also let me know it was gonna be asking price or walk away) I was on the way by 3. Problems with road construction & a missed exit caused 1-hr delay, but it was worth the trip. Beautiful condition(shiny black looks *much* better in person than in photos), only a little "skin-up" on the bottom of the exhaust pipe, no dents anywhere, ran sweet, nice windshield, plus saddlebags, easy to flatfoot- and only 2700 miles! Oil was changed in Sept. 08, at 2600 miles- 2.5 yrs & 100 miles on the oil.
I paid, got signed title & transfer form, and then he & I tied it down on my utility trailer. Neither of us had ever done it before, but we got it done pretty well, though it took us awhile. He even threw in a scrap of plywood we used for a makeshift ramp. By the time I left they had several new calls & emails, several from dealerships. No foolin'. I headed back into the awful Metro Area traffic, got back to 380, and made it home without serious incident ~11pm Tues night, after getting a warning ticket from a friendly Tx Highway Patrolman because all my taillights, both truck & trailer, had gone out. We talked about motorcycles a little, & I limped 60 miles home on the 4-way flashers. Can anyone tell me, when did Texas DPS Troopers get so young?
And so ends the Great Motorcycle Hunt. Thanks for all the good advice & encouragement.
Some pix from the driveway, where my truck & trailer now have a finely sprayed coating of light gray mud(from before loading the bike), & the bike now has its required ETx coating of pollen. Can't get 'em to show, guess you'll have to click on 'em.
Pic 1
Pic 2
Odometer