Well, the FZR pictured below was going to be mine, but I really did not want or need 146 horsepower. But, it did ride well, at least, it felt good on the two mile ride I had on it. So, since the price was right, I decided that a good solution would be to take the FZR and trade it for something like a Ninja 250 or a dual sport.
So, off to Craigslist I went. I posted an ad saying it was in ok shape but probably needed some work so send me some trade offers. I got a million replies. Quickly.
Tons of offers for 600's, as if they need more power. Offers for some really cool bikes.
So, I asked a friend of mine who knows a lot more about bikes than I do to take a look at it and give me some idea of what it needs. A day or so before we were able to inspect the bike, my Nephew was riding it and it cut off on him in mid ride and he ended up having to push it home.
So, when my buddy checked it out, he did not give a good prognosis. Faced with the potential of $800 or so in repairs, with no way of knowing until someonme tore into the bike, I decided to not trade or sell it. Some minor work is one thing, but $1000 of wrk is something I was not comfortable trading to someone who might be hoping it was a minor fix.
However, I ran across a guy with an 89 Katana 1100 project bike. He had parked it a few years ago when he got his new bike. He said he'd let it go for $250 so I went to take a look. It had been sitting a while but looked pretty decent.
I mentioned it to one of the guys I had still been emailing and he sounded interested. Very interested. I emailed him and told him it looked nice but I had no idea what condition it was internally. He offered me his Nighthawk (see picture below)... I told him I'd do that trade but repeated several times in both email and over the phone that I knew next to nothing abotu the Katana or the owner. He said that was fine so after picking up the Katana, we rode over and traded a nonrunning Katana for the Nighthawk.
He says he is happy and I hope he gets the Katana running with no major problems but I am happy as can be with the Nighthawk in my garage.
2 comments:
You can hardly go wrong with the Nighthawk. Interesting tale of how you got there. If you want to make it have a little better weather protection, you might check out the National Cycle Plexifairing III.
http://www.nationalcycle.com/WhyBuy/MotorcycleWindshields.html
The one for the Nighthawk has no metal across it like the one in the picture. You don't even have to buy directly from National Cycle. Several distributors can give a better price.
Only a suggestion if you're interested.
Bah! If you see another of those $250 nighthawks, you have gotta let me know!! ;)
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