Longy515
New Member
So I bought my first bike back in March. It's a Suzuki GS 550 with cafe/bratstyle plans. Here's the story and I apologize for the length in advance. If you want the bike details, just scroll down.
I saw the bike on craigslist with a terrible photo and almost no description other than it ran and had a title. Naturally I didn't pay much attention to it. In addition, I really wanted a twin, but I wasn't going to rule out a 4 cylinder if the price was right. So anyway, I had been scouring the internet for about 2 months in all of east TN, east KY, west NC, and north GA. If I'm honest, during this time I hadn't made up my mind that I was actually going to buy a bike. It needs to be said that over the course of this 2 months, I was incessantly trying to persuade my wife into letting me buy a bike. So anyway, one Thursday evening, sitting on the couch I'm searching, and a new craigslist post pops up for a 1976 cb360t. Running, clean title, all it needs is some re-upholstery, and they're only asking $600! So frantically, I start the bargaining game with my wife. You know the drill, "Honey, this is a great price! If I can talk them down ___ amount, can I buy it? Please!" Well she caved, although very reluctantly. She said if I could talk them to $500 I could have it. Anyway, I get back on the computer at 6:30 the next morning to get the guys number and the freaking post is taken down already. At that point, I made my mind up. I was going to buy a motorcycle.
So I go to work the next day, and all I can think about is how pissed I am that I didn't call the guy as soon as I saw the listing. To ease my tensions, I get back on craigslist and guess what pops up...the GS 550 with the equivalent of a MySpace selfie photo (the kind that can make ugly girls look hot) that no one would ever trust. But at this point I'm desperate, so I call the guy. Now he's asking $750, we chat, I offer $500, he says he'll take 6, I say I'll think on it and conversation is over. At this point, I'm really thinking I'll give him the $600, but I talk to the wifey and she makes me stick to my $500 limit. Once again, I'm pissed, only at her this time. So I call the guy back and leave a voicemail telling him that if he can't take $500 then I ain't buying, and then the waiting begins. After about 6 hours, my hopes of getting a return call had dwindled, but about 10 o'clock that night, my phone rings. I answer, and a very drunk voice on the other end of the line asks me if I have anything I'd like to trade. Me: "Uh, like what?" Drunk guy in a hillbilly accent: "You got any guns?" Me: "Haha!...Oh, you're serious. Well...none that I'm willing to part with." *long awkward pause* Drunk guy: "Well if you can git 'er tomorra I'll take $500 I reckon." YES!!!
So it's Saturday, it's freezing, and the wife and I go get this bike at this dude's trailer on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. At this point I'm thankful that I have that gun I'm not willing to part with, and for the permit I have to conceal it. The bike is as described, and the man helps me load the it in my trailer and I set off down his steep and deeply rutted gravel driveway. We reach the bottom and BANG! The bike fell over in the trailer. Naturally, my wife starts nagging. "Oh, this was a great idea. You haven't even ridden it and you've already wrecked the damn thing!" Luckily, the only damage was to the chrome accent around the headlight. I lift it up, strap it down much more carefully this time, and we set off for home.
Here she is as I got her:
Suzuki GS 550. 14xxx miles. Good running order with clean title. Purchased for $500.
I saw the bike on craigslist with a terrible photo and almost no description other than it ran and had a title. Naturally I didn't pay much attention to it. In addition, I really wanted a twin, but I wasn't going to rule out a 4 cylinder if the price was right. So anyway, I had been scouring the internet for about 2 months in all of east TN, east KY, west NC, and north GA. If I'm honest, during this time I hadn't made up my mind that I was actually going to buy a bike. It needs to be said that over the course of this 2 months, I was incessantly trying to persuade my wife into letting me buy a bike. So anyway, one Thursday evening, sitting on the couch I'm searching, and a new craigslist post pops up for a 1976 cb360t. Running, clean title, all it needs is some re-upholstery, and they're only asking $600! So frantically, I start the bargaining game with my wife. You know the drill, "Honey, this is a great price! If I can talk them down ___ amount, can I buy it? Please!" Well she caved, although very reluctantly. She said if I could talk them to $500 I could have it. Anyway, I get back on the computer at 6:30 the next morning to get the guys number and the freaking post is taken down already. At that point, I made my mind up. I was going to buy a motorcycle.
So I go to work the next day, and all I can think about is how pissed I am that I didn't call the guy as soon as I saw the listing. To ease my tensions, I get back on craigslist and guess what pops up...the GS 550 with the equivalent of a MySpace selfie photo (the kind that can make ugly girls look hot) that no one would ever trust. But at this point I'm desperate, so I call the guy. Now he's asking $750, we chat, I offer $500, he says he'll take 6, I say I'll think on it and conversation is over. At this point, I'm really thinking I'll give him the $600, but I talk to the wifey and she makes me stick to my $500 limit. Once again, I'm pissed, only at her this time. So I call the guy back and leave a voicemail telling him that if he can't take $500 then I ain't buying, and then the waiting begins. After about 6 hours, my hopes of getting a return call had dwindled, but about 10 o'clock that night, my phone rings. I answer, and a very drunk voice on the other end of the line asks me if I have anything I'd like to trade. Me: "Uh, like what?" Drunk guy in a hillbilly accent: "You got any guns?" Me: "Haha!...Oh, you're serious. Well...none that I'm willing to part with." *long awkward pause* Drunk guy: "Well if you can git 'er tomorra I'll take $500 I reckon." YES!!!
So it's Saturday, it's freezing, and the wife and I go get this bike at this dude's trailer on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. At this point I'm thankful that I have that gun I'm not willing to part with, and for the permit I have to conceal it. The bike is as described, and the man helps me load the it in my trailer and I set off down his steep and deeply rutted gravel driveway. We reach the bottom and BANG! The bike fell over in the trailer. Naturally, my wife starts nagging. "Oh, this was a great idea. You haven't even ridden it and you've already wrecked the damn thing!" Luckily, the only damage was to the chrome accent around the headlight. I lift it up, strap it down much more carefully this time, and we set off for home.
Here she is as I got her:
Suzuki GS 550. 14xxx miles. Good running order with clean title. Purchased for $500.
