I found this motorcycle up in Milwaukee, WI at the beginning of winter.  The guy who owned it only rode it with his wife occasionally.  The bike was as clean then as it is in the pictures here.  The only blemish I found on the bike was that the right side mirror was oxidized from being stored under a bike cover.  

I think it was 28F when I went to look at the bike but we hadn’t gotten any snow yet so I took it out for a ride.  Chilly is a word that comes to mind.  Its difficult to really focus on the mechanics of the bike and assess the feel of the shifting, handling and braking when wind is cutting through every piece of clothing you’ve got on and you’re trying to decipher if the light clatter you hear is the valve train or your teeth chattering.

This was the first vehicle I’d ever intended to purchase for which the owner did not have the title in hand; he had a loan on it through the local credit union.  Actually, all he had was loans; he didn’t own a thing. That’s precisely why he was selling the bike, he just wanted to get out of the payment.  Once I realized this fact during our conversation I knew how best to make him an offer.  Before I made the offer I simply restated my understanding of his situation and his desire to simply be done with the payment. He confirmed.  I then offered to pay off the balance of the loan but no to exceed $5,000 (he was a little fuzzy on the actual remaining balance).  If the balance was greater than $5k he’d have to satisfy the rest.  He agreed.

We setup a time the following Saturday to meet up and conduct the transaction at the credit union.  It went smooth and only ended up costing me $4,900.  I loaded the bike into an enclosed uhaul trailer so it wouldn’t get all messy from the now snow and salt covered roads.

Again, I enjoyed riding the bike back and forth to work when possible, rode it back up to Milwaukee for a business trip.  The Victory bikes are smooth riding comfortable machines.

At the appropriate time I posted the bike up for sale but I didn’t get much interest in it.  The bike was beautiful and rode great. I had it posted for quite a few months before a guy finally decided to buy it. While I only made $250 when I sold it I got to use the bike that whole time and enjoyed the ride.  Thats a 4.9% return on investment for riding a motorcycle.  Life could be worse.

Deal done, onto the next one.