Gone But Not Forgotten

The ad I placed in Cycle Trader On-line worked like a charm and my Kawasaki 1600 went off to it's new home yesterday. I got lots of calls and e-mails out of the ad and the bike sold quickly which means I should have asked more for it. No matter, losing my shirt on a bike is a fine old tradition with me. As I told someone: I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't consort with women of easy virtue, I just ride motorcycles. Given that I have no other significant vices, that leaves plenty of money to be tossed into the black hole of buying new bikes and selling them every couple of years.

I really enjoyed the 1600 right up until I bought the Aprilia. The 1600 was a nice ride and I got to thinking that I never had a bad day of riding on the bike. Never got rained on even a little bit and the only mechanical problem in 8300 miles was a turn signal bulb that expired. That was my third new Kawasaki ('99 Drifter, '01 Concours, '03 1600 Classic) and my experience with all of them has been the same: Trouble free and enjoyable to ride, great values for the money...At least until you sell them. Yeah, yeah, I know, Harleys and BMWs hold their value better. But they only do that if you keep them long enough for new bike retail price inflation to drag up used prices and I never keep a bike that long. And people forget that the excessive freight, set up, and doc fees are part of the cost of the bike and H-D and to a lesser degree BMW are famous for stacking those on big time. Factor in a couple of thousand in phony fees (I was quoted $1800 freight and set up on a $6,995 Sportster in '03) and the percentage of depreciation changes a bit.
Anyway, when I get another case of New Bike Fever I'll most likely be visiting the Kawasaki dealer first and the Triumph dealer after that.