Saturday, March 1, 2008

The ‘Other’ American Made Motorcycle Joins the Fleet


This week was a crazy one. The weather was variable and sunny so I was able to commute to work twice during the week on my Vulcan. What a welcome relief that was. It sure cut into the winter doldrums and made me feel human again. It’s amazing how a couple of rides can change your whole attitude and outlook on life.

During the week I received a call from a former co-worker who had just purchased the 2008 105th Anniversary edition of the Harley Soft tail. He needed to sell his 2 year old Victory Kingpin within 2 days, or he was trading it in at the Harley dealer. Might I add that they were going to give him nearly nothing for the Victory on trade-in. My husband had been looking at the Victories, wishing he could have one for his next bike. I had known my friend bought the Victory new and had taken great care of it. He trailered it to Sturgis last year and rode all around that area with it for a few days. We got a great deal on the bike, since the Harley dealer was going to steal it anyway.

To make a long story short, we are now the proud owners of a 2005 Victory Kingpin with all the options to make it a ‘deluxe’. Alas, it was raining again yesterday, but Dave rode it to work for the first time, and rode home in a downpour. He is very happy with the ride and performance of the bike.


Now our garage has four motorcycles with no room for cars anymore. We are parking our other vehicles outside for now. We have my 2005 Suzuki S-40, my 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic, Dave’s 2003 Honda Shadow A.C.E., and the 2005 Victory Kingpin. I want to sell the Suzuki and Honda, since I know we won’t be riding them much now that we have more comfortable cruisers. Dave wants to hang on to all of them, and build more garage space. What a dilemma!

9 comments:

Ronman said...

Congrats on the new bike. I'm always happy when someone can sell their scooter to a friend. Both people usually wind up with a great deal. The dealers don't give ya squat for any of them on trade in. Great to hear ya'll are riding in the upper left.

Ride Safe

Ronman

Unknown said...

I haven't had a car in my garage for almost two years... Cars don't need the love and protection motorcycles do.

Congrats on the new bike!

Crusty said...

Congratz on the new ride! vroom, vroom! -Crusty

bikerted said...

Great bike! Also great way to solve your problem for carrying luggage, just take the Victory's key away from Dave.
Reminds me of Ian solving his luggage problem, he bought the Guzzi after having an accident on his Suzuki.
Cars and garages don't mix over here. Ian has got three bikes and two rolling chasis at present with the Guzzi in a shed at his father's house.
Ted.

Becky said...

Ronman: Thanks. We've been riding often lately. So far Dave loves the Victory.

Dale: You're right about that. I keep my motorcycles clean and sheltered,but don't care about the other vehicles.

Crusty: Thanks. We went riding today and Dave said it was a real comfortable ride.

Bikerted: On our ride today, all my little things went in Dave's hard saddlebags. It was a great way to carry my things.

Bikerchickz

--xh-- said...

congratz on teh new ride.. and no dilemma - build a bigger garage :-D
itz always a pleasure dealing with friends bikes coz we know the history of bike and the seller dont feel bad coz he is giving it to some one who he knows will take care of the bike... any day better than a delership deal... ride safe and ride a lot on teh new set of wheels...

Conchscooter said...

It always amazes me how little motorcycles get ridden. There are used machines for sale everywhere with a few thousand miles on the clock. 11,000 miles on my last machine was considered "high mileage." And how do you ride more than one machine at once? Doesn't that involve a lot of walking back and forth?

Becky said...

xh-: Thanks for the congrats. I think both people are very happy with the outcome of the sale.

conchscooter: It is hard to keep 4 bikes running with only two people. We just keep switching off and ride a different one each day. Our Honda has 21,000 miles and is still quite good.

Bikerchickz

Camron said...

My Dad worked for Polaris when they started the Victory Line back in '98. I love the bikes, and with Cory & Arlen Ness heading up the Design team, it was only a matter of time before the bikes got Crazy Beautiful.
Availability of accessories was the only reason I didn't get an 8-Ball instead of my FXSTCI.
Congratulations on your very lucky purchase!