Tech & Tonic

A couple weeks ago, Moto-Cam, Office Kjo, and myself headed out to Superstition to get dirty.  I was riding my ‘97 Honda XR400, Moto had his ‘02 KX125, and KJo was bringing his new (to him) ‘03 CRF 450R.  We go out there around 9am and proceeded to bomb around out on the dunes all day.  It was a badass trip, good weather, and we had a lot of fun.  I had the opportunity to ride Kjo’s CRF, and this planted a seed in my head.  I loved my XR400, but being out in the desert really made me realize that its a hard core trail bike, and is super heavy - not suited for desert riding and jumping at all.  It also happens to be one of the few bikes that has a street plate, which in CA can not be done any more after 2003.  Therefore, its super valuable for someone who wants to do dual-sporting: riding on the freeway to your destination, then jumping off road, and riding home afterward.  However, I rarely used it for this.  So I put it up for sale, in search of a CRF 450R.  Here begins my tale:

I put my XR400 up for sale, and had a ton of calls on it, since the plate made it super valuable (not to mention it was in awesome condition).  I sold it quickly for $3000, and wanted to use that money for buying a CRF, without having to spend any additional ca$h.  I wanted to get an ‘04 or ‘05, just to have something relatively new, and I knew if i waited around I could find one in that range for a great deal.  So I start checking around on Craigslist and Cycle Trader, and come up with a couple I want to check out.  One guy in La Jolla has an ‘05 for $3100 firm, (Link Prob won’t work for long, hes reposting like crazy) which is a great price, but I figured he would budge $100 to meet my budget if I showed up with cash.

The other guy has an ‘04 in Lakeside for $3300, but was more willing to negotiate on price, and was throwing in a brand new paddle, and some riding gear.  First I head out to La Jolla to check out the ‘05.
Its an old guy, who has 2 other bikes in his garage, apparently he picked up this one for $3200 a week prior and then scored a good deal on the other two, so just wanted to sell this one asap.  I liked it, so I offered $3100 cash.  He won’t budge on price, and tells me I’m basically stupid if I look anywhere else because I won’t find another ‘05 for anywhere near $3100.  Which is pretty much true, but I told him that $3k was my budget, desert season is about over, so I didn’t mind waiting to find something in my price range…so I walked.   This really pissed the guy off.

I headed from La Jolla out to Lakeside to check out the ‘04.  The guy was really nice, had owned the bike for a few years, knew the history, and it was super clean.  I offered $2800 and he accepted it.  While the filling out paperwork I get 4 calls from a  La Jolla number, and finally answer.  Its the previous guy who decided that he will now accept $3000 cash for it right then.  I told him I was going to get something else, and he says “well you offered me $3 for it earlier, and now I will accept it”.  I tell him that my offer was valid 3 hours ago when I was standing in his garage with cash, and he declined it.  I purchase the ‘04 and am pretty satisfied.

The next day I get an email from the old dbag in La Jolla.

I understand you are not in a hurry but will you find a better deal than mine later?  I felt I got the best 450 deal a week ago at $3200 so at $3000 I think it is a steal but I need it sold before I leave town Friday.  I am thinking of taking the best offer over $2500.  Is there any price you would buy it at?  Thanks,Dbag

I know that for $2500, I can resell it for $3000, so I reply that I will swing by with $2500 cash that night and pick it up.  He replies telling me that he wants to wait until saturday to see if he gets any other offers, then reposts it on CL with a price of $2500.  My brother calls him and the guy says he already has an offer for that (me) and tries to start a bidding war!  My brother offers $26 cash right then, but the guy says wait until saturday.  Now he has it posted for $2950 firm.  Hahah, I hope this guy never sells the bike…thats what you get for screwing with people!