Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Pennies from Heaven. 

I've been lucky to find these things popping up.

It happens again!

After my disappointment with the Sportster in Salinas, and at my Wife's suggestion, and with her help, I started looking on Facebook for another candidate. Left to my own devices, I would have looked primarily on Craigslist, as I was most familiar with that venue, but had read that a lot of transactions were happening on Facebook Marketplace.

There were quite a few bikes listed. My search was limited to later model Sportsters, and I decided that I would not consider an 883 model again. Initially I had thought that either model would do, but after looking at, and losing that bike in Salinas, I decided that I'd be pickier. I'd hold out for with what I really wanted, a 1200 in good condition.

Price was still a major consideration, I was willing and able to spend around 3,000.00 and I had a little wiggle room over that, but not much. Facebook Marketplace provided a number of bikes for me to consider. I had narrowed it down to this example.

This is an '06 1200 Custom, note the 21 inch front wheel.
The bike had approx. 30,000 miles on the clock.

This model comes with an alloy rear wheel, which I really didn't want.

I didn't care for the handlebars or the three headlamps!

This was a pretty good bike, it was located in Santa Maria. I immediately contacted the seller and told them that I could take a look at it tomorrow. The seller surprised me by saying that they wouldn't be available until Sunday ( I had called on Monday) and then only after 4:30 pm. They were adamant that I could not see the bike during the week. I thought that maybe I had contacted the seller's Wife, and that her husband wouldn't be back home until the weekend. That was understandable, but I was anxious to see the bike! Since I wouldn't be able to see it for a week, I started looking for something closer, just in case this bike didn't work out. 

I found another bike offered for sale on Facebook in Oakland Ca. It was also a 2006 1200. It was offered by the owner of a small towing company. It had very low mileage of only a bit over 5,000 miles, but there were also 400.00 dollars of back fees due. The photo of the bike in the cluttered garage did not look very appealing or promising, but the asking price was, 3,400.00 B/O.

White looked kind of plain.

The bike had many of the things that I really wanted. It had the 4.5 gallon Custom gas tank and it also had wire spoke wheels front and back! It was white, which didn't excite me much, but I've painted quite a few bikes and that wasn't a deal breaker.

It presented much better outside.

The mini apes were not a plus either.

I immediately contacted the seller and told him that I could go see the bike right away. 

Oakland is about forty miles away and I arrived around 1:00 pm. The first thing I noticed was that the color wasn't refrigerator white, it was a pearl white, which I later learned was called Glacier White by HD. The bike was in very good condition, no rust or oil leaks. The tires were almost new. The seller had told me that it also had a new battery. 

The bike sat very low. I wasn't sure what model it was, I later learned that it was a XL1200L, the  Sportster Low. It had a black painted engine with chrome cases, all in excellent condition. Forward controls. No oil leaks. It had the mini ape bars with a windshield and a crash bar. The exhaust pipes were Vance & Hines Straight Shots in good condition.

The seller was friendly but didn't seem that much in a hurry to sell the bike. He told me that he was a coach of a youth basketball team and had to get to practice by 7:00 pm. that night. He didn't want to miss practice.

If I didn't make it back before then, I'd have to wait until the next day.

After checking out the bike I realized that it was a good deal on a great bike. Everything that I wanted was there. I learned that it was a lien sale and the seller showed me the paperwork package and explained how it would be transfered. There was also the matter of the 400.00 dollars in back fees. I tried to negotiate the price down a bit, and he agreed to 3,200.00. He told me that he had another buyer that would be driving in from Modesto if he didn't sell the bike to me. That may have been true, or not, but I knew that this was a great bike at a fair price, with only 5,000 miles! 

So I told him I'd take it. I could give him 200 dollars to hold the bike while I returned home to get the money and a trailer. I'd called my Wife and she could loan me some more money so that I could come up with the 3,200. What followed was an episode of frantic driving on my part. I kept repeating the mantra; Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow, to myself all the way up there. 

I drove back home, picked up the cash and went to the U Haul dealer to get the trailer. Then I had to drive back to Oakland in very heavy traffic. It was a very stressful drive, and when I arrived the bike was parked in front of the shop and the seller had locked up the shop. I had phoned him when I was about fifteen minutes out.

He showed up about fifteen minutes later and we completed the transaction. I loaded the bike on the trailer and it got stuck on the angle of the ramp. This is one low bike! I tied it down and had a more relaxing drive back home. 

When I unloaded the bike I put a section of 4x4 under the edge of the ramp which reduced the angle and the bike went over the hinge easily. 

I rode the bike over to the house and immediately started doing a series of U turns in the court. I still had the touch, though I needed some time to reacquire my ease of riding.

I really lucked out with this purchase, it's a great bike.

What a wonderful feeling; to be a Harley owner, once more!