Dead Man's dream cruiser

P

podd

Member
My neighbour was an accountant. He wasn't cheap, he just had an eye for value. He could never bother buying a Harley because he loved his Yamaha Roadstar 1600 so much and couldn't justify the extra expense for "essentially the same thing, bar the branding" - his words, not mine. I used to watch him polish his bike for hours. He loved his bike, arguably only second to his wife. His favorite thing in the world was an afternoon cruise in the county.

After he put his bike away for winter storage, he went for routine surgery. He never came back.

His widow has been trying to sell his bike and has had no bites. I don't get it. Is there something wrong with this model? Too many km's? Price too high? I think she may be selling it like some junk to get rid of, not the most precious possession of an obsessive professional.

Any suggestions or advice appreciated.

guysbike.jpg
 
Condolences to the widow first and foremost.
Let's see what we've got..

11 year old bike
86,500 km.
Asking $6K.

Would think an asking price of $3500-3750 would be more reasonable, and acceptance of an offer of $3000-3250.

Other thing is, if she has posted it up on Kijiji etc saying she's a widow trying to sell husband's bike, chances are many people will instantly think it's a scam and not bother with it.
 
Bigevildoer said:
Condolences to the widow first and foremost.
Let's see what we've got..


Other thing is, if she has posted it up on Kijiji etc saying she's a widow trying to sell husband's bike, chances are many people will instantly think it's a scam and not bother with it.
Click to expand...


This and this. I wouldn't even browse an ad that says widow, lady driven, mint etc etc.
 
Thanks v. much for your help - especially the autotrader link. I'll print that out and show her, hopefully she'll drop the price way down. After doing some price comparison I think $4k sounds fair.

I found her kijiji ad. Nothing fishy there, no mention of why she's selling (ie widow, mint, etc). TBH I would have thought that buying a bike that would have had the owner turning in his grave would be a selling feature.

She has to walk by that bike every time she goes into her backyard. I know it bothers her.

On a personal note, I can't believe how inexpensive these roadstars go for. Cheap freedom IMHO. I may be shopping for one once the kids are out.
 
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They are nice bikes. My ex-boss replaced his V-Star with a Roadstar and wondered why he didn't do it years sooner.

The ad looks decent (other than the price previously discussed). "Only 86,500km" is a little bit of an optimistic slant, but not terrible.

Thanks for being a good neighbour, good luck with the sale.
 
They were good bikes, ran kind of funny with one carb for both cylinders that never seemed to need the same amount of fuel. One always seems to run rich/lean. It's a battle once you put pipes on. Reliable and powerful though. I have kind of a soft spot for them even with the aforementioned "issues".
 
Being a non-rider, she probably doesn't even realize 86k is high for (most) bikes. That's still decent (not fantastic, but decent) for a car.
 
went last night for $3800. Bitter sweet moment. Thanks again for all the advice. Showing her this thread made the price more realistic and made it move.

Enjoy your cruises. Like it's your last one.
 
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