I\u2019m in one of those sticky situations \u2013 stuck in moto limbo trying to sell a\u00a0bike\u00a0to buy another one. Hopefully without trading it in, so as not to lose massive wads of cash.<\/p>\n
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There are so many different ways to approach it, I decided to go for the private sale to someone who knows a bargain when they see it.\u00a0<\/span>I took good photos (hopefully) and priced it fairly and squarely five hundred dollars less than any other bike the same model and\u00a0chucked it up on BikeSales.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Selling a bike is a major drag to be honest, if you have ever tried to sell one yourself you know I speak the truth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first thing is the scammers. They hit you straight away with their bullshit WebSMS messaging system, providing a legit looking gmail or outlook email address to respond with, and then they go into the spiel. It\u2019s obvious and sleazy and just knowing it happens is enough to do my head in. Do people really fall for this shit and give out their bank details? Fucking crazy man.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next thing, and ultimately the biggest problem, is that you can\u2019t really ride your bike anymore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You gotta be straight up about kms (miles) on the clock and you can\u2019t go adding to that advertised figure. I also have the problem of being close to a service, which is probably a bit offputting for many. I guess I could overstate the clock to compensate for a few upcoming rides, but I don\u2019t feel lucky most days so I play it cautious and park the bike up and start the game.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The waiting game. <\/p>\n Well that last one is not entirely true, as I do have the DRZ to nip about on, but hardly a long distance ride it is.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So I\u2019ve been getting my kicks test riding\u00a0bikes. It\u2019s not that hard to score a test ride if you play it right, besides most companies want you to be on their bikes not someone elses.\u00a0Harley have a competition\u00a0going at the moment where you book a test ride on any big twin and you could win 1 of 20 trips for 2 to Daytons Bike Week. Now that\u2019d be cool.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So after unsuccessfully booking via the interwebs twice, I finally got a callback from Harley Australia to ask how my test ride went. It didn\u2019t, I advised. Let\u2019s fix that, they suggested. Agree, I agreed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And so it was I found myself making potato noises riding a very sweet 2016 Harley Davidson Breakout. And what a very sweet ride it was!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The guys were pretty laid back, the test rider casually asked if I had ridden a Harley before and I said no, unless a Buell counts, he asked what bike I was currently riding and when I told him he simply said, oh good, so you can ride.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So it was without much fuss we were off and out cutting through the city, behind the Palace Theatre and out onto the Freeway. He took an interesting and satisfying route really. Through the city, a few big ugly roundabouts, some up hill, some down, one massive lean to the left loooong merging corner shooting onto the freeway and back home again, jiggety jig.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All I could think after hopping of Dizzy was how goddamned unbelievably comfortable it was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That seat was like a pillow made of angel wings. It was deep, scultped, held me firmly in place yet felt fine to wriggle around in a bit too. Wow, this is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden I actually thought to myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They had fitted wide bars so the position was really laid back and low, forward controls kicking my feet out in front me my only gripe on the comfort front was the way my right leg laid across the air filter. That might get uncomfortable after a few hours, but I honestly felt like I could just take off and head for Sydney (900kms or 450 miles) with no fuss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sadly the bike had lame pipes and the test rider had a Night Rod Custom and as per instructions I had to sit behind him the whole way, his bike drowning out any sound emitting from my Potato whatsoever.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I really liked the bike. It didn\u2019t feel fast to me, nor did it feel thunderously filled with Satan\u2019s torque which I kind of expected. It was just cool. It made me feel completely fucking cool. I had my\u00a0Arai XD4 lid on\u00a0with a blacked out visor and I felt that invincible feeling that comes while riding a Harley. So that\u2019s the Harley thing through and through, cool and laid back, feeling like a motherfucker.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was my first time too. Never ridden a single cruiser in my whole life. I feel like my cherry was popped appropriately when I scraped the peg going around the first big left hander we did. Never done that before either, quite satisfying, it is I must say.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Still in moto limbo I squirted home motard style and signed up for the next ride. A Suzuki demo day\u2026 the bike, the GSX-S1000. A naked gixxer lay waiting my itchy wrist.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What can I say about that bike that hasn\u2019t already been said? It is incredible for the coin you have to part with. Boris and Boon summed it up perfectly in this video;<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nThe scammers game.
\nThe low baller game.
\nThe not\u00a0riding\u00a0game.<\/p>\n