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Bit long but life can be so disappointing sometimes...
This year my youngest Son moved into the first accommodation he could call his own with Vinnie a good friend of his as a flat mate. They're both at the same college and I've gotten to know Vinnie really well as they're both from Boise and come home to visit fairly regularly. For some little while now Vinnie has drooled over my 850 and has been trying to talk me into selling it to him, it wasn't really for sale but I said to him if he saved the money then we'd talk. Vinnie is the type of guy that made the 850 look small when he sat on it so a smaller first bike wasn’t really an option. He spent the summer working multiple jobs, gearing himself up and taking the MSF course, all signs he was seriously working toward the day he could get the money together to buy the bike.
About a month ago he finally had the cash on hand to cover the asking price I’d given him and even though I wasn’t looking to sell the bike he’d impressed me enough that I agreed to let him have it on the understanding he maintain it in the condition I’d worked so hard to get it to. No taking a sawzall to it or “ratting it out” was the deal to which he agreed saying he liked the original look too much for that.
One day in the week before he was due to trailer it back to college with him at the weekend I was doing some final checks to make sure all was well and found the charging system wasn’t working. Traced that to the R/R but had to let him know I wasn’t going to sell him the bike like that and wanted to fix it before he took it. I ordered and fitted a SH-775 which gave good readings but by then I no longer had the bike insured so couldn’t really take it for a test ride. The following weekend my Son and Vinnie came home with a truck and trailer to take the bike. The plan was for Vinnie to take the 850 out from here a couple of times over the weekend and my Son would follow on one of my other bikes to make sure the charging system was fixed before they left. All went well and Vinnie was over the moon with his new bike posting online about how happy he was to finally have the machine. He turned out to be a responsible and cautious novice rider and I felt pretty good about him owning it. We loaded it on the trailer and they left for college.
Vinnie and my Son rode the bike around all the following week then Vinnie was out on it taking a right hand bend when a small pickup truck coming in the opposite direction was in Vinnie’s lane cutting the corner. Vinnie tried to cut the corner tighter to squeeze through on the inside but there was gravel there and he lost the back end. He and the bike went down on the right side.
Vinnie wasn’t hurt too badly and got up in time to see the young kid driving the pickup take off and leave him there. He filed a police report but only got a partial plate so was pretty much told not to expect much.
Turns out Vinnie wound up with a torn rotator cuff and a tweaked ankle but other than that just shaken up. In gear terms at minimum he should buy another new helmet but the bike is sad to look at. It does run and reports say it feels like the frame and forks are ok. From the pictures I've been sent me the ignition cover has been ground away, headlamp, bucket and mounting ears are all completely smashed, the clocks are smashed, exhaust has gravel rash and right side turn signals no longer exist. Not sure what else but I’ll figure that out later.
After months of working long and hard to get what he wanted, he was the proud owner for just one week before some little jerk took it away from him and all Vinnie does is apologize to me for wrecking the bike. I feel so sorry for him.
The 850 was the GS that brought me to the GSR, some members know in graphic detail what it took to get it running like it should and how long that took. I learnt a lot and could not have done it without their help. For me to see it like it is now is gut wrenching and I’ll be doing what I can to repair the bike and return it to the condition it was in when he took it from here.
Some of the people on this planet make me proud and it’s an honor to call them friend, others just make me sick…
This year my youngest Son moved into the first accommodation he could call his own with Vinnie a good friend of his as a flat mate. They're both at the same college and I've gotten to know Vinnie really well as they're both from Boise and come home to visit fairly regularly. For some little while now Vinnie has drooled over my 850 and has been trying to talk me into selling it to him, it wasn't really for sale but I said to him if he saved the money then we'd talk. Vinnie is the type of guy that made the 850 look small when he sat on it so a smaller first bike wasn’t really an option. He spent the summer working multiple jobs, gearing himself up and taking the MSF course, all signs he was seriously working toward the day he could get the money together to buy the bike.
About a month ago he finally had the cash on hand to cover the asking price I’d given him and even though I wasn’t looking to sell the bike he’d impressed me enough that I agreed to let him have it on the understanding he maintain it in the condition I’d worked so hard to get it to. No taking a sawzall to it or “ratting it out” was the deal to which he agreed saying he liked the original look too much for that.
One day in the week before he was due to trailer it back to college with him at the weekend I was doing some final checks to make sure all was well and found the charging system wasn’t working. Traced that to the R/R but had to let him know I wasn’t going to sell him the bike like that and wanted to fix it before he took it. I ordered and fitted a SH-775 which gave good readings but by then I no longer had the bike insured so couldn’t really take it for a test ride. The following weekend my Son and Vinnie came home with a truck and trailer to take the bike. The plan was for Vinnie to take the 850 out from here a couple of times over the weekend and my Son would follow on one of my other bikes to make sure the charging system was fixed before they left. All went well and Vinnie was over the moon with his new bike posting online about how happy he was to finally have the machine. He turned out to be a responsible and cautious novice rider and I felt pretty good about him owning it. We loaded it on the trailer and they left for college.
Vinnie and my Son rode the bike around all the following week then Vinnie was out on it taking a right hand bend when a small pickup truck coming in the opposite direction was in Vinnie’s lane cutting the corner. Vinnie tried to cut the corner tighter to squeeze through on the inside but there was gravel there and he lost the back end. He and the bike went down on the right side.
Vinnie wasn’t hurt too badly and got up in time to see the young kid driving the pickup take off and leave him there. He filed a police report but only got a partial plate so was pretty much told not to expect much.
Turns out Vinnie wound up with a torn rotator cuff and a tweaked ankle but other than that just shaken up. In gear terms at minimum he should buy another new helmet but the bike is sad to look at. It does run and reports say it feels like the frame and forks are ok. From the pictures I've been sent me the ignition cover has been ground away, headlamp, bucket and mounting ears are all completely smashed, the clocks are smashed, exhaust has gravel rash and right side turn signals no longer exist. Not sure what else but I’ll figure that out later.
After months of working long and hard to get what he wanted, he was the proud owner for just one week before some little jerk took it away from him and all Vinnie does is apologize to me for wrecking the bike. I feel so sorry for him.
The 850 was the GS that brought me to the GSR, some members know in graphic detail what it took to get it running like it should and how long that took. I learnt a lot and could not have done it without their help. For me to see it like it is now is gut wrenching and I’ll be doing what I can to repair the bike and return it to the condition it was in when he took it from here.
Some of the people on this planet make me proud and it’s an honor to call them friend, others just make me sick…
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