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Hi all, Mike checking in from the foothills in Northern Cali. Been on the hunt for a bike to customize into something hooligan like for awhile. Criteria was something older at or above 1000cc - a KZ, GS, or GT. The Hondas are nice but they are not very unique. My best case scenario was an older Suzuki GS1000/1100/1150. So I've been beating on CL for quite a few months now, and an 82 GS1100 pops up on my local CL listing -- but I'm a day or 2 late. Ad reads:
I start beating the sellers doors down with emails but get nothing back from him, figure I missed out and I moved on.
Coming home from the valley on Monday afternoon I get a call, guy says he has the bike still for sale, had a guy come out but 'the deal fell through'. Tell the seller that I'd love to come see it, I'm on the road but can divert and be there in just over an hour. We setup meet arrangements and I head up into the hills to go see the bike
what follows is a copy/paste of a chat with my brother about how the deal went down:
quite the deal, nver been through one like that before
"Dan" called me Monday aft on the way home, I'd been beating his doors down about the bike, cash in hand, etc
said guy in the western Sacramento area had come to see it but things fell apart
told him I'd come see it now, needed about an hour or so to get there since I was in Stockton
arrived and his GF was there but no Dan, I was up in Hathaway Pines in a storage unit
Storage manager was this strange older dude who came down and hung around. apparently Dan is a colorful character and they were talking about him while I looked the bike over
batt dead, some wiring hacked out under L side cover, tags way out of date, pink signed over in 08 by somebody else - this of course after I asked him directly if the title was clear and is his name while we were talking on the phone
rest of it is mostly cosmetic, but it was the 1100 that I wanted in the year range that was good - 81 to 85, and had the ginorumus 5.8G tank. sort of a sport tourer that I was after
so title and electrical were of concern
drove down to Murphys, called Dan, and did a wtf, we're not off to a good start here since you lied to me about the title. him: hem, haw, dance
said let me check out how much is due, he offers to come down to 550. said lets deal with that after checking title
so come home, go online to dmv, turns out you can look up fees for title online
$350
me: ouch
120 is my part for transferring title
230 is his for back fees, hasnt been registered since 08
so I call him back, explain title issues, tell him I'll come get it tomorrow (yesterday) but that I will only pay $300 and that the 230 due will get him close to his 550 that he wanted
he counters with 325, I know that there is more than that in parts if I end up parting it
so I tell him that I'll go 325 if he gets the guy who signed the title to make me out a bill of sale in my name, he agrees. told him no paperwork when I show up is a showstopper, sure, sure, no problem
we agree to meet at 8:30a yesterday morning
I show with money at 8:30
and wait
and wait
and bail at 9:15, my son is with me so we head into Murphys to get a bite. stupidly I dont bring phone or contact info since he really wants to get rid of it so he can get out of town so I figure we are golden. mistake
we get back home with no call, have been checking in from my sons cell while heading home, and call the guy
wtf?
kinda ****ed but hoping to salvage the deal
him: sorry sorry sorry, etc
so we set it up for 4p for me to come back out to Hathaway Pines above Murphys
*promises* to be there
tell him that I;ll call him at 3:15 as I leave sonora just to be sure, and for him to be near phone. realizing now that I'm dealing with a misfit/tweaker/junkie of some sort
sure sure sure
so I call at 3:15 as I'm leaving sonora, no answer
3:30, no answer as I hit vallicito
3:40 as I hit Murphys someone picks up, I ask for Dan and a guy named Mark (name changed to keep things anon) hops on the line, tells me that Dan is jammed up but he is going to come up and we;ll get this done. explain the paperwork I need and that he also promised to source a ramp for me to load. at this point I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a 10' 2x8 while in sonora since I have a lumber rack on the truck.
use iphone in Murphys to look for lumber yard, angels is the closest. ess, k, ever fwd
hit the storage unit and this 20something rapper look alike is emerging from his car
nice enough guy but clearly has had some sort of legal past if you get my drift
someone had broken into the storage unit so the sliding pin lock on the door is screwed up, Mark is fumbling for keys, me: its open, just lift
we open door, start looking at title, etc
suddenly old storage dude appears, and is hot, very hot under the collar
Mark has black sweats on, black high tops, oversized black carhart jacket on, and black wool stocking cap on
storage dude, SD, comes in demanding to know how the door was open, who had the key for the lock, how the eff did we get in, Dan owes me money, no way this bike is leaving until I get paid, etc. waaaay over the top
Mark is calm at first, SD starts in on me, I tell him that I have nothing to do with this and for him to point his finger in a different direction
finger moves to Mark
Mark asks SD to put finger down
finger stays up
black wool stocking cap comes off and goes into pocket
at this point I'm thinking that this is on, SD is going to take a good beat down and I just need to figure out when to pull Mark off
SD is threatening cops, etc
somehow fisticuffs are averted, but SD is still ****ed
wants 150 of the money in my pocket
I tell him that the money is going to Mark and that I have no dog in this fight
tensions high, I'm thinking "this is effing crazy"
storage unit is a dump as you can see in the photos
Mark doesnt want to give SD money since he has no way of knowing if money is owed, SD says rent is due, Mark asks in the middle of the month? SD is kinda stopped in his tracks, but he is fully committed at this point so he says yes its due today. me: bull****, but I keep my mouth shut
SD refuses to let Mark use phone to call various people to get situation worked out, no cell service in area.
SD finally relents, they both walk up to office to make calls, I start airing up the tires on the bike and roll it out to the edge of the storage, hoping to make a quick escape if possible soon
they come back down, fingers still going back and forth but no blows yet
more back and forth
me: so fellas, whats it going to be? gotta be in Sonora shortly, need to fish or cut bait
I know that they both need this bike gone, SD sees money, and Mark has been tasked with completing the sale
so SD goes up to call Dans mom, gets all comfy that he will get paid
raining cats and dogs now, we tear out the ladder against that you can see on wall in photos, I beat the steps off the 2x8 and use it as a ramp to get bike in truck. I tie it off real quick and beat feet, as I'm drivng away I see that they are both in the storage unit divvying up the money
quite the day, that's my story, sticking to it.
Must sell!! Screamin deal to the first one with the cash. I have the pink and need to sell asap. Leave a phone # 4 me to call. No trades. 650 firm
Coming home from the valley on Monday afternoon I get a call, guy says he has the bike still for sale, had a guy come out but 'the deal fell through'. Tell the seller that I'd love to come see it, I'm on the road but can divert and be there in just over an hour. We setup meet arrangements and I head up into the hills to go see the bike
what follows is a copy/paste of a chat with my brother about how the deal went down:
quite the deal, nver been through one like that before
"Dan" called me Monday aft on the way home, I'd been beating his doors down about the bike, cash in hand, etc
said guy in the western Sacramento area had come to see it but things fell apart
told him I'd come see it now, needed about an hour or so to get there since I was in Stockton
arrived and his GF was there but no Dan, I was up in Hathaway Pines in a storage unit
Storage manager was this strange older dude who came down and hung around. apparently Dan is a colorful character and they were talking about him while I looked the bike over
batt dead, some wiring hacked out under L side cover, tags way out of date, pink signed over in 08 by somebody else - this of course after I asked him directly if the title was clear and is his name while we were talking on the phone
rest of it is mostly cosmetic, but it was the 1100 that I wanted in the year range that was good - 81 to 85, and had the ginorumus 5.8G tank. sort of a sport tourer that I was after
so title and electrical were of concern
drove down to Murphys, called Dan, and did a wtf, we're not off to a good start here since you lied to me about the title. him: hem, haw, dance
said let me check out how much is due, he offers to come down to 550. said lets deal with that after checking title
so come home, go online to dmv, turns out you can look up fees for title online
$350
me: ouch
120 is my part for transferring title
230 is his for back fees, hasnt been registered since 08
so I call him back, explain title issues, tell him I'll come get it tomorrow (yesterday) but that I will only pay $300 and that the 230 due will get him close to his 550 that he wanted
he counters with 325, I know that there is more than that in parts if I end up parting it
so I tell him that I'll go 325 if he gets the guy who signed the title to make me out a bill of sale in my name, he agrees. told him no paperwork when I show up is a showstopper, sure, sure, no problem
we agree to meet at 8:30a yesterday morning
I show with money at 8:30
and wait
and wait
and bail at 9:15, my son is with me so we head into Murphys to get a bite. stupidly I dont bring phone or contact info since he really wants to get rid of it so he can get out of town so I figure we are golden. mistake
we get back home with no call, have been checking in from my sons cell while heading home, and call the guy
wtf?
kinda ****ed but hoping to salvage the deal
him: sorry sorry sorry, etc
so we set it up for 4p for me to come back out to Hathaway Pines above Murphys
*promises* to be there
tell him that I;ll call him at 3:15 as I leave sonora just to be sure, and for him to be near phone. realizing now that I'm dealing with a misfit/tweaker/junkie of some sort
sure sure sure
so I call at 3:15 as I'm leaving sonora, no answer
3:30, no answer as I hit vallicito
3:40 as I hit Murphys someone picks up, I ask for Dan and a guy named Mark (name changed to keep things anon) hops on the line, tells me that Dan is jammed up but he is going to come up and we;ll get this done. explain the paperwork I need and that he also promised to source a ramp for me to load. at this point I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a 10' 2x8 while in sonora since I have a lumber rack on the truck.
use iphone in Murphys to look for lumber yard, angels is the closest. ess, k, ever fwd
hit the storage unit and this 20something rapper look alike is emerging from his car
nice enough guy but clearly has had some sort of legal past if you get my drift
someone had broken into the storage unit so the sliding pin lock on the door is screwed up, Mark is fumbling for keys, me: its open, just lift
we open door, start looking at title, etc
suddenly old storage dude appears, and is hot, very hot under the collar
Mark has black sweats on, black high tops, oversized black carhart jacket on, and black wool stocking cap on
storage dude, SD, comes in demanding to know how the door was open, who had the key for the lock, how the eff did we get in, Dan owes me money, no way this bike is leaving until I get paid, etc. waaaay over the top
Mark is calm at first, SD starts in on me, I tell him that I have nothing to do with this and for him to point his finger in a different direction
finger moves to Mark
Mark asks SD to put finger down
finger stays up
black wool stocking cap comes off and goes into pocket
at this point I'm thinking that this is on, SD is going to take a good beat down and I just need to figure out when to pull Mark off
SD is threatening cops, etc
somehow fisticuffs are averted, but SD is still ****ed
wants 150 of the money in my pocket
I tell him that the money is going to Mark and that I have no dog in this fight
tensions high, I'm thinking "this is effing crazy"
storage unit is a dump as you can see in the photos
Mark doesnt want to give SD money since he has no way of knowing if money is owed, SD says rent is due, Mark asks in the middle of the month? SD is kinda stopped in his tracks, but he is fully committed at this point so he says yes its due today. me: bull****, but I keep my mouth shut
SD refuses to let Mark use phone to call various people to get situation worked out, no cell service in area.
SD finally relents, they both walk up to office to make calls, I start airing up the tires on the bike and roll it out to the edge of the storage, hoping to make a quick escape if possible soon
they come back down, fingers still going back and forth but no blows yet
more back and forth
me: so fellas, whats it going to be? gotta be in Sonora shortly, need to fish or cut bait
I know that they both need this bike gone, SD sees money, and Mark has been tasked with completing the sale
so SD goes up to call Dans mom, gets all comfy that he will get paid
raining cats and dogs now, we tear out the ladder against that you can see on wall in photos, I beat the steps off the 2x8 and use it as a ramp to get bike in truck. I tie it off real quick and beat feet, as I'm drivng away I see that they are both in the storage unit divvying up the money
quite the day, that's my story, sticking to it.
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