Thinking about the next race bike, I know that there will not be any of the model near me for a few hundred miles. So it got me to thinking, exactly how far am I willing to travel to pick up a bike? What say you guys?
8 hours is about it for me. Did it once but probably wouldn't do it again unless its an awesome deal.
I've driven 8 hours about 5-6 times. As long as it's a good deal I don't mind driving that far. I usually try to make it a little mini vacation, check out the local scene.
Really depends on what it is. The most I've driven personally was 4 hours to pick up a h2 that I got for 80 bucks!! A pristine fzr400 at the right price,I might make a vacation of it......
ive driven 6-7 hours to pick up a 636 that was one of those "too good to be true" deals. i showed up with cash wanted to hear the bike fire and ride it down the block. first thing the bike wont start, guy goes and buys a new battery, still wont start, i take the air filter out and everything is soaked in water. eventually i get it started, running on 2 maybe 3 cylinders and has crazy exhaust leaks. then i start looking at the vin numbers and nothing matches. the guy is like "nah man i always register it to this frame" and pulls another frame out from behind a pile of what i thought was trash but apparently it was baby clothes. it was an insurance fraud bike apparently. i walked straight out of the garage, hopped in my truck, went to wendy's and drove straight home another 6-7 hours. i'll still drive that far to pick something up but i'll need some serious proof it's not a stolen pile of garbage.
Bought my FZR from a well known WERA member...10 hours one way, we talked about the bike then loaded it up and I headed back home.
Explain this term . . . "Good deal"? Is it $500, a $1000. Im trying to determine if I ever got a deal. I drove from MD to NC. I stayed overnight with the wife/small child in a hotel before picking it up the next morning so it wasn't so drawn out for them.
For my first track bike, I drove 32 hours round trip. For my next one, I drove from STL to LA and back. The first one was a really good deal on a bike with everything I wanted on it, the second was a pretty good deal and an excuse to hang out with some buddies from college. Oh... and then the latest one was about 16 hours round trip.
The furthest I have driven was 8hrs. I might drive further, just depends on the shipping. Keep in mind that most shipping companies will take weeks to actually get the bike to you. They don't ship your bike to you when it is ready. They will pick it up, then let it sit in a warehouse until they get enough items that have to be shipped in your direction. Then it might go somewhere else and sit again. It is all about increasing their profit. The more things they can ship in one run, the better. That is what i went through with the Ape. I paid for shipping and they picked it up at AF1 in TX (4 days after I had paid for shipping). Then it sat in their warehouse for another week. Then it got taken to Atlanta and had been sitting there for 3 days. It wasnt scheduled to leave ATL for another 5 days. But even then it wasnt going to me. It was going to be shipped to another warehouse in Knoxville and was going to sit there for another week (which is only an hour from my house). I cant express the level of pissedoffedness. I paid $700 for shipping and STILL had to drive 9hrs (round trip) to ATL to go get it. It was going to take over 4 weeks to be shipped to me because they had to wait till they had enough things going my direction to make enough money.
market average for price not available within 50-100 miles of you one of two models of bike you're willing to throw down money for.
I drove from IL to AL (10hrs each way) for a great deal on a bike I still miss today. I too had a seri upheld conversation with the seller before I drove out. He offered to pay for my gas if the bike wasn't what he was claiming. I was NOT disappointed Gotta find the right seller/situation/bike. It was a good road trip with a buddy so I would do it again.
Anymore, I won't drive more than 1.5 hours unless I know the guy or know someone who knows him. 9 out of 10 times, the seller flat out lies about the condition of the bike or title, regardless of how detailed you get during the pre-purchase discussions. Almost always a waste of a day off, plus gas and wear and tear on the truck. I did have an unusual sale quite a few years ago. I built a very trick FZR 400. A guy in California wanted the bike, so he flew his single engine plane out to a small airport near my location in Texas. I met him at the airport and we disassembled the bike on the tarmac and loaded it into the back of his plane. Pulled the wheels, front end, swingarm, exhaust, radiator and bodywork. Loaded the frame and engine together. It was pretty strange watching my bike fly away :up:
I did 6hrs each way once but I had a buddy go look the bike over before the drive so I had an idea of what I was getting into before the drive. No way I'd go that far w/o some solid idea of condition.
Well, that's the thing, you just have to decide what it's worth to you. Not me or anyone else. And by worth, obviously your time is just as valuable as any monies you'll be spending. Unfortunately, for me, there really isn't an answer. When I decide I want something, and pull the trigger, I want it now. I don't want to wait for another one to hopefully come up. 100-200 miles one way is a no brainer for me for something I want. Hell I'd pack the kids and take them at that short of distance. 1 of 2 that I'd plunk down on at the drop of a hat? That's a short list, so I don't know that there is enough highway in America to make it too far!
This is another thing that would help in the decision process. This here beeb. I can pretty confidently say, that there are enough regulars, and even more lurk eras, that someone would be close enough, and willing to go look at it with an unbiased opinion and give feedback.
Our longest day: Sold the wife's Derbi 50 and Draik's Blata in my avatar to a guy from way up in VA, we met him in Bristol (drove up from Knoxville leaving at 0500, 260 miles r/t). Came back home with cash in hand and waited for the timing to be right (different time zone and race dad was at work) to head to Princeton KY. Drove to KY, picked up new bike and, of course, chated. Headed back to Knoxville (got home at 0300, 540miles r/t). So 800 miles total wasn't the worst part, it was the time involved. I'd do it again for a good enough deal.