The move went good. I’ve moved so much the last 10 years that we hired movers this time just to get it done. We boxed everything up and had it ready, and these guys came in all jacked up and ready to move a thing. They made short work out of it.
Christmas eve I pulled the trigger on a new bike. I wasn’t expecting it to happen that day, but it just did. I was expecting it to take some time. I went down to the dealership with shorts and flip flops, just to see what they had.
I wanted a bone-stock Street Glide. Black. Like a blank slate, that I can customize the way I want. The only upgrade I wanted was a Stereo upgrade, and I was ready to pay the 800 extra bucks plus labor to do that.
The salesman was legit; He wasn’t some kid who didn’t know what he was talking about; he was an ex-military biker who had clearly made some miles in his day. We swapped stories and I immediately liked him. He showed me a silver street glide that I wasn’t in love with, then I asked him if he had a stock black one. They did: a 2020, in flat black.
I asked him the price. I gave him a low ball offer, just to see what his manager would do. I realize they have doc fees (Arizona has reasonable ones) and all kinds of markups they like to slip in, and I figure we could negotiate between the set factory price, those fees and I could be happy somewhere in between. Then, I’d ask them to throw in the upgraded Stereo, and we’d negotiate on that.
I gotta admit; I love that part. I’m not good at much, but I can fucking haggle. My favorite line is “Hey, I understand…. Don’t get yourself in trouble — if it doesn’t work for you, that’s cool. That’s the number that works for me…”. And you have to be ready to walk out and end the deal, and find another dealership. Part of my throwing out a low price, was just to see if they even *would* haggle. Some dealerships will, some wont.
Long story short, they took my offer. I cut a fat cow, or a tush hog, or whatever. I’m pretty happy with it all.
2020 FLHX Street Glide, with the upgraded Stereo Nav and 5 miles on it when I rode it off the lot in the pouring rain in shorts and flip flops on Christmas Eve.
It’s in my garage now. I’m all giddy about it.
Went riding with my son in law today and he took my old bike, up to Tortilla flat. I’ve got about 400 more miles to break her in.
I think it’s the start of a beautiful relationship 🙂