Vulcan MovesMe

Sequence of events:

Sunday Aug 31st (Yes less than one week ago.) - Took Harley ridin' Father-in-Law to the local Vespa Dealer...Dad not impressed at all, suggests looking into a small motorcycle, 250cc's or so. I'm told him no way I have the cash, that used Vespa he just test-drove was more than I could handle financially. He says no way a brand new Honda Rebel 250 is probably that much.

Monday Sept 1 -  I start looking into the Honda Rebel and find one I really like...a Burnt Orange masterpiece...in Burbank. But I have the funds to afford it.

Tuesday Sept 2 - No longer like Rebel, found a sweet Hyosung (Korean for Suzuki) GV250, that the cruiser crowd has been raving about. A bit beefier than the Rebel and much more powerful. There just happened to be a mean lookin' black one at Central Coast Mechanics.

Wednesday Sept 3 - Ask Harley ridin' Father-in-Law to check out said GV250 with me. He is somewhat impressed, but not totally. He takes me outside and drops a bomb...him and Mom want to help me purchase a more substantial motorcycle. He doesn't know anyone that ever bought an entry level machine and kept it more than 6 months. I'm dumbfounded...and mustering every ounce of manliness within me to keep from crying in front of him. So we check out some Honda Shadow 750's (to get an idea of what the 600s would be like) at San Luis Motorsports (SLM). Guess what? there aren't any...in California...Sold Out!

Thursday Sept 4 - Next to that Hyosung GV250 was a GV650, a Harley V-Rod look a-like that for some reason really caught my eye. It just so happened to be a 2007 and the great owner Brad was willing to cut me a great deal. I was ready to go right there...until I read 30 pages worth of problems with the machine (only in it's 3rd year of production...still working the kinks out). Another start over.

That night Harley ridin' Father-in-Law and I went to Bike Night down in Santa Maria. A weird happening once a month in a strip mall by the freeway that houses a Harley-Davidson, Yamaha, and Kawasaki-Suzuki store. The crowd was full of very interesting, yet very cool peeps. Dad and I both sat on a Raven Black 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom. I secretly really liked it, but the sticker was much higher than even the Shadow 750s we had been looking at. So I left it alone.

Friday Sept 5 - I started a comparison of the Vulcan 900, Shadow 750, and Yamaha V Star 600. This research did not end until 2AM the next morning. The clear winner for price/value...you know bang for the buck? Vulcan 900 Custom. AND I found a couple that were 2007 leftovers going for the same price as the 2008 Shadow 750! So being the weirdo that I am I created a table for my families reference that showed stuff like MSRP, Specifications, etc. And Hands Down the Vulcan 900 seemed the best value. And wouldn't you know it? SLM had one on the showroom floor...brand new...no miles...never been started, beautiful candy apple red finish.

Around 1AM I hit the jackpot a 2007 Candy Apple Red (Linda and I really wanted this color)...in Woodland Hills for less than the Honda Shadow. I was amazed! This was just the leverage I needed to bring to SLM or heck I could just go pick that candy apple cruiser up in Woodland Hills!

Saturday Sept 6 - A day that would live in infamy. The Woodland Hills dealer did me up one further...he gave me the OTD out the door price for the Vulcan 900! I had some cool chores to do (hung a shelf in our coat closet...thanks Harley ridin' Father-in-Law for showing me how to do this!) had some lunch and met up with Harely ridin' Father-in-Law to go see Kevin or Jake about the bike.

After galking at the Vulcan like tweenagers who just saw Zach Efron and making small talk with Jake we got down to brass tacks (what does that mean?). Could SLM meet Woodland Hills' OTD price...or at least save us a trip down there. I filled out a form, Jake went to Kevin's office (not sure what they were talking about in there) and then came back with an OTD price that was basically $150 more than Woodland Hills. We faked like we weren't impressed and tried to get a free Helmet out of it, but they didn't bite.

So I plunked down the credit card and as you can see this baby is sittin in my garage...not in the picture it's in front of my garage there, it's in my garage right now.

I can't tell you how much this gift means to me! Thank you so much Harley ridin' Father-in-Law and Safety First Mother-in-Law! Thank you for augmenting what amounted to a down payment for a 150cc used Vespa into a brand new 900cc Kawasaki Vulcan Custom (yes that's 750cc's worth of growth in one week). I can't thank you enough!

I'll leave ya'll with this picture (Yes that's a big smile on my face):