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A "QUANTUM LEAP"
I had been waiting for a phone call for about 24 hours, I had an advertisement in the BMWMOA ( BMW Motorcycle Owners of America) Magazine that came out the previous day and I was pretty sure that the call was going to come....so sure I immediately checked for messages once I had reached home............... and then there it was.....
You see, I had been riding around one day, on my "trusty old motorcycle", a 1972 BMW R60/5, which I have ridden for almost 30 years.......that and my sudden realization that I have somehow become 53 years of age, forced me to the conclusion that I had some how become a "Dinosaur", that I was "Stuck in the Past" and that I was hopelessly lost riding around with yesterday's technology.........
So.........I had an extreme idea! I would UPGRADE!!!!!
I placed My FREE AD in the BMWMOA MAG
Wanted ...BMW Motorcycle - GS1150 - Loaded...This Century...Up to $10,000! ...Call Wayne
I had placed that ad in the BMWMOA Magazine 45 days earlier.......knowing full well that in the middle of winter and the middle of a depression.....there might be "one" BMW Motorctycle Rider out there that was done riding for the season or for "Good"and just maybe for "whatever" reason ready to "Cash In" and pass along their ride!
and now here with that first , and only, call was that "old geezer! Fred Lipsky BMWMOA MEMBER#39008 and he was a "landsman"....a member of the "tribe"......
turns out FRED had been a BMWMOA member for 24 YEARS!
Fred had called to tell me he was ready to give up his 2004BMWR1150GS, one of the finest Touring Motorcycles BMW had ever produced.........and it had only 21,000 miles......low mileage for a World Class Touring Motorcycle of this sort........ In fact Fred had really practically just "broken in" the bike............and I was going to be buying it "loaded", for less than half the price of a new one!!!!
Compared to my old BMW R60/5 Fred's BMWR1150GS weighs about 70 lb's more, it has a center of gravity proably 6-8 inches above that of my older R60/5....even for me it's a bit of struggle to hold up.....Fred explained that at 5'8" and 76 years of age he was just no longer able to handle the bike .....and he realized he could no longer ride the bike safely.........that was his only reason for selling........
The Bike is an 1150cc and has 105 horsepower compared to the 650 cc's and 39hp on my 72 R60/5.......It comes with a full WindShield, and heated grips.....and an advanced integrated front and rear wheel braking system using three disc brakes with an advanced ABS with a uni-lever suspension all of course "shaft driven".......It comes with a full set of luggage.....an additional top case....and a leather tank cover and bag.
Well you know the saying "One Man gathers what another Man Spills"....I could tell on the phone that Fred was still somewhat reluctant to sell and I knew I had only a small window of time.....to make the deal before he had a change of mind or someone else came forward to buy the Bike. I asked what Fred wanted for the Bike, it was much less than the $10,000 I was prepared to spend.....I was IN!
I told him I could collect the Bike in a couple of days....I needed to get a Cashier's Check....... I wanted to prepare my pickup truck to transport the Bike.......and I wanted the Motorcycle's Vin# so I could pre- check that the Bike wasn't stolen with the Police.......Fred had never heard of that ....but he didn't disagree.
So I went to the Pawtucket Police Department's Vin Check on Main Street........I had brought the Vin# Fred had given me and I asked if they could please just check the numbers so that I would know in advance if I was involved in a bad deal....... but they wouldn't do it! .....Then they went on to explain to me that if I did in fact happen to buy a stolen motorcycle they would immediately arrest me and confiscate the Bike!
Now I am a little nervous.....I know to look for a clean Title....to pay by check....and to get a bill of sale.....
but otherwise it's "buyer beware" when you are buying a used motorcycle from a magazine ad.....there are "no guarrantee's".....how do I know their are no other claims on the bike???? how do I know the Bike is mechanically sound.......what if it's some kind of scam.............
I decide to call BMWMOA Magazine and ask if anyone tthere might have some advice...... and am immediately handed off to Ray Zimmerman, a head executive at the Mag. I ask him what I can do to increase my chances that nothing go wrong with the deal. Ray has two suggestions.....first to make sure the Title is not a "Salvage Title" which would indicate the bike was rebuilt, and he suggests I insist on a letter from Fred's "wife's attorney" whom he is in the midst of a divorce with, clearing the selling of his assets.......
It was certainly "Good Advice" but I wouldn't do it....I wasn't going to embarrass Fred in that way ....I mean I did ask Fred about the divorce....but his word that the assets were his to sell was good enough for me.....Fred clearly held the Title to the Bike and as possession is Nine Tenths of the Law I figurred as long as the registration and insurance were current, and Fred turned over a Clean Title with a "Bill of Sale" I would be okay......
So with only my gut reaction to go by I load up the pickup , new ramp and all, grabbed my leathers, gloves, motorcycle helmet, and set out to New Jersey at 5:30am last Thursday morning.........I arrive 4 hours later....10 miles off Interstate 84,....... in the middle of no-where........
Fred's behavior immediately reassures me that I have "done a good thing" by buying this bike. In the first place, Fred is so in love with this Bike he is practically crying with the realization that he is "giving it up"! He immediately starts pointing out every scratch and flaw he is aware of......he shows me a log book where he has meticulously recorded the dates of all the oil changes for all his vechicles........he shows off the heated grips, the ABS, the aeroflow wind screen, he shows me how to pull apart the seat, how to lock the luggage, how to set the "throttlemeister"......
In the garage Fred has a second motorcycle....I want to say a 1983 BMW R100 with 120,000 miles and more impressively he has the fastest car BMW ever made , the M6.............He takes his time to explain the features of my "NEW USED" Bike,.....He wants to make sure I know what I am getting....and mostly I think, for me to know what he is giving up! I give Fred a big hug and Thank Him.......I am fully conscious......
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