Ruminations of a Would-Be Roadie Owner

Well Star fans, it has now been 12 months, 12,500kms, three fenders and a set of cams later and I still have my Road Star and I am still loving every moment of it. In memory of my purchase I went through the Road Star Riders Forum and found this old thread I had started when I was buying the bike and the dilemmas I went through to get it. Remember this was written forum style, so I may ramble a bit as we all do. So if you don't mind a bit of a read go grab yourself a nice cold bottle of Crown Lager and enjoy.

Chronicles of a hope-to-be Roadie Owner

Part 1 - 24th November 1999

Well, seeing as you are reading this, the title musta sucked you in :) I've made a few posts here already in query to bits and pieces for a Roadie I hope to buy and loving the crowd that is hanging here. What I really haven't seen though is people's stories on how they went about buying and I got a bit of time on my hands, (crap on TV), so kick back and prepare to be... be... ... ? bored? Grab yourself a beer (not that Fosters crap though, no Aussies drink that) and, well, you will stop reading when you want to or you're too sh*tfaced :)

So me, I am a 26 year old guy from Australia who looks after a computer network. Now don't go pegging me as a RUB too quick. I have been riding since I was 17, have had about 7 bikes in that time, only one car and the car was bought only a year ago. I love bikes, I live for bikes and the fact that I am actually considering going into a world of debt for a bike as opposed to a nice car I think speaks volumes.

So onto my story, ever since my second bike that I dropped twice, a 1985 Suzuki RG250, I knew that fast bikes were not for me but I couldn't get them outta my veins. So I pissed off that piece of crap and bought myself a little Yamaha Virago 250 (age laws wouldn't let me own anything bigger) and I had myself my first cruiser. I was hooked. Over the years I have had three cruisers, the Yammy 250, another Virago 535 and a 96 Kawasaki VN800. All the other types of bikes I have had I owned through necessity, not enough money but still needed a ride... Have I digressed again?

Anyhoo, my current ride, a 1985 Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo (again the main word here is, no money - must have ride) is a little worse for wear. A week or so ago, I walks myself into the local Yammy dealer on a tip that there was this brute of a machine that is a dead ringer for a Harley. Whaddoyaknow, there is the bike of my dreams for a third of the cost of any Harley I would buy if I had the money. Didn't have the riding threads with me then but I knew I would be back next weekend. And I was.

On the Wednesday before I went back though I thought I would pay a little visit to the local Hog dealer. I walks in and lucky, lucky me they have all the year 2000 demo bikes out front to take for a ride. This lass comes on up and asks me if I was interested in taking anything for a ride so I told her honest like "My heart says a Fatboy, but my budget says a Dyna". See I figured that the Yammy was going to be about $20,000AUS (this is in Aussie dollars remember). She gives me the keys to a Dyna alright, a bloody Dyna Ultra Glide ($28,500AUS on road I find out later) and I take it for a short spin. Honestly? I didn't like it as much as I would think. I am only 5'8" and the controls on that puppy are waaaaay out there. Loved how it idled though, full body motion that, yummy, but it did only have stock pipes on it so I couldn't hear the damn thing on the road and kept on finding that I had another gear to choose from. Anyway, I got off it thinking to myself "Was it worth $30 grand to me? Nuh." that and the fact it was ten fat ones over my budget (budget! ha that was funny at this point, funny I wasn't even thinking about 20 grand for a bike let alone riding one worth 30!).

Well, back to the main part of the story, my first ride on the new Yammy Stars. Through a little trolling at the Yamaha Internet site I found that there were two possible contenders, a V-Star 1100 and a Road Star 1600. 1600! I knew it was big, but what a monster (said the Nun to the... ahh you geddit). I called the local dealer to find what he had and he told me he had both the 1100 and the 1600 available for demos. Exxxxxxxcelent. The plan of attack, ride the 1100 (the more realistic cost of the two for me) then the 1600 and compare the two.

The 1100 - What can I say, I didn't like it that much. Great bike and all but I'll be straight with ya, it felt like the Kawasaki VN800 I used to have. Clearance wasn't that great, but you don't expect it to be on these. The wife said she felt "perched" on the back seat and it was uncomfortable as all geddout. The engine though was my biggest let down. You couldn't "feel" it. In fact it felt just like the VN800 did except that it cruised better a 100kmh (I always thought the 800 needed an extra gear for highway travel). Got back to the dealer and went "Nyah..." Didn't do much for me at all. Didn't feel like anything special, do you know what I am saying? The wife wasn't too impressed either. Didn't hate, no sir, but didn't fall in love either.

The 1600 - OK, I'll admit it, I was dying to take this beast for a ride, fairly salivating I was and the funny thing is, so was the wife. Both of us love the look of the bike, it's got everything a Harley wannabe owner could ever want. Massive engine, massive front end, miles of chrome and my personal favourite... The belt drive! Pant, pant, pant. Anyway, the dealer had it fired up and ready to go and what was it doing? Sitting there shaking all over! She looked like she couldn't wait for me to throw a leg over and take her for a ride, and that was just my wife! Heheheh Seriously, seeing that bike there with the shakes and that back fender doing the shake down boogie just got my heart a thumpin! And, yes, I know about the fender crack problem too, guess what, I DON'T CARE! :) So, anyway, I chucked a leg over and wait for the wife to get on the back. Once she was settled I took hold of the handlebars and... turned her off. I don't know about you, but half the experience with a motorbike is firing it up, so I did. Unlike how I felt when I started up the 1100, which I felt did nothing for the soul, I found I was not disappointed! Nothing like some boogie on the ignition. Soooo I tamped her down into gear and we were off. I personally think I was hooked when I first saw her. Then I was like, nuh, I was hooked when I turned her over, then I was like, nuh, I was hooked when I rode her (this forum does only have a G rating doesn't it? :)) I'll tell you, with every stage I became more and more sucked in and riding it was the nail in the coffin! Once I got used to the low rev range and the low clearance, just came of a Kawaka Turbo remember, I was in phat heaven. The bike only had stock pipes but that didn't matter cause I could feeeeeeeel the bike. She was talking to me the whole ride and I loved it! So did the wife, not only did it look great but the seat was the most comfortable she has been on and she felt like she was sitting "in" the bike, not perched on top. Weeeeeell, we got back to the dealer and you couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces, and the dealer damn well knew it too :)

Wow, that's a fair bit of reading you have done there and I am not done telling my story, but I do have to get some sleep so I'll regale you with more tomorrow sometime. I don't have the bike yet and I may still not get it, but all will be revealed in a later post when I talk of dollars, loans and ridiculous insurance rates...

*** Part 2 - 25th November 1999

Wow, what a response from everyone, thanks guys! Believe me I don't need any encouragement to buy the bike, just the funds... nice to hear the encouragement anyway though :) Honestly, what a great bunch of people!

So where was I? Oh, just came back from the test ride, drool, drool. So I asks the dealer, I asks, "how much?" And he tells me that the rec retail price is $19,000 on road. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised. I thought she would be at least $20,000 if not upwards of $22,000. I wasn't sure how the wife was going to take that number though so I made sure I didn't look at her at that point. Now he said the words rec. retail. That means "lets talk". So I says to him, I says, "she's a bit on the quiet side though, might have to chuck a set of custom pipes on her..." And the dealer says, "We can throw in a set of pipes for that price" he says. So I says, "but if we put some pipes on her she'll have to be hit with a jet kit wont she?" And he says, "yup sure, different pipes, we will have to re-jet it do we can do that for the price". And then the WIFE says, "And it probably should have a sissy bar" looking him straight in the eye. And he says, "Hmmmmm, sissy bar". I can see him doing the numbers in his head, "yup we can probably do that for the price too."

Now we are talking! But, I says to him, I says, "I really would like to hear her with a different set of pipes though." And to sweeten him up I says, "If you had the demo with a set of Cobras on it I reckon you would sell'em like hot cakes." Then he says to me, "Well I was going to get a set of pipes in to put on one of the demos" (yeah right, I think). So I says, "It would be really good if you could get a set in before next weekend so I can take her for a decent ride with a better note to her." And he says, "Yeah we can probably do that, lets go and have a chat to the Parts Manager." And so over we go. I'll tell you I am thinking that this guy is doing pretty well to accommodate me and I like how everything is going. The dealer says to the parts manager to write up an order for a set of Cobra Slashcuts and he'll sign it later. At this point I decide it is time to leave before I sign on the dotted line!

The Drive Home - I was really dreading this knowing that the wife was probably going to shoot it all down... Was I wrong! "It's a really nice bike," she says, "The seat was so comfortable and the whole thing felt so powerful," she says. "I really love the paint work on that one too," she says (it was an Ivory and Olive two toner). So I says, "Yeah, pity about the price tag though..." And she says, "Oh I don't know, $19,000 isn't to bad." I was dumbstruck! So I says, "But we don't have $19,000" and she says, "yeah but you would get at least 2 thou for your bike on a trade, and we could take a little out of the mortgage and then get a personal loan from the bank..." I LOVE THIS WOMAN!

But it wasn't about to last. The Insurance. So we're talking over the next couple of days and we have come to the decision that we couldn't have something that expensive and not insure it. I have never had any insurance on my bikes except for third party property. Comprehensive bike insurance in Australia is just too ridiculous for the cost but I had to agree, you don't ride around on $19,000 uninsured. I knew the numbers wouldn't be good but I started calling insurance companies. Holy Crap!!! The first place I called was GIO, take a shot at how much you think they quoted me, go on, guess... Well it was over $4,000AUS!!!! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit! This was not a good start.

I said to the girly on the phone, I said, "You gotta be kidding me!!!!" And she said, "GIO thinks that motorcycles are high risk and prefer not to insure them," Gahd Damn! I didn't want to tell the wife but she saw my face and insisted on knowing what they said. Well, lets just say my wife went an interesting shade of white. Next place I called was NRMA and got a better response from them, $1,100AUS. Still not good though. I told the wife and the look in her face said it all. "Over a $1000 a year to insure it..." Well, I'll be honest, I thought I saw my Road Star just rolling off into the horizon without me and that was that. I'll say right here though that I was wrong and you're not to be thinking bad thoughts about my wifey, but at that stage I wasn't a happy man. Sigh.

My wifey works in Jewelry and the next day she took the catalogues to work for the V-Star and the Road Star. I'm Saved! She showed everyone the catalogue for the V-Star first, stating this was the bike we could afford. Everyone thought it was a "nice" bike but no-one went all gooey over it. Then she showed them the catalogue of the Road Star stating that this is the bike that we want... Pandemonium ensued. Well not quite but everyone, and I mean everyone, in the store went off on how much they liked it. So my wife says "But it's an extra $5000." So they say "what's $5000? Nothing when you're spending that sort of money. Don't take second best, spend the extra", etc, etc. And then my wife says "But it will cost over a $1000 a year to insure it." And they all say, "what's $1000 a year for the pleasure it will bring, it's nothing, you can afford it," etc, etc... I LOVE THOSE GIRLS! So she called me later that day and told me the story and I had a bit of a laugh. I was also very relieved because I could hear in her voice that her own interest had been picked up again with the comments of everyone else. All she needed was a little prodding by an unbiased third party :)

The insurance was still causing us some angst, though, because it is a lot, but I will go into that in Part 3 of the chronicle. I hope I can keep you all interested with Part 3 where I bring you the resolving of the insurance issue, a Harley owner telling me he will find me a bike, how we would probably finance the whole deal and lastly my thoughts on how I want the bike setup at this point.

*** Part 3 - 26th November 1999

Insurance. Harleys. Looking Forward to tomorrow and the Wish List. Back again. I know you have all been waiting with baited breath (peee-yew heheheh). I'm afraid this bit will be pretty boring but here goes anyways.

So, the insurance. The wife was all interested again but the insurance was still too high. So the wife had a bit of an idea... Do you actually have to insure the bike for the complete amount...? No, no you don't. See the biggest concern with getting this bike, other than insuring it, is the finance I will have to get to buy the damn thing. I won't be financing the whole deal because I should get about $3,000 for my Kawaka Turbo and we will take a couple o'thou out of the mortgage so the finance will be around $14,000 to $15,000. Soooooo, we figure we would insure the bike only for 14 or 15 grand. Checked with the insurance mob and they WILL underinsure the bike, so worse case scenario, if I throw the sled down the road bad enough to write it off or some a$$hole flogs it, at the very least we will be able to pay back the loan. So now instead of looking at $1000 to insure it's closer to $600 to $700 and everything is looking peachy. YAY! Might actually be a thought for some of you if insurance is too much, but then again you is all a smart mob so I am sure you already worked that out, huh :) So, anyway, the wife is a lot more happy and back to be being psyched again for the bike. YAY!

So now the Harley story. In trying to find a more competitive insurance rate my wife called a friend whose husband owns a Harley. I asked him how much he had it insured for one day ages ago and was floored by how cheap the insurance was. So the wife calls to find out who they are right... So, anyway, later that day the guy with the Harley calls my wife back at work and he says, "Soooo, I hear you're buying a bike." And my wife says, "Yeeeeeeah, we are..." And he says, "I hear this bike is almost 20 grand." My wife says, "Yeeeeeeeees it is..." And he says, "And I hear this bike is a Jap bike." My wife says, "Yeeeeees it is, Tony, get to the point!" Well at this point Tony launches into a biiig spiel about owning a Harley and how great it is, with words like "It's not just a bike, it's a way of life" and "you want to own a real bike, not some piece of plastic Jap crap" etc, etc. So he tells my wife, he tells her, "Don't you rush into anything yet, let me make some calls. For $20,000 you can get a great second hand Harley, don't rush into this, we'll get you a real bike," etc, etc, etc. Well my wife called me later to tell me about what Tony had said and guess what... I didn't feel all that interested. You know it's funny, once I would have jumped at the chance to get a Harley and I am realistically spending enough money to get quite a good second hand one, but I think I just want the Road Star too much. And a NEW Road Star at that, not a second hand Harley... Hmm, who woulda figured.

Tomorrow is not THE big day when I buy, nope not yet. But tomorrow is when I go to take the Roadie for a good ride of at least an hour to get a good feel for the bike in all sorts of road conditions. Also, the bike has now got a set of Cobra slip-ons slipped on :) so I will be able to hear her with a better note. The route I will take will take me through winding suburban streets, inner city jockeying, bit of highway cruiser travel as well as some pretty crap country roads, so I will get the whole deal and see how she handles on all... If it doesn't BLOODY RAIN!!! The weather is a bit either way for tomorrow, I might get lucky I might not, but I tell you, I am not waiting another week to take the bike for a good ride.

Once we get back, if I haven't changed my mind on how much I currently love the bike (and I can't see how that would happen), it will be "deal time" with the dealer. This is what I will be aiming for: $3000 trade on my Kwaka, Sissy bar, Jet Kit and a set of full Cobra 2" Drags. I gotta admit it Thor, what you have said about them pipes has got me going. Now I was also thinking of getting it painted, too, before getting it delivered (if, if, if I buy) and I am kinda off again, on again about that. I have gotten a quote of $400 to do all fenders, tank and side panels done in a rich type, royal sorta, deep kinda blue. There is a picture on the Yamaha site of a Custom Road Star done in the sorta colour I am thinking of, buuuuut, at the end of it I am not sure I will have ANY cash left over to do it with, and I think I may be getting too bold too early. I'll have to think about that a bit more I reckon. I was also thinking about doing the colour thing but in a dark green because that would be a bit more different, and green is a bit of a fav colour of mine and then I could call the bike "The Matrix" as I am a bit of a Matrix fan (enter small plug for my Matrix site here- www.knowthematrix.com). Buuuuut again, I don't think I will have the money, or the courage, heheheh, to do it immediately. But, like my wifey says "If you get this bike you are keeping it for many, many years, and that is as long as you will take to customize it, too. NOT THE FIRST SIX MONTHS!!! Gotta love that gal :)

Well that will about do it for tonight I think. Sometime over the weekend I will write up how the BIG test ride goes and how we do with the dealer afterwards.