... as you can see its not a Honda Rebel. That deal fell through for mysterious reasons that are not clear at all to me. After not getting back to me in a week and a half (after several calls) I finally managed to get a hold of him and he informed me he had "waited too long" and that he couldn't register the bike to sell it to me. The motorcycle was no longer for sale.
(Side commentary: I don't buy his story completely. I've learned recently that Kansas requires that all vehicles be registered at all times and this guy had left the bike unregistered for over a year. I believe that there would be some complications in registering it but there is no way that the State provides no means to register a vehicle with a valid title and bill of sale whose registration has lapsed. Put differently, what is he going do with the bike if he can't register it. It has no license plate so he can't ride it. Is he going to sell a wonderfully cared-for bike for scrap metal? I think there is more going on here than I was told.)
Thus began a month long search for my scooter replacement. Compared to what most people were asking on Craigslist, most motorcycles weren't even an option for me. If I was interested in the bike and the price was not too far from what I had, I would email and ask if they were flexible on price. Some were, some weren't. Lots of emailing, phone calls, even checking out a few bikes in person. Katie was highly involved in the approval process as I wanted her to be comfortable with whatever I ended up with. When all was said and done, I ended up purchasing a bike that I found one of the very first weeks I was looking but took nearly four weeks to finally take a look at. Shown above, the bike is a 1996 Kawasaki KLR250. Until I get a chance to repaint the body, we call the "Teal-mobile".
I've ridden it to work and school for two days now and I'm very happy with it. It has a few minor things that need to be repaired, the biggest one is a leaky fuel shut-off valve followed by a carburetor rebuild. Right now, with neither of those fixed, the bike has a tendency to leak fuel while parked (unless I get the valve in just the right spot). I should pick up the gaskets for the valve on Monday and be able to fix it that evening. Until the carburetor gets rebuilt, though, I'm keeping the gas can in the Buick so that Katie can fill it up and bring me fuel when (not "if") I forget to close the valve when I park. I just know that's going to happen at some point.
Things I like about the bike: its simple (single cylinder), not expensive, liquid-cooled, doesn't get blown around in the wind near as much as the scooter, it fits my height well, has low mileage, generous suspension for handling the potholes of Wichita and should get good fuel economy (we'll see after a few tanks).
Things I don't like: its teal and purple and it leaks gas.
That's all for now.
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