Well, tonight was quite a night. After putting an ad in the paper, I got a few phone calls about my motorcycle I had for sale, a 93 Katana 600. Now this bike had a crappy paintjob, but everything else was fine. The bike was mechanically sound and ran great.
Anyway, three guys came down to check the bike out tonight. I let the guy who was interested in buying it take it for a short ride up and down my street...I live on a dead-end street so there are no cars. I figured there's no harm in that. So he goes around a few times, gets off. And we start talking about price. As we are talking, one of his buddies gets on...he says, "Don't worry, I'm not taking it anywhere" So I don't give it a second thought...next thing I know he takes off up the street. I hear him open the throttle up and go down the street. Me and the guy finally agreed on a price, and the plan was that he'd come back tomorrow to pay for it in cash.
Well, we're standing out front of my house, waiting for this guy to come back. The buyer suggested that he might have gotten lost. After waiting for about 15 minute, we decide to go look for him. So I get in the truck with the guys. We go up my street and turn around the corner. BAM! Traffic is all backed up and there's an ambulance there. I see the guy laying there with people standing around, my bike continued sliding down the street for another 200 feet or so. FU<K! I heard the guy shift 3 times, so he must have dumped the bike going 60-70 MPH at least.
The paramedics took the guy to the hospital, they said it didn't look good. Last I heard he was undergoing neural surgery. His two buddies followed the ambulance in their truck, and that was the last I heard from them for now. I don't know if the guy is gonna make it or not...but I'd like to know why the hell he was even riding my bike in the first place. I didn't say he could...I told them it was very fast, and obviously he didn't believe me because he felt that he could blast away at full throttle on an unfamiliar street.
The damage to my bike on a scale of 1 to 10 is probably 6. The crankcase had a hole ripped into it, most of the oil leaked out of the bike. The mirrors and turn signals are gone, the left side fairing is shot to sh!t, the clutch handle broke, and there's probably more damage that I cannot see just by looking.
Man...the cops were really cool about everything. I just told them what happened, they told me to call tomorrow night and get the info of the guy who dumped my bike. Any suggestions on how to play this? Should I worry about the guy who took my bike suing me even though I never gave the guy permission to ride my bike, he just took it himself? More importantly, I need to get some money for that bike one way or another.
Hopefully, if anyone else is selling a bike, they can learn from this experience. Don't let anyone testride the bike, unless they put CASH in your hands. And if you ride, ALWAYS wear a helmet!! A full helmet, not the kinds that just sit on your head. ANd if someone tells you the bike is fast, don't assume they don't know what they're talking about -- you just might have more power than you can handle.
-= SsZERO =-
Anyway, three guys came down to check the bike out tonight. I let the guy who was interested in buying it take it for a short ride up and down my street...I live on a dead-end street so there are no cars. I figured there's no harm in that. So he goes around a few times, gets off. And we start talking about price. As we are talking, one of his buddies gets on...he says, "Don't worry, I'm not taking it anywhere" So I don't give it a second thought...next thing I know he takes off up the street. I hear him open the throttle up and go down the street. Me and the guy finally agreed on a price, and the plan was that he'd come back tomorrow to pay for it in cash.
Well, we're standing out front of my house, waiting for this guy to come back. The buyer suggested that he might have gotten lost. After waiting for about 15 minute, we decide to go look for him. So I get in the truck with the guys. We go up my street and turn around the corner. BAM! Traffic is all backed up and there's an ambulance there. I see the guy laying there with people standing around, my bike continued sliding down the street for another 200 feet or so. FU<K! I heard the guy shift 3 times, so he must have dumped the bike going 60-70 MPH at least.
The paramedics took the guy to the hospital, they said it didn't look good. Last I heard he was undergoing neural surgery. His two buddies followed the ambulance in their truck, and that was the last I heard from them for now. I don't know if the guy is gonna make it or not...but I'd like to know why the hell he was even riding my bike in the first place. I didn't say he could...I told them it was very fast, and obviously he didn't believe me because he felt that he could blast away at full throttle on an unfamiliar street.
The damage to my bike on a scale of 1 to 10 is probably 6. The crankcase had a hole ripped into it, most of the oil leaked out of the bike. The mirrors and turn signals are gone, the left side fairing is shot to sh!t, the clutch handle broke, and there's probably more damage that I cannot see just by looking.
Man...the cops were really cool about everything. I just told them what happened, they told me to call tomorrow night and get the info of the guy who dumped my bike. Any suggestions on how to play this? Should I worry about the guy who took my bike suing me even though I never gave the guy permission to ride my bike, he just took it himself? More importantly, I need to get some money for that bike one way or another.
Hopefully, if anyone else is selling a bike, they can learn from this experience. Don't let anyone testride the bike, unless they put CASH in your hands. And if you ride, ALWAYS wear a helmet!! A full helmet, not the kinds that just sit on your head. ANd if someone tells you the bike is fast, don't assume they don't know what they're talking about -- you just might have more power than you can handle.
-= SsZERO =-
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