Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I went on Craigs List tonight and put my '75 Honda XL350 up for sale. It was my bike in high school back in the seventies, but after I graduated my brothers got ahold of it and trashed it. I have doggedly hauled it around with me for 30 years mostly in boxes. (yeah, I know. I'm stubborn and I have a junk collector problem)
Back in the mid-nineties, I finally started to restore it so I could ride with my kids. I got about 75% done and got more heavily into the MX (actually doing some racing myself) and got a more serious race bike. The Honda has sat under a tarp since then.
The simple fact is my junk owns me anymore instead of the other way around. Determined to follow up on my promise to my wife and self to liquidate my "treasures", I opened a Craigs List account and listed my first two items tonight: the two things that are most in my way right now. One was the all the appliances from a pickup camper I'm parting out, and the other was my XL350.
I had guys emailing me to buy the camper fridge before I had even typed the bike ad. Literally within ten minutes of posting the ad. The bike went even faster! Two emails and two phone calls before I could even walk out to the shop and make sure I still knew where the box of small parts was.
One guy wanted to come first thing in the morning. As he hung up, another guy was on the call-waiting and wanted to come get it sight unseen, for half again what I was asking RIGHT NOW. This was all happening at 11pm at night! He left here with it at 12 midnight.
OK, so I was only asking $100, but I got $150. And all within minutes of posting the ad. Literally. Yes, I spent far more than that on my abandoned restoration, and yes, it probably was worth much more, but I have too much stuff like that and I need the bucks. I'm also terrible at placing a money value on my stuff.
Who needs ebay when Craigs List works so fast? I'm still stunned how quickly that bike disappeared down the road. There must be people out there who constantly scour those listings. The guy that bought this bike was from Des Moines, over 100 miles away. He happened to be in Cedar Rapids picking up another bike he had bought and he still had room on his trailer when he read my 2-minute old ad on CL on his blackberry or ipod or whatever. That's just crazy.
My son, who has owned, raced, sold, and traded no less than 13 motorcycles at the tender age of 16 was giving me crap for looking a little sad to see the old girl go down the driveway. It was a part of my long-lost youth; he still has his... he couldn't possibly understand. But hey! Only $150 more dollars and I can pay to register my remaining vehicles before the tags expire in 11 days... Yeah, the damned government gets it all... and then some.
I get a couple of lousy stickers for my license plates. Whatta deal... Oo.
The only thing faster than Craigs List is the Tax Man...
Back in the mid-nineties, I finally started to restore it so I could ride with my kids. I got about 75% done and got more heavily into the MX (actually doing some racing myself) and got a more serious race bike. The Honda has sat under a tarp since then.
The simple fact is my junk owns me anymore instead of the other way around. Determined to follow up on my promise to my wife and self to liquidate my "treasures", I opened a Craigs List account and listed my first two items tonight: the two things that are most in my way right now. One was the all the appliances from a pickup camper I'm parting out, and the other was my XL350.
I had guys emailing me to buy the camper fridge before I had even typed the bike ad. Literally within ten minutes of posting the ad. The bike went even faster! Two emails and two phone calls before I could even walk out to the shop and make sure I still knew where the box of small parts was.
One guy wanted to come first thing in the morning. As he hung up, another guy was on the call-waiting and wanted to come get it sight unseen, for half again what I was asking RIGHT NOW. This was all happening at 11pm at night! He left here with it at 12 midnight.
OK, so I was only asking $100, but I got $150. And all within minutes of posting the ad. Literally. Yes, I spent far more than that on my abandoned restoration, and yes, it probably was worth much more, but I have too much stuff like that and I need the bucks. I'm also terrible at placing a money value on my stuff.
Who needs ebay when Craigs List works so fast? I'm still stunned how quickly that bike disappeared down the road. There must be people out there who constantly scour those listings. The guy that bought this bike was from Des Moines, over 100 miles away. He happened to be in Cedar Rapids picking up another bike he had bought and he still had room on his trailer when he read my 2-minute old ad on CL on his blackberry or ipod or whatever. That's just crazy.
My son, who has owned, raced, sold, and traded no less than 13 motorcycles at the tender age of 16 was giving me crap for looking a little sad to see the old girl go down the driveway. It was a part of my long-lost youth; he still has his... he couldn't possibly understand. But hey! Only $150 more dollars and I can pay to register my remaining vehicles before the tags expire in 11 days... Yeah, the damned government gets it all... and then some.
I get a couple of lousy stickers for my license plates. Whatta deal... Oo. The only thing faster than Craigs List is the Tax Man...
