Monday, August 19, 2024

And Again With Bikes/Money

I heard from the scooter shop about the Italica Bulldog 150cc I mentioned and shared a photo of in the previous post.

He offered me a pretty nice "returning customer" discount to get it down to $2,166.56 "out the door" (bike, taxes/title/tag).

That's about $666.56 more than the maximum I wanted to spend ... but it is a new bike, one-year parts/labor warranty, and the type of platform I've been zeroing in on (Honda Navi clone). Also, I trust the guy to not sell me busted crap (that used 50cc has given me more than I had any right to ask of it), and I look forward to continuing the relationship by handing him more money instead of just asking him more questions.

I just need to either get another $966.56 together by tomorrow, or finance part or all of the bike. Not sure how long the delivery timeline is, and part or all of the payment might be deferred until delivery, but I'm not counting on that.

Update/Explanatory Note: Why did I suddenly get really hot on getting a bike and start bitching incessantly about it (if you think the blog is bad, you should hear me at home)? Self-analysis is always difficult, but let's review the timeline:

On August 3, I got the ColoGuard results, meaning "colonoscopy and prospective cancer diagnosis." 

Within a few days I was back to1)  looking at bikes (after a break of some time in thinking about them), 2) going to motorcycle school, 3) getting a motorcycle license, and 4) going nearly insane trying to find something.

So I suspect I'm sub-consciously giving in to a "do that thing you've wanted to do while you're still alive to do it" impulse.

And, a little more consciously, considering the possibility, between my health problems and Tamara's, that medical situations may eventually result in bankruptcy, so maybe I should make a fairly major purchase now instead of later.

Internal evidence for the latter is that it also occurred to me recently that I should finally try sky-diving, but I went with "buy a material object of  value" over "spend significant money on a brief experience and memory of no financial value."

If I jump out of an airplane, well, I've jumped out of an airplane, and if I survive I can spend the rest of my life knowing I conquered that fear. I can make both practical and recreational continuing use of a bike, and even sell it if I get tired of it.

No comments: