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What is the farthest you traveled to buy a motorcycle

drove across bay to buy from RWC KAW. Turns out they thought I was tire-kicking the day before when I told them I"d be there tomorrow w/a check & prepare bike. Had to wait f/them to prep it...:mad

AND it was prepped wrong. Had to take it back 3 times for various things that should have been caught in final inspection. Sucked man....:thumbdown
 
Many years ago I drove from Oakland to LA to look at / possibly buy an RD400F Daytona Special. I ended up not getting the bike, but what was crazy about the story was the seller's pets...

The guy lived in a work /live loft space in downtown LA. There was a stairway leading from the main floor up to his living space. He had a bunch of extra RD400 parts in boxes under the staircase. When I approached the boxes, the seller politely asked me to step back from the area while he put his snake back in it's cage. That was fine, but then he locked his large dog in the bathroom which I thought was odd since the dog was very friendly. When I asked why the dog was locked up, he explained that in the process of catching the snake that if the snake got too irritated it might eat the dog!

Needless to say it was a VERY large snake! It took two strong adult men to lift the snake and put it back into its cage.

I was then able to safely examine the boxes of RD parts, but in the end I decided the bike was too rough and more of a project than I wanted.

Fast forward about 23 years (about two years ago) and I'm again on the hunt for cheap RD400 parts for a possible Dirtbag Challenge build. A friend of mine finds a guy on an adventure rider forum in Oklahoma with a 95% complete RD400 that he's willing to sell for $800. Turns out the seller is very skilled at building wooden crates, so $400 more to cover shipping and bike-in-a-box(es) arrives at my house. Turns out to be an RD400F Daytona Special... I'm totally psych'd!

28868177973_fe76739da1_b.jpg
[/url]20160905_152042 by andbike, on Flickr[/IMG]

29298181261_aacb8318b9_b.jpg
[/url]20160326_111801 by andbike, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
I was nearly ready to pull the trigger on a new Yamaha...Michael's Powersports in Reno NV has a pair of MT-10's on sale for nearly $2,500 under any other dealer price I've so far found elsewhere. However, the reviews left me cold. That chain reminds me of a cross between East Bay Motorsports & the long-gone Golden Gate Cycles in SF. I'd rather spend a bit more and have a much more pleasant purchase experience. :)
 
Bought my R12r in LA. That was amazing one day fly n ride.

Second one I bought on eBay in Florida while living in CA and rode it through Florida and Ga for three months.
 
Drove from SF to LA for my FZ09. Dealer down there undercut all the other offers by several hundred dollars, and coincidentally the buyer for my Husky was like 20 min from the SoCal dealer. Buyer even threw in an extra $200 for my gas and delivery since he’d been planning on flying up and riding the husky all the way back down. Win/win all around.
 
Frame Maker said:
Many years ago I drove from Oakland to LA to look at / possibly buy an RD400F Daytona Special. I ended up not getting the bike, but what was crazy about the story was the seller's pets...

The guy lived in a work /live loft space in downtown LA. There was a stairway leading from the main floor up to his living space. He had a bunch of extra RD400 parts in boxes under the staircase. When I approached the boxes, the seller politely asked me to step back from the area while he put his snake back in it's cage. That was fine, but then he locked his large dog in the bathroom which I thought was odd since the dog was very friendly. When I asked why the dog was locked up, he explained that in the process of catching the snake that if the snake got too irritated it might eat the dog!

Needless to say it was a VERY large snake! It took two strong adult men to lift the snake and put it back into its cage.

I was then able to safely examine the boxes of RD parts, but in the end I decided the bike was too rough and more of a project than I wanted.

Fast forward about 23 years (about two years ago) and I'm again on the hunt for cheap RD400 parts for a possible Dirtbag Challenge build. A friend of mine finds a guy on an adventure rider forum in Oklahoma with a 95% complete RD400 that he's willing to sell for $800. Turns out the seller is very skilled at building wooden crates, so $400 more to cover shipping and bike-in-a-box(es) arrives at my house. Turns out to be an RD400F Daytona Special... I'm totally psych'd!

28868177973_fe76739da1_b.jpg
[/url]20160905_152042 by andbike, on Flickr[/IMG]

29298181261_aacb8318b9_b.jpg
[/url]20160326_111801 by andbike, on Flickr[/IMG]
Click to expand...

Dude...was that guys name Jeff? Sounds like my crazy K-town homeboy lol
 
Rode down from Pinole to SD to pick up my second KTM Duke 2 for $900.
 
Went from Carmel to San Leandro to buy my first street bike when I was in high school, a new 1978 Yamaha RD400E in the spring of 1979.


Every bike after that has been bought in locally.
 
Flew into John Wayne (socal) to pick up a FJ-09 and rode it back the same day. It was a long but fun day.
 
Got a ride from SF down to Santa Cruz to pick up my FJ-09 from a friend. Took the looooong way home.
 
Done drive and ride from Sacramento (KTM 990 SMT) and Carmel (KTM 950 Adventure). Done fly and ride from Hollywood (Aprilia Tuono) and Marina del Rey (Ducati ST4). I'll go where the bike is for the right price and condition.
 
Went to Oregon to buy a wee.
 
In late Feb of this year I bought my VFR1200 from a guy just outside Reno. He was anxious to sell and I to buy so I took the train to Sac and he trailered the bike to meet me at the station. Did a quick test ride ,handed him a stack of Benjamins and rode home, via Lake Berryessa.
 
San Jose to Albuquerque to pick up an old 95 ZX7.
 
20 miles

I should have found a dealer closer. I'd pay more for the convenience.
 
The farthest was Newman for a Multistrada 1000DS; never heard of Newman until then. Other than that I bought 4 bikes from SF, 2 from Santa Cruz. I prefer riding over trailering but the need to get a ride is always a hassle until Uber became an option.

Bought 2 in LA area and had them shipped to my house.
 
A couple years ago I lived in NYC and did a fly and ride back to DC... flew out Saturday morning, guy picked me up, drove an hour to his house, bought my Ducati Hypermotard S and ripped the 400 miles back to NYC before dinner.
 

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97 VFR came from Phoenix
ZRX came from Portland
CB1000 came from Phoenix
15 VFR came from LA (Huntington Beach)

Rode them all back to Bay Area.
 
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