SAYING GOODBYE TO THIS OLD GIRL...
This is old news to some of you, but I need to close this story out.
I first listed the For Sale ad on the adventure forum ADVrider because I had just sold my Tiger 955i there in record time and… because it’s free! I then put something out there on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Facebook was also free, but Craigslist set me back a whopping $5 to list. All of them linked back to the ADVrider thread so potential buyers could read possibly as much as they could stand about the bike.
It was tough coming up with a value on this bike and I eventually settled in on what my insurance valuation tool showed for a “Good” condition bike (with scale Concours, Excellent, Good, and Fair) because it seemed like the best fit, based on their description. That proved to be pretty accurate compared to all the offers I received on it.
The bike generated quite a bit of interest over the course of 3 weeks. I cleaned up the bike nicely to be ready for that potential buyer to come and take a look at a moment’s notice.
Eventually a perfect buyer came along… one with the right amount of money (haha) and one that would appreciate the bike as much as I did over the years. Despite being only 1.5 hours away, we handled most everything via text prior to him coming to pick it up. He had tons of questions (just like I would have) and I tried to answer them all. I also sent him a bunch of files I had collected over the years so he could come “up to speed” on the RZ500. He definitely was much more informed compared to I as I was buying it.
I was happy (and relieved) to hear his comment when he first saw the bike… “It looks better in person than in the pictures”. Another comment I remember was that he felt like he knew the bike inside and out after all our discussions and reading through this lengthy thread. We spent quite of bit of time discussing the bike, and while he was making his final decision on the purchase, I gave him a shop tour of The ASYLUM.
Before you knew it, the ole RZ500 was loaded up. His big sprinter van with surprising low deck height and small embankment made that an easy chore.
Picture 784
I call a sale a success when both parties are equally happy, and I believe we achieved that. I’m not in this to screw people over, but I’m not going to give stuff away either. I believe both of us walked away from this deal with a big smile on our face.
BUT, my smile got even bigger when the new owner sent me a picture about 2 hours later with the RZ500 sitting outside his office at his family dealership. I had no idea of his intentions, so it was a big surprise. Not only does it match his RZ350 perfectly right behind it, it’s finally going to get good exposure to other motorcycle enthusiasts… probably many that have never seen one of these models. Perhaps it will inspire several more from a new generation to admire these bikes, who knows.
Picture 785
The new owner sounded like he might take over this thread and keep the group informed on this bike as he makes it his own and I told him I would love to see that and would look forward to his updates.
So that’s the end of this story, at least as far as I can take it. I’m sad to see it go, of course, after it being a part of my life for 9 years. What took the sting out of the separation for me was a cold call from a local guy wanting to sell an NS400R just 2 hours before I was scheduled to sell The RZ500. I called it fate, and decided if the RZ500 sold that night, I would turn around and take some of the money to reinvest in another race replica. I was honestly trying to thin the herd with the sale of this RZ500 so I could jump to some other car projects and maybe even a Kawasaki or two. But I was too intrigued with the Honda to pass it up. In a way… it found me!
I’m debating whether to start a thread on it here on this forum or over at the NS400R forum… I do like it here even though the NS400R is a bit off topic, and I think you guys enjoy reading/discussing anything 2-stroke.
For those that celebrate it... Happy Thanksgiving and have a great holiday weekend.
