Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum!

It had been years since I had a bike. I went through the itch a couple of times. I have always wanted a Harley and as the search turned serious in 2010, I was not sure how much I would ride, so, spending the big bucks on a Harley and not knowing if I would ride much was not making good sense. I looked at and made an offer on a nice Yamaha V-star, but the offer was refused. Later that day I found a nice deal on a Dyna Wide Glide.

In February, I traded the WG for my Street Glide.

 

You sound like a very smart man saving for what you want rather than obligating yourself and your family for a toy. Ride Safe

 

I don"t finance toys either. I have owned a lot of different bike over the years. the last street bike I had was a 99 Yamaha R1. I love that bike. I owned it for ten years. I figured I was going to own it forever. I even had a spot picked out in the den for it. (wife it was cool too.) In 2009 I crashed twice in one year. I broke a shoulder in each crash. After that it was kinda of hard to ride the R1 for a long time. I had a friend that kept asking me to buy it from me. I kept telling him no because I was attached to it. He made me an offer that I couldn't pass up. He offered me $1000 over blue book. I took it. After that I started looking for the bike that I always knew I would buy when the right time came. I knew it had to have spoke wheels and white walls. I found a 2005 RK for under 10K so I bought it. With the sale of the R1 and money that I have saved for my next bike I almost had the whole 10k. I had to barrow $1000 for a few weeks but its all mine and I don't owe anything on it. Now I wish I could keep all the aftermarket parts ordering under control. I keep my bike for a long time I don't see this one not going anywhere for a long time.

 

Congrats on your first Harley!

 

Congrats and welcome to the forum. My story isn't even close but I am happy for you and hope you enjoy your ride for years to come

 

I just went to the credit union to get my loan for my first HD, a '07 FLSTF.
paid it off making double payments, and after 14,000 miles decided i wanted a RKC,
so got me one of those in 2011 and had saved enough $ and with the trade in of my FLSTF, owed $0.00 out the door. I figure at 52 years of age, i can enjoy this ride for a few years at least.

Cheers.

 

This is why I love these forums.. It's awesome to hear these kind of stories.

 

My first Harley.
It was 1986. Two years earlier I had sold my 1983 BMW R100 to be a responsible father, and bought a Honda scooter to satisfy my 2-wheel urge which it wasn't. An older man in the neighborhood had a beautiful red Harley Davidson that I always admired. The sound it made and just the way it looked always got my attention. He often rode it to McDonalds for coffee and I talked to him about it there one morning. He said it was a 1980 he bought new but his health was becoming an issue and he wasn’t riding it as much, probably not at all after that year. I told him please call me if you decide to sell.
The following Spring Jack called me. He was going to give it to his son but his son wasn’t interested in motorcycles so he thought of me, “come look at it tomorrow”. I was so excited I could hardly sleep that night. The next evening after work I met him at his garage where he had it uncovered. He said “I took the battery out last fall so it’ll need a new one, the saddlebags and cover go with it, and that box with 5 cans of Harley oil, chain breaker, spark plugs etc goes too. Now you know I've ridden it a lot, it has 16,000 miles on it now."
At that time Harley’s were becoming very popular and I heard the prices were starting to climb but I knew very little about them or their value. I asked "how much, Jack?” He said ”I have no idea, you tell me.” Figuring I should start a little low I said “I don’t know, $1,500?” He said “that’s more than fair, I just want to see someone enjoy it like I always did.”

Here is picture of it at our house, I think in 1987. I had (stupidly) taken the stock 2 into 1 exhaust off but otherwise it is exactly as I bought it.

 

I didn't get my first motorcycle (which was the Dyna) until I was 42. I retired from the Air Force after 22 years and started my 2nd life and new job and it was time. Ride now pay later on the Dyna and paid it off in less then two years. I wanted a Street Glide too so I'm riding now paying later on it now.

My situation in life allows me to do this so this is what I'm doing.

 

I am the op. Has anyone heard of hindsight? Granted, if I had know how exhilarating having a HD in the stable to ride out the troubles in life and enjoy the good times I would have scratched the itch much sooner. I really enjoyed each story and look forward to more. Someone mentioned I should post a picture. I tried but it only showed a link. Any help on how to post a picture would be appreciated. Trying to work out a way to ride down to Daytona next month. I truly hope to see all of you there !