Well the last 48 hours have been taxing. I just arrived in Florida for Flight School for the Navy. Lots of traveling, a tight schedule with checking in and trying to find a place to live, and not a lot of sleep. That's been the fun part actually. The bad part is during the process I've had to decide whether or not to sell my Savage. The movers pick my stuff up tomorrow afternoon from my original home where I just graduated college.

A day or so ago, a close friend in college I ride with made an offer for the Savage. He wants to buy it for his wife as she wants a bike to learn on and call her own. Push comes to shove, she has always had a wandering eye for my Savage.  

It was my first bike and I gripped with not letting it go for the better part of a day. It was my first bike, and I got it for a steal. a 2001 with 5,000 miles for $1,500 bucks.   Loaded it onto a trailer, got it registered, and in a day I was taking my first nerve wrecking steps onto the open road. It was a summer of bliss after that. Nothing came close to riding down to the train depot downtown with a friend late at night to watch the coal trains shuffle by. Or late riding adventures to go see whatever girl I was trying to impress with my chrome and backfires.

I learned to use a wrench with this bike. I replaced the exhaust with the HD Dyna, re jetted, did the petcock fix, fixed the oil leak, added the Gold Plug, replaced the handle bars with drag bars, added a K&N Cone, and threw on some new shoes in the form of Metzler 880s. Even made up a bracket to keep the license plate from tearing off due to vibrations. All mechanical firsts which tremendously built my confidence and allowed me to venture into working on other things. My tool set is growing at a splendid pace. Maid Marian was her name.

I eventually bought something bigger that mimicked the Savage's styling, an 03 HD Sportster 1200. The bike fits better, is louder, more powerful, and a blast to ride. It never replaced the Savage though, as nothing has the same Savage charm. The Savage gave me enough confidence to do all the work thus far on my new Harley.

Well college graduation came, I commissioned into the Navy, and my day to depart for flight school arrived. I flirted with the idea of selling the bike all summer. It would be useful in helping to pay down college loans as well as get some investments started, or even buy some furniture now that I'm living 1,000 miles away on my own. I still have the Harley and it is going with me. But alas, with the busy and rigorous schedule of flight school I don't think I have the time to maintain and put miles on 2 bikes. Flight school really needs to be priority number one.

I was reluctant to sell for sentimental sake, but in the end it seems like the right thing to do. I would rather the Savage make someone I know happy, stay on the road back home, and parked in a garage with its original friends. This may be my only opportunity to sell to a friend and keep it at least at arms length. So I told him if once his wife gets it cleaned up if she could send me some sharp looking pictures for me to make a mosaic, we would have a deal. It was a tough decision, seeing as that I don't NEED to money, it just isn't very practical to have two bikes at this stage. In the end though, I know it may make a friend as happy as it has made me. And it may make some of you very happy as well, as there may be a new female member registering soon. Albeit a married one.  

Now please, do share stories of regrets of selling your first bike so I can regret my  decision.  

Sold my '37 Enfield Super Sport to help finance college.  

Are you gonna mothball it?

Wake51 wrote on 09/07/12 at 05:42:22:


Seeing how it is they are close friends. you might consider a lend/lease arrangement with them.  She gets the bike to learn on (so much $ a month?). you get it back when it fits your life circumstances again.  Of course, they need to pay maintenance, repairs, etc.