Bargain Basement Bike

I’m a big, bad biker now. Well, sorta. We went down to Clinton Cycles this evening to pay for my bargain eBay find 1994 Honda Shadow VLX 600. According to the guy who handles the internet sales, there were 35 “watchers,” a whole lot of questions, and one bid: Mine.

Works for me. For just under $1200 on the road, I got a bike with a NADA book value of about $2500.

The shop was finishing up the prep work when we arrived — they wanted to tear the carbs down and clean them again before letting me have the bike, so it won’t actually be ready until tomorrow sometime. And, rather than risk the DC Circle of Death (aka Beltway) on my first ride, I’ll have it delivered to the house. So, I probably won’t actually have it in my possession until early next week.

If you look at the picture, you can see that it has some cosmetic deficiencies. However, the picture makes the bike look a bit more worn than it actually is — I went down yesterday and looked it over before thinking about bidding on it. That’s an advantage to being local!

Of course, there are few things it needs: New windscreen (or the old one simply removed), a little surface rust removal, a little paint, a new seat cover, and a little TLC. And, I’ll want to add a few accessories like saddlebags, an accessory power point, highway bars, etc. But otherwise, it’ll be ready to ride as soon as it appears at the house!