Speaking with the owner, the history of the scoot was good. But then, you have to be able to trust him, right? Actually, the story he told was that the scooter belonged to his wife (great, another shot to the manhood). She had recently been involved in two motor vehicle accidents (both in their car), and she swore, according to him, that she wouldn never ride the scooter again. He said she was scared to even get in the car. And hey, I should be able to trust an RCMP officer, no? Police don't lie, do they?
Anyway, he started it up, and it started first shot and hummed just like a chainsaw. Afterall, they make chainsaws with two-stroke 49cc engines. It ran well in the driveway, looked good, and so on. As we talked, he showed me the features (Ok, that didn't take so long) and we talked about the safety record. I figured, if he's a police officer, he would probably have seen some accidents with them. He said that he hadn't yet visited the scene of one of these in an accident. Motorcycles, sure, but not a scooter (yet). As we talked, his wife arrived home, and he left for work.
She told the same story, talked about how much fun it was to ride before the accidents, and then it came up: "Are you serious about buying?" Well, blaming it on my wife, I said, "I don't think I can free up $2,300 for a toy -- especially one of these." I figured, considering the other deals and what I had learned researching the US marketplace on eBay, that $2,000 was not unreasonable if it was in good condition. This one was. I decided I'd throw it out there, see what she said. "I *might* be able to talk her into letting me spend $2,000, but I'm not sure." She replied with, "Well, if you can get the money today, I'll let it go for $2,000."
And there it was. Now I had to make a decision. Is it worth $2,000? Will I actually buy this scooter? Something that was sure to lower my status as a man among my friends. Something that would probably be fun, economical, and all those other things people say when they're trying to be nice to people who bought scooters. I told her I'd go home and see what "the boss" would say...
Anyway, he started it up, and it started first shot and hummed just like a chainsaw. Afterall, they make chainsaws with two-stroke 49cc engines. It ran well in the driveway, looked good, and so on. As we talked, he showed me the features (Ok, that didn't take so long) and we talked about the safety record. I figured, if he's a police officer, he would probably have seen some accidents with them. He said that he hadn't yet visited the scene of one of these in an accident. Motorcycles, sure, but not a scooter (yet). As we talked, his wife arrived home, and he left for work.
She told the same story, talked about how much fun it was to ride before the accidents, and then it came up: "Are you serious about buying?" Well, blaming it on my wife, I said, "I don't think I can free up $2,300 for a toy -- especially one of these." I figured, considering the other deals and what I had learned researching the US marketplace on eBay, that $2,000 was not unreasonable if it was in good condition. This one was. I decided I'd throw it out there, see what she said. "I *might* be able to talk her into letting me spend $2,000, but I'm not sure." She replied with, "Well, if you can get the money today, I'll let it go for $2,000."
And there it was. Now I had to make a decision. Is it worth $2,000? Will I actually buy this scooter? Something that was sure to lower my status as a man among my friends. Something that would probably be fun, economical, and all those other things people say when they're trying to be nice to people who bought scooters. I told her I'd go home and see what "the boss" would say...
posted by Michael at
3:20 AM
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