Lacking a repair facility, it finally became evident that the right thing to do was retire the old Yamaha 650 and get something new. Did just that over the weekend.

It started as an information-gathering trip about scooters. See, the older child, the boy, doesn't have a driver's license, but has some travel needs that don't align well with the public transportation schedule. With this in mind, I suggested a little scooter. In Minnesota, rougly speaking, any one over 15 can ride a small enough scooter.

One thing led to another, and after the information was gathered, we started eye-balling all of the shiny new motorcycles on the floor. Among the new Yamahas and Hondas that I've been considering (also Harleys, but these guys don't sell those) was an old Honda Valkyrie.

We've been squirreling away some motorcycle money, looking at a middle-of-the-road replacement. I don't want to finance something that unfortunately sits in the garage for half of the year, so I was waiting until enough cash could be collected. I was looking new only beaause I didn't want todrop so much on a bike that someone else abused and dumped. I was settling, if you will, for a lesser than the best I might want knowwing I could get it faster.

Sitting across the aisle from a pair of shiny Honda VTXs was the Valkyrie. I was smitten by the chrome and pipes and size of the Valkyrie when I first saw one a ton of years ago. This one was no steal, and has a lot of miles, but looks good, and was priced a lot less than the new bikes I was considering. We talked with the guy, admired it, but discounted it and eventually left.

We went home, ran some other errands, talking about the whole thing in general. We sold myself on it, mainly justifying it with "can ride it today instead of in two more months or longerS and "I have always liked the look" and "it is only a short-term fill-in." You know..."I want that one and I need no excuse but I'll make it sound like I've thought it through."

We returned and caught the eye of the sales guy again. He was helping someone else, so we patiently waited. Then they turned the lights off. We learned they closed a little earlier than we thought. Whoops.

We spent the next day doing other family stuff, because the state won't allow vehicle sales on Sunday.

Monday we had to wait until after work, but got the guy to let me ride it, even though it was close to closing time again.

It is a much different ride than the 650 to be sure.

Shortening this story, we got them to hang out for an extra thirty minutes to finish the paperwork. This became a non-argument when we again affirmed a cash deal.

Now to call the insurance guy and get it covered...