Saturday, November 2, 2013

Buying a Harley and Getting Stranded

Timeframe 2000

I started work at my new job as Assistant Controller in Santa Clara, CA in the beginning of January, 2000.    It was the first desk job I had in a long time and I was quite bored doing work in the office, and having to work 8:00am to 5:00pm every day.  I had gotten used to the life of a software consultant, having a varied schedule, sometimes having no clients to go to, and other times working til midnight or later to get projects done.  But, I decided it was time for me to have a more settled work life so that I could enjoy doing fun activities on my weekends.  I decided I would fulfill my dream of owning a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and visited the Harley Davidson dealerships in the area.  I went to dealerships in San Jose, Redwood City and San Francisco.  I also rented motorcycles from a local motorcycle rental shop that was less expensive than the dealerships.  First, I rented a Sportster 883, and after about an hour on it, I realized I would need something with more power.  The next weekend, I rented a Sportster 1200, and I liked the power of it, as well as the way it felt.

I then took time to research the details of the Sportster models.... there was a Standard Sportster, then there was the Custom and the Sport.  I found out that Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson in San Francisco had a Sportser 1200 Sport available to test ride, so I went up and took it out.  The hills in San Francisco are a bit challenging for any rider, but were especially so for me, since I didn't have much riding experience at all, and certainly not recently.  I ended up losing my balance in a turn on a hill and dropped the bike.  A car behind me noticed, stopped and helped me pick up the bike, thankfully.  I then spent some time using my spit to rub off the marks where it had skid on the pavement.  It didn't get hurt too badly, so I thought if I got ride of the marks, the dealership wouldn't know.  I rode the bike around a little bit longer then made my way back to Dudley Perkins.  I told them I enjoyed the ride and thanked them.  When I returned home, my phone rang and it was the sales guy from Dudley Perkins asking me if I was okay.  I said yes, and asked him why he was asking.  He said they noticed there were some scratches on it after I brought it back and they wanted to make sure I was okay.  I told them I was, and I apologized for crashing the bike and not telling them.  I told them I didn't think there was noticeable damage, so I didn't say anything.  They were very cool and said it was all okay, as long as I was okay, it was all fine.

The next weekend I went into the San Jose Harley dealer to check out what was available on the floor.  My brother had always like purple on his motorcycles.  When he restored his 1979 Sportster, he had it painted purple, and he later bought a 1973 Electraglide that was also purple.  So, I decided I wanted a purple 2000 Sportster Sport, but the San Jose dealership didn't have one.  I called around to other dealerships but no one had one in purple.  Since San Jose was the closest dealership, I went ahead and ordered one from them.  The only problem was, it wasn't supposed to get there until April.  I wasn't sure I wanted to wait that long, but I was excited so went ahead and ordered it.  I also kept visiting the shops to see if anyone got any new Sportser Sports in stock.

I would talk about my "Harley on the way" to anyone who would listen, as if I was an expectant mother, and at one point at a party I was telling a guy named Theo about it.  He said he used to ride when he lived in Switzerland, then brought his motorcycle to Cupertino where he now lived.  He had a bad crash, and still had the crashed motorcycle, but he didn't ride anymore.  He said talking to me, and hearing my enthusiasm for riding was making him think he needed to start riding again.  I told him about renting motorcycles and he said he would check into it.  He did look into it, rented a couple Harleys and took me for rides on the back.  He was a really nice guy and very fit... I think he was in the gym every day of the week.  I wasn't really interested in him as anymore than friends though, as he really went a bit overboard with energy, he was 15 years older than me, and really after the heartache I experienced with Keith less than a year ago, I was not ready to even think about a relationship.  I told him I thought of him as just a friend, and wasn't interested in more, and he said he understood and it was okay, but he still tried so hard and I think he hoped he could change my mind. 

A few weeks after meeting Theo, I found out about a "special" that Golden Gate Harley Davidson in Corte Madera was having on their Sportsters.  I don't remember specifics, but it was quite a bit less than what San Jose Harley was charging, plus they were throwing in a credit to cover new pipes and the necessary carb re-jetting.  It sounded like a good deal so I called to make sure I had the details right, let them run my credit to make sure I'd be approved for financing, and called San Jose Harley to cancel my order.  Golden Gate did not have any Sportster Sports in purple but that was okay, because I was re-thinking it anyway, and I thought I'd really prefer black.  Golden Gate had a black Sportster Sport in black on the floor, so I asked Theo if he would be able to drive me up to pick up my new bike.  He said he could, so on a Saturday, Theo drove me up to Golden Gate Harley.  It was about an hour and half away from San Jose, but I felt it was worth it, to get the better price and get a bike now instead of waiting a couple more months.

On the way up, I explained to Theo that due to the recommended break-in, I wouldn't be riding any faster than 55/60MPH, and would probably even be varying the speed so might even be riding slower than that sometimes.  Because of this, I asked him to keep an eye on me and make sure he could see me at all times.  He would be leading in his truck, since I was new to the area and didn't know how to get home... and because I would be on a motorcycle, I would have no way to keep looking at a map.

We made it to the dealership, checked out the black one, I completed and signed paperwork, got the keys and walked out with my new Harley Davidson Sportster Sport 1200XLS.  It was about 6:30pm and we had a long drive ahead of us, so we decided to get something to eat before heading home.  After we ate, I gave all of my things to Theo to carry in his truck... the paperwork for the bike, my wallet and my cell phone.  I knew he would always be right there if I needed anything so I didn't worry about it.  I donned my leathers that I had custom made at Langlitz Leathers of Portland, OR, while I lived in Vancouver, WA and we were on our way.
Emblem from the Sportster that I removed when I sold it.
I remember going down the 880, watching Theo's truck ahead of me, passing people and getting quite a few cars ahead of me.  I was getting a bit annoyed because I couldn't tell where he was in all of the taillights and I was pretty sure he didn't know where I was.  I did my best to just let it go, because at least from this point, I knew my way home, and I figured we would just end up meeting by my apartment.  Unfortunately, around Hayward, the "Check Engine" light came on.  I rode for a little bit, hoping to see Theo, catch him and let him know I needed to pull over, but after a few minutes I was afraid to keep riding in case it was something serious.  I knew it would be covered under warranty, but I also figured if I kept riding and caused more serious damage, it most likely wouldn't be covered. I decided to pull off to the side of the road, and I hoped that Theo would realize I wasn't behind him and would turn around to find me.  This was about 8:00pm and it was already very dark outside, so pulling off to the side, with the bike off and no lights, in black leathers, I was pretty much invisible.  There was nothing around for me to walk to, and even if there was, I had no money on me to make a phone call or do anything to reach anyone.

So, I just stayed by the bike... and waited.  After about an hour, I noticed a cop down the road that had a car pulled over.  I walked over and let him know my situation.  He called it in and told me a flat bed would be coming for me.  I walked back to the bike and waited about another hour.  A couple in a pickup truck stopped, thankfully, and they said they have Harleys, and have a ramp in their truck, so could get me and my bike back to their house where I could call Theo.  I thanked them profusely, and was very grateful for their help.  Just as we got the bike loaded up, the flatbed pulled up, but I told him I was okay and he could go.  When we got back to their house, I called Theo's cell. Thankfully he had an easy and memorable phone number.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have even been able to call him.  When I got him on the phone, he said that at one point he realized I wasn't behind him, didn't know when he lost me, so just went to my apartment, thinking I would show up eventually.  I wasn't angry, I didn't yell, I just figured this was another person in the world who was on some other plane of existence, wasn't reliable, and I just decided it wasn't worth my energy getting mad at him.  I live and learn about people as I go...

While we waited for Theo, the guy did some diagnostics on the bike, found out the battery was pretty dead, so said he would charge it up for me overnight, so I could pick it up in the morning.  I thanked them, and the next day, Theo came to take me up on the back of a Harley he rented.  He had it planned and we were supposed to go riding together, he on the rental and me on my bike.  Instead, he rode me up to the house on the back of his bike, then we rode back home.

Monday morning I called Golden Gate Harley to let them know what happened, and I was very impressed at the way they handled it.  They sent a trailer all the way down to San Jose, to pickup my bike and take it back to Corte Madera.  When it was fixed, they put it on a trailer and delivered it back to my apartment.  It doesn't get much better than that.  It turns out that, because the frame was powdercoated black, the ground wire wasn't making a good connection, so the battery wasn't charging.  They scraped off the powdercoating so the wire had a good connection, and I didn't have another problem for quite some time.
My Sportster pretty new and basically stock except for pipes.

My first ride to Santa Cruz on the bike.  Still basically stock