Buying your dream bike: The importance of emotions

Trust me, a guy who has bought a big bike for the simple reason that it does something to him, rather than what it does to his Insta profile, would have kept his bike nicely.

BHPian forty6 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Apologies to the OP for turning this into a multi season soap opera, when all s/he wanted was a 10 second skippable ad.

To get the z650 of your choice, I would suggest keep looking at olx and Facebook groups. I would suggest staying away from dealers, but wouldn't hurt to just check.

Lastly I would also suggest reaching out to Kawasaki dealers and ask them about second hand bike of your choice. They do get enquiries for upgrade and probably can help you out, if you ask nicely. Leave your number if required.

Now, continuing with the second season of this soap opera that is sellers and buyers, and apologies to those who get offended post this, or find it a bit demeaning or other such miserable things, I am a bit flummoxed with all this talk about value and cutting losses and one side having less emotions than others.

Now, I used to think that majority of the people who buy bigger bikes (refraining from calling them all superbikes, because they are not, and that term is used far more than the bikes themselves) were like me, who had a photo of a supercar (Ferrari F50) growing up, started watching racing, got into bikes and then made sure they were ruined financially. For the rest of their lives.

I never thought about does this big bike makes sense or not, because honestly after CBR 250R, none of my bikes made sense. Was the ninja 650 worth 3 times that of the CBR 250R? No. Yeah the power rush was a bit better, yes, it was more comfortable if you wanted to do 600 kms in a day, but, the CBR 250R could rip its pants off on a tight and twisty road, the roads that really make your grin, the roads that make the pathetic racer in you think like it is not that pathetic after all, while keeping your chances of staying alive way higher and you wallet a bit fatter while doing such shenanigans.

A little bike, with sorted chassis and suspension is far more grin inducing than any of the big bikes. There is no use for the extra 50-100 odd hp on that road between Theog to Rampur (at least the road that was 10 years ago). Or Almora to Binsar. Or between Jaswant Garh War Memorial to Sela pass. Or actually most of the road to Tawang. In fact I would go on to claim that on a superbike, you would not dare to touch the mid to top end, if you even have an iota of sanity and love for your life. They are just that dangerous.

So, why do you buy a big bike then? Well, because as a kid you saw great racers do strange things with the bike. Because the first time you took your knee out and leaned gingerly, you felt the kiss from centripetal force was more giddying than a kiss from any human. Because of the way a bigger bike sings. Because the first time you twist the throttle of any thing with over 100 bhp, your heart wants to get out and slap you, and also simultaneously wants you to do it again. Because it is like addiction, and just like addiction, it is dangerous, yet immensely pleasurable. Because big bikes make you understand Gulzar, Kishore, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Asha, Talat Aziz, Metallica better. Because they are the cheapest way to sort mid-life crisis. Affairs and divorces are ruinous in comparison. In short they are love.

And why would you want to put a profit/loss perspective to love? Love is supposed to cost you. Heck I would say, is it even love if it doesn't cost you?

So, I don't get this the seller has more emotion than buyers? Why are you even buying a big bike if there is any less emotion than sellers. If you haven't told yourself that you would stay away from buying new phones, eating outside, drinking, having chance to procreate, in short having a life, you need to seriously reconsider your commitment to big bikes.

And if you do, you are going to get the bike you want, rather than the deal that you need. You are going to research, find out what goes wrong, how to sort it, what to keep in mind and above all how to identify a passionate owner to buy the second hand bike from. Trust me, a guy who has bought a big bike for the simple reason that it does something to him, rather than what it does to his Insta profile, would have kept his bike nicely, irrespective of the years and kms. In fact a bike that has done decent kms in decent years, is going to be a better than a barely run bike. People have a tendency to believe a bike that has done a 5k km in 5 years is wow. It is not. Standing on a paddock stand does more damage to bikes than running. People who don't run their bikes enough are least likely to change parts and consumables at the correct interval.

All this you would understand if you genuinely love biking. Because if you do, a big bike won't be the first time you have felt whatever I have described above. A big bike is a culmination of a fairly long love affair, never the beginning of it.

So, in short, be on the lookout for what you want, look for it with the tenacity and passion that is usually reserved for lovers in poems, and you will find what you are looking for. And when you do, all this, a bit more, a bit less will seem inconsequential.

I would go on to say, there are more chances some passionate owner would take a hit for a passionate buyer, than for someone who just wants a good deal. After all who better than a passionate guy to understand the plight of another one who is suffering from it.

And if all this sounds like gibberish to you, chances are you are going to waste your money. Because, yeah you will get the bike, at a price you will like, but still lose money on it. Because, getting them is one thing, riding them is another level of passion all together. And if you don't have the former, chances are you will be bothered by the heat of the engine, the running costs, the efficiency, the hard clutch, the inability to take your better half, the lack of leaves from office, the crazy city traffic, and so on and so forth, and eventually sell it, because you don't use it. So no matter what awesome deal you got, you will still lose money on it after a year or two.

So, find the one you love, and get the one you love. And as life would teach you, never be cheap in love.

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