I Found It

Ok, maybe I should say "we found it." My bike-to-be that is.

I went out this Saturday with my good friend Ollie, the one who's taking (and proceeding well through) motorcycle courses down on the south-side of Okinawa. We had been talking about this day for a while and it only took a few phone calls and such to agree on the day.

We met up at our first shop around 11:00. Also in company was an ALT named Chris, who has ridden bikes for around 10 years. Not only that, but his hobby is auto mechanics, as in, he'll do work on someone's car simply for the experience...no cost. Having him along was invaluable.

So our first stop, a place in Naha, was very helpful and very uninteresting. Three of the four bikes from that shop I was interested in had been sold (so much for "updated" internet listings). The fourth bike wasn't even street worthy and wouldn't be until I bought it. So much for test rides. Given that the bike was in pretty poor condition according to Chris (this was the helpful part - he pointed out all the problems), we moved on.

Second shop of the day, a place called Goya Motors. Ollie said it had to be good, because the location I had on my phone matched up with an "x" on his atlas. Much like finding treasure, right? It turns out to be true.

The bike I had on my list, a Yamaha SRX 400, was sitting pretty when we got there. We gave it a brief look, talked to one of the employees (whose first question was, "Marines?"), and the owner of the shop came over and fired it up. It's got an aftermarket exhaust and it sounds burly. Chris looked it over and said, "It's good." So I gave it a test ride.

The front shocks are soft (and are in the midst of being reworked). Everything else was solid. Minor adjustments, to things like the clutch lever, headlight, rear-brake lever, and mirrors, are being taken care of. Should the work they're doing on the front fork suspension not completely solve the problem, the shop offered to obtain new forks and install them for around 4man, $400 US, which would still put the total cost within budget.

So I'm going to pick it up next Saturday with the help of Cliff. And after getting it back to Higashi and riding it arond a bit, I'll have a very nimble and light bike on my hands. One I hope to enjoy, won't mourn over if I happen to lean it at a stoplight, and plan to ride every chance I get.