Electra Glide: No Longer a Wannabe

A New Era

"You're never going to be happy unless you get one. So just go and buy it for heaven's sake." Did I hear that correctly? My wife, Caroline, just gave me the green light to purchase that gorgeous two tone blue decker sitting on the showroom floor. I was elated, confused, excited, and shocked. Not one to squander such a golden opportunity, I got the arithmetic going fast and furious in my head, calculating out the means to make this dream finally a reality.

We had dropped in at Hurst Motosport in Ottawa to research accessory options for my Virago, and as always while there, check out their inventory of used Harleys. Having a young family and a house under constant renovation, funds are hard to justify for such luxuries.

Sitting on the Hurst showroom floor, the Electra Glide was officially mine.

The price tag on the Electra Glide was for $13,500, or close to three times what I paid new for my metric v-twin. But what presence it had. The Harley seemed to have everything anyone could ask for in a big touring machine - lots of storage capacity, air suspension, the relatively new Evo motor, floor boards, stereo, and on and on. I kept walking back to that bike to admire it and to dream.

I quickly called the salesman over and it didn't take long for us to negotiate a deal. I learned that the previous owner had been a Wintario winner and had bought the bike on a whim. After a couple of trips to Montreal he had found that the bike was just too big and heavy for him and traded it back in for some sportier Japanese model. Fortunately for me, he had bragged about how much money he had and so didn't get the best trade-in value. This gave the shop more maneuvering room in making it possible for me to finally become a Harley owner. So I signed on the dotted line and handed over the keys to the Virago. And because it was late fall, I would take delivery as soon as the snow had melted next spring. It was going to be another long winter.