2007 Street Bob

Fate

Two months went by since having the Street Bob sold out from under us. On one hand we were really unhappy about how we lost out on a “demo priced” bike we wanted, but on the other we were somewhat relieved that we had not gone into debt, at least not just yet. As I told Caroline, I strongly believe in fate, and that things always seem to work out for us in the end.

Since the bike we wanted was gone, I immediately started talks with the dealer about future opportunities. For example, I asked if I could pick a bike that the shop could use as a demo for next summer, but put my deposit on it up front guaranteeing that it would be ours when they were finished with it. I knew from past conversations that they would be interested in this kind of arrangement with their rental fleet. My objective was getting the absolute best price I could, while still knowing the bike would be properly serviced and still include a warranty. Although I’m sure something could have been done, if not for the Street Bob, then perhaps for another bike, but we would have had to wait until the new year when the dealer would be making their inventory decisions.

There are three Harley dealers in the Ottawa-Outaouais area, and all three share the same owners. Since I no longer could deal with the salesman at Ottawa HD, I turned to their other Ottawa store: Freedom Harley-Davidson. Billy, the salesman at Freedom, had helped my daughter Gail when she had purchased her Buell, so I knew I could count on him to help us out. October had been an exceptional month for riding, and since I had still not put away my bike for the season, I decided to make my last ride to go visit Billy.

The last time I saw Billy was a couple of years earlier at Ottawa HD, and he was behind his desk in a corner office.

The one and only Billy White ... and don't I forget it!

When I walked into Freedom, there was a biker talking to the parts staff at the counter. He turned towards me as I approached, and apparently knowing who I was, greeted me and asked how I’ve been. Recently I had been mistaken for someone else at my local building store, so I thought it was happening to me again. I had no idea who this biker was, and told him so. To my complete embarrassment, it turned out to be Billy. In my defense, and I admit it isn’t much of one, the fact that he was out of context for me, that is, not behind a desk, well, was enough to completely throw me off. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not a salesman!

Caroline’s soon to be Street Bob on the floor at Freedom HD. After getting the dollars and cents worked out with Billy, I needed Caroline’s OK to close the deal. Behind the counter are Freedom’s parts experts: Bruce on the left, and Doug on the right.

Note the card on the tank. This bike is officially on hold for 48 hours.

Once I recovered from my faux pas, we retreated to Billy’s office (where he looked so recognizable) and we got down to business. In less than ten minutes, I had all the information I needed to make a decision with Caroline on whether this was the bike and the deal we were looking for. While Billy put a “Hold” card on the bike, I rode back home to present the deal to Caroline.

A quick reference to Harley’s US web site showed me that we were being offered a price virtually on par with the Americans. There was still a possibility that if the Canadian dollar continued to rise, a 2008 model would match or even better our deal, but that was a gamble. (Ed. Note: the dollar had already retreated from its high of $1.10 US by 8 cents at the time of this writing in late November). After careful consideration of our finances, we decided that we could do it. We also decided to hang on to Caroline’s 883 since it was worth very little as a trade-in, and the dealer didn’t want it anyway. Some time in the future it either will be sold for hopefully a much better price, or I will finally have a project bike to create my version of a budget custom bar hopper.