Keeping Up With The Joneses

I'm talking about my best friend Steve. He just can't stand it when someone has something better or newer than he does, but unlike most people that you hear about that do that sort of thing, he doesn't do it to brag. Okay, he does like to play "show & tell" when he gets something new, but who doesn't?

No, with him it's more of a feeling of restlessness--A feeling of sudden dissatisfaction with something he currently owns. He's very impulsive and because of that, tends to be fickle and lose interest in things quickly too. I am that way sometimes myself--I just don't have money to play with like he does.

A good example: When he came over and first saw my mannequin dressed in her biker garb, he thought that was just too cool, and he's been searching for one ever since. It will have to happen because he can't really rest until he fills his "shopping list."

Anyway, the whole reason for this post today? He bought a new Harley! His other one is new by my standards--He just bought it in 2005 and there isn't a bug or a speck of dirt on it anywhere. It's not like he doesn't ride it either... He has put a respectable number of miles on it. It's a beautiful bike, no question about it.

So what prompted him to buy a new one? Two of his coworkers/riding buddies each bought new ones. One of them had a Yamaha something or other and recently bought a new Harley with all the options and bells & whistles on it. He's a guy that is so "plugged in" (literally) to his bike that it takes him 5 minutes to hook/unhook every time we stop or start a ride. He has on board cameras, GPS... You name it. Another coworker/fellow rider traded in his bike that's almost like Steve's and also ended up with a model of Electra Glide. It seems more and more folks are dumping the Softail models and going to the 'Glides. I would like one myself, but that's another story.

So the other night Steve popped up in a chat window and told me he was putting his bike up for sale and was going to buy a new 'Glide. He told me the whole story and sent me a link to the sale ad for his bike. He also sent me a link to a picture of the bike he was getting. Pretty nice... Complete with ABS brakes even! At the time he was chatting to with me about it, somebody was already calling him about it. The guy identifies himself as Scott somebody from Eastside Harley-Davidson, and he offers Steve $12,500 for his bike right then and there (Steve had his Harley on Craigslist for $13,995).
"Hey, when I rode it down there last week, you only offered me $12,000. If it's going to keep going up every week I'll hold out for another couple weeks!" Steve says.
"Oh, you were here and I looked at it already? Hang on, let me check something," he says while he puts Steve on hold. He came back on the phone and says, "I'll tell you what--You buy the bike you were looking at right now and I'll give you $13,500 for yours."

Steve said he gave the guy his Visa card number and told him to hang a 'SOLD' sign on that new one. He always has moved fast when it came to buying and selling and "horse-trading."

He paid about $16,500 for it when he bought it, and I know he's well over $20,000 with all the stuff he's bought and had done to it.

But like Rhon said... It's his money!