With nothing better to do that morning, I texted the poster. He said he still had it. I texted back, cool, I'll come get it, knowing how fast "deals" go on CL. Hooked up the trailer, and drove down to a near by town. The bike looked... very sad. It was dirty and faded but I could tell it was a Maroon late model. It was last registered in 2005. It had settled down to it's axles into mud of the backyard of the kid who was trying to get it running. Tank was off, carbs and wiring open to the elements. But underneath the grime and neglect was still a bike with only 6K miles on it for nearly free.
And it took him, the previous owner (and father-in-law) and I to get it out of it's hole. Shove it onto the trailer, trade money, sign a bill of sale, and haul it home.
It has lots of issues, worthless tires, blown fork seals, rotten tank, who-knows-how-bad engine and transmission, dog chewed seat, and sun faded plastics. But I washed it down and gave it a good coat of preserving and penetrating oil until i decide what to do with it.
But I know what I'm doing, really I do! I've done several complete restorations. The quick way would be to simply break the bike up for a quick profit. But I'd really like to rebuild the bike into a sport/adventure tourer. What I decide to do, I'll do a build thread on it. I'm glad this forum is here, I've already sifted through it as a lurker, and you guys saved me from having to buy a manual. So I'm that far ahead already.
Thanks.
-James