1999 Triumph Sprint ST

Its been several weeks since the last post, and much has transpired.
Following up on the story last month of Mike, the older gentleman I met about the two motorcycles-
This story has progressed rapidly, in amazing ways. At first, Mike wanted $2K for Triumph (they go for $3K+ on the web), and $1K for Vulcan, but even then was willing to wiggle on prices, since neither had run in over a year. I told him I'd get back to him after Thanksgiving.
We talked on Monday of the next week, and he informed me he was taking his wife out of town to see her mother the first week of December. I asked if he would let me borrow the shop manual for the Triumph while he was gone, to see if I could figure out if there was anything else wrong with the bike, aside from needing a new battery. Mike said, "I'll do better than that. I'll let you take the bike to your house, so you can work on it yourself. If you get it running, I'll come off the price even more, to comp you for your time, effort, and money. If you can't get it running and want to call it all off, I'll comp you anyway." I jumped at the chance! Jack Butler, one of my riding buddies, brought his trailer, and we picked it up. Mike's wife, Donna, wanted him to follow us to my house, saying, "Sorry, but I'm not as trusting as Mike is!" Hoping to find an opening to maybe share my faith some with Mike, I said, "That is no problem at all! In fact, I hope you can trust preachers, because I'm one of them over at Hebron. So you'll be able to track me down at my home, or my church." As I handed them my card, they both lit up, and Mike declared, "What a blessing from God! I'm a Messianic Jew, gave my life to Christ over 20 years ago!" Wow! I was blown away. No doubt in my mind, ours had not been a chance meeting at that Red Box the week before.
We got the bike to my house, moved into my basement shop, and Mike offered to give me a ride back to the church. I obliged, thanked Jack, and hopped in Mike's truck. We talked family, careers, and Christ all the way back to Hebron. Pulling into the parking lot, Mike saw my red ZR7s sitting there, and asked to see it. He walked all around it, admiring the little ride, and asked to sit on it. "Sure, throw a over," I told him. He lit up again as he straddled it, saying, "Wow, its so light and well-balanced. And I can touch ground easy on it." He stepped off, stood there in thought for a moment, then asked, "Would you consider a trade? If you can get the Triumph running, I'd like to swap with you. On this bike, I think I might have a few more riding years in me." Surprised, I said, "Absolutely! I'd love that Triumph. I get her running, you got a deal." He said he'd bring a new battery by the church for me the next day, and we shook on it.
Sure enough, Thursday he met me with the battery. We stood and talked for about 30 minutes outside, then he declared, "I have a little revision to my proposal, if you are open to it. I'd still like to straight trade with you, and I'm willing to throw in the Vulcan 1500 too. So I'll give you both bikes for your ZR." I was stunned. Two bikes for one! Triumph for ZR, and basically the 1500 for free! Incredible. I nearly hugged the man. I told him, "Let me see what I can do with the Triumph while you are gone, and if all goes well, when you get back we'll see about closing the deal."
Well, to make a long story short, over the next two evenings, and half a Saturday with my dad's help, we got that Triumph running and tuned. In the meantime, I did some wrenching and cleaning on the ZR, so it would be ready for Mike. Upon his return, he met me at our house, and we went for a 30 minute ride- me on the Triumph, Mike on the ZR, so he could get a good feel for it. He had not ridden a motorcycle in a year and a half, so we said a prayer together, then took it easy out on some nice country roads I knew he'd enjoy. Upon returning, he stated, "I love it. I want it. Let's do this." We shook on it, agreeing to swap titles early the next week, and finalize everything.
So here I am on Sunday night, marvelling at God's hand in all of this. I've had a dream as of late to turn my love for motorcycling into a profit, by writing articles for motorcycle and Christian magazines, and "flipping" bikes on the side- finding ones like these, sitting idle in garages, needing just a little TLC to get them on the road again, buy them low, resell them for profit, and make new friends along the way. Just like Mike. And here we are, getting a like-new Triumph Sprint in a swap, a basically free Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 to work on then sell, and I already have four articles set to run in about five different magazines across the winter, and more I'll be submitting soon. God is at work in this, and no telling where it will all go. But I'm excited, and ready to follow Him.
More to come,