What did you get ?

[Water Warrior 2]

So what did you get for Christmas ?

I'll start.
$50 gift card for Canadian Tire.
An electric lighter with a built in flashlight, a little weird but useful.
A new camera case to go with my new camera that Santa brought. It is a Fujui XP 15. Waterproof to 10 feet, shock proof, dust proof and freeze proof.
Looking forward to trying out the camera on the bike.

[blaine]

I received a new set of pod filters & re jet kits for my bike,a 240 piece Mastercraft socket set,and various gift cards.
:2tup: :cool:

[alanmcorcoran]

Xbox 360 Kinect. Hurt myself flailing around in my living room but my kids are enjoying it. (Got myself an iPhone4.)

[dhgeyer]

A rotten head cold :cry:

[alantf]

Waterproof to 10 feet, shock proof, dust proof and freeze proof.


Mmmm I've had that - But not (my) Missus proof! :blush: She'll break ANYTHING for you. :yes:

btw, got a new coffee maker (my old one filled the kitchen with steam), a bluetooth headset so I can use my mobile phone in the car, aftershave, slippers, & THIRTEEN pairs of socks. :cry:

[music man]

A new Mp3 player that can hold 300 cd's, and a Jigsaw.

[blaine]

Xbox 360 Kinect. Hurt myself flailing around in my living room but my kids are enjoying it.

My daughter got a Nintendo Wii.damn near broke my neck jumping around the house.My daughter got a bigger laugh out of watching me than actually playing.
:tongue: :roll:

[alantf]

A new Mp3 player that can hold 300 cd's, and a Jigsaw.

Why would you wanna hold a jigsaw in a Mp3 player? :crackup

[music man]

A new Mp3 player that can hold 300 cd's, and a Jigsaw.

Why would you wanna hold a jigsaw in a Mp3 player? :crackup


It is a small convenient place to store it of course, don't you know anything. :neener:

[alantf]

[quote="music man":2k4ujy8z]A new Mp3 player that can hold 300 cd's, and a Jigsaw.

Why would you wanna hold a jigsaw in a Mp3 player? :crackup


It is a small convenient place to store it of course, don't you know anything. :neener:[/quote:2k4ujy8z]

You realise that when you take it out, there'll be one piece missing. :yes:

[bonehead]

2 shirts, 6 pair of socks, and a piece of a$$. All 2 sizes too big.

[Easy Rider]

2 shirts, 6 pair of socks, and a piece of a$$. All 2 sizes too big.


:shocked: :crackup

I got a 2 month trip to Florida; I'm sure it will fit just right !!!
Now, if I could just find a bike to ride while I'm there............ :cry:

[dentheman]

Proficient Motorcycling book, battery charger/maintainer, feeler gauges (all in anticipation of getting a motorcycle), gift certificate to a nice restaurant, assorted cookies/fudge/pies. And a good time and great meal with family at my son and daughter in law's (a few drinks thrown in, of course).

[alanmcorcoran]

Den, you have to be the most deliberate procurer of toys ever. If you look up the opposite of impulse buyer in the dictionary, there should be a picture of you.

[burkbuilds]

I got Atlanta Falcons washcloth's and a towel for my "dorm room" and a microwave and a hotplate to go with it. Two jars of "Atomic Fireballs" from the Cracker Barrel Store and several great meals with my family. I guess I kinda gave myself the biggest present when I bought that VN750 on e-bay right before Christmas. I'm planning to go get it on Thursday. I'll try to get some pictures posted over the weekend when I return, if it all pans out that is.

[dentheman]

Den, you have to be the most deliberate procurer of toys ever. If you look up the opposite of impulse buyer in the dictionary, there should be a picture of you.
I guess I am a little analytical (or is it just anal) about purchases. When I was younger I would buy just about anything that caught my eye, and usually ended up disappointed. Last month I would have 'impulse' bought the 2009 Ninja 500 with 0 miles that I sat on at the dealership if I had the cash. He had marked it way down to get rid of it to make room for the new bikes coming in.

[Water Warrior 2]

I know I'd be hard pressed to not buy a New Ninja 500 if the price was right. That is also one of the reasons I too have to stop and think about any potential impulse buy. Cash and credit makes it so easy.

[music man]

Cash and credit makes it so easy.

Credit? whats that? I don't use the stuff myself. Me and my wife live by the open wallet rule of buying, if we open our wallets and there is not enough in there to buy it, we don't.

[burkbuilds]

Music Man, you are very wise. We would all be better off in the long run if we followed your philosophy.

When I was growing up, my older sister's friend Caroline was the daughter of a Savings and Loan President. He called her at home one day and told her, "Caroline, you've bounced over 20 checks this month, don't write checks when you have no money in your account." Caroline replied, "But daddy, I can't be out of money, I still have checks left." :biggrin:

[Water Warrior 2]

That is why I stop and think about any purchase. Although I carry a CC it is only for travel or online purchases. If there is no money in my pocket or the bank account I will do without whatever catches my eye. I also ask myself if said item is a need or want item. If I got along fine without a new blue chrome covered whatever for the last umpteen years why do I suddenly "need" it now.

[alanmcorcoran]

Music Man, you are very wise. We would all be better off in the long run if we followed your philosophy.

It's a wise approach as long as we are talking about things we don't really need or that will not otherwise reduce costs or increase income. Although it does introduce risk, credit and borrowing are essential elements to modern economies. Even in the poorest Western households, it probably makes more economic sense to borrow the money to buy a washing machine, than to use the time, money and gasoline to take one's clothes to a laundramat.

Even in the case of a motorcycle - if it allows you to get to a well-paying or good-benefits job you would otherwise not be able to get to, it might be very smart to borrow the money needed to buy it. Also, in some cases, borrowing to get a college education can result in a much better standard of living over the long term.

Using a credit card to buy toys, dine-out or go on vacations, on the other hand, is just digging a hole.

[music man]

Music Man, you are very wise. We would all be better off in the long run if we followed your philosophy.

It's a wise approach as long as we are talking about things we don't really need or that will not otherwise reduce costs or increase income. Although it does introduce risk, credit and borrowing are essential elements to modern economies. Even in the poorest Western households, it probably makes more economic sense to borrow the money to buy a washing machine, than to use the time, money and gasoline to take one's clothes to a laundramat.

Even in the case of a motorcycle - if it allows you to get to a well-paying or good-benefits job you would otherwise not be able to get to, it might be very smart to borrow the money needed to buy it. Also, in some cases, borrowing to get a college education can result in a much better standard of living over the long term.

Using a credit card to buy toys, dine-out or go on vacations, on the other hand, is just digging a hole.

True, very true. We live in a society that dictates that you almost HAVE to owe someone money for something. For instance, it would be impossible for anyone but the extremely rich to buy a house without borrowing money to do so, which I am working towards doing at this time in my life, and again, going to college without borrowing money from someone would be almost impossible, if you could afford to do that, you probably really didn't need the college education to begin with. I was more referring to credit cards, car loans, etc... We actually did get a credit card recently, but only to build credit so we could get a more favorable house loan in the future, and we only buy things with it that we already have cash in hand to pay off the balance with. But I would never buy a washing machine, motorcycle, T.V., or even a car, with credit, I just save up for it and pay cash (well i would buy a car with credit if it meant life or death, but you get the point).

Its weird that we live in a society where people look at me and my wife funny when we tell them that we don't have a car payment or credit cards, or that we don't owe money on our living room furniture, we might as well be telling them that we just flew in from jupiter.

On the other hand, My Ex-wife is probably paying for vacations and christmas presents she bought on credit for people three or four years ago, which probably explains to all of you the primary reason she is my Ex.

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm basically right there with you Music Man. I have some minor credit card balances because of on-line shopping and what not (I only have one that I use and a back-up in case of emergency.) I have a balance on my mortgage - which, due somewhat to luck and maybe a little foresight, is consideraby less than what it is allegedly worth. I have two ten year old cars that still run good and I don't owe anything on (although I did borrow initially to buy each of them.) I have a number of expensive things I probably didn't need to buy (a piano and three motorcycles, f'rinstance) but I indulged myself without borrowing.

Still, there was a time (a very LONG time) in my life where I borrowed to pay for almost everything, from college tuition, to legal bills, to basic necessities, to non-necessities (went on a month long vacation in an RV when the kids were small.) So, I can't really be too sanctimonious about it. The reality is, there is a big gap between what Americans are led to believe they can afford and what they really can afford and too many of us are tethered to a life long harness with which we drag our indebtedness behind us. I was never much for "Father Knows Best" type life lessons, but I really tried my best to impress on my children the importance of retaining some control over their financial destiny. Once you get in the position of having to take on work or responsibilities that are beyond your tolerance level so that you can "make your payments", life becomes much harder. In my case, it happened early on and I never knew any different until I was finally free from it. Now, it would be very hard for me to go back - probably impossible.

[music man]

I never understood the buy now, pay later philosophy, I could never enjoy a vacation that i borrowed money to go on, the whole time I would be thinking about the fact that I am going to be paying for it two vacations from now.


But yes you are correct that as a society we have been trained that if we make 40k a year, we should live like we make 80k and so on...... I on the other hand would enjoy much more, living comfortably on 40k and being debt free than living a little more comfortably and owing a couple of hundred grand to someone. It doesn't always feel good though, like right now, I want a bigger nicer T.V., I have enough cash in our car/emergency savings to buy the one I want 10 times over, but.... that is the whole reason we have an emergency fund, patience. So I will do what I always do, I will save for the next 6 months or so and just go buy it.

We save money all year long then take that plus income tax returns and pay cash for vehicles, we started out a few years ago having to pay a couple of grand for a car, now this year if nothing drastic happens between now and income tax time, we should be able to pay 8-9k cash for a car, plus get to keep the one we currently own. Our goal is to one day just be able to go buy a brand new car with cash, the feeling would be worth every bit of scrimping and saving it took, hell just to see the look on the car salesmens face would be priceless.

And the Walmart preloaded debit card (or something similar to it) is the only way to fly when it comes to online shopping, you have to give out very little personal info compared to the DNA sample you have to give to get a bank/credit card. I use mine to pay bills, buy things online etc... and the beauty is when I get done, there is very little balance on there for someone to steal, so even if they did get my card info somehow, they would go to clean it out only to find out they are only getting a few bucks. And if it is compromised somehow, I can just go to walmart and in five minutes have a whole new card and card number, and even if the thief could still use my old card, he couldn't ruin my credit or drain my bank account. I don't even have to go out of my way to load money on it, I shop at Walmart all the time, so I just do it while I am already there. :2tup:

[music man]

Man we have really veered off track on this thread, as a bonus I also got a late Christmas present, a new 20 piece set of screwdrivers from my son.

[Water Warrior 2]

Screwdrivers are always welcome. You will never have enough in this lifetime. Well, at least I don't. I have started filing down the Phillips to fit the JIS screws on bikes. Makes a world of difference with no more stripped heads and munched up Phillips screw drivers.

[JWR]

Late Christmas---Early New Year.

[attachment=0:3uh2qisv]100_0080.JPG[/attachment:3uh2qisv]

2005 Vulcan 500
1500 miles
Windscreen
Engine guard
Pass. backrest and rear rack.

Traded the 2006 Virago 250.

Happy New Year.

[music man]

Late Christmas---Early New Year.

[attachment=0:1kraevuc]100_0080.JPG[/attachment:1kraevuc]

2005 Vulcan 500
1500 miles
Windscreen
Engine guard
Pass. backrest and rear rack.

Traded the 2006 Virago 250.

Happy New Year.


AWESOME!!!

[blaine]

Sweet ride.I love the blue.You will love the power and torque of the 500.Enjoy!! :2tup: :cool:

[JWR]

Thanks,

It seems to be very smooth.

[blaine]

Thanks,

It seems to be very smooth.

They are a very smooth & well balanced engine.They get good mileage also,in part to the 6 speed gearbox.They also like a valve adjustment every 8 to 10 thousand miles.
:) :cool:

[JWR]

Thanks for the information.

[blaine]

Thanks for the information.

No problem.My EN450(LTD454) is the same engine with a smaller displacement. :) :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

That is a real nice upgrade. But 1500 miles ? Was it used to decorate the driveway. Not even broke in properly yet.

[JWR]

The dealer had 4 of these.
1. 2009
2 2007

I traded for $1250 OTD. My offer and he took it.

I think it was a good deal, and the owner is a very good guy.

I did not even ride it till after the paperwork was done. The whole deal took about 30 minutes or less.

http://tommysmotorsports.com/

[Water Warrior 2]

I really gotta shop across the border.

[JWR]

I never asked him what he wanted for his.

He asked me, what do you want to do, I told him and he stuck out his hand. BAM

[burkbuilds]

Congratualations JWR,
I hope you enjoy your 500 as much as I have mine.