A few weeks back, while being bored at work, I decided to visit Kijiji.ca and have a look around. I wasn’t really in the market for anything, just nosy. What I did find was a fantastic deal on an ATV.
The ad said MINT. These days the word has been misused to death, but this time, it was an accurate description of the bike. The guy hardly used it, and despite being manufactured in 2007 as a 2008 model, it looked as if it had just left the showroom floor.
With only 2600 kms on the thing, it wasn’t even broke in. I spoke to the guy who was selling it, and managed to haggle just enough to bring the price down to something I could afford. He actually dropped $500 over the phone.
With a four hour drive to the town that he lived in, I was anxious to get there. My brother (and his trailer) accompanied me, and when we finally arrived, we were amazed at the condition of the bike.
When we got out of the truck, the guy’s little boy (around 2 years old or so) came running out saying “Don’t buy that bike, it is JUNK!”
Not the best thing to hear after driving this far! His father came out laughing. Apparently he told his youngster that the bike was junk so he wouldn’t cry while we took it away. Hopefully that was the case!
Just as he described over the phone, the bike was in immaculate condition. He only used it to take his kids for rides on the railway bed. (T’Railway is a park in Newfoundland, created when the old CN railway was shut down and the tracks were removed. You can travel across the entire island on those trails if you have an ATV).
We took it out for a test drive and it drove even better than it looked. We loaded it on our trailer and did some paperwork. Excited to get home and ride it, I had to wait another 4 hours.
When we finally got home, it was pouring rain. The wife and I put on our rain gear and went riding anyway….at 10 p.m.
Last weekend, we were invited to a trail ride with some old friends. Although I was excited to take my new bike, we didn’t have enough room for our gear. I had to borrow my brother’s side by side, which featured a large bed on the back. He used my bike while we were gong.
We traveled from our home in Stephenville to Serpentine Lake, some 96+ kms from the door step. Using the above mentioned T’Railway system, the trail was perfect.
When we arrived at the site, the road was covered with water. The lake was very high, and we had to travel through over two feet of water to get to the camping area. Although scary, we got to the other side very quickly. The reward for the trip was the fantastic scenery. What a beautiful spot.
As you can see, the place was beautiful. I stood in awe at the beauty and enjoyed the fresh mountain air.
Later that day, we set up camp and had a large cook up. Everyone shared the food and we ate like kings. When the air became chilly, we built a large campfire and everyone gathered around. A bit of recorded music on my tiny but powerful Bose Soundlink and everyone was up dancing and having a great time (and a few drinks).
The only downside (other than having to trade bikes with my brother for the weekend) was the mosquitoes. There were thousands of the beasts, and they were hungry. This year has been very wet and mostly overcast, and the flies seem to really enjoy the damp air. Hopefully this won’t last throughout the entire summer.
A good sleep in our tent and in the morning, we ate a hearty breakfast of baloney, eggs, beans, and toast. We set out early because we wanted to get home early enough to cook supper. Ah Summer.
On Monday, while bored at work (again), I was looking on Kijiji again, and this time I found a ATV trailer that a guy had made. The picture showed exactly what I wanted. Lots of cargo space and decent clearance for stumps and brush. I called the seller, and even though he was located three hours away, I was going to buy this trailer. He wanted $475, but I was able to talk him down to $350. Pretty good deal.
When I got there, I was greeted by a friendly gentleman who showed me the trailer. He said that since retiring, he had to find something to do with his time, so he began restoring cars and building trailers. He took me on a tour of his garage where I seen a car under a cover.
His pride and joy, a 1962 Ford Frontenac, a Canadian made Ford sedan. The car was restored to original condition and was beautiful. He said that he quickly lost interest in restoring cars due to the high price of parts, but he enjoyed making trailers more. I doubt he made any money though, he must have put a ton of work and parts into making the trailer I bought.
My wife loved the trailer because it matched the bike! Now we are ready for out next adventure. I will post the pictures.
SightsnBytes 