August 20th - We had driven to Carbondale, IL to look at a Honda CB-500X. Then on to Marshall, IL where we grabbed a hotel room for the night. A nice 500+ mile day in the SUV. Our plan was to get to the Honda dealer in Terre Haute, IN close to their opening time. With time changes, that meant 8am at the hotel, but that was 9 am at the dealer. The dealer was only 17 miles from the hotel, so no big deal.
This was kicked off by Honda NA telling us that the CT-125, (Trail 125), would most likely not be released in the US until the 2022 model year, meaning bikes might not get to customers until July to November of 2021. We had a standing order at out local Honda dealer for the first two they could get. We also had signed up for the Scooter Cannonball Run in July of '21. The news, direct from Honda NA via a phone call response to my online query about when the CT-125 would be available, was a huge disappointment to us. But, we picked up and moved forward, looking for another steed to carry us on our adventures.
The dealer in IN was pleasant, and we liked the scooter, giving more suspension travel and a more ergonomically friendly design to the base PCX 150 scooter, but their price out the door was very high and they only had one. In the parking lot we poked phones and found the dealer in Crossville, TN that had two, and called them. Kolton was our salesman, and he did a first rate job of giving us the facts and quoting us an out the door price that was much more reasonable. We started the car and headed for Crossville, TN, only 390 miles away. While driving, Kolton called us back and said he had firmed up the pricing and had a better price for us. Even better! TN doesn't charge sales tax to out of state buyers if you leave the state with the vehicles within 3 days.
https://goo.gl/maps/vFwjs2FiNWJzrokC7
While driving, I had plenty of time to poke my phone while Cletha drove. I learned about sales tax issues and we talked about how we were going to get the scooters home. It was decided that it made no sense to drive to the dealer and not be prepared to take the scooters home with us. I found a hotel when it became obvious that we would not make it to the dealer before they closed. I also called Kolton back and let him know to prep the scooters and we would be there first thing in the morning to finalize the deal and pick them up. Then I set up a rental online with a UHaul dealer close to the hotel and arranged to rent a trailer for the following morning. Once we checked into the hotel, I did have to make a run to the local Walmart for some straps and an adapter for the SUVs 7 pin RV to 4 flat connector so we would have lights.
August 21st - When we got to Tommy's Motorsports in Crossville, we were greeted by this:
We took a little scooter ride over the weekend before we could even register and tag the scooters. Rebels that we are. The big smile says it all. 😁
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