It is springtime, and large item consumption is in the air.

I have my eye on a Suzuki V-Strom. There is apparently only one left in-state with ABS, an 09. There were no 2010's imported. 2011's won't show until September, and may have an unpleasant price bump. (The 09 ABS MSRP is $7999, some dealers are talking $7599 already). There aren't a lot of them sitting around, so I might not be able to bargain too hard, but as a plus Suzuki is offering 1.99% for 5 years for the rest of the month.

Here is the ugly beast:

Here is one loaded down with the cases I want, fitted with engine bars, and fitted with knobbies:

With Suzuki's branded cases:

The woman is halfway between on board and against it, which is about standard for anything over $1k.

I'm worried that if I wait too long there won't be anymore - an added complication is there are still a windscreen ($80) and a luggage rack ($170) on the way for my current bike that were due weeks ago and are in backorder/shipment hell. Nothing I can't resell quickly, but annoying. Another option is to get a non-abs bike. ABS is only about $500, I'm not sure I'm 100% convinced I need it. 70% maybe. If I go non-abs I can get the "look at me" orange color bike:

Make me feel good about spending money in this struggling economy.