[Jeff Higgins]

My buddy John's is an '06, too (the one one the left, the darker of the two "red" ones). I think it's "black cherry" or something like that. That's exactly how he scored on his as well. The big boom years behind them, H-D dealers were desperate to move last year's bikes so they got a decent allocation for the next year.

Mine was a different story. It was literally the only one immediately available in the entire northwest at the time. Some poor guy had come in to sign on it, and his financing wasn't approved. He was walking out all dejected, after having waited for over a year for it, as I was walking in to buy some oil for my Sportster. Paperwork in hand, he was standing over the bike on his way out, bemoaning the fact he couldn't have it. I asked what was wrong, and the salesman told me. I asked him what happens next, and he said it goes up for sale. "It'll be sold in less than ten minutes - watch." I told him it's "already sold", we walked over to his desk, did the paperwork, and I cut him a check (for well over MSRP, the greedy bastards).

I got a ride over to the dealer the next day to pick it up. I stopped by the house and told my wife to hop on for a "test ride". We put over 100 miles on it that evening, and when we got home, she went on and on about how nice and comfortable it was for her, how quiet and smooth it was, how there were no oily or greasy parts to look out for, etc. etc. Then she asked if we could keep it (she knew what a long wait it was for a new one). "Uh... we kinda already have... Can you get the garage door for me? Thanks..."