Trade #6: 1993 Mazda B2200 pickup truck for custom 2006 Honda Shadow VT600CD motorcycle

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This trade was like seven weeks in the making.

On March 1 I met up with Mike (not his real name). I’d found his motorcycle for sale on Facebook Marketplace and, while he hadn’t mentioned wanting a truck or even being open for trades. I went out on a limb and messaged him. I’ve been doing that here and there, testing the waters on listings that don’t specify “NO TRADES” (as many do). People are usually open to offers, some aren’t.

He was interested, and we set up a time to get together in the parking lot of a nearby strip mall. It was in The Before Time, when the stores were open, and his girlfriend was studying in the bookstore’s cafe. Meanwhile, I was seeing five different apartments that day, hustling to find a place to settle.

I wasn’t optimistic about this trade. This bike was shiny, customized, and in fantastic shape. My truck had a pile of wires where the stereo had been, had a shoddy, unprofessional paint job, and smelled like gas when you drove it.

He asked me about the truck and started circling it. He was INTO. IT. He loved that it was lowered. He loved the gritty paint design. I tried to warn him about all the issues.

Me: Biggest mechanical thing is that it seems to use brake fluid a lot. I have to refill it every few weeks, if I don’t the brakes can get dangerously unresponsive.

Him: Ohh yeah maybe just a leak in the line. That’s not a big deal.

Me: I tried to get it smogged earlier today but it failed…

Him: Ah that’s OK, I got a guy.

Me: They said it’s missing an air filter cover. That’s why it smells like gas in the cab when you drive it.

Him: Oh that’s fine. I kinda like that smell, actually. Like I don’t huff it or anything, but it’s just like, it’s a good smell, y’know?

😳

I’m not gonna say that I tried everything to dissuade him, but I was as transparent as I could have been, and he just. kept. wanting. the truck.

We went out for a mutual test ride — me on the motorcycle, him in the pickup — and wow, what a ride. I’m used to a standard motorcycle, with lower, wider handlebars. The bars on this bike are high and narrow, and that made this bike hard to manage. I was so worried I was gonna drop the thing right there in the parking lot. But, I adapted and got the hang pretty quickly.

I loved it. I wouldn’t want to keep this bike for myself, at least not with the handlebars as they are, but it was great to feel what a bike with a smooth, smooth clutch feels like. The clutch on my beloved Ducati was fine but… I mean I didn’t know it could be like this. Plus it has this growl that just gets into your middle. It’s a powerful feeling.

We turned into another strip mall (California!) and I was sure he was gonna tell me he wasn’t feeling it, that the ride in the truck was too rough, that it just wasn’t worth the trade.

He loved it. Loved it.

I knew I was never going to meet another Mike, that Mike was the perfect person for this truck, and that there was no way I was going to find a better deal. We agreed to the trade right there in the lot on March 1.

Through some chit-chat I’d mentioned that I had seen 4 apartments for rent that day, on my way to the fifth soon after.

“You’re moving?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, looking for a place to move into as soon as I can.”

“Do… do you think you might want your truck for that?

“…”

“…”

“…yeah.”

So he told me to get at him once I’d settled. I signed my lease on Friday March 13th. I texted him about all the things I still had to do for the move, emptying out a storage unit that had all my things. Then the shelter order dropped and we weren’t supposed to go out except for essential business. Mike, I guess not surprisingly at this point, was super understanding. “Yeah, quarantine sucks. Just let me know, whenever. I’m not in a rush.”

This week I finally reached back out to see if he was still down, and wanted to do a safe, distanced trade today. He was down. I met him at his place, loaded all the spare parts into the truck (he still has all the original things he replaced on the bike, seat, handlebars, all of it, and I got them in the trade, too), and I drove the truck back to my place while he followed on the bike.

In my yard, as we exchanged keys and were saying goodbye and not shaking hands, he told me to let him know if I ever needed the truck.

This dude, this stranger who I barely know, who just traded me his dope bike for this clunking truck, just offered to lend that truck to me if I ever needed it to haul anything.

Mike is solid people. He’s the opposite of the Mercedes guy (that story’s for another time). He was kind and understanding and patient, and I’m glad to know him.

So, forward. Gonna start the title transfer process tomorrow and look to trade this motorcycle for a car or a truck soon!

1993 Mazda B2200 trading line:
Original item value: $1,500
Number of trades to date: 1
Latest trade: 1993 Mazda B2200 ($1,500) for custom 2006 Honda Shadow VT600CD ($3,000)
Total line value dollar increase: $1,500
Total line value percent increase: 100%