tl;dr located in the last paragraph
Last year I bought a brand new motorcycle, pretty small at 300cc and I'm very very happy with it. A few weeks ago I low-side crashed when I failed to notice some oil on a sharp turn. Apparently the damage done was not significant; the left side fairing was blacked from the friction, the shift lever was bent significantly and some deep scratches on the handle bars and foot peg.
I contacted the dealer who in turn advised me to order a new shift lever since it's not recommended to "bent back" the original one and that in their honest opinion I should take the minor damage to a paint shop and have it fixed up for roughly 20-40€ depending on the shop. The fairing they advised me to order from there as well as it only costed 30€ plus shipping, which would definitely outweigh the 50€+ a paint shop would require. So I did.
Fast forward to 2 days ago and the lever has come (32€ + 4€ shipping), but I cannot replace it by myself since I don't have the tools; I ordered a 9€ (+3€ shipping) spanner for that (11mm needed for the socket). I did not mind at the time since tools in general offer good longevity. But then, the next day comes and the fairing finally arrives. To my surprise it's black instead of white. I searched the order id number in case I had made a mistake with the dealer but alas. They let me know that it was a factory problem and not the order specifically and they did offer for a free exchange, however it would take about 1 month, maybe 1 and a half depending on if they have the white part on stock. I declined since I do not want to wait that long.
Next day (today), I refer to a trusty automotive painter and we meet up since the shop is closed (Sunday) and he gives me a price tag of 90€ to paint the other side fairing black same color. The problem is that it will look very ugly since the white is part of the aesthetic. If I want to keep that aesthetic I should paint the front fender and 2 back side fairings black as well but that would add up to 300€ and upwards. Painting the black part to white is not really appealing to me since I spent 30€ (+8€ shipping) already and I could have just repaired the damaged original part instead for the same cost.
tl;dr low-side crashed on my motorcycle on an oily road. At first I thought the repairs would add up to roughly 70-100€, but in the end the only logical alternatives I have are wait 1-2months, pay up roughly 100€ extra but have it look unappealing aesthetically or pay up roughly 300€ and be done with it.
I'm not sure what to do. Financially I'm doing ok, I have no debts and I'm currently employed all year long on a job I've been working in for 5 years now. I have no difficulties and in general I almost never have regrets regarding impulse purchases or spending money on hobbies; heck I spent 120€ on a keyboard on Black Friday and I think every penny was spent well. Is it wrong that it gives me anxiety just spending so much money for what seems like a silly thing (slipping on an oil-wet road)? On one side I can't let my bike sit like that all scratched up since the idea of it being new is stuck in my head. But on the other side, it seems like too much money -that I have no need of to be honest-.
November 25, 2018 at 09:55AM
