Jonny A
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Jon
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2020
- Threads
- 10
- Messages
- 293
- Reaction score
- 295
- Location
- Eliot, Maine
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 Rubicon Gladiator
- Occupation
- Bridge Construction and Maintenance
- Thread starter
- #1
My story.
Truthfully I was never that Jeep Kinda guy. I had friends and family who were. I was always caught up in the Harley biking scene. Get that Softail as low as I could go. Stretch out forward to a set of straight drag bars. My feet forward, more so than my hands. Looked like I was tying to run up a hamster wheel. Love it. Gotta be loud too. In the breeze, helmetless. That was living.
Then came cell phones... Seemed like every other time I went out, some distracted driver would pull right out in front of me, or drift into my lane. Get me road ragin on their ass a few of them. Any way I finally lost interest a couple years back. Too much headache.
Then I saw it!
A naked Gladiator Sport S. 37âs and slight lift. Drove by me and pulled into a boat launch to go kayaking. I went to work and thought about that thing. I saw it again, not naked. I kept thinking how fun it would be to be in the wind again, even though my Softail is in the garage. Then I see more Gladiators. I love the look of the stock Rubicons. The others could be worked on. What it comes down to for me was the ability to go naked. No windscreen, top or doors.
Well about 8 months hitting all the showrooms and looking on line, I had all but given up on the idea I could afford a Gladiator. They are just so damned expensive. I received a ding on my phone, an alert of a Gladiator in my area going on sale. We were going down east for a vacation, but my wife says... âletâs go take a look.â We did, it was like those pictures you see in church, where the sun is shining onto Jesus and Angels. Except it was shinning on that Rubicon. Rubicon? No way thatâs affordable!
What a beauty, silver, Black Rhino wheels with 35â BFG KO2, trifold tonneau and spray in liner, had other minor touches such as line xâd steel bumpers and after market line xâd rock rails and sliders. Really ready to go for me. And the price was reasonable.
So the salesman comes out. Says take her for a ride. Iâm like... I donât know. Wife says letâs ride. The salesman says âWe close at 5pm, be back by thenâ. It was 10:00 am. We rode it around, regular roads, hi way, bumpy parking lot, a field and found some wheel grooved up dirt roads. We loved it, took the front part of top off. Nice. I found a parking lot. We pulled in and I scooted under. I looked for loose stuff, scratches, dings. That thing was clean, looked show room. Iâm thinking how come this thing is going so cheap especially a Rubicon. Wife and I look at each other and say we want it, but we need to get over a certain amount for our trade. We were talking about this on drive back to the dealer.
Back at the dealer a few hours later we handed the keys back. We said it was nice, drove great. Then he says, âWe will drop price by $3000.â Then asked If we going to trade the Colorado Z71. We said âYeah, if we can get what we wantâ. They have a guy come out look at it. It was nice, but battle scared and has some wear. Torn seat upholstery. Mechanically in excellent condition. Now we are sitting at salesmanâs desk. Looking at each other, wondering how much less than I want I will need to agree to. I have such bad luck when it comes to trades. Boom! The guy comes out with their buy offer. $6000 more than what I even thought. What the hell? And $3000 off the ad price? This gotta be a dream!
We are now happy Gladiator owners, and ride topless as often as we can. Canât wait for spring/summer to ride naked.
Damn to those cell phone toting distracted drivers, this thing is a bit bigger than the bike. I can now ride in the wind once again. And go off road when I get the itch. The rest of my story is yet to be written, but it is happy right now.
Truthfully I was never that Jeep Kinda guy. I had friends and family who were. I was always caught up in the Harley biking scene. Get that Softail as low as I could go. Stretch out forward to a set of straight drag bars. My feet forward, more so than my hands. Looked like I was tying to run up a hamster wheel. Love it. Gotta be loud too. In the breeze, helmetless. That was living.
Then came cell phones... Seemed like every other time I went out, some distracted driver would pull right out in front of me, or drift into my lane. Get me road ragin on their ass a few of them. Any way I finally lost interest a couple years back. Too much headache.
Then I saw it!
A naked Gladiator Sport S. 37âs and slight lift. Drove by me and pulled into a boat launch to go kayaking. I went to work and thought about that thing. I saw it again, not naked. I kept thinking how fun it would be to be in the wind again, even though my Softail is in the garage. Then I see more Gladiators. I love the look of the stock Rubicons. The others could be worked on. What it comes down to for me was the ability to go naked. No windscreen, top or doors.
Well about 8 months hitting all the showrooms and looking on line, I had all but given up on the idea I could afford a Gladiator. They are just so damned expensive. I received a ding on my phone, an alert of a Gladiator in my area going on sale. We were going down east for a vacation, but my wife says... âletâs go take a look.â We did, it was like those pictures you see in church, where the sun is shining onto Jesus and Angels. Except it was shinning on that Rubicon. Rubicon? No way thatâs affordable!
What a beauty, silver, Black Rhino wheels with 35â BFG KO2, trifold tonneau and spray in liner, had other minor touches such as line xâd steel bumpers and after market line xâd rock rails and sliders. Really ready to go for me. And the price was reasonable.
So the salesman comes out. Says take her for a ride. Iâm like... I donât know. Wife says letâs ride. The salesman says âWe close at 5pm, be back by thenâ. It was 10:00 am. We rode it around, regular roads, hi way, bumpy parking lot, a field and found some wheel grooved up dirt roads. We loved it, took the front part of top off. Nice. I found a parking lot. We pulled in and I scooted under. I looked for loose stuff, scratches, dings. That thing was clean, looked show room. Iâm thinking how come this thing is going so cheap especially a Rubicon. Wife and I look at each other and say we want it, but we need to get over a certain amount for our trade. We were talking about this on drive back to the dealer.
Back at the dealer a few hours later we handed the keys back. We said it was nice, drove great. Then he says, âWe will drop price by $3000.â Then asked If we going to trade the Colorado Z71. We said âYeah, if we can get what we wantâ. They have a guy come out look at it. It was nice, but battle scared and has some wear. Torn seat upholstery. Mechanically in excellent condition. Now we are sitting at salesmanâs desk. Looking at each other, wondering how much less than I want I will need to agree to. I have such bad luck when it comes to trades. Boom! The guy comes out with their buy offer. $6000 more than what I even thought. What the hell? And $3000 off the ad price? This gotta be a dream!
We are now happy Gladiator owners, and ride topless as often as we can. Canât wait for spring/summer to ride naked.
Damn to those cell phone toting distracted drivers, this thing is a bit bigger than the bike. I can now ride in the wind once again. And go off road when I get the itch. The rest of my story is yet to be written, but it is happy right now.
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