Went to South Central Los Angeles yesterday to pick up a wrecked RC51. It was a different experience to say the least. Naturally, we were eyeballed the entire way. The house (Florence & 3rd) that the bike was at, was just a few streets down from where Reginald Denny was pulled from his truck and almost beaten to death, at Florence and Normandie. I wanted that to be our first stop of the day, but as the route and time frame for the sellers would have it, we had to pick up three bikes before we went down there. The two sellers I delt with before we went to South Central strongly advised us not to go, citing stories of the encounters there. The transaction went off without a hitch and the owner of the RC51 was extremely nice. We loaded the RC up as quickly as possible and got the hell out. All in all it wasn't as bad as I had heard or seen on TV, but... I wouldn't want to spend any length of time there, especially at night.

 

Sounds like our deal when we bought the 97VFR. Hookers and Crackheads - and in the midst of it all - this jewel. We brought the cash and we brought the gnz - everything was cool bc we were prepared for otherwise.

 

Um, yeah...South Central? Not a real good area. Glad everything was cool.

 

Most of South Central is a lot safer, for everybody, than it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Crack is a lot less popular and I think many of the worst gang bangers are dead or doing their third strike 25-life.

 

Yeah, I'm sure it is a lot better than it used to be. In '92 I was living in Riverside, CA and remember watching the riots unfold live on TV. Kinda wierd going to that exact neighborhood. Safe or not... It's a serious culture shock going from Prescott, AZ to South Los Angeles.

 

Yeah. In the late 80s early 90s I used to go to Compton a few times a month for my business. I never had any trouble, but if I had a buck for every WTF stare I got I could have retired a long time ago.

 

Hello, and I do live in Riverside. Went to the Laker victory parade and had my eyes opened recently. I really don't enjoy the LA experience.

Inderocker I gotta ask, why are you buying bikes in California? Emissions standards are way too restrictive and choking the life out of motorcycles. Do you have a business rebuilding wrecks or damaged bikes? My folks live in Arizona and when we visit, we see bikes for sale all over.

I am currently looking for something used and inexpensive for a good friend. Mainly due to the fact I am tired of him begging to ride my hawk all the time. Thanks, Sean

 

Yeah, me and a long time buddy of mine started rebuilding wrecked/blown for side money, then we lost our joobs and started doing it full time. Now we only rebuild the nicer stuff and part out the rest. There are quite a few bikes for sale here in AZ, but there aren't as many here as there are in Cali. Plus there are a lot of bikes out there with registration fee's that need to be paid, this doesn't translate to AZ.