welp, i went and picked it up today. i posted pics in the deals gap thread, i'm not the whorin type, so i won't be annoying and re-post here. the "brake" issue turned out to be a wheel mounted backwards. silly mistake, and the bike is in fantastic condition. i'm glad i waited patiently. it has all the nice things i would've done to the bike (sargeant seat, extra ugly windscreen, sporty touring tires and others) and rides great. sooooooooo comfortable coming from having a 998s as the only street bike for a while.