A post in several parts

1) - Hurricane Matthew - Oct 2016.

He skirted up the coast line on the Eastern side of Florida and caused no damage in the center and western parts of the state where I live.  It was however a bit scary to be that close to a "loaded gun."  We had a few overcast and rainy days, but the damage on our side was nominal.

The damage caused by him in North Carolina will run into the billions and it would not have taken much for him to have shifted just a bit  to the left and run rampant over Florida.  Well the hurricane season is not officially over (that's on November 1) it seems that is the last big storm of the season.  It's been an interesting year, and it's driven home the fact that it's only a matter of time before the "big one" hits us.

2)  Nickles and Dimes -

Lately I've seen to have been dying from 1001 small financial cuts.  It's nothing to be concerned about in the long run, as we have small family issues and friends coming into town.  Which means eating out, drinks, rides to the beach and everything else.

 A little need for something here, a little need for something here.  My bonus being about half of it normally is did not help matters either.

One such little need was the gas gauge on Kimmy.  I pulled in for gas the way I normally do, filling the tank to the brim and knowing that I would have at least 156 miles till my next fill up.  Generally I get gas around the 150 mark, no need to push the bike further than she needs to go.

I must have traveled a few miles before I realized the gauge was stuck at 1/8 of a tank.

This is not something that needs fixed right away and I'm pretty good at remembering to reset my tripometer. Kimmy is getting older and although she runs well, I was reminded that eventually she's going to start nickle and dime'ing me to death.  

I've discussed getting a newer model bike in the past and what I would like to buy.  However I'm not their financially yet and probably am about two years away from any new toys.

Things like a new helmet and jacket however can not be put off for to long.  I'm "expanding" in all the wrong places and will need a new jacket soon.  My mesh jacket recently lost it's shoulder pad, as it came apart in three places.  It's an easy fix, just order a new shoulder pad, but again I have two jackets.  Why not buy one very good three or four season jacket and be done with it?

The same thing applies to my helmet.  I would like to have one with access to a Bluetooth phone and GPS.  It's not necessary at this time, it's not needed at this time...but I want to plan for the future.  The helmet I buy today will last me for at least five years.  I am not the same rider I was five years ago, I doubt I'll be the same rider I am five years from now.  Why not prepare for it.

It is for these reasons that I am planning to go to the Aime Expo this coming weekend. 

Which brings me to part three.

3) Time may change me, but I can't trace time

For the past 10 years or so I've run my own so successful part time business.   It started because I needed a job and the only one I could find was delivering papers.  I hated it but it helped pay the bills, then I realized that I could also deliver a few magazines in addition to the papers that were on my route.  So I picked that up.

Then we started with a weekly paper.  It grew, slowly at first.  At one time it was bringing me in another $15000 a year on top of my "regular job."  It wasn't hard, I would say approximately 16 to 20 hours extra a week in a car spread over 3 days.

It was the mileage that was the killer but thanks to a very weird American tax code,  I was making money even though it appeared I was losing money.  Frankly that's how Trump can report a huge loss of income but still be making millions.  In addition I could put my "losses" in to Roth IRA's and other tax advantage plans and make additional income.  I can't support the man but I understand how he's successful while still reporting losses.

Like everything however the business environment changes.  I was at a point last year where I lost money.  This year looks to be less of a loss but it still hurts the bottom line of the company.

Sue and I have discussed different options in the past.  From rentals to restaurants and each time we seem to hit a roadblock not of our making.  We have been outbid, we've had a scary illness scare, we were unable to get the loan because the property was leased, etc.

I've been involved in the financial and insurance fields most of my life.  I've been involved in sales most of my life (what ever happened to the simple guy that wanted to teach biology?).  With the exception of  about seven years where I wanted to do anything BUT financial stuff - this was after the great crash and I wanted nothing to do with it - I've always been involved in Banking and Finances and Insurance.

It's been a long time for me to get to this point but I've decided to open my own office.  I'm starting small, part time and with "simple: stuff - I'm still not ready to leave my full time job, but it's time.  I'm licensed in all states, I've been bonded, licensed and insured.

It's the project that has taken up most of my time these last two or three weeks and kept me off of Kimmie. 

Solve for X

My first bad motor scooter

So we are still waiting on the part.  A nasty phone call to my mechanic results in a mumbled apology and "I'll look into it personally" from Mike the owner.  "Mike, where are you getting this part shipped from?  North Korea?"  I ask.  "Yea, I think we are." He says.

I've laid awake in bed the last two nights or so considering my options.  I have to take a lot into consideration if I go new.  Cost, mpg, storage, etc.  In a lot of ways I'm reminded of what I went through when I first decided to by a bike all those years ago.  Hard to believe that I've been on a bike for slightly over four years now.  Hard to believe that I'm am considering getting yet another motorcycle.

Me on the day I bought the Burgman.

My little Zuma 125 met my needs in the city.  It had high MPG (about 85+).  My late Burgman 400 was powerful enough to handle the highways and city traffic of my move to Zephyrhills, Florida.  My Kymco Xciting 500 has (slightly) more power and meets my needs as I zip all over creation.  I've farkled (is that a word?) it out some; adding a cramp buster, flashing front light and a top case.  As I moved up in power my mpg fell a significant amount each time.  The Burgman was in the low to mid 50's.  Kimmy is in the high 40's to low 50's.

I really don't want a new bike, I don't feel ready for a new bike (although financially I am)...I don't think I'm done with Kimmie yet but as she sits covered with her burial shawl in my driveway I know that I have to consider it.  I know I'm leading hard to the Honda CTX and I know I'll have to start all over again with luggage and such.  

Kimmie' in happier times

The Honda is expected to be just shy of 68 mpg.  Certainly a respectable number, although I know that my mileage may vary.

I hear bikes on the road whining in the distance "Join us" and I can't.  I want to be on the road.  I suppose it's something only bikers understand.

I wonder how much longer I will wait for Kimmie to be repaired.  I know that I will have to replace the CVT belt eventually, a front tire sooner than later as well as figure out the electrical problem (she's not turning over at all) and get the stupid gasket replaced.  What might have been $500 will probably end up costing me closer to $1000.  If she's going to be up in the air anyway why not put a new front tire on her?

So what else could possible go wrong?  What other issue is lurking under her plastics?  I don't care for uncertainty and I've been lucky enough to get to where I am by reducing that uncertainty.  By understanding the numbers and making smart moves based on the data.  To much "X" here and not enough "Y" for my liking.

A new bike doesn't solve all those issues and in fact creates some new ones.  On Saturday I am heading off to my dealer again to consider my options.  Get a trade in value and maybe, just maybe look at a few other options.  But honestly if a new bike payment is under $150 a month....I may have to change to blog's title.

Bacon powered motorcycle

I believe in alternative fuels and have toyed with the idea of a electric bike.

Somehow this just seems wrong.

One wonders about the MPS - miles per (bacon) strip

Yea, I rode today.

To borrow a phrase from Keith over at the "Did he ride today?" blog.  "Yes, I rode today."

I rode yesterday as well, and am planning on riding tomorrow - as long as the weather holds up.  There is a thirty percent (30%) chance of rain throughout the day.  At one time I would have ridden up to a fifty (50%) chance of rain.  At that stage it really was a role of a dice.

Nothing of note happened.  No cars pulled in front of me.  No deer were in the middle of the road.  No emergency stops where I had to pucker.  A unexciting commute back and forth to work.  Plain, dull, boring. What every cyclist wants I suppose.  A successful ride.

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous jumping on Kimmie after being off her for months.  A few quick swings around the streets at low speed and then I ventured into the traffic of Pasco County.  I worried, the tires felt  overinflated.  Then they felt under-inflated.  I pulled off the road and a nice mechanic at Sam's club checked my pressure.  It was right on the money.

I worried about the road, Florida has some serious issues with their roads because of bad craftsmanship and to much sand in the asphalt mix.  I was concerned about the bike, "Was that a whine in the CVT belt?"  "When was the last time my oil was changed?  There is so much to be concerned about.

And yet, I could feel a little spark of joy going into a corner.  Safely and with probably a little to much caution.  If the events over the last few months have taught me anything it's that caution is paramount and that the shit will hit the fan at any time and any where.

Kimmie opened up on the straightaways here and there, bringing that little thrill of feeling myself pushed backward as she surged forward.

I stopped to buy gas, $3.79 a gallon, and was reminded again about the benefits of owning a scooter or motorcycle.  Basically it cost me roughly 14 cents to run the bike one mile which compared to my Chevy Sonic, which averages about 30 miles per gallon, is a bargain.  I can go just under 160 miles on the bike, or about 52 miles on a gallon of gas, and that may have been one of the 1st reasons I started riding in the first place.  Somewhere, somehow I fell in love with the sport.

That love is still there, it's just going to take me a little time to rekindle that flame.

Life's curve balls.

Due to circumstances beyond my control the Green Swamp ride has been postponed.  Life has a tendency to throw me curve balls.


This was curve ball # 1 - Unexpected surprise

Ever since I have moved to Florida I've had a stuffy head, watery eyes or some sort of issue.  I've never been "officially allergic" to anything in my life but since moving here some 3 years ago I've been even more miserable than I normally am.  Suddenly a doctor's appointment opened up a week earlier than expected.  I took that appointment, even though it would force the ride back into the hottest part of the day.  Whatever he gave me  however made me as dizzy as hell.  So no riding.


Curve Ball # 2 - High and inside.

My other ride is a Hyundai Elantra, which I've named "Ebony" due to her black color.   She's been a good car to me since I picked her up used back in 2004 or 05.  She only had some 10K on her at the time.   In the following years I've managed to put some 147K on her.  I've replaced the transmission twice (who ever owned her before me tore up the standard transmission the first time).   I was responsible for the second time.

This past Wednesday she died on me.  The starter would not turn over.  In addition she needed two front end CV joints, new brakes and possible rotors...and an oil change.  Since I was in the middle of the route I run two days a week and stuck in the middle of Tampa.  I had no choice but to get the starter done and little choice on the price I had to pay, so $300 dollars later my car was back on the road.  To the best of my knowledge that was the original starter so I could not really complain.

The CV joints I knew about and had to get those done soon.  That came as as no surprise.  The oil change was no surprise.  The brakes and rotors were a surprise as there was no indication they were going bad.  Well none of the work has to be done today, since it is my day off I thought I should work on this problem.

I've considered selling one or both of our cars (she drove a 2003 Jeep Liberty) in the past and on the way home from the doctor my lovely girlfriend said "Hey, lets stop at this dealer.  Just to look."

Curve Ball # 3 -

I am now the owner of a 2012 Chevy Sonic.  AKA "the Great Pumpkin."

Sue and I are now a one car family (having traded in her jeep as well).  In the back of my head it always made sense.  She does not work (due to a medical issue) and I work from 4 PM EST to 1 AM EST and normally ride the Burgman back and forth to work.  We have no kids, no one to shuffle about.  The stores are close by and the nice thing about the Burgman is it's large storage area.

My Elantra managed to be about 30 miles per gallon of gas combined highway and city.  Her jeep about half of that.  My Burgman gets twice as many miles per gallon as the Elantra.   This new car is expected to get about 35 mpg/combined.  We are saying money on gas, and insurance (1 vs 2 cars to cover) but now have a car payment.  Something we didn't have before.  The jury is still out on if the savings will be worth the car payment.

This does however mean that I will have to ride my Burgie more, sometimes in conditions that I don't currently ride in.  For example, rain.  I will be, for all practical purposes, a 1% now.  Am I up to that task?  I expected to eventually go that route, having only one car...I was not expecting it to be today. Well, at least I got a lot more room to park the bike now.

Riding and commuting

In August it will be one year since I bought the Burgie.  Since then I've managed to change out the back tire, change the oil (twice), have a semi-serious mechanical failure - which was not my fault - and put the bike  down, which was my fault. Somehow I've also managed to ride 10,000 miles.

05/04/12

I started with a little under 6,600 miles but rounded up to that nice round figure.  Today I hit 10,000 miles.   Not to bad for a commuter I think and only owning my bike for about nine months.  One of my goals in the coming year is to put more miles on the bike that are "just for fun" which means riding here and there just for the hell of it.

It also means, at least to me anyway, making some improvements to the bike.  I've talked before about how I want to install a new windshield or get a more comfortable seat, however that takes a little more money than what I have right now...so I decided to invest in Malossi 21 g Variator roller weights.  On the Burgman the standard roller weight is 18 - 19 grams.  In theory this should lower the rpm's on my bike during my daily 70 mile round-trip commute and increase gas milage.  Currently, depending on conditions I'm in the high 50's to low 60's.  I hope that these new rollers will lower my fuel consumption by 10 miles per gallon, putting me into the high 60's and low 70's.  Since I will be at 20K soon, where it's recommend I replace my CVT belt, I've decided to order one of those as well but other needs like a new dishwasher, tires for the jeep and saving for a vacation are priority.  The lowest price I've found for a CVT belt is $129 dollars.  The highest - $200 dollars.  That is not including installation and labor costs.  The fact that I'm even considering doing this work myself shows my my confidence level is increasing with every mile I ride.  Six months ago I would never of thought about tearing the bike apart in this manner but thanks to the helpful folks at the BurgmanUSA forums and Mitch's Scooter blog I feel confident.  It helps that my neighbor is a retired mechanic as well.

I know longer have a fear of twisty's, in fact I seek them out now.  Where I rarely ever passed anyone on my previous Zuma 125, I do so with joy now.   I still feel a little weird at night when a car is speeding behind me, but I know longer feel a compulsion to pull over and let him pass.  Nor do I hug the right lane anymore, I feel confident in all lanes.  I do remind myself that the second leading cause of accidents however is "confidence."

At work, my heavy motorcycle jacket no longer gets odd looks when I come in and the fact that I ride in nearly every day has forced the three Harley Owners and a Shadow owner to join me, least they be teased that the "Scooter Guy" is more of a biker than they are.    Today I plan on taking the bike to Keel and Curley Winery for there Blueberry festival.  Sadly I will not have any pictures since my camera died, but I do promise to return with a nice Chardonnay or perhaps a sweet blackberry wine.