TCB, Baby

In the past (particularly when I was still working for a malevolent employer) I ranted regularly about how things would be if I were running my own business. I come from a highly entrepreneurial family, and I've half-started a couple micro-ventures in the past.

For the last year or so, I've been daydreaming about selling used motorcycles. Originally, I thought I'd sell other people's bikes on eBay, for a commission. As I researched the opportunity, however, I discovered that while a "Sell it on eBay" store works great for antiques, collectibles, and other low-buck tchotchkes, it's not really viable for motorcycle sales.

Here's why:

• To sell more than 4 bikes a year in Arizona, one has to have a dealer's license and a $100,000 bond (so if I need that, why not just own the bikes as well?).
• By selling on commission, I'd have two clients to appease per sale, instead of just one if I outright owned the bike. If the seller isn't happy with how much the bike sold for, it'll be that much more unpleasant taking my (hefty) commission from them.
• With a dealer license, I can get into wholesale auctions and buy bikes on the cheap.
• When the seller still owns the bike, arranging shipping/pick-up/storage of the bike would be a huge pain.
• Arranging the title transfer would be a lot sketchier, since I'd just be a go-between between the seller and the buyer.

So it makes more sense to just buy the bikes outright and resell them. I still like the eBay sales model, however, because (once I have a bike to sell) I can just take the photos, write the ad and wait for the money to come rolling in. Meanwhile, I can keep my job until the business is really rolling.

My plan is to first get the VX800 running (because I need to get that sucker going again), and then start looking for bikes to buy and resell. I figure I'll sell one or two to get the hang of how the process works, and if it seems like a feasible business model, I'll go ahead and get established as a business.

Why am I telling you about this? Mostly to force myself to go through with it.

Cardo's Pizza and Italian Restaurant - Official Review!

Between you guys and me, I spent the better part of Friday at work trying to decide where I was going to ride to this weekend. I knew Lady Luck would want to get out of town and escape the heat, if only for a day. I also knew that she wouldn't be up for riding a huge distance.

Payson is approximately 70 miles away from where we live in Mesa, which is only an hour and a half (one way). Plus, Payson is about 10 degrees cooler during the day than Mesa.

Destination determined, I tried to find a worthy pizza place in Payson. I had no luck with the traditional research methods, so we decided that we'd get to Payson and worry about finding a pizza place when we got there.

The ride to Payson was a piece of cake. We took highway 87 the whole way from Mesa to Payson. This was the first time either of us took the Vespa up a mountain. We learned that the Vespa, studly as it is, does not like going up mountain grades. Still, Lady Luck was able to maintain a solid 50 MPH, so it wasn't too terrible going up the hills.

When we arrived in Payson, we rode around a little bit to see what was going on in town, and then stopped for gas and water. As we were getting our gear back on to start riding again, a gentleman on a Harley-Davidson rolled over to us, and asked us what the heck Lady Luck's Vespa was. Evidently he'd never seen one.

We talked for a while, and he told we should ride down Houston Mesa Road (map here) for some nice scenery. So, we did.

Houston Mesa Road is certainly scenic, if a little rough. We rode about 20 miles out, and then came across a section of road that was flooded. The water wasn't terribly deep, but I didn't want to try forging the three inch depths on the Triumph. There were plenty of cars crossing the wet section of road with no problems.

Instead of following, I tried to make a u-turn. I misjudged the quality of the road's shoulder, and got myself nicely stuck. After a few minutes of trying, I finally got the Triumph back on the road.

We rode back to Payson, and stopped for lunch at Cardo's Pizza (map and address here).

Cardo's is a pretty cool place - dark, woody and quiet. The music they had playing was pretty terrible (The Worst Hits of the 80's!), but it wasn't obnoxiously loud. Our server was awesome, and took good care of us.

On to the pizza: it's good. The pizza I ordered had pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and green peppers on it. The crust was exactly crisp enough, and the toppings were mighty tasty. I felt the mushrooms weren't cooked completely, but they weren't terrible. The sauce was good, though I would have liked some more (as always). Overall, Cardo's makes a damn fine pie.

After we ate, we checked out an Arts and Crafts festival. Most of it was uninteresting, though we bought some mighty fine fudge.

When we were ready to head home, we stopped to gas up. At the station we saw a Spartan Rider and his female companion taking a break. It looked to me like he was on an old police bike. It was pretty sweet. I nodded to him, and Lady Luck and I continued on our way.

Twenty minutes or so down the road, I saw a bike coming up behind me in my mirrors. I waved, and as the other bike passed I saw it was the Spartan Rider, and he was waving back. I tell you, it blew my little mind. After a day of getting snubbed by R.U.B.s and other lowlifes, I was mighty impressed.

All told, Lady Luck and I spent about six hours riding on Saturday. She was pretty sore, though I was ready and raring to get out riding again. Well, OK, I was a little sore.

Anyway, overall it was a fantastic day, and we managed to find a great pizza while we were at it. Cardo's Pizza gets 4 Crying Luckies.

Two Lightning Quick Pizza Reviews!

While we were in San Diego, CA, we went to two new pizza places (and one old one). Here is a map showing the two new restaurants.

First off, there was Barbarella Restaurant & Bar in La Jolla. This place was packed on a weekday night during the off-season. And, hey, Barbarella was totally hot. That should be a good sign, right?

Wrong. This place was adequate. Much as Applebee's is adequate. I hate adequate. However, it was extremely entertaining watching all the rich folks feeling superior and eating crap.

1 Crying Lucky


Next up, the Mona Lisa Italian Restaurant. This place was so good, I couldn't even wait for breakfast to eat the leftovers. They were gone by the time I went to bed.

Great atmosphere, and an italian grocery attached so a thirsty biker can snag a six pack of Peroni for later.

4.5 Crying Luckies

Don't I Own Another Motorcycle?

Phew, it's been an interesting couple of days. Monday morning at 4:30, I woke up with a pain in my stomach, and the day went downhill from there. Tuesday I was mostly back to normal, and today I'm practically perfect again, apart from being a bit tired.

Naturally, I took advantage of my health and went straight to the garage to do some needed work on the Triumph. And since I was out there, I noticed this other bike in my garage. Some kinda Suzuki VX800 or something, I can't remember...

Anyway, it won't pass emissions, and it needs a bunch of other stuff done to it. I've been thwarted in my attempts to get the VX roadworthy again by a rounded bolt on a valve cover, an assortment of guests, and my good friend "sleep."

I've finally given up and admitted to myself that to get that bolt out, I'm going to have to take the radiator off the bike. Luckily, this will also help me with some of the other maintenance I have to do.

It looks like it should be easy enough to get the radiator loose, and with luck everything else will fall into place. Hopefully this weekend I'll be well on my way to having a street-legal motorcycle (not a scooter) for Lady Luck to ride, as well as a cooler-running bike for the commute this summer (Damn the Triumph kicks off a lot of heat).

Wish me luck.

Leave 'em with the Bike

You'd think I'd remember I was carrying these when I tried to get into a courthouse today (don't worry, it was just for work). For some reason, they wouldn't let me in.

Oops.

Feeling Lazy

So here's some photos from the trip to San Diego complete with marginally witty captions.

Rollercoasters aren't very thrilling after a fast run through the twisties. So to make the ride more interesting, I tried to hit the plane with a rock.

I missed.

California sure is pretty. When there's a Triumph in the picture. This was on the way to Palomar Mountain Road.

After hauling ass through some nasty decreasing radius turns, a smart man stops for a burrito. This place was empty, but made a mean carne asada burrito.

Real men are secure enough to fly kites that look like butterflies. Assuming that the darn thing will actually fly. This one wouldn't. I'm still manly.

The one that looked like a dinosour (sorta) flew great. So kite-flying wasn't a total wash.

Who knew California had Moto-Wave Police? I didn't wave to this guy in time and he pulled me over. Glad I don't live in Cali.

"Are you shitting me?"
"No sir. You can split lanes here all you want, but if you don't wave there's a $150 fine."
"Fucking hippies."


Just kidding. That guy is the father of my good friend Penguin-Man.

I'd Rather Be...

If you guessed that curvy road in the background is Palomar Mountain Road (arguably the best twisty road in SoCal), you're right. This road made it obvious that the limits of my bike far exceed my limits as a rider.

Palomar Mountain Road is a great road to see other riders on bikes you can't afford riding like they can afford to dump their bike. On the way back down, I took it very easy, generally staying far to the right and letting the California riders pass me. If I could hit that road every weekend, I could probably ride like that too...

I was amused to see a photographer perched on one side of the road in a particularly hairy curve, snapping away as each bike went by.

3 hours of Straight Desert Road

We're heading for San Diego tomorrow morning. As such, things around here are going to be quiet until Sunday or so.

Goals for the trip:

• eat pizza
• split lanes

Anyway, I've mentioned it before, but the trip to San Diego involves a 3 hour stretch of road that is boring. Really, REALLY boring.

I know some of you folks out there do some heavy moto-touring. How do you keep yourself from going mad when you've been riding in a straight line for the last hour and a half, and the next curve or object/place of interest is still 142 miles away?