[Clay Dowling]

When I bought my car, I payed the dealer’s asking price, no hesitation.

Why? Because we spend two days figuring out what car was right for me. I test drove a bunch of cars. The car I originally came in for was a sweet little BMW Z3 in green. We started to talk numbers, everything was good. Then he asked me about how I was going to use the car, and we came around to the notion that a Z3 sucks in January in Michigan (his notion, not mine). After trying a bunch of other cars I wound up with a Honda Accord for the same price. Not as slick looking, but a lot better in January, and it hauls my canoe without any trouble.

The result? I refer everyone I know who is looking for a car to him, and I’ll definitely buy my next car there.

[Clay Dowling]

The smaller Honda Shadows are gonna be suitable for you without any problem. There tend to be a lot of these on the market. The 500cc bikes are going to be a little bit older and aren’t that widely available, but the 600cc and 750cc bikes are all over the place. They have a solid reputation, and the two people I know who own Shadows really like them.

And if you don’t mind an older bike, sniff around the Honda Magna. It is a fast bike, but without some of the quirks of a sport bike that can catch a new rider out. I’m riding a ’96 and love it. Fast if I need/want it, and stable at high speed, unlike some bikes which will try to vibrate you off the bike. Mostly though a good stable bike for cruising around at sane speeds. First thing I noticed about this bike in fact that speed control was trivially easy. I actually speed less on the Magna than I do in my Accord. The only downside to the Magna is that the tire size is odd, so you wind up paying extra special prices for tires, and usually need a week or two lead time on new tires. Which sucks if something happens to one of your tires.

[Clay Dowling]

Elias, it was so painfully obvious that you were running a game from the opening of the conversation that you’re lucky he talked to you at all. I’d have given you MSRP just to move the thing forward, with the caveat that if you can find it lower we’ll talk.

You come on to me like an asshole, I’m going to treat you accordingly.

What you do, you name a price you’re willing to pay. If it’s too low he’ll probably come back with something higher. It’s called negotiation and it works pretty well.

[Clay Dowling]

I have four huge chrome plated subwoofers. Although with Honda’s love of high-revving engines it’s more of a scream than a “woof.”

[Clay Dowling]

That was freakin awesome. Anybody know what they were riding? Kind of looked like Goldwings, definitely that size. Impressive as hell, anyway, and I’ve got to go out and practice my low speed. Those dudes were turning in a super tight circle.

Also, as a side note: don’t fuck with a Japanese motorcycle cop. You ain’t got the stones.

[Clay Dowling]

Everyone can write a check, not everyone’s bank account can cash it.

Any bank worth doing business with will be happy to accept a check. You deposit it to your account, funds are available when the check clears. Check clearing is very fast currently, a matter of a few days, not the two weeks it used to take.

Mind you, for a transaction like this I prefer a cashier’s check because it keeps everybody covered.

Cash in the thousands of dollars is okay, but the security problem should not be underestimated. I definitely wouldn’t do this deal in a bad neighborhood with cash, unless I was well-equipped with guns and dogs. With security upping the transaction cost, the bike would need to be pretty special.

[Clay Dowling]

The light by where I took my MSF class sucked for cages and motorcycles alike. The instructors, who all came on goldwings, thought it was just bikes, but as I had shown up in my cage and had the same problem, we confirmed that the light was just crap.

[Clay Dowling]

You’ll work out pretty quickly which gear to be in, and you’ll learn how to recover quickly when you get it wrong. Took me a while to learn that in the cage too. The motorcycle is actually easier.

[Clay Dowling]

That’s what you’ll be doing for insurance on a sport bike of that size. Of course, if the actuaries from my insurance company had seen me Friday, my rates would have gone through the roof. I had it in triple-digit range several times on the way to and from work. Even with a very late start I got to work just shortly after my normal time.

And no, I wasn’t rushing to avoid being late. I was rushing because I was curious about triple-digit riding. Not uncomfortable on my bike, but not safe for long distances on back roads, and too likely to draw the attention of five oh.

[Clay Dowling]

I think you need sideburns and a cape to go with it.

I like it for the visibility, I’m just getting a very strong Elvis image off this thing. Which, if you’re into that kind of thing, is cool. I’m not.

Anyway, get some pictures of this thing. Maybe it won’t have the Elvis vibe going.

[Clay Dowling]

What’s the point value? I didn’t ride when I was a member, so I never really looked at that.

[Clay Dowling]

If you do the conversion, keep in mind that the reflector behind the bulb (the silvery bits inside the light housing) are matched to the type of bulb in most cases. I’ve read that just changing out one bulb type for another can be dangerous because of the glare that it can cause.

I don’t know anything for certain though. I’d just stick with the kind of bulb that the housing was made for, and buy a whole new housing to get the different kind of bulb.

[Clay Dowling]

That phrase just took on a whole new, and very cool, meaning.

[Clay Dowling]

Serious risk of both obesity and repetitive stress injuries from video games. Obesity will kill you young. Much better to be outside on the motorcycle, or cleaning the motorcycle (which I need to do this weekend), or just not on the couch.

[Clay Dowling]

with all the studs and conchos, it does attract the men.

I really gotta replace those YMCA style saddle bags.

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