Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Shipping a motorcycle.

So.  I have owned four motorcycles since 2003.  Each one has been a step up from the last and each one has served me well on my progression.  My current motorcycle is a H-D FLHR (or "Harrrrley Road Kang" as the locals will call it).  It's been the most useful and mean spirited of all my bikes.  Fast, reliable, and it carries all my stuff.
This is it.  It's is a pretty nice ride.  Very smooth for not being a balanced motor.  I've always been able to cover the cost of my monthly payments.  Back in May of this year our finances were about to hit dire straights.  So we decided to put it on consignment at the local H-D dealership.  This was about our only hope at this point.  The bad news about consignments is that you still pay the note.  So, to the dealership it went.  For about six months.  It just would not sell.  This is a clean bike too.  It just wasn't getting any serious bites.  I relocated to Louisiana and started a new life out here.  Pretty much just preparing to have the dealership buy my bike and I would get stuck with the difference.  Then my wife just randomly asked me to see about a refinance.  So I did.  Thanks to Barksdale FCU, the refinance was able to happen.  We had managed to keep my bike!  This was some kind of joy I didn't know how to process.  We then started to look at the different options of trying to get it from CA to LA.  We tried lots of things, from friends to flying and riding to a chain of bus tickets and Ford F-150 truck beds.  Nothing was working out.  I called a friend from Potenza Trucking.  He said to get on U Ship.  Now, if you don't know what they do it's pretty simple.  They are more or less a brokering website that acts between you and the transportation industry.  You plug in what you have, where you want it to go, and when.  Vendors will bid for your business.  Pretty cool.  I listed my FLHR and had about five hits in the first three hours.  All of them were pretty comparable to each other and from respectable companies.  The cost was just out of my reach.  Way out of my reach.  I let the ad expire and then re-listed my bike again with a more flexible calendar.  More hits.  This time much worse than the last!  While I waited for my ad to run it's course I browsed the motorcycle shipper list.  I wound up asking about twenty companies for quotes.  They all came back saying they weren't in the area, overloaded, or just didn't want to do it.  I finally pulled my listing and called my friend in CA.  She went and picked up the bike from the dealership and kept it at her house.  It seemed that it would stay there indefinitely.  I appealed to friends and relatives through means of Facebook and email for donations to help over the cost of a shipper.  The funds came in thanks to the love of my family and friends.  I then listed my bike on U Ship once more but this time I used the "Name your price" option.  Which means that the first vendor to accept your price binds you in a contract for them to ship it.  Here's where it gets good.  My bid got accepted sometime after I listed it and the next morning by a man named Israel Gillette.  So I looked at his U Ship profile.
Interesting to say the least.  I was a bit leery about it to be honest.  I took a leap of faith and assured myself that this would be alright.  I then read on through his feedback and was blown away.
Top notch all the way across the board.  So I decided to head on to work and contact him later that day.  Sometime later that day I received an email from Mr. Gillette expressing his gratitude for my business.  I emailed him back and told him where to pick it up, from who, and general items of concern.  At this point, I waited.  Last week my friend shot me a text and call telling me that Mr. Gillette would be picking up my bike later that day.  I told her to take pictures and make sure he was legit and the general things concerning professionalism and business.  He loaded up my bike and was on his way.  I waited.  Within a week I got a call from Mr. Gillette asking if I would be around my area later that day for the delivery of the bike or if I wanted it delivered the next day.  I told him to roll on into town and where a good spot to meet me.  He actually arrived about an hour early.  Which pleased me very much.  I walked out to the parking lot to meet him when he arrived.  He unloaded my bike and we shook hands and just talked about bikes, traveling and school.  He then inspected the bike with me and explained how he packed it and his shipping route.  Though the bike was here it was good to hear the miles he drove with it and the care he took while it was in his possession.  I paid him through U Ship and thanked him for his business.  I left knowing that I would contact this guy first if I ever needed a bike shipped again!  Mr. Gillette was courteous, professional, and attentive to my concerns and all done at a more than fair price.  This is good business.  This creates loyalty and trust.  So, thank you Mr. Gillette for your service!

Friday, October 18, 2013

It's sad to watch.

Sometimes I can't stand being a guitarist. When I'm on, I'm on. When I haven't practiced, it's sad to watch. Anyway, here's me running through my new setup after a new brand of strings.