I regularly hear a saying, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" which is lovely, but sometimes life gives you sh1t, and as we all know, you can't turn sh1t into strawberry jam. Those whose life has given them sh1t are probably very jealous of those folks with all those lemons...........
Today I had a guy I don't even know offer to turn his own sh1t sandwich into my lemonade. I don't feel sorry for myself, ever, because life has given me more opportunities than most, and apart from motorcycle deals, I've happily squandered most of them. (I've squandered a few motorcycle deals too, but bikes are like buses, if you miss one deal, another one will be along soon enough)
I've busted myself up back in the 90's pretending to be a "Sky God" with a green beret, not because I ever wanted to jump out of perfectly good airplanes, nor was I any good at it, but there was an opportunity for an undeserved early promotion, a return to my wife's home state, and a payrise thrown in, plus a tiny (then) allowance to jump a couple of times a year. I only did 20 jumps, but managed to bust myself up pretty good, so last year the VA (DVA here) gave me a lot of money as an apology, and this year I got a "Gold Card" so all my medical, for any ailment (not just the 23 accepted conditions that the VA has accepted responsibility for) is paid for, and I was able to cancel my private health insurance, and save around $4200 per year, or more likely, invest $4200 per year on bikes and parts. THere was also a small tax-free pension too, which is nice.
I put the word out that I needed some KZ1000 parts for my black bike and my next Mad Max 1428cc bike, and a guy in somewhere cold and snowy replied that he'd be happy to do business with me. Like me he's got some Harleys, and the Kawasaki's have been sitting, neglected in his garage, basement, and an outside tent. For very little money he dragged a snow covered bike inside and removed all of the bolt on parts, cleaned them, video'd the process and we got to chatting. He just kept filling the box with bits he thought I'd need, for no extra money, as long as I was happy to pay the original agreed price, plus shipping. I was more than happy to, because over here, big Kawasaki stuff is like Sandcast stuff, lots of guys have parts, but won't sell them, not even at gunpoint.
We got to chatting, as I'm wont to do, and he told me about a genuine Z1R-TC (Turbocharged) bike that he parked in his basement years ago, and would I be interested in buying it? I've never seen one in the flesh, only on youtube and occasionally on a TV show, I don't know if any made it across the pond to Oz, but if they did, they'd be in Vic World Sandcast territory, price wise.
I looked at what they're worth, and realised very quickly that they were right out of my league, dollar-wise. So as not to fcuk him around, I thanked him, but said no. That was OK, we kept chatting, and I said I was having problems with an Ebay seller who I'd bought another frame from, but who was reluctant to ship it, for whatever reason. Yesterday my new mate in the states offered to send the frame from the bike he'd pulled apart for me, so I said yep, that'll work, but so as not to get a "unpaid buy strike" against me on Ebay, I have to wait for the seller to decide what he was gonna do.
Today he weighs the box, and tells me I'm up for XXX dollars all up, shipping costing almost as much as the parts. "No worries mate" I say, and I paypal him for everything, and pay the fees. I'd also contacted those jerks at MyUS.com to get a price on shipping a frame, and was surprised that it was just south of 300 beans (USD) which I thought was excellent. I told him, and he said, "How much to ship the ZIR-TC, 563 pounds?" I explained again that I'd love it, but can't really afford it, if I want some retirement savings, when the big day comes.
I was texting him from the hospital where I was waiting for steroid injections into my lower spine. I told him this, and he replied that he had a lot of health problems himself and needed to clear all his bikes and parts out of his place, soon. He told me he didn't want any money for the bike, I just need to organise the shipping. That's right, he offered me a free ZIR-TC, one of the most desirable bikes ever made, (in my opinion) and once restored (he said it's a little rough, but he rode it into his basement, and it is what it is, but it's all there, plus some spares) and he's gonna send me some pics.
This morning my cuz sends me the death notice for my best friend in tech (high) school which absolutely gutted me. I loved that guy like a brother, got in a lot of trouble with him, bought my first K1 from him (with a spare K0/K1 in parts) for $300 in 1980 when we were both 20, and as I was in the Army in Sydney by then, lost contact with him, and always hoped we'd get back together in our twilight years for some more drinking, some more smoking, and some more bullsh1tting. Not gonna happen, unless I find a good medium, or ask Zac Bagans from "Ghost Adventures", that guy must be the most successful ghost whisperer in the free world.
I'm 60 as of Wednesday, and in the last 3 weeks, I learn that two school mates are dead, and a work mate tells me he has terminal cancer, and asks me not to tell anyone else, because he doesn't like them, so doesn't want their pity. He's a very smart guy, and with intelligence comes disdain for lesser creatures, or so I'm told. What the fcuk have I got to b1tch about?
On top of that I'm in hospital waiting for a procedure that the back surgeon described as "possibly more painful than the ailment" (and he was pretty right) then my new mate in the states, out of the blue, made me an offer so generous, it took my breath away. All because his own health is failing, and he wants to clear the decks to make things easier for his family when he goes. Wow.
