New (virgin) Moto Guzzi Owner

[LowRyter]

Ship it?  Hell no!.  Fly and ride.  Ride down the Pacific Coast.  

 

No brainer.  

[BLIGHT]

Oh. Forgot to welcome you, young feller.. Nice scooter. Don't cut it up..

Thanks Chuck.... it'll be a kool chopper, right!? 

[BLIGHT]

Ship it?  Hell no!.  Fly and ride.  Ride down the Pacific Coast.  

 

No brainer.  

 

No brainer? Well, it really does not 'pencil-out' if you use your 'brainer.'..

 

Motorcycle shipping is $400 from GEG to MRY.

 

If I do a 'fly-ride' road-trip to GEG it's $300 for airfare one way from MRY, and I can stay at my friend's house, and he would pick me up.

 

Gas for return trip on the V11 for 1000 miles is almost $100

 

Ride the 1000 miles @ 500 miles/day in 2 days = one night hotel @ $100 (including free bedbugs, DNA, head-lice, dander & fleas)

 

Be aware.... ALL hotels have this stuff to some degree. I've seen some black-light illumination of hotel rooms in the dark... scary! Splooge everywhere...better to sleep in a cozy tent next to your warm bike.

 

Think how many heads have laid on your snuggly pillow! ughhhh Hotels seldom wash the pillows... just the cases.

 

Tire wear for 1000 miles is about $75-80 (based on 3500 mile tread life x $275 for the pair)

 

Mechanical & financial depreciation by adding 1000 miles to the engine with only 9600 miles on it... $$ XX???

 

Probably looking at $575-$600 minimum total for a 'fly-ride' scenario, compared to just $400 for a motorcycle shipper.

 

BTW, I'm also self-employed and totally swamped for the next few months on big projects.

 

If I don't work, I just don't make any $$ in billable hours to pay for the trip time up and back home... or for food, etc.!

 

I am however, rethinking just waiting for the bike.... I have 6 or 7 reasons to go ahead and just ship it now....I won't go into all of them.

 

Just want to get the bike soon and enjoy riding it, getting to know and love it, and personalizing it to my own taste on weekends and evenings.

 

Signing off for a few weeks now.... I should have the bike in 2-3 weeks and I'll start posting pics of my tasteful styling and some performance mods too. 

 

Cheers,

BLIGHT

[Scud]

Shipping a bike for $400 really is a bargain. I did a fly and ride once for a bike (San Francisco) and once for a truck (Idaho). In both cases I was able to combine it with business travel so it saved time and money - and added some adventure to the trip.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Ship it?  Hell no!.  Fly and ride.  Ride down the Pacific Coast.  

 

No brainer.  

A fly and ride is priceless

Don't like hotels then take a tent.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Roy

[BLIGHT]

 

Ship it?  Hell no!.  Fly and ride.  Ride down the Pacific Coast.  

 

No brainer.  

A fly and ride is priceless

Don't like hotels then take a tent.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Roy

 

 

Thought I was signing off, but here's a bit more rationale:

 

I would potentially do it guys, but I have zero time for the next 2-3 months... I have 3 very large engineering projects to complete.

 

Again... I'm self-employed and have very demanding clients. They help support my motorcycle habit!

 

If I was retired, or without work, or even working for some 'chump' boss and calling in 'sick' for a few days, then I could possibly do it, eh? 

 

Even then, retired and unemployed folks might find the airfare and other costs a bit steep just to get a motorcycle home.

 

Oh... and BTW let's be clear, there is no way in hell I would let some stranger ride my bike 1000 miles as some have volunteered.... c'mon, really??? It would still cost me 600+ clams, which is more than just shipping it inside a van.

 

I'm sure I've ruffled some feathers here (sorry) but it seems some of us are just of a different mindset on my particular situation with fly-ride.

 

I've shipped and received a dozen or so bikes in my life (one to Italy) and have had excellent results and zero damage.

 

Cheers!

BLIGHT

[BLIGHT]

Shipping a bike for $400 really is a bargain. I did a fly and ride once for a bike (San Francisco) and once for a truck (Idaho). In both cases I was able to combine it with business travel so it saved time and money - and added some adventure to the trip.

Some shippers offer $575 round trip for the HD riders that want to ship to Sturgis or Daytona. Kind of a reverse Fly and Ride!

Heaven forbid they actually ride to the event!

 

I have a Harley too (XR1200) but I'm not 'in the club' and prefer to ride solo, and often at a high rate of speed.

[footgoose]

You haven't ruffled any feathers here Blight. We're all just excited for you to get what you've been missing. A lovely 6spd, spine frame Guzzi.

 

A fly n ride is the ideal way to retrieve her in in an ideal world. Reality sets in and well, that's the rub. On one hand I'm cheap enough to wait for it (but would still slip my buddy a few bucks for the favor) and on the other, impatient enough to rationalize the ship cost into the bike price, and go for it. The decision can be somewhat agonizing... I know. At least she awaits you

 

If your buddy rides her, you may never see either one of them again.

[Scud]

I see fly and ride largely as entertainment. A long trip on slab will wear a flat spot down the middle of the tires, which is no fun. Over the years, most of my bikes have come home in the back of my truck.

 

But as counterpoint, my one motorcycle fly and ride ending up being super cost-effective. I found my K75s for $1,600 near Oakland, CA. Flew up at customer's expense, bought the bike, worked in San Jose next day. Rode to Sacramento for overnight and meeting next morning, then rode to Lodi for afternoon meeting and another overnight (a bit further South and closer to home). Then a lovely pass over the southern Sierra Nevadas as a "reward" for all that slab riding. All my expenses were covered by clients and I netted about $400 in mileage reimbursement, which was less expensive than comparable flights and rental cars for my customers - and brought the net cost of the bike down for me - and brought the fun-factor of the trip way up - and burned off the rest of the aging tires so I could put on some fresh rubber.

 

The timing on all that was fortuitous, and I'm not sure I could "engineer" something like that again.

 

...and round-trip bike shipping to an over-crowded event? Don't get me started...

[BLIGHT]

You haven't ruffled any feathers here Blight. We're all just excited for you to get what you've been missing. A lovely 6spd, spine frame Guzzi.

 

A fly n ride is the ideal way to retrieve her in in an ideal world. Reality sets in and well, that's the rub. On one hand I'm cheap enough to wait for it (but would still slip my buddy a few bucks for the favor) and on the other, impatient enough to rationalize the ship cost into the bike price, and go for it. The decision can be somewhat agonizing... I know. At least she awaits you

 

If your buddy rides her, you may never see either one of them again.

 

I think he's been out in his garage late at night and giving her the eye.... he loves bikes too, and has about a dozen currently.

[BLIGHT]

I see fly and ride largely as entertainment. A long trip on slab will wear a flat spot down the middle of the tires, which is no fun. Over the years, most of my bikes have come home in the back of my truck.

 

But as counterpoint, my one motorcycle fly and ride ending up being super cost-effective. I found my K75s for $1,600 near Oakland, CA. Flew up at customer's expense, bought the bike, worked in San Jose next day. Rode to Sacramento for overnight and meeting next morning, then rode to Lodi for afternoon meeting and another overnight (a bit further South and closer to home). Then a lovely pass over the southern Sierra Nevadas as a "reward" for all that slab riding. All my expenses were covered by clients and I netted about $400 in mileage reimbursement, which was less expensive than comparable flights and rental cars for my customers - and brought the net cost of the bike down for me - and brought the fun-factor of the trip way up - and burned off the rest of the aging tires so I could put on some fresh rubber.

 

The timing on all that was fortuitous, and I'm not sure I could "engineer" something like that again.

 

...and round-trip bike shipping to an over-crowded event? Don't get me started...

 

Glad that worked out for you... logistics are tough sometimes. I did one time ride my VFR750 ~210 miles to the races at Laguna Seca (before I moved here in 1997). I had a flight lined up for Monday after the races, so I rode the bike to the MRY airport, chained it to a light-pole, put my helmet and jacket in a locker, and got on the plane.

 

Flew to SEATAC, rented a car and drove out to meet up with Stuart Anderson (the restauranteur... 'Black Angus') at his ranch in Ellensburg. I did a design for his ranch irrigation system while I was there. Stayed overnight in their guest room, and watched the Academy Awards with he and his wife in their living room! He knew a lot of stars... they had hundreds of B&W autographed 8x10's framed and mounted in a long hallway.

 

Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, Clint Eastwood were just a few pics I noticed, and Mr. Anderson was in most of them posing with the stars.

 

Nice folks! When I was done, I reversed the process, flew back to MRY and rode the bike back home another 210 miles.

A different kind of 'fly and ride', but it worked out well and I didn't miss the races, nobody stole the bike, and I didn't lose the locker key!

 

Cheers,

BLIGHT

 

PS: I just read that Mr. Anderson died last year at the age of 93!

[swooshdave]

 

 

Oh... and BTW let's be clear, there is no way in hell I would let some stranger ride my bike 1000 miles as some have volunteered.... c'mon, really??? It would still cost me 600+ clams, which is more than just shipping it inside a van.

 

 

 

Cheers!

BLIGHT

 

 

Yeah, what kind of tool would do that!             

[BLIGHT]

 

 

 

Oh... and BTW let's be clear, there is no way in hell I would let some stranger ride my bike 1000 miles as some have volunteered.... c'mon, really??? It would still cost me 600+ clams, which is more than just shipping it inside a van.

 

 

 

Cheers!

BLIGHT

 

 

Yeah, what kind of tool would do that!             

 

 

Nobody I know....

[BLIGHT]

Had the V11 shipped with HaulBikes.com (top notch, white glove service!)

 

Arrived here in just 10 days... it's a real beauty. I'll ride it tomorrow once insurance is activated.

 

Here's a pic after landing in Monterey county.....

 

[BLIGHT]

OK... since I have finally received the bike, I'm done with this thread as the "V11 Virgin".... cherry is now gone....(sorry if that offends anyone)

 

I have had my inaugural ride of 35 miles on some (very familiar) twisty roads and will post a report of impressions in a new thread.

 

The new thread will be mostly about my modifications to the 2002-3? V11 Sport.

Cheers,

BLIGHT