From: patlo@microsoft.com (Pat Loughery)
Subject: Miracles do happen
Date: 11 Aug 92 19:04:45 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp, 

Long rambling story of a great deal follows:

I picked up the Sunday paper and did the weekly perusal of bikes in the
paper. Not much interesting.  One of the two ads for accessories/parts
said, simply, HG V-Pilot pants/jacket, new, 100/200 ###-####.  That's
interesting, it's what I'm looking for, so after deciding that it wouldn't
hurt to call, I found that the leathers were the sizes I need also, even
though the current rider is 6'4" and 180, and I'm more like 6'0" and 175.
I set up a time to come over and look at the gear.

We met at a local grocery store parking lot, he on his ZX6.  I followed
him to his house, and he mentioned that there were some very nice rides
in the area, which was cool, since I hadn't been there before.

We got to his house and I checked out the leathers.  They had a couple
minor discolorations, no scratches, no problems I could see.  Man, these
things fit pretty well.  Pretty surprising.  He said, "why don't you take
a ride and see what you think," so I grabbed my beaten-to-heck boots to
toss them back on.  He says to me, "What size boots do you wear?"  I told
him, and he said, "Hmm..  I have a nice pair of Corbins, just that size,
I've only worn them twice.  I'll make you a hell of a deal on them.  He
grabbed them and they, too, fit just about perfectly.  After he decided
I was lost enough in the neighborhood I probably couldn't have found my
way back, he led me on a brisk 10-15 minute ride through some nice twisties.
We got back, I asked him what he wanted for the entire set and he told me,
"Well, 200 for the jacket, 100 for the pants, how about 25 for the boots?"

I told him that was a very fair price, but that I'd just bought some new
tires and my checkbook was low until Friday==payday.  Could I just give
him, say, $50 deposit and come back up north and pick the gear up on
Friday?  "Heck," he says, "why don't you just write me a check for the full
amount and post-date it for Friday.  You shouldn't have to come back up
here for the stuff."

So, I walked out of his house with a new set of boots plus V-pilot
leathers in excellent shape for the price of the jacket.  And, as I jumped
back on the bike and bungeed my old jacket, jeans and boots to the back,
(with my bungee plus another one he gave me), he said, "Oh, I also have a
pair of leather gloves that match the jacket. Want 'em?"  Sure! Why not?

And this guy wasn't even a Denizen.  On the way home a quick calculation
showed that new this stuff would be, oh, 300 for jacket, 200 for pants,
200 for boots, maybe 40 for the gloves... I stumbled into a bargain.

So, I'm geared up for the GPNG and for a week long trip between Seattle
and the Bay Area the first week of September.  I had planned to just get a
pair of V-pilot pants and get the matching jacket later on, just wearing my
old one for a few more months, and picking up new boots after that.  So
much for that idea.  Now, I've got to pick up a pair of pants and boots f
or my SO, and we're set.  As far as I'm concerned, with the almost
nonexistant amount of free cash I have while I'm gearing up for this
trip and other stuff, to pick up a full set of leathers, boot and gloves
for $325 is nothing short of a miracle.  Now, if I could just find a '94
Duc 907 for a proportional price, I'd be ecstatic :-)

Pat
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            Pat Loughery [Patlo@Microsoft.com] Seattle, WA
          '91 Nighthawk CB750 - DoD #393, AMA #639366, VME
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 "It felt great to be starting another long ride; the 9-to-5 world
 could go to hell for a few days while my machine and I rolled across
 the planet."   - Phil Stone, DoD #95
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