It’s REALLY late.
I had one hectic week at the new job, and it’s shaping up nicely. There’s a lot to learn, but I’m sure that I’ll have the place in top form in record time. I’m going to be doing a lot more than I thought, but hey, they’re paying pretty decently for it.
Thanks to , I got the loan from the bank. Thursday night, instead of heading home, I headed out to Tel aviv, where I stayed at my friend Idan’s place, and we looked around at some nice bike models on the web.
Found a nice listing, and then called Friday morning to see the bike.
It’s a Kawasaki EN-500, for those not in the know, it’s a “custom” bike, meaning it looks a lot like a Harley, laid-back style and all. All nickel, chrome, and the gas tank (the only real colored part) is a deep eggplant.
We popped it into Idan’s main garage guy, who checked it out (and charged me 200nis less than anyone else – Idan works wonders) and gave his seal of approval.
Idan, who comes from a biker family, tried to drive the price down a bit, and we went back to his folks’ place, where they (BIG biker people) also tried to drive the price down a touch, but to no avail.
So we settled on 21K NIS, and signed a contract and all. After the previous owner left, Idan’s folks congratulated me on my new vehicle, and sat me down for “the talk” – safety, what to be afraid of on Israeli streets, etc. I’m glad – this was within my budget, so all is good.
As luck would have it, Friday was also the day a major accessories and parts importer in Tel Aviv was having a major “Happening”, and Idan drove me there on his bike to set me up with gear.
The amount of amazingly beautiful tricked-out bikes there was astounding, and some people revving their motors up were setting off everyone’s alarms. Wow.
I bought a wonderful solid black Shoei helmet, a black Laret summer armored jacket, a pair of Kevlar and Carbon gloves and two heavy security chains (they weigh a TON!). As Idan knows the main honcho there, they talked, set me up with all of it for 2800 instead of 4300. And he threw in a free helmet nose protector and disc lock. I’m quite happy with my purchases.
We drove back to his place, dropped off the gear, suited up with my new gear, and went to shoot some pool. After a couple hours, we went out, and met up with his folks and a bunch of other major bikers who meet on a weekly basis, and I saw some bikes that would blow your mind. Heavy Harleys customized to the max, crotch rockets that if you attached wings to them could literally fly, and I got see Idan’s dad’s new BMW RT1200 in the open, and I was impressed. That machine leaves hope for the rest of us peons that there is something bigger and better to look for in the future.
When we left the restaurant, Idan’s folks drove next to us, and played some awesome music on his bike’s CD changer(!) on the external speakers for us to hear, not just playing in their helmet speakers (!!).
So you ask – how come Mike hasn’t been driving around himself? Well, I’ll tell you.
By the time we signed the contract, paid the seller, and took a deep breath, it was too late to call any insurance agents or companies to arrange that. Idan’s dad was adamant – no insurance, no ride. I agree wholeheartedly. This is my life we’re talking about.
So here I am, in Tel Aviv, and will probably stick around until Sunday morning, when I deal with the legal ownership paperwork, insurance, and time permitting, get a couple of things done for the bike before I have to leave and drive to Lod for work.
I’m looking forward to it. And I’ll post pictures the moment I get a charger for this damn cellphone/digicam (from work).
So this was my quick update, and I’m going to sleep now, dammit.