Re: Brinks Home Security Fraud

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 16, 6:43 pm, "Robert L Bass" <RobertLB...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> "tourman" wrote:
>
>
> > I had a 1985 Yamaha Venture for many years and put over 180,000 miles on it
> > (330,000 kms). It's one hell of a fine bike with bags of power. I drove it
> > across the continent six times, once even dragging a heavy trailer. Provided
> > they have fixed the second gear problem which raises it's head early in
> > life, the bike is bulletproof.
>
> What second gear problem is that?  I haven't yet bought the Venture -- it
> still belongs to a riding buddy.

RHC: Early model year Ventures (1983 through about 1987) lose their
second gear on or about 45 to 50K miles. The repair is a major one,
about $1500, since the tranny has to be completely torn down. Mine
went and that's what it cost. Check into this before you buy a bike in
those model years.

>
> I understand.  There's an alternative, though.  A Harley dealer in town rents
> Sportsters and a few other models for ~$100 a day.  While not cheap, it's
> still less expensive than trailering a bike down from Canada.  Anyway, if
> you'd like to visit we can still fire up the BBQ.  You'll be the only member
> of the newsgroup to really know how good those burgers are.  :)

RHC: Next year I'll plan on that, bike or no bike.
>
> > Also, I'm doing so much competitive pistol shooting these days that every
> > weekend up here (and in Florida) is filled with competitions, leaving little
> > time to ride. I have been giving some consideration to giving up biking
> > altogether; after 51 years of riding, I'm a bit burned out.....(but we'll
> > see about that over the longer term.....)
>
> Why not quit working and just ride from one competition to the next?  You
> won't make any money but you'll have lots of fun.

RHC: Truth is Bob, I'm pretty much coasting as it is. With 1000
accounts, there's bags of money coming in, and I also have
surprisingly little service work other than batteries, new doors and
windows, and unnecessary things like telco idiots cutting my alarms
out of the loop...@#@#$%^$%#. Any new installs my son takes care of
(never more than two a week) and I do the inspections and takeovers
when they meet our standards. That keeps the base pretty much stable
once you factor in natural attrition due to people moving..Tax rates
in Canada simply don't make it worth while getting any bigger. For
every extra dollar I make, I give the government another dollar.

I travel a lot into Vermont and New York for matches sometimes 2 or
three days a week, plus the ones all over Ontario. Unfortunately, the
amount of gear I have to carry doesn't fit well even on a big bike
like the Nomad. I use a superb little Kia Rondo I picked up recently
to replace the service truck so travel is pretty cheap other than
hotels.

I'm working to get out of this industry permanently within the next
two years or so. I have become very disillusioned with it over the
last couple of years. Things seem to be getting worse for customers
not better. Mind you, customers often bring it upon themselves by not
shopping properly, but that doesn't excuse the opportunists and
scumbags of which there seem to be many.

I also missed a visit with J Rojas this year, but hope to see him next
year as well.  We have long term vacation commitments in Florida for
two or three months of each winter so I will be down there quite a
bit.

Ride safe my friend.....keep the rubber down and the burgers hot...:))