I got good news from a vehicle dealer and I have to tell somebody.

When was the last time you got good news from buying a vehicle at a dealer? Probably never. 

Well, I got some very good news and I have to share it.

For the last couple months I've been planing a fairly monumental motorcycle trip with some media/writer/producer/film friends. We're going to ride from Texas, up a big chunk of the TransAmerican Trail (thousands of miles of dirt roads that crisscross the country) to Deadhorse, Alaska. It's pretty much sheer lunacy. Over ten thousand miles of back roads, dirt roads, hiking trails, mountain passes, streams, moose and bears and lots of weather. We realized that we had a crew that could produce a great story cranked out into social media channels and turn it into a documentary about everyday kinda guys doing something monumentally crazy. We're talking with several big motorcycle companies about them providing the adventure bikes to survive this thing but in the meantime, I went out and bought a bike. I've had lots of bikes throughout my life but not owned one for twenty years. 

I bought a 2009 BMW R1200GSA. It's one of those overbuilt machines that can handle anything, long days of twisty roads, dirt road, streams, bad weather etc. It's a growing segment of the motorcycle market and all the major manufacturers are making similar bikes that are robust, brilliantly engineered and overbuilt to handle anything.

There is a very good chance that one of the major bike makers will want us to ride their bikes because we've got a whole crew of guys who can build a great story and share it with the world. But in the meantime, I need a bike to work out the travel bugs. We're looking at almost two months of riding with a lot of days camping in extremely remote places. I spent a month on the Appalachian Trail and learned to carry everything on my back. This will be twice as long but at least I'll have more horsepower than my legs.

So I bought this bike. Amazing machine. It was for sale at a dealer here in Austin called RideNowAustin. The company, RideNow Powersports has been buying up motorcycle dealerships all over the country had have 41 in ten states with over 15,000 vehicles in inventory. One would think that anything that big would have no soul whatsoever and anyone who walks in will get processed like beef jerky.

But, this is not the case. And I'm a tough sell when it comes to retail operations. I'm a jaded ad guy who's seen it all and has no fucks to give.

So the bike was right. Right price. Low miles. One of the sales staff was a friend of a friend so I dealt with Nick Fletcher. He was great and everything went smoothly. I brought in my riding apparel and helmet and rode it home. That was Saturday. I rode out to Blanco, a cool little town west of Austin for lunch Sunday. It rained Monday. And I rode to a friends for breakfast Tuesday morning.

Then I saw it. Oil on the back shock and a little spot of bike blood on the street.

I rode Harleys throughout my misspent youth and I would only worry if there wasn't oil under it when I parked. That meant I'd run out.

But on this bike, it's something you pay attention to.

Sure enough, the rear shock had blown out.

This is no little thing. This shock is designed to be electronically adjustable for a thousand pounds of bike and human to be riding one or two passengers, comfort, luggage, on road, sport, off road, climbing trees and fording fjords.

When it blows out, it's a big freaking deal.

An expensive big freaking deal.

The BMW shock and replacement that works with the computers etc is almost $2700.00. It's a use bike and I'd ridden it around a hundred miles.

So I call Nick. He got a truck across town to pick up the bike the next day and after a few days of legwork on his end and calls from dealership management, he called me back to tell me they'd cover a replacement.

What? I've bought plenty of vehicles over my lifetime. Probably over 40 cars, trucks and bikes (including a sidecar for hellsakes).

And I never thought I'd see a dealership do this.

So yes. It looks like the whole planet is going up in smoke and down the toilet at the same time. Politics have turned to poison. People everywhere seem to hate each other but somewhere, over by a big noisy freeway in the exploding little town of Austin, Texas, there is a glimmering light of hope. And it's a motorcycle dealership. Go figure.