Putting my GS to work

JohNLA · September 09, 2003, 01:29:16 PM

I took a new job today as a motorcycle messenger.
My old lady is not as thrilled as I am but I will work on her. :kiss:
I can't wait to start, tommorow.
I think I am really over the entertainment industry. To many dumb egos to have to deal with. I got my credit and I am happy to walk away.
I can spend my days running pakages from Johnny Cochran to OJ to pay my bills and paint my paintings on my weekends.

to everyone who offered me kind words of support.
Pablo: Have you sold that claer tail light, yet?

pantablo · September 09, 2003, 01:32:46 PM

tailight is gone (havent received the money yet though...you know who you are).

Congrats on messenger work. Lots of it in LA. Another rider I know from the maximum-suzuki site also just took on messenger work (had done it lots before though). makes a decent living and if it leaves you time and money to paint all the better. Just be careful out there.

JohNLA · September 09, 2003, 01:51:25 PM

I did deliver pizzas for a couple years in high school. Back when Domono's was cool and had a 30 minute gaurentee. So I am not a total newbie to the delivery game.
The pay will be a slight drop from my old job at first depending on how fast I am but after 3 months of no work that seems like a fortune.
I also like the whole set your own hours bit.
The company also has a suplemental insurance that will pay you 75% of what you were making if you are ever hurt and can't work. So that is pretty cool. Still have to be carefull but it sounds a lot less stressfull to me.

JamesG · September 09, 2003, 02:13:10 PM

Lucky bastard!

Good luck and remember to keep your head on a swivel!

TheGoodGuy · September 09, 2003, 05:54:57 PM

good job john,

the gs500 is definately the best bike to do such jobs, its light and its capable.

I once considered it, but then i figured i rather just finish school.

With all the riding i am sure you will soon surpass me on the mileage, im hitting 8K in about 200 miles (7800 or so)

Anyway now you do have to do some maintanance on the bike from time to time.

Ride safe... TGG

JohNLA · September 09, 2003, 06:14:15 PM

Quote from: The_good_guygood job john,

Anyway now you do have to do some maintanance on the bike from time to time.

Ride safe... TGG

What are you saying, I don't do matanance?

I am up to date with all my scheduled matanance and other than the first 600 mile service my GS has never been in the hands of anyone else. Have you ever seen a bit of rust on my chain? Or anywhere else on the bike for that matter? I lubed my cables this past weekend. I have done two more oil changes than recomended because I didn't want to take chances while the motor was young.
This is my baby. Before my GS I had never owned a brand new vehicle but I have owned enough second hand unloved dogs that I refused to do that to mine. That is why I take such offense to that comment. Maybe, I am just taking it wrong and you mean I will have to maintain more often.
As far as milage goes I am just under 5500 so I am expecting to add some serious numbers to that.

TheGoodGuy · September 09, 2003, 06:19:15 PM

i meant more maintenance more often..

those miles add up really fast.

When I came here over labor day weekend I had 7200 or so.. i put in over 300 in less than 2 weeks. I live 11 - 14 miles to school, so that's 22 miles atleast per day, and then if it was like today i have already gone home once, so i will have about 50 miles by the end of the day.

I am yet to hit the canyons, but sometime soon i will do so.

i plan to visit lake tahoe in 2 weeks (hope teh weather will be good).

Laura · September 09, 2003, 06:47:02 PM

Congratulations!

I hope you have more time and energy to work on your painting.

Be safe.

Laura

pantablo · September 09, 2003, 10:10:32 PM

regarding mileage:
A guy I ride with, lives in west LA and is a messenger again (refered to him earlier) puts 40K miles on his bandit a year doing messenger stuff...you'll need to consider what type of longer lasting tires you'll need next time you're switching them, and maintenance often!

good luck.

Adam R · September 10, 2003, 05:06:06 PM

Make sure that you're paid the commision that you have agreed to earn. I worked for a messenger company in Washington DC and found out that I was making 15-20% commisions instead of the 50% that I had been promised.

I think that job lasted 3 weeks; I was spending more money on keeping my CBR 600 up and running than I was making (200+ miles a day on a 10 year old bike can be a bit much!)

Good luck with it though, if you're dealing with honest dispatchers, then its a nice job, especially out here with no rain.

Oh, yeah and I forgot to mention that I could have made more money had I taken direct routes, but somehow I always ended up using the twistier roads to run packages in and out of DC.

scratch · September 10, 2003, 05:12:56 PM

Sweet! A job that involves the joy of riding!

JohNLA · September 11, 2003, 08:17:22 AM

Manjul: Sorry, for the misunderstanding.
Adam R: I don't think that will be the case. The company is pretty large and they itemise all your runs on your pay stub but I will keep my eyes on them.
I put a 130 miles on the GS yesterday and we were being lectured until 11:30 and I will get even more milage when I stop getting lost

dmp221 · September 11, 2003, 11:49:11 AM

Wow, getting paid to ride..how great is that?!? So, does this mean that on your days off, you'll be taking long, slow drives in a minivan or SUV just for a change of pace??? (I seriously doubt it!)
Good luck.

Afterburner · September 11, 2003, 03:57:28 PM

Congrats on getting the job, John. What good fortune to be able to ride all day and get paid for it. It doesn't get much better than that. Good luck and ride safe, as they always say.

JohNLA · September 12, 2003, 08:44:37 PM

It is cool and I am glad to be working but do not be to envious. Remember, I am running packages all around this crazy town for eight hours a day. It's not like carving the twisties with Pablo and the gang. Although, I do a lot and I mean a lot of lane splitting. Today, I made it from east LA to Pasadena picked up my pakage and raced it to Beverly Hills in under an hour and that was starting at 4pm. In a car it would have been two hours easy. I made the 110 my beeach

I get lost a lot and when I say a lot I mean a lot but at least I can U-turn easily.

JasonB · September 12, 2003, 09:01:39 PM

might be nice to invest in a GPS of some sort so it can give you directions. They work pretty handy, Garmin is a big name of good products.

JohNLA · September 12, 2003, 10:42:42 PM

In my defense. I am new to the city. I only moved here three years November but a GPS might be cool but it would probably get stolen and I don't need to carry anything else. As a matter a fact I want to look into a goofy looking top rack. Cargo nets and bunjees are growing old.

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Putting my GS to work