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I received my laptop from dell and I have to send it back. I wanted the new clear screen. I think they call it the ultra bright. It is $150.00 more but if I am going to spend the amount I spent for the laptop I want the best screen. I would have thought the sales rep would have explained the difference in screens and asked me if I wanted the ultra bright.

I am glad to see some of you take a laptop with you without any problems. I just purchased a Dell latitude D830 and a docking station so that I can use it as my workstation on our office network and then take it with me when I go out and call on motorcycle dealers. I hope I didn't make a mistake. I currently have a Optiplex mini tower I use as a work station and the dell sales rep said the D830 would run just as fast on our network. I purchased an accident insurance plan that is $170.00 for three years in case I damage the laptop. It is supposed to be delivered today so I guess I will find out if it works as good as I need it to.

Hey Principal, You need to find an independent agent in your state that specializes in motorcycle insurance and get quotes. The quotes listed here don't mean a thing if they aren't for your state. Some companies are competetive in one state and the highest in another state.

Progressvie Insurance Company has never been comepetetive on the 2nd gen venture. When they recently notified me that they were having a rate revision that was a 5% reduction I got excited but that excitement changed to disappointment very quickly. When I purchased my 05 RSV in 2005 progessive's rate was over $900.00 per year so I placed my coverage with another company at $502.00 per year. I am carrying 100/300/50 liability, 100/300/50 uninsured motorist, 10,000 medical payments, 250 deductible on comprehensive and collision and roadside assistance. After the 5% rate reduction my rate for this coverage with progressive would be $1,658.00 per year. I called progressive and told them this was not a rate reduction. I also quoted an 08 Ultra Classic anniversary edition and before the reduction the annual rate was $528.00 per year but after the revision it is over $900.00 per year. The product manager in the home office asked me to fax several recent quotes I had done to her, yes it is a female, and she would get back with me. I faxed the quotes and when I went to the international motorcyle show in Atlanta she, the product manager, was there. She said progressive had been losing money on the touring bike line and increased the rates for touring bikes but lowered the rates on other bikes. There are two things companies look at when determining rates and these are the loss frequency and loss severity. She said both of these had increased on touring bikes. She also said that before the revision they had all the harleys in one catagory but were seperating the touring bikes and increasing rates but were lowering rates on the fatboy and softails. I was surprised because I would have thought the touring bikes would have had the lowest losses because normally you have mature riders that aren't hot rodding there bikes but this is not the case. Anyway I re wrote my coveage with another company at renewal on February 17 for $409.00 per year. If any of you in Georgia are insured with progressive get ready for a rate increase. If you would like to see what other company's rates are let me know and I will be glad to quote you with the top seven companies in Georgia.

I rode to panama city florida last year with several of my harley buddies. On the way home I was riding in the back of the group when the leader on his ultra classic kicked up to over 100 mph. One time we passed a car and I got up to 105 mph but was right on the bumper of the street glide in front of me. I guess they thought I wouldn't be able to keep up. When we got back home and parked the guy on the street glide said "man your bike will really go, it must be an 1800." I said no it is only a 1300. He said wow.

I don't really know the problem. At 28,000 miles yamaha sent a factory rep to look at my bike. He was puzzeled as to why my bike was eating up rear ends. He replaced the swing arm and every part from the swing arm to the rear including the rear diff and drive shaft. I now have a little over 30,000 miles and the bike is perfect. I am holding my breath hoping I don't have any more rear end problems.

Hey Marke, I hate to hear about your problem with the rear end. I had similiar problems and from 16,000 miles to 28,000 miles I have had 5 rear diffs, a new swingarm and drive shaft. The only thing I can tell you is that yamaha should do whatever it takes to correct the noise no matter how many rear ends it takes. Good luck!

I mounted mine on the black cover to the left of the gas cap. I bought some double sided tape from wal mart and stuck it on the clip and it holds fine.

Until last week I had an open trailer. Someone stole it from my son's yard at night. It was a 6' x 10' that a company here builds to haul motorcycles. I paid 900.00 for it new. I did pay a little extra to have it enclosed around the railing. This was recommended by the builder to keep mud and other objects from coming off the tires and hitting the bike. I never had a problem with anything from the rode hitting the bike. I used it more for hauling other things than my cycle. Lawnmower, lumber, pinestraw etc. I would like to have an enclosed trailer but will probably buy another open.

When I first saw the unigo I thought that would be the best trailer to get. I don't have any experience with it but some of my goldwing friends say there has been a problem with the fiberglass cracking. I can't say first hand, just repeating what my goldwing friends have said.

I hope they put a better radio and speakers in the 09 venture. I didn't realize how bad the speakers were until some of my friends go ultra classics. The radio in the harleys put yamaha to shame.

Hope you can find the chrome piece that covers up the windshiled bolts used. I checked on a new one at my dealer and it is $115.00.

Hey Kit, Congratulations on your new bike. I have to give honda credit regarding the lighting on the goldwing. You don't have to worry about someone behind you seeing you. I test rode an 08 but it just doesn't suit me but it is an awesome bike. I would really like an ultra classic but I ride two up most of the time and my wife just won't go for the harley.

Hey Condor, You didn't upset me. I was just trying to make the point that having an agent was worth more than 60.00 per year. You need to read my previous post. You may have been treated fairly so far but if that changes try calling GEICO and tell them you want to speak with the person that gave you your quote and wrote your policy. You won't get to talk to that person again. They probably aren't even with the company anymore. I recently replaced a GEICO policy and the rep with them gave the insured credit for completing the motorcycle safety course. I asked them for a copy of their certificate and they said they had never taken the course and didn't tell the GEICO rep they had. The rep probably needed to make a sale that day. I wonder what would have happened if they had a claim and the adjuster found a misrepresentation on the app. With an agent you can go into their office and look them in the eye. You can get insurance on line with progressive but the rates for motorycles, boats and motorhomes is the same whether you use an agent or deal direct. Most of the time I am lower than the direct rate. Why? Because I had found a few quirks in the rating that will give a lower rate. I wish you could spend a week here in my office and see the people that come in that have gone direct and are frustrated with the service and tell me "we won't to be able to see someone eye to eye". Yesteday a gentleman came in who got his car insurance on line with progressive and now that the second payment was due they were surcharging him $423.00. An agent can't access the records of someone that is direct but he had a user id and password to access his policy. I asked him if minded if I logged in and looked at his account. The web site for insureds is very confusing. It took me several minutes of clicking on different tabs until I finally found where his mvr was a no-hit so they were surcharging him. I told him that is why you need any agent. If I had written the policy it would have told me immedately that the mvr was a no hit and all I would have to do is make a copy of his drivers license and fax it to progressive and they would remove the surcharge. He said cancel this policy and re write me with you as my agent. Guess what? The premium going direct was 1,184.00 before the surcharge. My premium was $904.00. So much for saving money on line. I have people that went direct come in every week to make a payment or get an id card. I tell them sorry, you'll have to call the company. One more story. I have a friend in Atlanta that was with GEICO for years and I never asked him to let me handle his insurance. He bought his wife a new Jaguar and two months later they got caught in a hail storm in the Jag. The dealer told him it could be repaired for 8,000. The GEICO claims rep gave the ok to repair. A few days later the dealer called and said after starting the work it had more damage than they realized and would cost more like $10,000 to repair the jag. The claims rep with GEICO said go ahead and repair. My friend called me one day upset because when he went to pick up the car the dealer said you owe me $2,000. He asked why and the dealer said GEICO decided not to pay the $2,000 extra. And who did he call. Me, an agent. I told him he would have to call the 800 number and talke to the claims department and if that didn't work he could file a complaint with the insurance commissioner. A few months later his car insurance was due and he asked me to write it. I increased his liability from 300,000 to 500,000 and the rate with progressive was $800.00 per six months. GEICO's rate was $1,700. A few months later someone through a brick off a bridge and damaged his hood and windshield. He couldn't believe how fast progressive paid the claim and made this statement, " There was no comparison between the service with GEICO and Progressive. As far as I know he never got the additional money from GEICO. Next, what are you going to do when your rates goes up with GEICO? The can't say well, we have several other companies so let me quote with them and see if we can get you a better rate. Insurance is not a commodity where the price is the only consideration such as buying a pair of pants or shoes. You need professional guideance as to the coverage you need and someone who will build a relationship with you and look after your best needs and not the best interest of the insurance company. The company reps don't care anything about you, they do whats best for the company. I called GEICO one day and got a quote on my motorcycle. I got a young girl that probably doesn't know a motorcycle from a houseboat. She asked me what liability limits I was carrying and I told her 100/300/50. She told me I didn't need 50,000 property damage that 25,000 was enough. I told her my current company only charged $1.00 more per year to go with 50,000 property damage instead of 25,000 so why would I do that. I got a long silence. If I as an agent told someone they didn't need as much coverage as they had and they had a claim I could be sued for giving such bad advise.

Condor, Wow, you saved 60.00 per year with GEICO. Have a claim or problem and you will regret not having an agent for 60.00 per year. A friend of mine bought an 08 harley last week. His current coverage is with GEICO but comes due in february and he is going to move his coverage to me. He called GEICO from the harley dealership to delete his kawasaki and add the harley. He got transferred to 5 different people before he got someone to make the change. When I am writing his coverage and that happens I would have him a binder and ID card to the dealer before he got off the phone with me. GEICO is 700.00 per on the harley but my rate with progressive will be $440.00.

Find an independent agent who knows motorcycles. Don't deal with an 800 number or the internet. Let me give you an example why. I recently had an insured that totaled his 97 goldwing. The company I insured him with gives you 1,000 for accessories. You can purchase more but he didn't want more. The claims rep told him he would have to provide the receipts for the accessories coverage. He called me and asked if that was what companies required and if I had the receipts for my bike accessories. I told him all companies want the receipts and I do keep them but I doubt the majority of the people do. If I wasn't an agent I probably wouldn't. He said he had over 5,000 in accessories on his bike. I called the clalims rep and told her I ride and know motorcycles and that just the extra large windshield and mustang seat he had would be close to a thousand dollars so lets be reasonable. We know he has at least a thousand dollars of accessories. The claims rep said to tell him to just make a list of the accessories and the value so she would have something in her file and she would include the 1,000 accessories coverage. Try explaining that to someone on an 800 number or on line with your computer and see how far you get. Also another advantage of dealing with an agent is the agent places many customers with the company so if the agent says you are not treating my customer right so I may have to move the customers I have to another company the company listens. If you are dealing direct you are only one customer. On the goldwing claim the rep offered my insured 8,500 for his bike. He said he felt like 9,000 was fair so I went on cylce trader.com and there was only one 97 goldwing in the US and the owner was asking 10,500 for it. I called the claims rep and told her 8,500 wasn't enough so she said get me some details of other bikes and send them to me. I asked my insured to go to the local honda dealer and ask them to write a letter stating what they felt the value of this bike was. They gave him a letter stating that they felt the bike was worth at least 10,000. When I sent this to the claims rep she offered my insured 9,500. He was very happy as he would have accepted 9,000. He said he was going to write a letter to the gold wing assocation telling them what great service he got from my agency. As Kit said it is worth having an agent to be your advocate when you need service. Hey Kit, if I ever make a commercial can I get you to be in it?

I too have the curse and believe me it is a curse. I was diagnoed with type 2 last year. Anything that taste good is bad for you. I was at a starbucks in Atlanta and they had a free health screening. My blood sugar was 140 and the nurse told me when I got home to go see a doctor immediately. I didn't go to the doctor because I knew he would tell me three things. Lose weight, exercise and watch what I eat. I did this and by blood sugar when back to the normal range. I got the flu and quit exercising and went back to over eating. After the flu I just couldn't make myself exercise again. My sugar went went up and I couldn't get it back down. I was on 5mg of glipizide twice per day and my sugar would still be 170 in the morning. Three months ago the doctor increased it to 10mg and it still is in the 170's. I hadn't checked it lately but after reading this thread I knew I had better do something. Yesterday at 1:00 I ate a roast beef sandwich on wheat bread, had a small cup of vegestable soup and a glass of water. At 7:00pm I check my sugar and it was 176. I believe I could just drink water and my sugar level would still be high.

This dealership has been sold three times in the last year. The original owners were just as bad as the current owner for arrogance. They sold to an individual in Tennessee and he sold the dealership after a few months. The current owners also own Killer Creek Harley in Atlanta and I think two or three other dealerships. You would think by owning other dealerships they would understand customer service and repeat business.

I don't live in florida but I heard about this several months ago. It was brought about by the crotch rockets that go 150mph and over. I also hear that the AMA was already fighting because it only applies to motorcycles.

A friend of mine has two bikes. A kawasaki drifter and a swift chopper. He decided to trade both of them for a harely street glide. The harley dealer here in Albany, GA wouldn't take the swift chopper because they couldn't find a value for it. The female salesperson offered to take the kawasaki on trade and gave my friend a price. She wouldn't give him a breakdown as to how she arrived at the price of the harley. My friend went to another harley dealership about 45 miles away that is owned by the same person here. They offered my friend $500.00 more for his kawasaki. The next day my friend called the harley dealer here and said he was ready to trade. The female salesperson in a very rude tone said there was no deal to make. The deal she gave him was for yesterday only so she wouldn't sell him the harely and take his kawasaki on trade. My friend said that was ok but he would get a harley from another dealer. He went to tallahassee, florida and the harley dealer there offered him the same trade in value but was selling him the street glide for msrp which is $19,000.00. It was then that my friend realized that the harley dealer here in Albany, GA was charging $3,000.00 above the msrp. He closed the deal with tallahassee and brought the bike home. That was friday. Saturday my friend and two of our mutual friends asked him to go to the local harley dealer so they could buy him something for his new harley as a gift. When my friend entered the harley dealership he was met by the sales manager who grabbed his hand but wouldn't let go. My friend finally pulled his hand away from the sales manager and said is there a problem? The sales manager said yes, the owner doesn't want you in this dealership so you need to leave. The sales manager said you bad mouthed our salesperson so you are not allowed in this building. About that time the owner came out and my friend asked to speak with him. They were having a civil conversation and my friend told him the only problem he had was that the salesperson wouldn't show him the breakdown she was using to come up with her price. The owner said well you came in here and got a deal and then went to another dealership so we don't won't you in our dealership. About that time the female salesperson came out of her office and started yelling at my friend "you think you are a big man don't you." My friend talkes with this hands sometimes so as he was talking to the owner the salesperson told him he better get his hand out of her face. Another friend was next to him, he is 6'6" tall and weighs 320 pounds, and he said come on let's go, it's not worth getting this worked up about this. My friend left the building and after he was out the door another friend who was still in the dealership said the salesperson said , "we don't need prick's like that in here." The owner finally told her to shut up and get back in her office. I thought I had seen it all but this arrogance takes the award.

I rode from Albany, GA to Daytona for biketoberfest. It was raining when I left and rained on us all day until we got to Daytona. My frogg toggs never leaked a drop of water. They are cooler than any other rain suit you can buy. I have the orange color because I want to be seen but they are no longer making this color. They said there weren't enough sales of the orange to continue making it. The best price is Outdoor Boss.com. They are the largest distributor of frogg toggs in the U.S.

I'm glad you put "his bike" on the end of that sentence. You had me scared there for a second.

I just got a call from someone in the department of motor vehicles in Alaska. One of my insureds from here in Georgia was there and they were going to revoke his drivers license because he didn't have proof that his auto insurance would extend to a rental car. I got them to agree to let me fax a letter to them stating that his insurance would extend to a rental car. What is up with that?

Hey Swifty, No there aren't more strigent requirements to be a member of this site than any other but I can tell by the actions of the members of this site that most are trustworthy people. There will never be a group of people where 100% are trustworthy. Yes, there is another venture site where I wouldn't send anyone anything without having the money in my hand first. I don't even go on that site anymore because of the attitude of some of the members.

I've never met you in person Frogman but based on what you said you must be a good person. I get discouraged sometime because I can't spare the money to buy a new set of pipes for my bike or have two bikes. I would like to have another bike for one up riding when it is just me. Then I read what you wrote and I realize I need to be thankful for what I have. Except for the grace of God I could be one without food or shelter. I don't have sympathy for the ones that won't work but there are many working as hard as they can and can't make ends meet. I've been where I didn't know if I was going to be able to buy groceries on friday and I've had to park my car behind my house to keep the repo man from getting it. It is not a good feeling and if you want to find out what it feels like to be treated like a second class citizen just get where you can't pay your bills on time. The collectors will talk ugly to you. I didn't mean to get strung out talking about the past but just wanted to say we need to help the ones less fortunate than us when we can and be thankful for what we have.