ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: Searching

Book Two, Chapter 119: Rebound Mode?

Joshua found a 1965 R-60 BMW motorcycle on e-bay.

Not only found it, but bid on it and won it. But now he’s wondering whether to go through with the deal. Shipping it from Philadelphia will cost nearly six hundred dollars. That puts its cost at over six thousand.

For advice he calls his friend Rick, owner of a motorcycle shop in Santa Monica.

“Parts bikes go for three thou,” Rick tells him. “If you can get it for five thou, it’s a real deal.”

Joshua asks my opinion.

“I can’t give you advice on a motorcycle,” I say. “Do you want it?”

“I rode from Louisville to L. A. on a 1960 R-60. I love BMWs. This is the only bike I do want. It’s smaller than a Moto Guzzi. It’s classy. It’s collectible. It’s so easy to work on.”

“Can you afford it?”

“I can afford it. The question is, can I spend that money more wisely? This bike, with a few repairs, is worth ten thou, but I wouldn’t want to sell it. Do I want to tie up six thou in a motorcycle? That’s the question.”

He has a place to store it — the Charles Street garage. He rented the house to Carrie and Jesse but not the garage.

“The garage is my getaway,” he says. “I can run electric to it, put in a cot, sleep there. Work on the motorcycle there. If I can buy the bike and ship it here for under six thou, that would be acceptable to me.”

He leaves a message for the seller asking him to trim the price by five hundred. The seller won’t budge.

“The auction ended on a Wednesday,” Joshua says. “If it had ended on a weekend, the bike would’ve brought more money. It’s a good deal. I’m still thinking about it.”

Good decisions take time. They require thought. But is Joshua in rebound mode — needing something, or someone, to replace Christy? To replace working on the Charles Street house?

Who has the answers to these two questions?

Only Joshua.