From me.

He dealt in drugs and kept in his lane, but knew how to get pretty much anything for a price. And I became part of that anything.

It was a mixed bag TBH - that girlfriend was very abusive, and sometimes when I received a work request is was heavily implied that it would be a bad idea to turn it down … though I never had any trouble from any of those clients.

I ended up with a drug problem - at least a couple of codene and a dab of speed before my feet hit the floor getting out if bed, and then more stuff through the day. My kidneys are pretty fucked.

But, the positive experiences were very positive, and I gained a lot of life experience which still comes in handy to this day :-)

Very pleasant for me, my girlfriend in the late 90s and early 2000s was a mildly upmarket dealer, and I got work through her contacts which was usually safe. I ended up doing a lot of work through her dealer, who was the big fish in a town of about 300K people.

I got nice presents, got paid to chaperone his daughter and her friends for a week (free holiday!), got better work contacts for myself, very cheap electrical goods, free drugs, and had a favour I never got around to calling in.

I did spend a day digging up his garden looking for a nine bar of resin that he’d buried while high, which was hard work (we didn’t find it), and there was a time I was interviewed by police while I was hiding enough speed in my house that it’s sale could have bought said house, but it was otherwise just an informal business relationship with occasional blowjobs.

10/10 would do again.

And a vodka drink

That tank can’t make it to any remote places, you can’t even lift it in your own if you’re a woman.

My trailie weighs 105kg, and I can lift one end at a time - essential for putting it in the back of a pickup truck when it breaks down

And how many unpaved tracks do you take your car down?

Do you lift it over rocks and past wash-outs?

Do you wheel it into hotel rooms for the night when you’re in a remote Peruvian village?

Do you drive it down back alleys that are a meter wide?

Do local kids smile and wave when they see your car?

I keep bouncing back to Chinatown by Thin Lizzy at the moment, dunno why

If you’re willing to learn, you can craft yourself an amazing adventure that you’ll remember for the rest of your life … I try and give good advice, because that sort of motorbike touring is something I love and I wish I could share it with more people :-)

Amazing, everything you just said was wrong.

I’m sorry to say it again, but GET LESSONS. More than the minimum.

In South America you’re not going to want to do those speeds unless you just want to go on a main paved highway, blast from one side to the other without seeing anything, and then call it a day.

A 150 is plenty, and used by locals.

Seriously, go watch those channels I mentioned. If you prefer to read, then try “Lois on the Loose”, she did the tip of Alaska to the bottom of South America on a 225cc trail bike.

Having a big fast bike does nothing to help safety. I’ve had bikes from a 70cc step-through up to a 175hp liter bike. Right now the bike I use most for touring in Spain and Morocco is a 125cc trail bike with 10hp (though I have a 400cc bike for commuting / motorway / pillion use).

Look at those two channels I mentioned in my comment above. They both went to South America.

If you know nothing about bikes, learn how to ride properly before you go (and if you’re in the US, get more lessons than the minimum needed for your license). For South America you only need a small bike, like a 150cc. They’re easier to handle, cheaper to buy and run, and a good second hand one will attract less attention.

How’s your Spanish?

Ah ok, yes that is the case, but a lot if its from the lack of written rules of the road that actually get followed, the state of disrepair of the vehicles, plus the state of some of the roads … rather than the all-out speed people are going at

Exactamundo.

(However IRL my wife wouldn’t do that in the first place, she’s too shy and the last time she got a date other than me it didn’t work out well … but I live in hope)

Are you asking if people in India go fast, or if I’m in India?

Are there any local financial cooperatives?

At home there’s a cooperative that’s for small scale local farmers and small businesses to be able to get loans. Money invested only makes itself back at the rate of inflation plus a tiny amount.

It helps local small businesses, and is better than having it in a bank :-)

Yes, and Harleys are big and heavy which severely limits their freedom to paved roads and only maybe the most gentle of unpaved tracks.

So, freedom was available all along, but not from those trying to market it as a capitalist lifestyle

ok, I’d say to try doing a typical journey including a bit of the highway, but cap your speed … and see how much time difference it really makes.

Most people here are chilled about getting to work at 30-50kph, it’s a mindset.

I’d say “finally!” And then ask her to dish the details. And then maybe ask if they were both up for a threesome.

The thing is, motorbikes do give the ultimate in freedom … check out C90Adventures or Itchyboots on youtube, they’ve travelled the world in a free manner that wouldn’t be possible by other means.

I have several motorbikes, the ones I use outside of competition are very quiet. They give me freedom.

Oh geez, early on in my current career I sent a one-paragraph project report, because it had been very little work and not complex.

My then manager loved his buzzwords and long pointless meetings, he told me my report wasn’t adequate even though it had all the relevant info.

So, I just added a pile of extra bullshit that didn’t say anything at all. And that fucker loved it.

I went and found another job soon afterwards.

It wasn’t sarcasm, I was thinking of the trade they’ll do with nations that aren’t the US in the future.

Kinda like the end of that film where everything freezes.