[asphaltgambler]

Interesting. A good while back, mid-90's I had my pro-street sportster at a big bike show / ho-down at VIR, south of Richmond. At the time my build was different than what was going on then and I received a lot of attention for my work, as well as winning the class. Subsequently, I was approached by several 'business' guys who wanted to use my bike with their _____________ (fill in the blank) product for promotion.

One guy in particular had just developed a proto-type motorcycle trailer with a very similar concept. Essentially the bed of the trailer would lay down almost flat so bikes with really low ground clearance could be loaded with no hassles or scraping. He had everything lined-up and was ready to start manufacturing and wanted to use my bike on the cover of his brochure as well as for TV commercial to be aired on cable sports channels.

So here we are, he's excited, I'm excited, I see $$ signs for this and ask: "how do you see compensating me for this? 'X' amount for your brochure, 'Y' amount for the commercial, or per unit sold, etc?" The grin immediately disappears from his face, he looks at me with a confusion.

"Oh, I'm not paying you, there's no money for you, you get have your bike with my trailer". I asked: "This thing of yours.............it's a business right? You plan to be successful and make a profit right? You see , I've already built this all by myself, spent my own money and time, been in EasyRider's and In-The-Wind mag. Why would I allow you to use my bike when there's no 'juice'?"

End of conversation.....................