Being A Motorcycle Salesperson: 5 Things I Hated

stop-rob-ford.jpg
For that one I'd go with Bicycles STOP as well
 
Anyone notice the STOP sign at the 42 second mark in that video? And this is Italy, just as I noticed a STOP sign in France back in 1995 when I drove there. I laughed because in Quebec it is ARRET. Go figure.

As for salesman, go away as I most probably know far more about the product than you do. Plus I cannot stand listening to BS.

I can chime in on this.

You know how the American tourist stereotype is so bad, that when the average Canadian goes on vacation down south, we'll make sure to tell people that we're Canadian so that they don't think we're from the US?

Europe's version of the American idiot, are the British idiots, and they are EVERYWHERE.

Go to Italy and France, take note of how many British tourists there are. Next, take note of how many of them are absolutely ignorant, pigheaded, entitled, with incredibly high opinions of themselves and an overestimation of their driving skills, and you'd be telling the government to write STOP on the signs too.

Quebec can keep using ARRET because they don't have anywhere near the number of Brits or Americans lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: MCT
Every place has its version of the Ugly American.

My wife grew up in a tourist town on the coast of Croatia. Popular vacation spot for Italians who are right across the border. They complain about Italian tourists all the time, as loud, boorish and inconsiderate.

We lived in Thailand for two years. Their version of the Ugly American are Chinese tourists from the mainland. They are considered dirty and uncultured.

Almost every where we went, Japanese tourists were the most highly regarded, praised as being the most polite and considerate. Second are the Koreans.
 
The quaint towns, the laid back people in them, the great food and drink just cannot be beat. And hotel stays are a steal compared to Canada.

Agreed, as long as you stay away from the tourist city's city centers. I did my entire 25 day trip, hotels, airfare, food, shopping, and even one breakdown on the highway included, for the same as what 25 days of JUST hotels here would have cost.

This year because I was riding across the country alone (the missus was up north hiking around the Mont Blanc with her dad) I really leaned into getting great rates from the hotels.

You can usually get better than advertised rates if you just call in or pop your head in same day in the afternoon or evening when they figure the room will be empty if they don't give it to you... BUT, usually after I told them I was riding my motorcycle across the country (they all seemed to like that), and that I would pay cash, the room prices would go down a second time.

I don't really recommend this for anyone traveling in groups or who likes to have things planned in advance, but, if you want to go full Italian experience and "go with the flow", I think this is the way to do it. I also got a couple free nights staying in guest rooms of new friends I met along the way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MCT
My wife grew up in a tourist town on the coast of Croatia. Popular vacation spot for Italians who are right across the border. They complain about Italian tourists all the time, as loud, boorish and inconsiderate.

Sounds like Northern Italians abroad lol. I can guess exactly what region they're from.
 
Last edited:
In Mexico, they complain about rich, arrogant Americans coming south of the border to vacation.

But go further south to El.Salvador and Guatemala, and they complain about (relatively) rich Mexicans tourists being arrogant and throwing their high-valued pesos around.

Even within a country they complain about their neighbours. In the BC Interior they hate Albertans with a passion, specifically Calgarians, driving up real estate prices with their oil money and polluting the lakes with their boats.

Everything's relative, but what seems to be universal is that everybody hates their next-door neighbour...
 
Then this will probably get your goat: there are French-Canadian enclave towns in Ontario where they've changed all the STOP signs to ARRET signs.

And not on the Ottawa side of Ontario. On the Sault Ste-Marie side...

Not at all as I am multilingual, not just bilingual. And my GF is from NB.

And ARRET in French has a slightly different meaning than STOP.
 
Agreed, as long as you stay away from the tourist city's city centers.

This year because I was riding across the country alone...

I always kept an Excel spreadsheet of my touring expenses because a lot of people on forums wanted to know what things cost such as eating in, eating out, accomodations, fuel, etc.

Back in 2003, my Euro trip that included airfare was cheaper per day that touring Eastern Canada. Go figure.

So what roads were you on during that trip.
 
In Mexico, they complain about rich, arrogant Americans coming south of the border to vacation.

But go further south to El.Salvador and Guatemala, and they complain about (relatively) rich Mexicans tourists being arrogant and throwing their high-valued pesos around.

Even within a country they complain about their neighbours. In the BC Interior they hate Albertans with a passion, specifically Calgarians, driving up real estate prices with their oil money and polluting the lakes with their boats.

Everything's relative, but what seems to be universal is that everybody hates their next-door neighbour...

France and Italy are neighbours who, to your point about neighbours complaining about each other, don't hold each other in the highest regard...

But if these two neighbouring countries can put aside their differences and find one thing they both can agree on, well... it speaks volumes about British tourists 😂
 
I always kept an Excel spreadsheet of my touring expenses because a lot of people on forums wanted to know what things cost such as eating in, eating out, accomodations, fuel, etc.

Back in 2003, my Euro trip that included airfare was cheaper per day that touring Eastern Canada. Go figure.

So what roads were you on during that trip.

You're a lot more dedicated than me. I only know what the trip cost me this year because an ex asked me so I did some rough math lol.

As for what roads, ouuff, this trip took me through 11 of Italy's 20 regions (like provinces here) of Italy. I've now been through 15 of 20.

I started writing it all out but it's way too long to share a month of travel in one post. Here's as much as I wrote before I felt stupid trying to type it all out:

My first real couple riding days were around Salerno, Pompeii, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. I met up with the Ducati owner's club of Salerno for their monthly meet and went go-karting with them and stayed with one of them for the night. They took me on a route that, instead of going along the cliff edge road around the Amalfi coast actually went up into the mountains above those cliffs. Up there we saw wild horses, a fox, herd of goats, stray pups... I had been to Amalfi coast each of my previous two trips, but never like that.

I bought a bunch of gear which I mentioned in another thread. Then I continued to the palace of Caserta, which is up there with Versailles in terms of the largest renaissance palaces in Europe. I met a girl from Seattle who had moved to Italy despite not speaking much Italian. I think she was very happy to meet another native English speaker.

From there I decided I like riding motorcycles more than west coast chicks so I left for the mountains of Abruzzo, where the riding and drone footage in the video was shot. That was a very good idea because up in the mountains it's about 10 degrees than it was down in Naples and the surrounding area... So instead of being 38, feeling like mid 40s with the humidex, it was a cool 32 degrees in the mountains. There was even a festival for the town's patron saint when I was in town so they had fireworks, performing, dancing, everything.

Blah blah blah
 
Back
Top Bottom