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Hey dude - if you're still out there and interested in that KZ440 LTD, let me know.

 

My humble apologies. I have treated you rudely by not getting back to you in any kind of polite manner. Please forgive me. I am profoundly embarrassed by my financial predicament. You gave me a wonderful offer and I couldn't even raise that small amount. My trade has all but collapsed. My only option at this point is to directly trade my floor covering installation directly for a motorcycle. I prefer the KZ440 but I might have to settle for a Suzuki GS450 or a GS500. Between those 3 bikes someone might agree to a direct trade, flooring labor for the bike. 
Again, please forgive my rudeness.

Absolutely no worries! Please don't stress over it for another second.

Life throws us curveballs and we all have priorities we need to meet. IMO you were not being rude; you had things you needed to do. I hope business improves for you.

Besides, if I keep dragging my feet on project stuff that 440 will be there for years.

You are very gracious. I service the Erie, PA - Jamestown, NY - Dunkirk/Fredonia area and business is atrocious. I peruse certain sites every day and I have one ad that I run on Craigslist. I get very few bites from my ad compared to just 3 years ago and people looking for flooring installers on Craigslist has all but disappeared.
I have a 1990 VW Cabriolet that I am trying to sell and I will replace it with a Dodge or Plymouth minivan. I have a '91 Dodge B350 MaxiWagon but the minivan will become my daily driver. I spent a year driving a Caravan and on the highway I could routinely get 25 mpg with the 2.4 L 4 cyl. Money spent on gas driving my Dodge van is breaking me. I might get 15 mpg if all my driving is highway but I suspect I'm averaging about 12?
I love cold weather and I can comfortably ride a naked motorcycle down to 40 F. I have never had a fairing or a windshield on a bike and I don't want one. If I had a bike on the road I could save a fortune. Many, many of my jobs seem to fall into the 50 - 60 mile range and most times I need to look jobs over in person. Just to drive the Dodge 120 miles round trip sets me back $35 and that's just to look at a job. Coming back on a one day job means I have $70 in gas costs!
I had a brand new 1980 KZ440A in 1980. I had it for 3 years and put 33,000 miles on it. I had a small tablet that I kept under the seat and every drop of gas and oil plus any maintenance or repairs done to the bike were written down. When I got rid of the bike I had AVERAGED a tad over 60 mpg for that 33,000 miles. I don't drive fast in a car or on a bike. I drove that KZ440 from Central Florida to Central Wyoming and probably never hit 70 mph with almost all my driving at 60 - 65 mph. I take care of my machines and they love me back!
My financial situation could change in a heartbeat. I'm not in any debt and I'm paying as I'm going.
Thanks again ... you're a saint!

A bike would definitely be helpful in your situation!

My daily rider is a middleweight sport-ish bike, so it has a windscreen, and I add hand protectors if I'm going to be riding in cooler weather. But when I was a teenager I had a deal with my parents: as long as the morning weather report said the temp was 32F or higher, I could ride the Yamaha to school.

Apologies if this is a dumb question, but have you spoken with Lowes or Home Depot? I've bought materials from Lowes and they connected me with a contractor to do the work. One of them was a guy (just him - no team) who installed a front door and sidelights.

   Flooring installers that install Lowe's and Home Depot's flooring do not work for these companies directly. Rather, they all work for different floor installing companies. In this area of the country, Romanoff Flooring Installers handles almost all of the installations for one of those two big box stores.  I forget which one exactlly, but Romanoff's has approached me. In Erie, "Gary ?" who has his own carpet store, supplies installers for Home Depot!  Talk about a conflict of interest!  Home Depot and Lowe's send out measuring people that look the job over and give the customers a price and then the job is in the hands of Romanoff or I guess "Gary" in Erie. If HD or Lowe's let me measure the job, look it over and paid me directly I'd be working for them now! The tradesman who installed your door probably was NOT on HD or Lowe's payroll. He was either a sub contractor to the store or worked for a sub contractor to the store.
   In all fairness to Romanoff, the measuring people at HD and Lowe's have no idea what they are doing. At my local HD, I pick up material for customers that don't want HD measuring OR installing. I am constantly amazed at the people in the flooring department who think there are 3 square feet in a square yard. They send out trim metals for jobs and don't allow for the centering of nail holes in any given doorway. Four 3 foot doorways will probably require at least 13  lineal feet etc. I deal with HD and Lowe's people who tell customers to install the pad with the moisture barrier DOWN ! Almost ALL pad has a "skin" ... a plastic membrane on one side. That is there so the carpet will slide across the pad. If it's installed upside down, the friction from the backing of the carpet will rub on the underside of the pad (which is installed upside down!) and roll it off the floor. Some pads do have a moisture barrier but most don't. I see HD and Lowe's people positioning seams where they shouldn't be etc. etc.
   The Romanoff installers, for instance, are always under pressure to correct HD and Lowe's mistakes and Romanoff doesn't want to rock the boat and back charge HD and Lowe's to pay trip charges. I make the same money as all these installers, some of whom I know quite well. 
   Home Depot and Lowe's are 2 of my favorite stores and I send customers there all the time."In a sense" you might say I do work for them but the customer buys the material from them and the customer pays me directly.
   I tell people all the time to have HD give them a firm price on the material AND labor and don't tell me. Then I will measure the job and give them a price as if I walked into the store, bought that same flooring and charged my usual labor prices. I am always lower. Lowe's and Home Depot CHARGE YOU to measure ($35 - $40 ?) and promise to refund that money if you have them install it.
   I have a few landlord accounts which is my preference. They are always empty units and I don't have to mess with furniture. I measure everything and the landlord picks out the style and color, he pays over the phone with a credit card and I will pick it up and deliver it to a jobsite for free. The Covid madness interfered with landlords evicting deadbeat renters and that affected me. My left hip gives me trouble and the VA tells me it's rheumatoid arthritis. I have a great back and great knees. So, I am slow but my job has always been payed as piecework anyways. I am ONE decent account away from being comfortable.
I hope you read fast? Sorry about the novel!
  

 

Thank you for the explanation.  We found the same to be true when we needed service on an appliance we got at Lowe's,  subcontracted to local outfits.