milan ramaiya wrote:
Ha! Yeah, I know the drill. I bought my first motorcycle a few years
ago. The guy said "It's runs great; I'm getting rid of it to get a
bigger bike. This would be an excellent first bike." That translated
to: "I'm an auctioneer, I've never ridden or worked on a bike in my
life, but I'm going to get under this and try to 'fix' it. It only runs
on two out of four cylinders, and has been completely patched with all
kinds of different parts." The mechanic's exact words we "Cut your
losses and sell it, this is worthless."

I had a similar experience except in my case I traded an amplifier for
the bike. I got revenge by encouraging the trader to overload the amp
and blow it


Which is why I'm definitely taking my time and figuring things out
first.

Smart move.

BTW a forum where sailing cruisers are more common is
"rec.boats.cruising" which I assume you can get to if you can get here.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King