Zen and the Art of Procuring Motorcycles

It appears as though we might have procured ourselves a motorcycle. Procure is both an English and Portuguese verb so I am going to use it if I can get twice as much bang for my buck. Getting the motorcycle was no small task. There is paperwork required on Josh's end, that he did not have, and papers that the owner should have had, that he did not. Finding used motorcycles are not easy either, although easier than finding a car. There are not classified ads here so you know if something is for sale if you hear about from someone else or you see a for sale sign. Josh often went to look at a motorcycle he heard was for sale only to find out it was not or already sold. One time we went to check out a motorcycle which was supposed to be in great condition, only to find it in a million parts. Apparently there was a peculiar knocking that required investigation. Motorcycles are like mirages, Josh said, just as soon as he got close enough to a bike to take it for a test ride, it would just disappear. One time Josh took his language helper with him to look at a bike. His language helper is really intelligent and works hard at his English but he is not fluent. While looking over a bike, Josh asks this language helper to ask the owner if the bike had ever been raced. Racing is kinda common here and it would obviously devalue the bike. Without asking the owner, Betu answers "No." Knowing that there was no way Betu would know that Josh presses him to aks the owner, which Betu does and again tells Josh, "No, the bike has not been erased." Good! Because we were really concerned that some of the decals might have been changed around. So after almost a month of searching we are proud owners of our fisrt vehicle. I just can't drive it. Yet.