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Need your #Motorcycle serviced? We got your back!

Contact our dealership at 718-447-0020 to schedule a service appointment for your motorcycle. We can repair & perform routine maintenance on Indian, Victory, Harley Davidson, Kymco, Slingshot & Buell bikes. Our experienced technicians are standing by to answer any questions you may have about new or used motor cycle service. We look forward to seeing you at our Staten Island dealership soon! 

http://bit.ly/290BXfy

#StatenislandMotorcycleRepairShop #IndianMotorcyclesRepair #HarleyDavidson #NYCPolarisRepairShop #NYCHarleyRepairShops

Hillary doesn't want to remind women of Bill's indiscretions

It seems that every news channel is reporting on the Clinton video Donald Trump posted to his Instagram highlighting Bill's extra marital affairs and Hillary's efforts to destroy the women who Bill cheated on her with.

Recent polls show Trump and Clinton are in a dead heat with neither of them scoring high in the "like-ability" category.  So it seems that Americans are destined to have to vote for a President who few people like with their choice being someone who has done her best to discredit women or someone who has elevated women into positions of leadership within his multi-billion dollar company.

There is a media feeding frenzy regarding this Clinton video, and Hillary is panicking.  Why?  Because she doesn't want women who may not remember Bill's indiscretions, to be reminded of how she and Bill humiliated and ridiculed these women who were victimized by Bill.  The media will do their best to protect Hillary and Bill because they are part of the "Hollywood" scene.  But Trump supporters will do their best to send Hillary a message - "you're fired!"

 Visit my YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF62UfWLstaTWP_g28CxSHw

Estimating Expenses

Anything you do in your contractor or plumbing business that requires your time, you should be getting paid for it.  As I have mentioned in other blogs, I can’t tell you how many times I have gone out to give estimates and never charged people for gas or my time, because I thought I shouldn’t be charging them.  I’m here to tell you that is wrong.  You should have a profit, overhead, and business operating expenses in your jobs to allow for these activities.

Look at everything you do that you are not getting paid for and determine a percentage to make up for that, then add each percentage to each job that you do. When you go out to give a free estimate, it’s not free, you are just giving the illusion that it is free, but if they actually hire you – you will be charging them. Essentially you will need to get money from the people you are doing work for, to pay for the expenses for the jobs that you do not receive.

A lot of times contractors and plumbers put in a percentage. I charge 15 percent for operating overhead, and my profit was normally 10 percent.  So that’s 25 percent that I added onto a job, but I also did the research and knew this is what was needed. A lot of people are not going to be happy paying that. If that is the case you are going to need to get creative and divide that money up into other parts of the project.   The main thing is to get the money to make sure that you stay in business.

You have got to have the money to advertise, to pay for the gas it will cost to get you to your jobs, your papers to write on, and computers in your office.  Without this stuff you are not going to be able to run your contracting or plumbing business as effectively as you think you can. Figure out your number and implement it.

Check my blogs weekly at http://bit.ly/1TT6PyA, for more tips about contracting and plumbing.  

New Motorcyclist Safety Tips

So you think you want to be a motorcyclist? Today I’d like to cover some common mistakes that new riders will make when first begin their journey of being a biker. The first and biggest mistake new motorcyclist make is not inspecting the bike before each ride.  Readers, I cannot express to you enough how vitally important it is to inspect your motorcycle each and every time before you ride. Remember, you are not behind the safety of a 2500-pound vehicle. You are fully exposed, on an incredibly fast machine that weighs in the low hundreds.  

For your safety, first you will want to check the air tire pressure in your tires. If you look on your swing bar, it will usually show you the number the pressure should be.  Next you will want to make sure your oil levels are good. On my motorcycle there is a window on the lower part of my bike that I can easily check to see if the levels are where they should be, but every bike is different, so get familiar to where your components are.  

The next thing you want to do is to check and make sure your turn signals are working.  While you are in that area, check that your brake fluids are as they should be. You always want to check the floor for any oil leaks. If all is clear, now its time to start up your bike. You want to make sure that the operating temperature of your motorcycle is normal. When warmed up it should be about less than 200 degrees.

Now that your pre-checklist is complete its time to head onto the road. Contrary to what you may have heard, its not always best to ride full center in a lane, as that is where oil leakage from cars tends to be.  Oil slicks can mean life or death to a rider. So be sure to keep an eye out for those signs of oil and try to stay a little off center,

Checkout my blogs weekly at http://alexfiglioliajr.blogspot.com/ for more motorcycle riding tips.

Wounded Warrior Project: The Moral Obligation To Know Our Veterans

Today I want to tell you a simple story, it’s a story about citizenship, responsibility, and dare I say maybe even morality.  I have one of those jobs that require that I spend some time on airplanes. Not too long ago, I boarded a flight like I always do, took my seat, and as I was drifting off to sleep – the pilot came over the public address system.  Two young military soldiers had boarded the airplane and took seats just a few rows in front of me, and the pilot asked everyone on the plane to thank them and acknowledge their service to this country.  There was a polite round of applause on the airplane, and those close enough to reach the two young men gave them a handshake and a pat on the back. I couldn’t help but notice as this was going on that the woman next to me was making a particular show of her support. So much so that I began to wonder was this as much about her as it was those two military soldiers.

So I decided to engage the woman. I explained to her my love of the military, and the many charities I produce for the Wounded Warrior Project, and with that she was hooked. I got her.  One of the first things she said to me was that whenever she’s in an airport and would see a military soldier, she would thank them for their service.  I thanked her for her kind gesture and shifted the conversation a little bit to some of the challenges that are facing particularly this generation of military veterans. I told her for example that many of this generation veterans have struggled vitally to find jobs when they come home and leave service, and how some of those struggles are a function of the fact that many of these young men who have served over the last decade are leaving military service with disabilities at a rate unprecedented in U.S. history. Studies have shown that 30% of them will live out there lives with disabilities connected with their service.  I explained to her that this was the reason that I am so dedicated to supporting the Wounded Warrior Project, because they support our veterans to the highest degree.

I’m a proud to say, that woman is not only one of my friends now – she’s one of my biggest donors when I host Wounded Warrior Project events.

Support the Wounded Warriors Project at  http://bit.ly/1RdM5AN

How do you think Donald Trump would feel about this video?

How do you think Donald Trump would feel about this video? 

This video contains information regarding how Hillary and Bill Clinton tried (and sometimes succeeded) to destroy the lives of women for their own benefit.

#DropOutHillary #Donaldtrump #monicalewinsky #womensrights #GOP

Basic Boat tips: Launching your Vessel

Last week I took you through the beginning stages of preparing your boat for launch. You prepared your boat in the staging area, went through your checklist, and now you are at the launch ramp ready to go. So with your truck still in the staging area, you are now at the ramp for a pre ramp inspection. What I’m concerned with here is how steep the ramp is, how far I am going to have to back my trailer in, and how far back the ramp goes. We want to be sure that we don’t back our trailer off the edge of the ramp, also whether or not the ramp is coated with algae or not.

So now we’ve completed our pre launch check inspection, and it’s our turn to launch. For those of you that are just learning the skill of backing down, it’s advisable that you back in nice and slow. That way if you get off course a little bit, it will be easy for you to make a correction.  Now we are going to back the boat in just far enough that we can go ahead and get the engine started to make sure it is going to run before we actually take the boat off of the trailer. So now we are partially in the water and begin to put the engine down. I also have my safety lanyard attached, this is a cut-off switch, or a kill switch, that is there incase you are thrown or accidentally fall from the boat, the strap attached to the ignition switch will kill the engine to stop the boat.

So now the boat is fired up, everything is looking good. We are now going to back the trailer in just far enough so that the boat begins to float. I will now put my vehicle into park, emergency break is activated, and I can now move back in. We are going to undue the safety chain at the bow of the boat, take light pressure off the winch, and release the winch lock. Because the boat is floating it’s going to fall away a little bit, and that is normal.  The boat is fully in the water and it is now time to undue the safety hook.  At this point you should be able to back off with a little bit of reverse throttle, and have fully completed your launch sequence.

This concludes my boating tips for the week. Check http://alexfiglioliajr.blogspot.com/ next week for more tips on boating.