FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I remember when the first MV Agusta F4 came out. A buddy of mine and I went to the Art of the Motorcycle Exhibit in Chicago. I spent the first hour drooling over the Oro that they had on display at the beginning of the show. I had never seen such a melding of technology and art – and I wanted one. Badly. Alas, even though I was single with not a lot of financial responsibility, I could not pony up the money for the top of the line MV. I could, however, swing what they wanted for the more pedestrian, non Oro version. Now all I had to do was find one. A call to Ferracci yielded the information I was looking for; all the bikes they had coming in were spoken for. Then, in a conversation I happened to be having with Andrew Wright concerning some Dymag wheels, he mentioned he was going to be importing some grey market MV’s and converting them for the US market. I thought my prayers had been answered! All he needed was a $500 deposit to hold one for me. I think my credit card actually left skid marks as it cleared my wallet. And to top it all off he was expecting them in “any day now.” Andrew even told me he would put me up at his home when I drove to GA from PA to pick up the bike. He wanted to make sure I had a place to stay for a day while they helped me get the bike set up. Wow, this guy seemed to be the real deal. 7 months and a lot of phone calls later, the bikes were still due in “any day now.” Having had enough of the wait I asked for my deposit back. No dice. The deposit was non refundable for a bike that probably was never going to show up. Thank you and have a nice day. A year later I happened upon Mr. Wright at the motorcycle show in Philadelphia. I made a point of squeezing his hand extra hard when I introduced myself to him. The look of discomfort on his face was very apparent. I actually think at one point he was looking around the booth for something to use to defend himself. I, of course, just reminded him of our little transaction and the fact that all things come around in due time. This is your time Mr. Wright. It’s not often in life you actually get to see the people who wronged you get what they have coming to them. I feel fortunate to have a front row seat for this one. Wherever you are Andrew, when they find you, I hope they forget to confiscate your shoe laces when they throw you in lock up. Cheers Mate! Dutch MacKenzie Lancaster, Pennsylvania FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I knew of the wonderful Mr. Wright from the sour deals that he did when selling Dymags, then got to see him again when they brought the Benelli in back in ’04 I believe and Tom Hicks was going to be a dealer for them. Well, they had this open house at Tom’s shop in Brea (California) and as it usually turns out for Tom it was a dark ‘n’ dreary day with rain abound and here we show up only to find the ever enchanting and elusive Mr. Wright purveying the Benellis. The super-duper $30k model was under spotlights in the showroom yet the model that was the more cheap ‘n’ cheerful version that I learned was also the bike that was to be shown to CARB, the Califoria Air Resources Board, on Monday so that they could bring it into California if it passed. Well, they’re letting every dick ‘n’ his brother ride the bloody thing in the on-and-off pissing rain, and after someone came into the parking lot and nearly lost the front end and wadded up the bike, I commented to the font of knowledge Mr. Wright that surely it wasn’t a good idea to let demos be done seeing this was the only running example in the USA and that fact it was raining plus the fact it was going to CARB on Monday! They stopped riding the bike but were anxiously trying to lean it out big-time thinking it would pass but alas it didn’t and the rest is history! And the ever-elusive Mr. Wright or Mr. Wrong however you want to look at it crawled back under the rock from whence he came! It’s a pretty small world to be sh-tting in your own bed as the fact you’re incontinent spreds like wildfire! Grant Hellinger Costa Mesa, California