One of those people is David Bogner. His forum handle is Treppenwitz.
David has a blog where he writes about life in Israel. David is also a very frequent poster on the Modern Vespa forum.
Not long ago, David was at his Vespa dealer having his bike serviced when he came across some roll-up stowaway saddlebags.
He mentioned them on the forum. A number of forum members were interested in them and asked where they could order them online.
I'll let David tell the story of what ensued.
"I frequent a forum of people who share my interest in scootering and Vespas. We don't all agree on anything, but our interests overlap to the extent that we find it rewarding to continue exchanging thoughts, ideas and humor.David is too modest.
I stumbled on a locally made product in an Israeli scooter shop and was so pleased with it that I naturally shared a picture and description of it on the forum.
Several people asked where they could get one so I went and asked the shop if the supplier had a web site. They didn't.
In the meantime even more people commented on the thread that they would love to get a set, and even more PMed me for supplier info.
Once I realized that it was a local product with no international distribution, the next step was obviously to work out the economics (including the pain in the ass factor) of doing a bulk buy and sending them out to whoever wanted them.
In the end it really wasn't that big a PITA. It cluttered up our dining room table for a couple of days and made a few people in the local post office roll their eyes and look at their watches.
But it benefited the local scooter shop, the manufacturer and the MV members who wanted the bags.
And MV as a community benefited because others will (hopefully) step up and do similar good deeds (on an individual or group level) to help one another source local products now that it doesn't seem like such a crazy thing.
Lastly, I benefited.... because it felt really good. I meant what I said earlier in the thread: The nicest thing in the world you can do for anybody is to let them help you."
He purchased, and shipped no less than 68 sets of saddlebags, to MVers all over the world.
I didn't want to bother David to purchase saddlebags for me because I didn't think I really needed them.
Then a funny thing happened.
Bob called me to suggest that I join him, and a number of other moto bloggers, for a grand tour of the Maritimes next summer. Wow! What an invitation!
"OMG!! I need saddlebags!!!!"
I was late to the party. I sent a sheepish private message to David, knowing that he had already gone way, way, way above and beyond the call of duty. I was in no rush for them, and that was the consolation. David could wait as long as he wanted before buying and sending me the saddlebags. I was just hoping that he could squeeze in one more order.
In no time I got a reply from David. "You're in luck..." he wrote. Within minutes I dug up my PayPal account and sent him the money for the cost of the saddlebags and shipping, reminding him that there was no rush.
To make matters worse, for David (if that's possible, because he, like many of his countrymen, was already dodging rockets from the Gaza Strip), he had a bad encounter with a large diesel spill on his commute and sprained his knee in a slow motion crash as he valiantly tried to keep his Vespa upright. You can read David's unflinching account of his accident here.
I messaged David to encourage him to take it easy and not to ship the saddlebags until he recovered from his injury. Not surprisingly, David lost no time shipping those bags to me.
I received them on Friday of last week.
Naturally I hauled my Vespa out its hibernation deep in the recesses of the garage and put the saddlebags on.
Before I put the bags on the scooter, I rummaged through my dresser and closet and stuffed into them what seemed to me to be enough clothing for a five to six day road trip.
There was room to spare. Oh... and no, the Teddy Bear is not a necessary travel companion. He'll stay comfy on our bed for the foreseeable future.
I still need to figure a few things out to make the best use of the saddlebags. The fact is, David has made a huge contribution to what I am sure is set to be the adventure of a lifetime.
Thank you David.
I owe you. Truly I do.