Reassessing at the beginning of what was clearly going to be the “new normal” back in March 2020, I realized I needed a way to supplement my income. Film and TV production was coming to a halt or, at the very least, cutting way back and work would be scarce. Somehow, I had to get on with life and finding a reliable income was paramount.

Curiously, many of the original adventure motorcyclists, most notably Chris Scott, made their livings as motorcycle couriers. In my search for a job, I found out about the food delivery companies such as DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, etc. One of the many reasons they’re unique, if not ideal, is the flexible scheduling; you log in and work when YOU want and stop when YOU want. This made it super easy to accommodate auditions in LA, or anything that required an interruption.

Since couriering is independent contractor work, you get a 1099 at the end of the year. You are paid weekly, with earnings being deposited into your bank account every Tuesday. I have both DoorDash and Postmates apps but tend to favor DoorDash.

When I first started, I used a Moto Guzzi V7 Stone with 30-liter, oval-shaped, hard plastic panniers as well as a 70-liter dry bag that could barely accommodate an 18-in. pizza. Any bigger and I’d have to un-assign from the delivery. By the way, pizza deliveries aren’t that often but when I do have them, the pies are usually 16 in. or smaller, fitting nicely into the dry bag.

In the early days, this seemed to work okay but there was the occasional drink spill. The panniers should have flat bottoms, but they didn’t. A workable hack was to use restaurant-provided drink holders. As insurance, I also used wedging material to secure the drinks within the pannier along with interior elastic straps.

The benefits of using a motorcycle vs. a car should be obvious. One aspect is parking. More so at delivery locations where the residential streets are crammed and there never seems to be space available. I’d usually find somewhere to squeeze the Guzzi between cars, or park out of the way on wide pedestrian sidewalks, for the quick final steps when delivering to apartments.

Another huge benefit to motorcycling is filtering through traffic, especially here in California where lane-splitting is legal.

However, using the Guzzi over a couple of months, I noticed that my left hand would oscillate from being numb to being tingly due to all the heavy clutch use. At first, I thought I could endure it until I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with an ache. I figure I was clocking about 200–300 clutch actuations per day. I also wasn’t satisfied with the pannier set-up. They weren’t tall enough to handle some of the restaurant packaging. Issues like these had me nosing around for alternatives.

Enter the Zero DSR with the Givi Monokey Trekker panniers. Among the many benefits of an all-electric motorcycle was no more clutch!

The gig was getting serious thanks to the income I was making, and I’d be able to write off the new bike. As far as the pannier choices, I combined the two sizes Givis come in, the smaller 33-liter on the left side for overflow and the 46-liter on the right, which was the go-to case. Not only were their bottoms flat, but they were also taller, easier and quicker to operate and clean, and they would accommodate taller bags. And I still had the 70-liter dry bag for heavy loads and large pizzas.

Since this type of motorcycle courier gig runs off a phone app, it’s a necessity to use motorcycle gloves that allow typing on smartphone screens. What I found to work well are the REV’IT! Fly 3 gloves. They offer great protection and dexterity, too. I acquired them in March 2020 and they’re still in use with no tears, rips or unraveling of stitches, and work great with smartphone screens. Also through the smartphone I use a SENA communication system to alert me when there’s a new dashing assignment, as well as the all-important navigation.

So far I’ve delivered 2,800 meals!

Using the Zero DSR allows me to charge the bike at home while on break between mealtime rushes. Typically, I start dashing from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., come home and plug into a Level 2 charger that is hooked up to the clothes dryer outlet with 220 volts at 23 amps, and that tops off the Zero DSR from 50% battery to full in about 65 minutes. This then gives another 95-ish miles in the city to handle the lunch hour rush from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., after which I return home and repeat at about 4:00 p.m. until it gets dark.

Calculating the dashing data on the phone app, I usually earn between $33–$36/hr. The key to these earnings is the inherent efficiency and economy of using a motorcycle, especially an electric model. Plus, I have to admit that it’s fun to zip around town getting to know and help the owners/employees of my city’s restaurants that are trying to survive in these CV-19 times. Also note that you’re appreciated because you are their link in getting their product to their customers.

If you’re looking at a side gig and live in a city, look into motorcycle food delivery. Once you get accustomed to the protocols, it becomes second nature and a fun thing to do while earning decent dough.