Shady. Willing to be paid in strange currencies deposited in overseas banks. Likely to have tax troubles one day. Knows how to buy a plane ticket using cash. Strong opinions on Krugerrand valuation. Owns a motorcycle without an odometer. Bought a house with a series of 9,999$ travelers checks. More likely to install a Kim Dotcom-type panic room than run for public office.
> Willing to be paid in strange currencies deposited in overseas banks.
I'd need a more concrete definition for 'strange currencies', but discriminatory behaviour shouldn't be applied to anyone that has an account overseas, especially in the age of global banking & cross-border payments.
> Likely to have tax troubles one day.
On the one hand, this will definitely happen: Internationally-acquired income often subsequently leads to poor tax handling, especially if the individual involved is unfamiliar with the intricacies of filing taxes for such sources of income.
However, it is also a consequence of overlapping jurisdictions & law enforcement, with unified, clear & unambiguous definitions being the exception rather than the norm.
> Knows how to buy a plane ticket using cash.
Why is using cash a problematic behaviour now? Just because I still use cash doesn't mean that I should be classified as 'shady'.
> Strong opinions on Krugerrand valuation.
Tried to search this & only found references to the gold coin with the same name. As similarly stated beforehand, why is being a goldbug now 'shady'?
> Owns a motorcycle without an odometer.
...I can see why: An odometer, coupled with the motorcycle's purchase histories, is a good way of finding out the roads that a person used to travel on with some reliability.
> Bought a house with a series of 9,999$ travelers checks.
Same as the plane ticket: The large denomination will raise eyebrows, but it shouldn't be used as a marker for discrimination.
> More likely to install a Kim Dotcom-type panic room than run for public office.
...This is similar to the odometer-less motorcycle: The individual wanting to install a panic room is likely someone that's thinking about worst case scenarios, & planning with that in mind.
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All of the listed "shady" traits stem from a core: Paranoia, specifically paranoia of a malicious State. More generally, it's the fear that the State will use the information it gathered about a person for unwarranted surveillance & eventually prosecution over the slightest infractions.
In earnest: Why is paranoia suddenly a "shady" thing?
A bike without an odometer is "true mileage unknown" (TMU) which makes selling/insuring/valuing it somewhat difficult. On a custom chopper that is normal. Many choppers don't even have speedometers. But on a normal bike missing such instruments is seen as a red flag that the bike is stolen and/or made from stolen parts.
odometer value is easily modified, even with digital ones. Even then, it is often not accurate at all, especially on motorcycles, due to the fact that it is usually driven by a cable attached to the front wheel (just disconnect the cable and number never goes up).
Maybe in the 1980s. On a modern bike it is integrated into the transmission, usually on the drive sprocket. And then the signal is used in slightly different ways, with the odometer being accurate and the speedometer generally reading a few % higher than the actual speed. Some bikes may also use it for electronic engine/emission controls too.
Not all bikes. 2023 DRZ 400sm still has a cable (they haven't modified the design in years). Most scooters/motorbikes are cables too.
Even still, it is easily hacked on almost any vehicle (Tesla is a great example of a connected car making it much harder) and there is plenty of YT all about it...
The same reason your cell phone fell out of your pocket in the driveway before the trip. So that it never happened.
I think this is easier with bikes because there's more repair culture and more off-roading. Off-road bikes generally have all non-essentials stripped and left in a box, blinkers, odometer, fancy fenders...