I'm almost embarrassed to add to this thread after seeing some of the iconic vehicles some of you guys owned. but here goes:
Honda CB125N, quite boring but managed to fall off it just outside an RAF base on my way to the Farnborough Airshow. Still have fused thumb thanks to that accident.
Yamaha RD350LC, now that is iconic, a two stroke hand grenade of a bike. It nearly killed me several times, most notably when it blew a tyre just on the M6 motorway at about 85 mph just outside Walsall in England. I also dropped in Kent (on oil) near Brands Hatch racetrack and only for the quick reactions of a car driver did I not end up as a raspberry smear somewhere in England. There is a theme here, I should stay the hell out of Britain on a motorcycle.
Yamaha DT175, a trail bike. I bought this when the RD was stolen. The Elsie (LC) was the most popular bike for armed robbers in Ireland at one stage. It was also the favoured mount of gangland assassins. I hated the DT. Eventually the police, the Garda recovered the RD350. I was brought to headquarters to identify it. While I was there the detectives pointed out a car in the pound with bullet holes in the windscreen. One of their colleagues had been cut down by an IRA Ak47 in that car. I felt sick.
The RD was stolen again and used to rob a pub, then abandoned and recovered. Seriously if my bike was a human it would be doing life without parole by now.
In the end it expired but by then I'd bought my sister's little black Mini, no not a skirt but her car a 1980 model. Now there's an iconic vehicle. Tiny but gutsy. But it was old, first thing to go wrong was the brakes, luckily the car I hit was almost as in a bad condition as my car. So neither of us could figure out where the new damage had happened. Then the clutch went, followed by the engine mounts which caused the exhaust to crack. Then the steering went, yes that's right the steering column snapped. Finally the radiator started to leak so I had to carry water with me on every trip. Finally I sold it to a sixteen year old kid who wanted to restore it. Trouble is he didn't want his Mother to know so he left it outside my house. But his Mother was friends with my Mother and she found out. I was haunted by that car.
Next car was a Suzuki Swift, called something like the Omni or Geo in the US. Three cylinder thing made of paper I reckon. I bought it off my brother. He's an aircraft Engineer (mechanic in the US). It suffered from carburettor icing. Ten miles down the road it would cough, cough splutter. So you pulled over and waited for the ice to melt. Mad, absolutely mad. It's radio was LM. All I could could pick up was some German radio stations. Hey I quite like oompah music and I was kept up to date im de schneefall in dem Herz.
Eventually a moron, slammed into me in a van while I was sitting at a red light behind another car. Both front and rear were totalled. Although it was driveable. But when it came to the insurance claim he made up a story about me causing the whole accident. I was screwed by his insurance company and my own lawyers.
I traded the wreck for a brand new Fiat Punto.......................d on't buy a Fiat. The exhaust fell off and it blew the head gasket.
Got rid of it and bought a VW golf off a friend. That went well for a few years but after three gearbox failures my illusions are shattered. I did like the Golf though. But it had to go.
Now I actually don't own a car any more. My wife owns both of them but she lets me drive the Mazda 6. But my car woes continue. Only the other day, I was sailing down the exit lane when a Mercedes pulled out in front of me, whack! To be fair he took full responsibility and paid cash up front to fix it, which my wife took to Milan. Yes Milan, Italy. One pair of shoes I reckon. I'm thinking I should give up on cars and bikes.
Also it must be said I owned a share in two aeroplanes or airplanes as they were American. One was written off twice the other is scrap right now and I never flew it..
I think I should stay away from mechanically propelled vehicles.
