Regrets

[fredintoon]

A recent post got me thinking, of all the bikes I have owned over the years, which of them were just bikes to be used and then sold on and which of them do I really regret not keeping?
Here's my top five list. It might date me.
1937 KSS Velocette. Swapped it for a James 2-stroke, how stupid can you get?
1952 Triumph sprung hub Thunderbird. Swapped it for a 350 Jawa. This is the odd pair, I regret the T-Bird but I also regret the Jawa which I would never owned except for the swap.
1974 BMW R90. The rubber cow. WTF, did it go! Sold to pay my daughter's tuition fees. Then she dropped out. I have since forgiven her but I will never let her forget.
1972 Suzuki Water Buffalo. Sold as part of a long-distance move. At least it went to a collector to round out his set of Suzi 2-strokers rather than to some clown to make a chopper out of it.
That last forced sale was back in 1993, since then I ain't sold nothin'!
I am sure others will have their own regrets lists. Go on, pour your hearts out; misery loves company.

[slow mo]

hey fred!

in the words of Forrest gump ;;sum days there aren,t enough rocks;; referring to frustration over the past when you can,t find another rock to throw!! merry Christmas,, ride safe ,slow mo!!

[cywelchjr]

I have two regrets.

First is that I sold my 75 Honda CL360 way back in the day. Had many fun times on that bike, and wish I still had it around to throw it around on the less traveled roads, the old scramblers were kind of the dual sports on the late 60's early 70's.

Second was parking my 80 XS400 in the park and ride when I had to work all night. Came back the next morning and she was gone.

Oh, a third, was not listening to my wife when she said "that sounds like your bike starting out there" one night. She was right, some idiot stole it right out of the parking lot behind our apartment. Maybe if I had gone out I might have scared them off. The bike was never the same after (it was recovered 3 year later when the fool tried to register it, this is the same bike that was stolen from the park and ride later, and also recovered 3 year later).

[1st bike]

The bike was never the same after (it was recovered 3 year later when the fool tried to register it, this is the same bike that was stolen from the park and ride later, and also recovered 3 year later).

might not have ever been the same, but it wanted to be with you....3 years and you found it? TWICE???? that is unreal. and while i am going to say that i am not going to sell my xs now, i know things change, and while it is my first bike, i am having fun and learning and that is something i don't want to sell or get rid of, but life seems to have a way of convincing you otherwise when it wants to...so for now, i won't have any regrets cause i'm not selling it...but who knows?

[DGXSER]

The list I could give here. I regret letting my first CB750 Custom go due to a foolish friendship. Bought the bike in 1987 it had 4600 miles on it, always garage kept and covered, not a scratch that I could find on it let alone a rust spot. Then one day a "friend" and I went for a ride and he got off and promptly sold some substances to a fellow and got back on. Turned out to be an undercover he sold to so they took my bike. (And you wonder why I get touchy about the substance issue.).

Which was why I bought the second CB750 Custom and wound up trading my XS750 for a couple parts to fix it.

I deeply regret selling my 70 F250 due to getting married and the apartment complex we moved into had a rule against vehicles with rust on them. Talk about a marriage tester. I have almost forgiven her after 18 years.

I regret not buying a 70 Boss 302 Mustang a buddy was selling or the 73 Road Runner my brother brought back from California. Or the 67 Chevelle SS with a 327 in it, or........that list could get VERY long.

And I deeply regret buying a 78 Dodge truck instead of the Roadrunner (and every other Chrysler product I have ever owned!)

Now I'm gonna go get a drink!!!

[Larrym]

Dumb and Dumber(er)....

Right out of high school I bought a pair of 1970 Honda CB 450's. one bike had been garage kept but laid down a number of times and then finally crashed. The other bike had always been stored outside but never properly maintained . Neither bike ran when I got them . After a few weekends of swapping the best parts to the best frame I ended up with one good runner and a donor bike .

After one good season I moved into a house where I had roommates . The house had a garage. I mothballed both bikes and stored them inside for the winter along with my 1969 RS Camaro. It snowed a week after I did this and the entire front of the garage was buried by a giant snowdrift . This was Illinois and with winter being winter, that snowdrift stayed there until spring. I wasn't concerned about this at all.

What I didn't know at the time was that one of my roommates had opened the garage door the night of the snowstorm . Some of the door's tracks/rollers had broken so he was unable to close the door . Both bikes and the entire rear of my Camaro were buried underneath that giant snowdrift for over three months .

I came home from work one day and saw that the snowdrift had melted down far enough for me to see that something wasn't quite right.

The snowdrift had covered the entire back half of my Camaro along with both bikes . Both were absolutely unrecoverable. It was almost like each one had been thrown into a swimming pool . Somehow being under that snowdrift had accelerated the rusting process as well . The same thing happened to the back end of my car.

I confronted my roommates and one of them admitted to being the one who had opened the door . He told me that he simply "forgot " to tell me about it . I myself have forgotten things and so I "understood" it at the time that he made an honest mistake . No hard feelings even though both bikes were a total loss and I had to sell the Camaro dirt cheap .

Years later that very same roommate was arrested, charged, convicted, And sentenced to prison for smuggling marijuana across the state lines. The thing is I didn't know it at the time of the garage door incident, but the guy was a real pothead . Other people told me that he was not just a "Stoner " but that he was stoned/baked all the time . I never found this out because I never hung out with him but instead worked at my "second shift" job. it is no surprise that he "forgot" to tell me when I take his "usage" into consideration .

My biggest regret is that I accepted his "explanation" and treated it as a harmless mistake instead of kicking his @$$.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

I regret to inform you that if I told you about HALF of my regrets I'd probably have to kill you!

I regret destroying my 71 Chevelle,

I regret SELLING my 78 Omega,

I regret selling my 78 CX500 custom even though it would barely do 90mph downhill with the wind. It was a beautiful bike and the person I sold it to destroyed it in less than 3 months.

I regret divorcing my first wife. (she's pretty damned rich now)

The rest of my regrets refer to the first sentence.

[Larrym]

Impeller Envy

1972 Suzuki Water Buffalo. Sold as part of a long-distance move. At least it went to a collector to round out his set of Suzi 2-strokers rather than to some clown to make a chopper out of it.

I always wanted one of those!

(At the time I was riding the Kawasaki 500 triple in 100 degree plus heat in city traffic. Yup! It eventually got hot enough to seize up twice...)

[DiverRay]

Selling my 66 442 convertible to a "friend" for $1000.00, and him taking it to AAmco and having them keep it for money owed!
Selling my first XS1100 to support my Jensen Healey.
Not working through problems with my ex-wife.
A few more, but I'll keep them to myself, as the thought police may get me!

[1st bike]

i had an old jeep cherokee larado. i loved that thing. the shocks were shot and the brakes were gone, and that was before i figured out that i could fix those things myself and it wouldn't have cost me a fortune! i sold it and bought an explorer....so not the same. i miss that jeep! and i have some regrets not to be posted here as well, but that is how you learn, right?

[DenyP]

Parting with my Toys - I regret and grieve for each and every one! There was a good reason each time. Funny as time passes those reasons seem to loose their significants. I am KEEPING my old Yamahas and will add more to the stable!

Deny

[Rasputin]

I miss my old 1971 HS1 90cc twin Yamaha. I really miss my old DS7 250cc twin Yamaha. I would kill to have my old 1968 Shelby GT-500KR Mustang back. Sold that when times were hard for 7000 bucks. The guy who bought it from me had it featured in "Fabulous Mustangs and Other Exotic Fords" magazine. Last I heard of it, it was for sale for almost 200,000 bucks. Some days you just want to hang your head in remorse.

[Montreux_Blue]

I would kill to have my old 1968 Shelby GT-500KR Mustang back. Sold that when times were hard for 7000 bucks.

Like a quote from the movie Old School, your crazy man, I like you but your crazy.....

[Rasputin]

It looked just like that but was bright yellow. The fellow who bought it off me in mid to late 1980's sent me copies of the mag. Dummy me, I still have the magazines but not the car.

[xs11jack]

I can't

tell you all the bike and car regrets, I'd start crying and go get drunk for a week.
Jack