02-17-2015, 02:03 AM
In high school, my older brother owned a '68 Mustang with a 289 engine. It was pale yellow and the front passenger side floorboard was rusted completely through. There was hole the size of a basketball that you could watch the road pass under you. It smelled of gasoline and burnt oil. I thought it was the coolest car I had ever sat in. The smell, the shake, the rumble, all coming together to overwhelm my highly impressionable 14 year old senses. He eventually sold it but not before I was allowed to drive it. The seed was planted.
Fast forward to the 2005 International Auto Show. Up on a pedestal was the new Mustang GT. It stole the show for me. I left vowing to own that car one day. A few years later, I made it happen. I bought a used '05 GT convertible. It lacked the shake and the smell but every time I fired it up, that rumble brought back great memories and a smile to my face. I eventually traded it in for something more practical but am glad I had it for a few years. I got thumbs up and "nice car" comments routinely in the Mustang. Once, while stuck in downtown traffic with the top down, a woman in her late 20s/early 30s who was with her friend in a car ahead of me, got out and walked up to me, smiled and handed me a business card. I had no idea what to say (I have zero game plus I'm married - pure luck on my part). I smiled and took the card. She was the manager at a downtown gym. Either she was suggesting I needed to work out or she was flirting and wanted me to call her. The look on her face said it was the latter. Talk about an ego boost. I have no doubt the car contributed to that experience. I just don't think that would have happened if I had been stuck in traffic in a Ford Escape. I couldn't wait to get home and tell my wife about it. The novelty and excitement of the experience quickly dissolved when my wife asked me to go through it again and started asking for greater details. The robot in the back of my head started announcing, "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!" I survived and learned a valuable lesson - you don't have to share EVERYTHING that happens to you with your spouse, especially if it involves an unknown, attractive woman who owns a gym.
My experience with the CB lacks the thrill the Mustang brought on that one afternoon (so far). But the one time I rode with my wife to a nearby restaurant for lunch, a guy who appeared to be in his early 20s crossed the street and made a bee line to where my CB was parked on the side of the road. He took out his cell phone and snapped a couple photos of the CB. Within 15 minutes, another guy, although in his 40s, did the same. My boys, both in their early 20s, who have seen me on different kinds of bikes (cruiser, naked, sport, standard, sport-tourer), both agree that the CB is the "coolest" one I've owned. That includes the Monster Energy, special edition, lime green Kawasaki ZX6R that I had until it was stolen and my Anniversary Edition red, white and blue VFR800 that I still own.
Fast forward to the 2005 International Auto Show. Up on a pedestal was the new Mustang GT. It stole the show for me. I left vowing to own that car one day. A few years later, I made it happen. I bought a used '05 GT convertible. It lacked the shake and the smell but every time I fired it up, that rumble brought back great memories and a smile to my face. I eventually traded it in for something more practical but am glad I had it for a few years. I got thumbs up and "nice car" comments routinely in the Mustang. Once, while stuck in downtown traffic with the top down, a woman in her late 20s/early 30s who was with her friend in a car ahead of me, got out and walked up to me, smiled and handed me a business card. I had no idea what to say (I have zero game plus I'm married - pure luck on my part). I smiled and took the card. She was the manager at a downtown gym. Either she was suggesting I needed to work out or she was flirting and wanted me to call her. The look on her face said it was the latter. Talk about an ego boost. I have no doubt the car contributed to that experience. I just don't think that would have happened if I had been stuck in traffic in a Ford Escape. I couldn't wait to get home and tell my wife about it. The novelty and excitement of the experience quickly dissolved when my wife asked me to go through it again and started asking for greater details. The robot in the back of my head started announcing, "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!" I survived and learned a valuable lesson - you don't have to share EVERYTHING that happens to you with your spouse, especially if it involves an unknown, attractive woman who owns a gym.
My experience with the CB lacks the thrill the Mustang brought on that one afternoon (so far). But the one time I rode with my wife to a nearby restaurant for lunch, a guy who appeared to be in his early 20s crossed the street and made a bee line to where my CB was parked on the side of the road. He took out his cell phone and snapped a couple photos of the CB. Within 15 minutes, another guy, although in his 40s, did the same. My boys, both in their early 20s, who have seen me on different kinds of bikes (cruiser, naked, sport, standard, sport-tourer), both agree that the CB is the "coolest" one I've owned. That includes the Monster Energy, special edition, lime green Kawasaki ZX6R that I had until it was stolen and my Anniversary Edition red, white and blue VFR800 that I still own.