I really want a Ducati Scrambler. I don’t ride, nor do I have my motorcycle license. I’m not going to get one but I really would like one. This is a prime example of one of my favorite not-a-car vehicles. Others include a Polaris RZR, the 1937 motor yacht Aphrodite, and the A10 Tank Killer.
Yes, I really ramped things up there.
What’s your favorite not-a-car?
Hooniverse Asks: What's your favorite not-a-car- vehicle?
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49 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What's your favorite not-a-car- vehicle?”
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One that I hope to get another of in the next 5 years, a PWC/Waverunner/Jet Ski. Had a old Yamaha Waverunner III a few years ago, but sold it when I got married and quit going to the lake. Bought an old Polaris SL1050, ex-racing ski about a year ago. Rode it one time, it was fast enough to scare me and sat really low in the water. Managed to roll it, ingest water in the engine, and now it is junk. Would like to get one of the newer more stable 3 seaters.
I’m oddly fascinated with the JCB HMEE, a backhoe with a 50+mph top speed and a fully active suspension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYYXayhxHE
Designed for the military, the idea being that it can keep up with road convoys and doesn’t require a trailer to move. -
A good friend of mine owns a Cessna Citation and flies me and our motorcycle riding buddies to museums like the Barber museum in Birmingham. It takes an hour from mid-continent to Alabama! It has so spoiled me for commercial flying. Drive up to the plane, give your car keys to the tarmac attendant, get on the plane. Makes you feel like a rock star. So I’ll have to say that after cars and motorcycles private jets are next on my list of favorite vehicles.
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It’s been my experience that a well set up fast snowmobile is about as much fun as one can have. Give me a couple hundred H.P. of two stroke screaming sled and I’m a pretty happy human.
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3 cylinder snowmobile motor is the epitome of the 2-stroke experience. Awesome!
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Oh man, give me an srx or xcr at full song because there is no better noise produced by an internal combustion engine.
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I still want an ’80s telescopic strut Yamaha sled, like a Phazer, SRV, or VMax 540.
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We always called them pogo sticks…
I did grow up riding on a Yamaha XL-V
So I also harbour a soft spot for phazers, exciters, but not as much as a wedge chassis Polaris…I miss my Fuji 580 powered xlt often.
Sleds make me feel old, even though I assure you I’m not. I just obsessed on them when I was a child and now haven’t followed the industry in years. -
Want to feel really jealous? In my shed, under cover, is my 1993 XLT Special that I bought brand new, and now has a mere 3000 miles on it and still looks factory fresh. Want to feel really, really jealous? I also have the matching leathers, helmet, and gloves (although they are all far, far from factory fresh)
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Banana buggies. I need at least four of them.
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You win! 🙂
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So what’s stopping you? 😉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5eX-bvFKuw
Sherp ATV
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7f2b91257755743782012c104d1a54073151c1752a0a97f36e034e6071e2010.jpg
One job. No compromises. Gotta admire that.
I have been totally enarmoured with hydrofoils for a while. Speed, efficiency, and often space age inspired designs go together very well in my mind. Here’s the famous Meteor from St. Petersburg:
https://sjubbdubb.kinja.com/st-petersburgs-outrageously-beautiful-meteor-hydrofoil-1742088300
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–JWxC0dyA–/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/1515544570930076845.jpg
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–YW_XGuT8–/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1515544571058550189.jpg
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–HJdhvIvW–/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1515544571486220973.jpg
I still carry a torch for the BMW R1200RT. I’ve ridden a 2015 and it was magic, easily able to hang with the Ducati demo group and with as much comfort as I need for long distance runs. An added plus for me is that it escapes the 2 wheeled M3 douche stigma that afflicts the R1200GS.
http://www.bikesrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/BMW-R1200RT-29.jpg
The sound of which hundreds of blues and rock & roll riffs have conjured.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4d43d49e9bc2cc1eb7f3def8d24b4ad00aadb35b1e4b24ff93f8970680ab2631.jpg
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Silver Streak …….
I still think the SAAB 401 hovercraft would be fun. At this point it appears to have been sitting for several years but I’m used to that in a vehicle.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bda65f14dba029d74a0ec670cfbb22f6d7642a305dc1ba91f2bcef38dad6fcb7.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e7e0b13554f5f7edebd7d96bc895a0c5b1d9f2836ebdc98747b81a4b16aea096.png
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The museum for odd ideas that did not work that well.
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That reminds me: On Monday I acquired an EV Global Mini-E-Bike, the folding version of Lee Iacocca’s attempt to enter the electric-assist bicycle market about twenty years ago. His name is proudly emblazoned on one side. Here’s the man himself with a yellow example; mine’s red:
http://electrifyingtimes.com/iacocca_e-bike.jpg-
Now that is a relic , way cool.
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The commuter train. Get on, read the paper (that’s what we use to do before we got a smart phone) take a quick nap.
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Word, I had my two little boys and we’d get on the LIRR from Bayside in Queens to Penn Station. It was wonderful. Safe. Comfortable. Quiet. Excellent choice.
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Unfortunately for me it was BART to San Francisco, but compared to driving it was cheaper, faster and easier.
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Occasionally, if I have to attend a press event in San Diego, I’ll opt to ride the Amtrak down instead of driving. The route runs along the coast and, if you’re in the business class section which doesn’t cost much, you get a glass of wine.
You also have WiFi so you can get work done if you need to do that.
I really like retro British and Japanese motorcycles. In the ilk of an old Triumph or UJM. So I bought one. A Suzuki TU250X. And because everyone said it was a wimpy little thing only useful for the city I rode it on an epic 4,500km road trip. I’ve since ridden in snow, rain and hail. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/91eee9f49a32babcb85883c95f7627e7da110dcac33c2f695bc2e3bfae89036b.jpg
Ok maybe is not sporty and fast but think about how many things you can do with this machine.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5813c3104a1769f393e79f4e5255d7875c8ee872572b87e0e1ba5744170456fa.jpg
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I would take it to Discount Tire and ask for a free pressure check. Repeat that every day.
Since Mr. Glucker brought the A10 into the discussion…I’d have a hard time not throwing in a mention of one of these. So many superlatives, so far ahead of its time. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RUdiTXR_G1o/TfCqS8kSBmI/AAAAAAAAD1g/MPUcGnogLE4/s1600/sr-71.jpg
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Me as well. As an aside, did you know the Flight Manual is online in PDF? What a read…
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Thanks, you’ve just stolen tens of hours of my life. Would you happen to know if there is a maintenance guide available, too?
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Stolen? Blessed. …no I don’t . Seriously, I would appreciate reading about maintenance more than being the pilot . It’s just me. Balls in your court. If you can come up with anything…otherwise It is a wonderful read, ain’t it ?
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I skimmed through it for couple of minutes, dang how much could go wrong..
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I did not! I’ll have to go looking for that (I wonder what it contains in the way of a recovery procedure for an “unstart”…)
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I know you guys need to go on to other things, but imagine saying something at a social, like, ” Yeah, I was beginning my project but I Unstarted…”. I’ve read the entire Flight Manual. But it was the Astro- Navigation that got me. Something along the lines of if it’s this date and time and this certain star is in this spot, then we’re here. And at 80,000 feet the sky is dark and the stars are out. All the best to you and nanoop…
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I almost mentioned the USS Long Beach as well http://hooniverse.info/2010/05/31/what-is-the-best-military-vehicle-of-all-time/
Have had a bicycle just like this one for the last twenty years . https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3b0a069b5541ebb6a15676cf1c82d4388589ceba7dcc496f02896adede67dbd6.jpg # Never Walking
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Agreed. My bicycle.
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I will advocate for walking as being a great way to see a new city, but bikes are wonderful things.
If I had no bills to worry about, I’d spend just about every day from May through October in a Pro-V
https://i.gaw.to/vehicles/photos/3/5/35726_2012_lund_Aluminum_1875_Pro-V.jpg
Sailplanes, especially older models with cloth on space frame (e.g.Schleicher). Rather simple technology unlocking experiences we could only dream of. Super-optimized high-tech is possible, too.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Schleicher_ASK13_glider.jpg/800px-Schleicher_ASK13_glider.jpg
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… and soaring for Diamonds…
The B-52. Sixty-six years has not dulled the fact that this is still a very badass plane.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/B-52_Stratofortress_assigned_to_the_307th_Bomb_Wing_%28cropped%29.jpg/1024px-B-52_Stratofortress_assigned_to_the_307th_Bomb_Wing_%28cropped%29.jpg
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In the minus column, taking it out for a spin requires your whole posse. In the plus column, taking it out for a spin requires your whole posse.
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“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
http://www.tanshanomi.com/project-x/IMG_2941-web.jpg
I caught a look at one of these when in Singapore last year.I wish I’d been able to get a ride. A wing in ground-effect vehicle. Powered by LS3 V8, faster and smoother than a boat and without the hydrodynamic drag, more economical too. http://www.wigetworks.com/airfish-8/
The Widgetworks Airfish 8. https://www.janes.com/article/79130/singapore-s-wigetworks-readies-production-spec-airfish-8-wig-craft
https://www.janes.com/images/assets/130/79130/p1704083_-_main.jpg
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I just found my new favorite not-a-car!
I’ll take an Airfish 3 when available, thank you.
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