What items have you tossed that you wish you hadn't?

I threw out a Killer Bee .049 box several years ago. I didn't mean to, one day I couldn't stand the mess in the basement anymore so I started to toss stuff out.

From the title of this thread it sounded like a hand-launch gone wrong, and that has certainly happened on a few occasions...

Like Kim mine was a vehicle sold. It was my Ducati 450 Desmo which I'd had from new. It was the last one sold new in West Oz. The only one of 26 motorcycles so far which I wish I had back. I've had other Dukes, MV Agusta, Laverda, Benelli, BMW, CZ plus an assortment of other less exotic stuff, but only my old 450 Desmo haunts my memory.

An old Johnson HAM radio that had been my Dad's. I played with it listening through an improperly tuned antenna until the power transformer smoked up my bedroom one day. It stayed in my closet for ages and eventually disappeared along with a ton of other old electronic equipment I had dismantled in my childhood. Later I started using CB radio base stations and learning how things worked. I earned spare change in college fixing other dorm mates' TVs and stereos. I could have fixed that radio and to this day, still regret letting that old Johnson get tossed.

It looked sort of like this:

Most everything I throw out will sit on a shelf for ten years, doing a clean up I'll chuck it. A week or two later I need it.
It is a derivative of Murphys law.

RknRusty wrote:An old Johnson HAM radio that had been my Dad's. I played with it listening through an improperly tuned antenna until the power transformer smoked up my bedroom one day. It stayed in my closet for ages and eventually disappeared along with a ton of other old electronic equipment I had dismantled in my childhood. Later I started using CB radio base stations and learning how things worked. I earned spare change in college fixing other dorm mates' TVs and stereos. I could have fixed that radio and to this day, still regret letting that old Johnson get tossed.

It looked sort of like this:

Really? And you threw it out? Of course she probably looks much different now.

dinsdale wrote:Like Kim mine was a vehicle sold.  It was my Ducati 450 Desmo which I'd had from new.  It was the last one sold new in West Oz.  The only one of 26 motorcycles so far which I wish I had back.  I've had other Dukes, MV Agusta, Laverda, Benelli, BMW, CZ plus an assortment of other less exotic stuff, but only my old 450 Desmo haunts my memory.

I have rid myself of a few bikes that I wish I hadn't.

Live those photo's Kim. And the bread van/aircraft hauler too.

A couple times, actually so frequently I don't specifically remember...

I AM wishing the broken hair dryer I had in the garage didn't get recycled so I could pull the element apart for a hot wire foam cutter. I'll get another sometime soon, or go to a secondhand store to get one to rip apart.

I have been dealing with hoarding relatives (UGH!) and have my own hoarding tendencies so when I throw stuff out I tend to not be too concerned about the consequences of throwing something away I could have used. I DO try to recycle, resell, and donate...but most of the time I am throwing "trash" out that should have been thrown away initially, such as packing materials and old advertizing.

I do rather miss my '86 Chrysler Lebaron hatchback. 4 door, fold flat back seat, 5-speed manual, 2.5L 4 cylinder throttle body fuel injected engine. I could "hyper mile" it at 55mph in 5th gear at just over idle to get in excess of 50mpg, and did this regularly going to and from college on secondary routes. 12 ft 2x4's would go from the passenger floor to the back with all the doors closed. I was slope flying a 2-meter RC glider, and that was easy to transport. It was the best vehicle I ever drove in snow and ice, the Chrysler manual transaxle of that era is known for tracking straight. The body was going soft, it needed significantly more work than an unemployed/underemployed recent college graduate could afford, so I sold it when my Dad found me a Buick I could afford, but needed some specific repairs (broken sub-frame bolts).

Phil

cribbs74 wrote:

RknRusty wrote:An old Johnson HAM radio that had been my Dad's....
It looked sort of like this:

Really? And you threw it out? Of course she probably looks much different now.

Yeah but the lady from next door wasn't sitting on it when it hit the curb.

My Three biggest regrets today but not at the time:
1972 Triumph Bonneville 650 (first REAL motorcycle) Traded for a Kawasaki H2 500cc Tripple
First car: 1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero High Output 289 with Borg Warner T10 into 4.11:1 rear, that was traded in on a USED 1967 Ford / Shelby 350 Fast Back White Mustang that out the door cost $1655.00 in 1971
I traded the Mustang in on a 1977 Ford F250 460CI 4x4 long bed that was a mechanical nightmare and fuel pig

Want the Triumph back for nostalgia riding
Want the Falcon Ranchero back because it was a true sleeper and in stock form went down the 1/4 at Seattle International Raceway in 12.677 seconds with the right tires on back
Want the Mustang back cuz they go across the auto auctions for insanely high dollars

I should never have sold my (one of two built) '66 Vette copo L72/M22/K66/N14 exhaust/M22/N11/F41 susp./K66Ti transister ign./radio&heater delete/with 450hp decal on air cleaner/G81 4:11 posi/factory Isky geardrive cam. The other one went to Don Yenko. Mine would lift a wheel and run 12.5 at 125mph in the quarter. Would be worth well over $300k if I had it today.

I remember the Kawasaki triple 500, it was insanely fast for the time.

Steve, that's the first time I've heard the name, Yenko uttered in ages. My memories of Yenko were his Camaros that could be lined up next to the "big guys" at the drag strip, right off the showroom floor. And, given an able driver, could win too.

My pride and joy, fully restored and sale forced on me (DON'T ASK!!!!!)

Ian, If you want one of those again, I think you can pick one up in Jordan. I saw quite a few of them there.

crankbndr wrote:I remember the Kawasaki triple 500, it was insanely fast for the time.

I was riding my one of those about a microsecond before I nearly died - permanently!!  10 breaks down m right leg plus sundry other fractures and internal injuries.  Most people who know me reckon I must have received brain damage too   My next bike was the aforementioned Desmo 450.

Notice that the Kawa 500 Triple was NOT on my list of "wish I still had it"...Wicked fast bike and I loved it. That bike had a few very nasty habits. I was stationed at Ft Lewis WA and plenty of mountain twisty roads. The bike had a unpredictable power-band and if you downshifted and needed power in a sweeping turn you could get real out of whack when it all of a sudden she gave you 30 more horses then you asked for.

Eventually it got traded for the KZ1 900 chain breaker. First year model before they put gussets down the backbone. So under full power, the frame torqued putting the engine drive sprocket out of alignment with the rear wheel sprocket causing much grief and expense. That Bike was sold to a German friends Son for $10,000 DM in 1985. He had to restore it completely back to original (remove and replace with factory items the Kerker exhaust and drag style handle bars) before he could get past TUV inspection (German equivalent to USA DOT)

Back on subject... Model airplane related

Over all the years of Military service I moved many many times and on one move I let my wife convince me that the Dick Mathis Mongoose Combat plane I won a few times with needed to hit the dumpster.... Dang!

Back a few years I was preparing for retirment and started into RC airplane hobby... found you all here and changed my mind...Control Line is really what I want to do.... The Black Hawk version of the Mongoose is way cool but I dearly wish I had the original to play with

My Schwinn Stingray bicycle. Dang! Mom bought a pair of them for my brother and I, when I was 6 years old, (uh, 1969). Mine was gold, his was green. Best bikes on the block! They didn't fall apart, or rattle, or need constant adjustment. And, they looked cooler than all the other bikes!