Howard wrote:
BMW bikes just work. Every time. Perfectly. They are also good fun to ride. I still lust after Ducatis though.
You might find this report interesting. I’ve ridden BMWs and others for decades. On my last European ride with BMW folk, one late model GS came down with flat cams (a known defect on the newest water boxers) and another had to be recovered by ADAC from Corsica to Munich due to a bad throttle position sensor. I think there were eight BMWs in the group, so only 25% mortality 
I’ve given up on new ones due to the reliability issues but do have one BMW, a 1990 model that will run forever, plus some other bikes including six made in Italy. I choose them, use them and maintain them carefully and I’ve actually never been on a motorcycle ride and not reached my destination on the bike, for any reason. I’ve ridden one of the Italian bikes for 100,000 miles, slightly more than my old BMW.
I like driving. Before flying even occurred to me, I was quite enthusiastic about my car – including the daily forum digest (guess where that moved to), meetups, driving tours etc. Since I was able for the first time to afford the car I wanted, I’ve been driving various Mazda MX5/Miatas. The current one is my fourth one and the only one I bought new. The previous three ones were the first gen model with the pop-up headlights that I adored but aren’t put on new cars anymore for safety reasons. The nice thing about this car for me is: It’s exactly what I want and need! There is no dreaming of driving any other, bigger, faster, cooler or whatever sports car. I’m convinced that life is too short for boring cars, I found my perfect balance. The car fits my body like a well-tailored pair of jeans, I put it on rather than stepping into it!
Some say that while people driving convertibles tend to put the top down if the WX is really, really good (and not too hot, because then it’s AC), a roadster should have the top up only in the worst of conditions – and I try to live by that. It’s almost always a question of having the right clothes – all year. While people look at you as if you were a crazy person, I feel much warmer in my car (with a windshield!) than on a bicycle in winter…
Of course, these days, when the WX is fine, the car competes with a flying trip and frankly, it mostly loses. So unfortunately, it has become a useful means of transport and I’m not doing so much fun driving anymore. This photo is from a trip through Switzerland to the Ligurian coast in Italy in 2015 when I had planned to fly there but WX on the day of departure forbid flying.
I also enjoy driving in general. When I’m traveling (basically every week), I prefer rental cars or car sharing over taxis and taxis over trams (and planes over trains, of course). Speaking of car sharing, @Vladimir: Germany’s premier car sharing provider DriveNow has a nice fleet of BMW i3 in most cities and it’s a fun experience! It truly feels like stepping into the future when you get into that car. No bad deal either, at ~30 cents/minute. Not sure if they’re planning to add Zurich to their active cities anytime soon…
Patrick wrote:
Since I was able for the first time to afford the car I wanted, I’ve been driving various Mazda MX5/Miatas. The current one is my fourth one and the only one I bought new
Good choice. Ours is a ‘99 that I bought for $9K with 18,000 total miles 6 years ago. It’ll run forever without issue and provide a bit of fun along the way.
Silvaire wrote:
Good choice. Ours is a ‘99 that I bought for $9K with 18,000 total miles 6 years ago. It’ll run forever without issue and provide a bit of fun along the way.
Nice!
I got hooked to the Miata when I lived in North Carolina as an highschool exchange student in 1999 and my host dad had a red ’91 model. Incidentally, our first tour was to the Wright museum at Kitty Hawk. 
Patrick wrote:
Incidentally, our first tour was to the Wright museum at Kitty Hawk
My first drive in the ’99 Miata/MX-5 was to ferry it home after purchase, and in doing so this photo was taken at around 11,000 feet altitude. No oxygen available for either the engine or me… The top was down, maybe that helped! Engine power was very limited.
Patrick wrote:
BMW i3 in most cities and it’s a fun experience! It truly feels like stepping into the future when you get into that car. No bad deal either, at ~30 cents/minute.
I was able to drive along one of those in the BMW World in Munich and I was pleasantly surprised. It won’t be my car (I don’t like the small and tall designs), but I am looking forward to the future.
My M5 is now more than 16 years old (I’ve had it for 10) and I had only one failure on the road when a high pressure oil tube burst, which I found out is normal after 10 years (mine lasted 15) if you don’t change it as a precaution. Otherwise it’s a very nice and reliable car and I enjoy driving it. As I don’t have the means to have more than one car or change it all the time (if I want to fly as well), I find the M5 a very good combination of a comfortable and sports car. Although I would nowadays probably go for the M4, as I don’t need the space and rear seats that often.
I used to do a bit of racing in Formula Fords etc. Now my interest in cars and boats goes for ones much older than me. Never got into motorbikes for some reason.
