^* Whittle, only half joking, blamed his prejudice against piston engines on his catalog of motorcycle accidents, which culminated in his failure to stop at a T junction outside London and being catapulted into the woods, and then having his insurance canceled and his ruined bike repossessed by the finance company. Whittle was not a man to blame himself for mishaps, and instead blamed the motorcycle engine for taking him so uncontrollably fast.