What was your first motorcycle ?

[Downeaster]

I must've been 16 or very near it, as I had just gotten my driver's license. Dad collared me one Saturday and said "Let's go for a ride."

I had no idea what the deal was, but hopped in the car. He pulled into the drive of some guy he worked with. I didn't know the guy from Adam's off ox. They rolled open the garage door and there it was:

I still had no idea what was going on. Dad always wanted a Harley, Mom always slammed the door on that idea, hard enough that even Dad wouldn't argue with her, and he wasn't in the habit of hearing "No" from anybody.

When I finally grasped the concept that he intended to buy it for ME, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Thinking back on it, I think it was his way of getting back at Mom for not letting HIM have a bike.

Rode that 10 miles each way to work all that summer and the next, right up until I joined the Navy. Not sure whatever did happen to it, I assume Dad sold it after I left home.

Been a LOT of bikes under the bridge since then...

 

[DIRTY DOG]

Mine was a cat mini bike when I was 6 then a beneli 50 at around 8 man I miss that mini bike had so much fun on the thing untill some as$%$%$ stole it. 1st. street bike was a honda FT500 ascot

 

[Cpkid]

A yellow 72 Honda SL125 . I bought it in pieces with the engine in a box taken apart and not running . It took me a while to get it together . I would skip school with my brother and we would go down to the trails and ride all day .
Had many run ins with the police , but they never caught me on that bike and I never stopped that's for sure . Evel Knievel was my idol . I could ride a wheelie all the way up my street .
That bike gave me so much trouble I have no desire to get an old SL125 now . It wasn't the best start , but it certainly taught me how to wrench and ride.
Regards,
CPKID

 

[wherearewe]

87 FZR400 - so at least it was a yamaha. Had the most awesome home pink paint job. Looked a lot like this. I swapped it with someone for my banana yellow series 1 RX7....

 

[sailariel]

1956 NSU Special Max 250cc OHC Single Cyl. Owned it till 1982. Had one other German bikes-1957 BMW R-50 with Steib Sidecar, Triumph TR6. Bought a Norton Atlas in 1970 when I came back from 'Nam and rode it till 1980. No bike from 1982 to 2007 when I bought a new Ninja EX250R. That bike was an absolute blast. In 2010 I fell off our house and messed up my back, so I traded the Ninja in on a 2010 Honda NT-700V, which is a comfortable touring bike. Six months ago I got the 1980 XS 650 in neatly packed labeled boxes. I carefully reassembled the bike and got it running two weeks ago. Ye Gods that thing is loud !

 

[timbeck]

In 1959 I was 17 and had saved enough to purchase a clapped out 1947 Harley Davidson . It had a tank shift and a suicide clutch , which was when you reversed the spring on the foot pedal. When it ran it was fun as hell and scared the crap out of me a few times. After all these years you would think I would know better than to ride them damn motor cycles. tim

 

[FLEA]

bridgestone 100cc for 2 weeks then a 1970 honda 450 in 1972 (intresting bike to learn on, it was a wonder i survived the learning process as i was self taught)

 

[Royboy]

Bridgestone Hurricane Scrambler. Got it free in 1967 from a buddy who came off of it and got a remarkable case of road rash. It didn't take long to discover it was a "scrambler" in name only and it was traded away. It was an interesting bike, rotary transmission and all.


roy

 

[lowerc]

Dad bought my brother and I an Yamaha MX80 when we were little.

First street bike I ever bought was an 87 GSXR 1100. Nothing like diving off the deep end. I'm still here to talk about it

 

[Mikeinnh]

A 5hp Sears minibike. Here we are around 1971. First real motorcycle was a '75 Honda Elsinore.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

i started out on a honda xr 75 about a 76 model.when i was about 12. then i went to a 125, then a 185, then a 400, then a 650 yam maxim.finally when i was about 21 i thought this is rediculous,going up in slight increments.so i went out a purchased the biggest bike they made at the time. a 1340 harley shovel.god i loved that bike. no front brake, 3 in belt primary, 4" over wide forks,the power was unreal cuz it was so light, it was a bobber before yu ever even heard of a bobber.

now that im a grown ass man i ride a 79 xs and a 97 electra glide.

 

[Cardplayer]

My first bike, back in '97, was an 81 XS650.

 

[1911master]

Yamaha 125 dirt bike, 72 Honda CL350, 1974 Honda CB450, 1992 Superglide, 1960 Sportser and now a 1978 650

 

[ippytattoo]

My parents and grandparents rode bikes alot but I could'nt tell you what they were but "my" first bike was a 1980 KX80 then a 82 KX125. Then my uncle gave me an RD100 that was a non-runner when I got it. I got it running in the back yard and discovered why it is just as important to make sure they stop as it is to make them go shortly after I ran into the fence due to no brakes. My first street legal bike was a 1975 XS650 that was hardtailed before I got ahold of it. I guess that is when I really fell in love with them.

 

[Downeaster]

Already posted a (representative) pic of my first bike, but I was looking for something on an entirely different topic and came across some pics of bikes I had years ago:

'72 Yamaha RT360, first brand new bike I ever owned. Great bike, great times.

Kawasaki 650W1, a pushrod 650 twin built on a British design. Also in Japan, '72 or '73, don't recall what year the bike was. Fun, a little squirrelly to ride fast, not enough brakes and a miserable SOB to start.

Would've been 1980 or 81 in Pensacola, FL. Sold my '74 TX650A to get this SR500, liked the torque, but it I didn't find it fast enough or powerful enough for a street bike, so I traded it in on:

This Honda 500XL. GREAT bike, best dual purpose machine I ever owned. Rode hell out of it for a couple of years, some guy offered to trade me his '78 nekkid Goldwing straight up, and I went for it. Kept the 'wing for several years until I had to scrape up a down payment for a car and sold it.