How did you get Hooked - Picture of your first motorcycle?

[VanRiver]

I was going through some old pictures and found the cause of "my motorcycle addition" or "illness" as my wife calls it. Thought it would be great to hear from other members how they got hooked on bikes and maybe share pics of you're first ride if you got one.

 

That is me in the red Helmet and matching red boots circa 1975 or 1976....with my Dad taking me for a spin on his 1971 Yamaha 175 Enduro. I still have that bike in my collection, it is still mint with only 3000 miles on her but so many great memories. Looks like my Dad is wearing one of his Police issue helmets and there is still snow on the ground...typical riding in Canada!

 

Good Times....probably scared my Mom to death!!!!!! But I blame my Father for my bike addiction. Got my first Bike at age 6, 1980 Honda z50.......Thanks Dad!

 

Hope to hear other peoples stories on how you got hooked too!

 

[Prairiehammer]

My FIRST: a brand spanking new 1974 Honda CB750.

[cowpuc]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL pic there Van!!! That mother of yours really has good taste and she showed it by her choice in marriage!! , Obviously your father is a GREAT man!! Beautiful!! CONGRATS on saving that scoot thru all these years my friend - THAT is priceless!!

 

As for me, I was born with some defective chromizones so my dad (he was a sports guy) didnt have to energize my bike addiction - I came from birth with it.. I was born during the day and age when "liking" motorcycles was taboo. While attending kindergarten I got into a lot of trouble cause I didnt "fit" well with the rest of the children my age, they were all into collecting base ball cards and stuff while I would sit at my desk and draw pics of choppers (sounds funny but I am not kidding - it really happened this way).

My parents had 7 children (I was second born - have a sister 1 year older than I) all of which, other than myself, were normal - playing sports and all that. Wasnt enough money to go around so my severe needs of spinning wrenches always got set on the back burner.. My early years of wrenching found me dragging home bicycles, cutting front ends of hollow forked Huffies and sliding the cut Huffy fork tubes onto Schwinn solid forks to manufacture choppers. I probably had over 20 neighborhood kids with choppers by the time I was 8 years old. I also noticed that my neighbors old rototiller had a side shaft Clinton motor on it and came up with the genuis idea of finding one of those motors and mounting on my pedal bike. There was a store called "Strevel's" about 7 miles from our home in Fruitport whose owner was into selling used mowers out front of the store. I would ride my chopper bicycle up there at least twice a month just to look at the side shaft mowers. At first, old man Strevel would actually come out and start the mowers for me to show me they would run (I would just sit there smelling that burning fuel and dreaming). Wasnt long though and he wouldnt even come outside.

My parents bought me a used 10 speed pedal bike for my 9th birthday. A few weeks later my grandfather, who was actually the only person who really understood me back than, gave me an old kickstart washing machine motor (probably all of 1 horse power - wish I still had it - it was COOL) and I went about the task of cutting the center post out of my 10 speed to prepare if for the wash machine engine. My dad came home from work, saw what I was doing and thats when I received my 1,000,000th whoppin from him. He later came out of the house (had apparently talked to my mom about anger management), apologized for smacking me. About a week later I was helping him on his linen route, he got a big smile on his face as we pulled into a tire company (Atlas Tire in Grand Haven Mi) where he had rugs on their floors and said he had something to show me. We went inside and there sat a GORGEOUS 1959 Sears/Allstate/Puch moped!! My dad told me that if I paid for 1/2 (I worked unloading trucks at his linen company and I also had a paper route) he would pay the other half. I will NEVER forget loading my new (to me) Sears moped into the back of that old linen truck - I FINALLY HAD A REAL MOTORCYCLE!!

There were rich kids in our area who had mini-bikes and stuff that I would ride any chance I had but, THERE IS NOTHNG LIKE A GEAR HEADS FIRST BIKE. About 2 weeks after we got the bike home the old girl decided it didnt want to run.. This time it was my mom who walked over to the high school parking lot (our yard was all sand and we had no garage) where I had the top end off my moped and started yelling things like "that thing will never run again" (the old Sears mopeds had a lot of shrouding on them so the pile of parts she started yelling at me about was actually 85 percent shrouding - it wasnt that big of a deal). I had torn ALOT of mowers apart during my early years and I just KNEW the old bike needed a set of rings and sure enough it did. Most folks probably will never believe this but Sears actually sold quite a few motorcycles back in those days and their parts supply was second to none!! After my parents had calmed down and I had stuffed all my moped parts into a box, I talked my mom into taking into sears where I bought a new set of rings, a base gasket and the cutest little tin head gasket that a gear head has ever laid eyes on. I roughend her tiny little bore up with sand paper, cleaned everything up real good in gas, lubed it all down and stuck her back together.. I will NEVER forget the look on my parents faces as I drove across our front yard on my freshly rebuilt, first motorcycle.

Having finally found the real me, I purchased my second bike - a gorgeous 1967 Bonanza BC1300 two years later. It took me a while to save up for that one cause every time I could gather seemed to go into running costs of my Moped. What I really wanted at the time was the full fledged chopper that Bonanza offered with the Hodaka Ace 100 motorcycle engine it - I simply could not come up with the money for it and the sharing costs that my parents did on the Moped was a one time shot. My Bonanza was ok but the 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds that Bonanza advertised in their flyer was really where I saw myself (oh yea, I collected bike flyers back than and also sent away for info that was found in the bike mags of the day - I still have a LOT of the flyers I collected as a kid - I can probably did out the poster of the Bonanza Chopper and snap a shot of it if you would like - I used to DRUEL over that thing).

Here is a pic that my little sister took of me way back then. I still have the frame of my first bike - the 59 - sitting in my basement. Not to long ago I noticed a later model of the same bike for sale for a couple hundred bucks. Tip and I went over to Grand Rapids and drug it home. My plan is to use this later model Moped as a parts bike to restore (not repaint and all that - just put it together in its perfect patina state) my original first bike to rideable condition and then use it as a daily rider..

My defective chromizones never did get better and I have suffered with it my whole life. I have owned hundreds of bikes thru the years of many makes/models and engine configurations. I can tell you from first hand experience that I KNOW how you feel about that gorgeous picture of you and your dad - there is NOTHING like that first bike! Oh yea, I raced bike starting at 16 years old, my final embarrassment for my parents came about when they saw my High School Graduation pictures, everyone of my peers appeared with a suit coat, mine choice of clothing was, well,, me..

[uncledj]

My first bike was a mini bike, then a ? 69 ? Honda Z 50. Started riding the street on a Honda XL350, but I rode that bike off road more than on. My first "Real" street bike was a 79 Honda 750 super sport, but the oldest pick I have is my second street bike, a 80 Honda 750 super sport. I loved that bike, and would have given up my car before I ever gave up that bike. This pic would have been taken about 1985 in Key Largo, FL, and the little tyke on the back is my niece.

 

[Ride2much]

Year 1974,I was 15 yrs old and found an old 650 Kawasaki and took it to the high school welding shop and chopped it!

 

 

[Mike G in SC]

This one was not mine but this is what it looked like.

In 1973 my oldest brother had a Kawasaki 175 he sold me. Shipped it from CA to SC in a crate.

Good dirt bike but I also used it to commute to work.

[Freebird]

You guys started off with some cool bikes. My first was a Honda Sport 50. I I think I was 14 and shared it with my little brother. That didn't last but a couple of months or so and I bought a Harley 250 Sprint. Have some good memories of both.

[eagleeye]

My first bike that I bought new was a 1965 Triumph Bonneville that I bought in the crate, put together, and rode it out to Norfolk VA, as I was in the navy. Took it up to Boston while we were in dry dock, and some skumbag from BOSTON decided to steal it. I still have the title for it.

Boston strong?------ NO!---Boston THIEFS!

I'm hoping to replace it with another 65 bonny soon.

Edited February 23, 2015 by eagleeye
added word

[MiCarl]

First bike was a 196x Honda MiniTrail 50 (see avatar).

 

Second was an early 70s LT2

 

Unfortunately neither picture is mine. I know there is some old video of the MiniTrail but I don't think anything of the LT2.

[midnightventure]

I wish I had taken more pictures back then. Here is my first with my youngest sister who died a couple of years ago sitting on it. It was a 1974 Yamaha RD250.

[rickardracing]

No pics available, circa mid 70's Honda CT70 then a few years later a Kawaski KM100.

[Rdfroese]

1975 Kawasaki KM 100.

 

Dad bought it brand new. No pic as no one could chisel that fast back then.

[OrlinEngh]

This was my first street bike CB 750, It started long before then for me, it all started with me and my friend at his Dads scrap yard that was just down the road from me. A bike came in there with a motor on it, well we had to get that going we found a motor that would run and we put it on there and I was hooked to riding something with a motor on it.

My first new one was a Honda CT 70 and next was a Suzuki 75 that got me into my first Mottocross race since then there have been alot of bikes.

[mm482]

My first street bike

[djh3]

Heck I dunno where I got hooked. I remember the story of my brother riding his Triumph 175 or something from McDill AFB in Tampa Fl to Detroit Mi bac around 56 or 58. I just thought that would be so cool. Then came Bronson was popular on TV then and I just loved that idea. Around 73 or whatever when the 750 hondas came out my other "normal" brother bough one. I would ride with him whenever I could. I rode for hodaka dealer for awhile ace 100. My first bike I owned was an RD 350 yamaha. Looked sort of like this one.

Edited February 24, 2015 by djh3

[VanRiver]

Found a pic of the first bike of my very own. I was in a pretty bad farm accident when I was 5 years old that significantly messed up my right leg, so my Mom made me wear knee pads to protect my grafted skin and surgery locations....no helmet or shirt, but as long as I wore my kneepads I could ride in the yard. 1980 z50....50cc of pure adrenaline! Good Times! I unfortunately don't have this one in the collection, my Dad traded it in at the Honda dealership for a Honda push lawnmower.

 

 

Upgraded to a 1980 XL500 in the late 80's....I was such a bad a$$ in my sunglasses and no helmet! I still have this one in my collection.

 

 

By the way @cowpuc, great story and pictures. Thank you for sharing! I wasn't aware that Sears had such a sweet ride available in their catalog. I would love to see your scoot once you have married your original frame with the donor cycle appendages! Also glade to hear I'm not the only one who holds on to their old motorcycles over the years! I'm really good at buying, but not the selling part.

Edited February 23, 2015 by VanRiver

[Venturous]

Never got a picture of my first motorcycle. I just wasn't into pictures then. It was a 1974 Honda XL250 I bought used in 1980. Fun little bike to get back and forth to work with and also to take just about anywhere offroad. It looked much like this...

 

[93 venture]

First street bike was a 1980 CB 125, it was like a fast moped, you would have to run the crap out of it in 4 gear to get to 60 and if you put it in 5th it would drop speed down to 50, when i would take it out on a 4 lane i have to wait for a big truck to pass so i could draft off of him and was able to stay in 5th gear that way.

[Motorcycle Mike]

Sadly all the old photos of my bikes were destroyed when my parents basement flooded when I was overseas in the Army.

But my afliction is very simalar to pucs. I had to be born with it. I remember trying to talk mom and dad into letting my buy one of thos little bicycle motors out of the back of magazines and wearing out the sears catalog looking at the Allstate motorcycles. There was a Harley shop just a few miles from the house and I'd spend a large portion of my Saturdays there dreaming of rideing those HUGE motorcycles.

When I was about 8, one of the big kids in the neiborhood had a minibike that would not run and his parents told him to get ride of it. I was all to happy to take it off his hands. Mom knew I'd never get it running so she didn't worry about it. After messing with it for a couple of weeks and some "secret" help from dad I was tearing up the back yard and the beast was out of his cage.

When i was 11 dad came home with a very slightly used Suzuki 80 like this one.

http://www.suzukicycles.org/photos/K/K11/1964_K11_Sport-80_red_450.jpg

It took mom along time to forgive dad for that. She was sure I was going to kill myself. I built some ramps in the back yard so I could do some jumping. That REALLY made mom happy. From then on I just kept moving on up to bigger, faster bikes. Never bought a car till after I got out of the service.

Mom eventualy warmed up to me rideing and became a trusting passenger and my biggest supporter at the track.

[Chaharly]

I remember being born with my very first bike. My older brother was about 7 when I was born and dad had an 81 Yamaha 80cc enduro that he had learned to ride on. When I was finally old enough to touch the ground, that bike became mine. Dad used to set up ramps for my brother and take him out alot, but by the time I was old enough to ride dad was 46 and the cop in town. That meant that my riding mostly involved figure 8s and big fast circles in our back yard. We had that bike all the way up until a month ago when my brother sold it for 500. I dont have a picture of it right now, but I can find one of my brother and I on our dirt bikes later. Heres a picture of one like it. But in alot better shape!

 

 

 

After I got closer to riding age (14) dad and I found a really sweet Kawasaki KZ650 that I fell in love with. It was a hell of a lot different than riding that 80CC yamaha all those years. I rode that bike to the new hampton IA rally once and I just generally rode that bike all over. I got my motorcycle learners permit when I was 15 so I did alot of goldwing following on that bike! I really thought that this was about the perfect motorcycle. Plenty of power, light enough to man handle and I still think its one of the sexiest bikes on the street. It started having engine problems so I eventually sold it too

 

[pofarm]

My 1st was a 1965 Norton 750 Commando. I bought it from a co-worker's husband. That dude lifted the bike up and set it in the back of my truck. He was HUGE! I kept it at a friend's house because my dad was TOTALLY against motorcycles.

I traded it years later to a friend. He had it less than a week before someone stole it.

[Sailor]

I always had sports cars which I drove hard and fast. In fact the cops used to call my last one, an Austin Healey 3000 MkIII, "Kerry Butler and the incredible flying machine". They became too expensive so I decided to try a motorcycle as they were far cheaper. My first bike was a Yamaha 400. I had that bike for many years and had a lot of fun with it.

[bill in mn]

1974 Yamaha TX 500

Not my first bike but my first street bike .I just turned 16 and my folks said they would co-sign on a loan if I took a MC safety course. That has stuck with me ever since. And my house payment is more a month than the total loan on the 500. My first mini bike was a car starter motor and 2 battery's hit the button and whoosh you were off.

[SilvrT]

I got hooked when I was 10 and my cousin, who was 18, took me for a ride on his '52 Harley.

 

Bought my 1st bike in 1969. A new Yamaha 125 twin.

 

By that time, I'd ridden various other's bikes.

[eusa1]

my first bike 1972 suzuki ts 50 i tracked it down 30 years after i sold it and its in my collection now