What is your earliest/first motorcycle experience

I thought it might be interesting to hear how other people got envolved in motorcycling. Guess I will start it off with my short story. I am not sure exactly what age but I was about 9 and at my grandmother's for the summer. She lived out in the country and several of the kid's in the area had "Hondas" [my grandmother called anything motorized on 2 wheels a Honda]. We were at vacation bible school and one of the locals rode up on his new Honda minitrail 50. The first one that I had been able to look at up close. I was instantly mesmerized. I don't remember how, but I convinced him to let me ride it. So I climbed on, dropped it into first and twisted the throttle. Some how I managed to make a complete loop around the gravel parking lot without falling. Never got out of first but was hooked forever. Now lets hear your stories.

my first was on my uncles TOTE GOAT at abt 7yrs old..after that, I rode a honda 90 step thru..then a yr later a friend let me ride his yamaha 80..talked mom and dad into gettin me one and from there, here I are

EDIT: that was in 1959..started riding in 1960 and still goin

BTW, I remember that TOTE GOAT as being HUGE!!!! Kinda sacred me..but the more I thought abt it, the more I was interested

In 1932, Mr PH took Miss AW for a ride on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. I have been at it ever since.

First, 'in lust' was when a rich kid brought his new 'Mustang' to school. (early elementary some time.)

First motorcycle I actually owned was a 1949 HD, bone stock, 80" Flathead, red tin, black frame, 6 volt, original leather saddle bags. I found it in 1964....

And yes, I should be shot for loosing it.....

Dad was big into the enduro circuit in the early 80's and myself (at 3 or so years old) and mom would go to the enduros.

He had a Husky back then, and got a 1983-ish Kawasaki GPX for the road. That didn't last long though and he got tired of seeing his buddies hurt so he sold it a year or two later, while still active in the enduro club (Trailblazers for you locals).

He got an '88 KDX 200 brand new, and got me a KD-80-X that same year. It was my first bike and I was ecstatic. However, I outgrew it in a few years and quit riding a few years after that.

It wasn't until 2005 that I saw the light again, although this time it was orange.

How old were you in elementary school?

My first ride as a juvenile was on a Honda Cub, IIRC. Then it was three-wheelers on the farm in Missouri. NEVER was I allowed anything of the sort in front of my dad or stepmother... We were uber-sheltered in that respect. No trampolines either!!

Therefore, I had to get my rocks off with bicycles (bmx type). Eventually that morphed into what we called "hybrid" bikes- an evolution into what are now mountain bikes.

Owned an '87 YZ250 in college, but it was such a POS that I spent more time trying to get it to run than I did riding it.

Eventually, the fated day that changed my life came along...
I was living in Mesa, AZ with my wife and had a '97 Chevy S-10, cherry red. I was outside working in the yard when a Mexican gentleman and his grossly pregnant sister offered me cash for my truck. (It wasn't for sale.)
At that moment, I decided "Fuck it. I want to buy a motorcycle." I took the cash and bought a 1999 KLR used. It's been 4 years and I ride daily.

My first bike was a Kawasaki 50cc trail bike (Parnelli Jones edition) that my dad got in exchange for some work he did...

Here is what it looks like today: (I hope to try to restore it)


At one point I had a Honda Trail 70 which I am pretty sure was acquired the same way. But it was in rough shape and was sold after a few years.
In the 80's I moved to ATV's with a Yamaha Moto4 (225cc STOLEN) and then a Kawasaki Bayou 300 (which eventually had some internal engine problem. It ran but make awful knocking noise that no one could fix, so we sold it). Back in 2003 I bought a Kawasaki Prairie 650 vtwin that is wicked fast. It got me back into riding after being away for a while. Eventually my ex-wife bought some dirt bikes for the kids and herself and I got to ride the Honda CRF230 and it got me back on 2 wheels again. SO I bought an 09' KLR a couple of months ago and love it...

I loved motorcycles as a kid before I had ever ridden one. My first experience would have been my Dad taking a Kawasaki 750 or 1000 streetbike in on trade at his work, he would ride it home in the evening and I would be waiting with an old crappy hand me down helmet wanting to go on a ride. Even though he was worn out he would take me, let me sit in front of him and let me operate the throttle and clutch and he would shift. He never really had the lust for bikes that I have, but he knew they also kept me out of trouble as a kid. He finally bought be Suzuki DS 80 when I was 9 or so and I've been riding ever since.

My first experience is probably at about 4-5 years old, maybe earlier than that. But my first MEMORY, is about 4 or 5 sitting on the tank in front of my dad and holding the handlebars of his old Honda 175 for rides. I started learning to ride at 12 on an old chinese dirt bike, and have ridden ever since.

First ride:
When I was 4 yrs old my dad brought home a 1.5hp mini bike for me and my slightly older brother. A year later the mini bike was stolen by a baby sitter's boyfriend.

This was the first time i ever prayed in my life. Montg Wards had a green 5hp mini bike with a sissy bar. I prayed for it and dad brought it home. Then a buddy found our stolen bike so my brother and I each had one.

First motorcycle:
As a 4rth grader I had a neighborhood lawn mowing business. Dad loan sharked me on a Toro self propelled for $323, but I lucked out because the sales clerk was dyslexic and wrote me up for $232. Already, I'm 90 bucks ahead. I had to make weekly payments. Dad would supply gas for T.Low's Lawnsharks and I would in turn mow his lawn for free every Thursday so it was a perfect length for the weekend. I saved up the $464 it took to buy a '75 Honda XR75 from Anderson's Honda, in Pontiac, Michigan.

I rode it everyday. We had 400 acres of the best motocross tracks and hill climbs in southeast michigan right out the back yard (Union Lake, Mi. baby!) Deep sandy, tracks with big beautiful whoops and deep mature berms that could be taken WFO. (Very easy to commit to the berms when you're only 8 yrs old ) Intimately knew every foot of trail in the 400 acre wood. There were six of us; 4 XRs, a YZ80 and the Kawasaki Kid. ME and my buddy were way faster than the other kids, and we knew the tracks well enough that we could beat the weekend warriors on 100's and a few 125s.

Rode it thru the woods to baseball practice. I'd be pitching at practice and my coach was out riding my XR around. Early Saturday and Sunday mornings I would ride it to deliver newspapers with another buddy, the two of us both on XR75s hauling ass down long dirt farm roads and dirt streeted neighborhoods at 5:30 am with newspaper carrier bags slung over our shoulders that weighed as much as we did.

We would ride thru the woods and across the hwy to the gas station to fill up. We couldn't even see over the counter as we plunked down our 48cents worth of nickles, dimes, and pennies for our tank of gas and a Hershey bar.

The White Lake Police would chase us thru the neighborhodd, but we'd head for the woods and they couldn't follow us.

Riding gear consisted of Sears Tuff Skin jeans, a $43 Bell helmet, and my favorite Cristmas gift, Scott goggles.

I rode the living heck outta that little bike and it never let me down.

Sold it when it got too small for me and I turned into a 3 sport jock with no time for bikes.

Fast forward 35 yrs. Since then I've only owned a CBX in the mid '80s. A month ago my favorite brother in law was diagnosed with cancer at age 37. I told my wife (his sister) that maybe I should by his Gas Gas so he can get the Husaberg he wants, and that way I can spend more time together with him since he is obviously on an accelerated schedule. A couple days later she told me it was a great idea. I bought the 450 fse plated from him three weeks ago, he bought a Husaberg 550, and we've already been out for 10 rides together. We've never been closer. Went to Walker Valley last night, and going to Tahuya Sunday.

Since you asked ...

Thats a terrible and great story all in one. Thats great you guys are so close. Enjoy every ride!

Thanks for your kind words. They are appreciated.

[quote
Fast forward 35 yrs. Since then I've only owned a CBX in the mid '80s. A month ago my favorite brother in law was diagnosed with cancer at age 37. I told my wife (his sister) that maybe I should by his Gas Gas so he can get the Husaberg he wants, [/quote]

Hope you and your brother in law have many, many more rides together.

If you dont mind me asking, what kind of time frame does he have? I guess they just found it too late? Thats just very scary, I'm 37 myself and cant even imagine what he is going through. I do think it is wonderful he is riding and having fun and pray for a miracle.

Thanks for your concern. I don't want to bring down the buzz of this cool thread by the OP, so maybe try to look at it as people going for the gusto, and how it all got started and how it all shall get passed onto to the next generation.

His initial diagnosis was Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, Stage III, found with the blood work that went along with his routine physical check up.

A more recent diagnosis was much more favorable. CLL, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukimia. People can live for decades with this, and he's not wasting any time. He's living for the day, and planning for his family's future.

Maybe its not a bad idea for us to start an official ADV cancer patients/victms/ survivors thread. It touches everybody sooner or later.

This was and still is my first motorcycle.

My brother's first head on collision was with our buddy on a Trail 70!

I learned on a Mini-Trail 50, I was bout 5, dad was riding on the back and just stepped off one day and away I went.

It now lives in the bottom of an old Land Fill in Independence Mo.

Second bike was a Honda Trail 70, I rode the fire out of that thing, till the frame split at the triple clamp. It was trash after that.

Next bike was Suzuki TS125 I loved that thing.

My first was a 1958 Cushman Eagle...I was hot shit on that bike! This isn't it but it looked just like this:



Then on to a 1962 Honda Dream 160, I beat the piss outta this bike:



Then there was this one! Wow what a bike 1965 Husqvarna 250 moto! My first NEW one.

Great pics! We should put together an ADV ride for cancer. Bill Eddy would completely support us and we could base it there. I would be glad to put it together. I ihave lost so many people to cancer it's rediculous. My mother and father in law and a couple of friends recently. I'm in.