pete Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 At some point in our life we decide that we wanted throw a leg over a bike and give it a try. There was something that inspired us to ride. When I was about 4, our neighbor had a Harley and it was just fascinating to me that he could just get on it a drive away. Yet when I went somewhere with my parents, we had to buckle down in a seat, or even worse a car set. Then when I was about 10, I heard a guy on a "crotch-rocket" rip up a road nearby, and I asked my friend: "What was that?" - as I wasn't used to that kind of sound. He said it was probably a Kawasaki Ninja. At 10 anything with Ninja in it sounds pretty cool. Not too long after I saw Top Gun and decided that I wanted a bike. My first experience on a bike was a mini-bike (later that year when I saw Top Gun), and on my first go at it, the throttle stuck open, where I then crashed into a pile of garbage cans in an old barn. My parents then told me I wasn't allowed to have a motorcycle as long as I lived under their roof. Ironically, I get paid to ride them. What was it for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Kane Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 What was it for you? I was 11 and my older sister was having a party when one of her guests pulled up our driveway on a Triumph Trophy (Pete, don't even ask - but Keith knows what I'm talking about). Anyway it was loud with gleaming chrome pipes and a gorgeous green and white paint job. It took me about 2 minutes to convince the rider that he HAD to take me for a ride even thought I was in my P.J.'s with a bathrobe on. He smiles and says hop on and I am in heaven! He revs it up and as he is letting out the clutch I feel this firm compression happening around the scruff of my neck and just as the bike pulls out I am dangling from my father's clenched fist. I don't remember what he said to me that night after because I was so mesmerized but what almost happened that all he really accomplished was to GUARANTEE that I would ride on my own as soon as I could... Rainman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonzilla Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 I was bored. I was 28, I was stationed in Louisiana and a friend of ours invited us to ride his enduro on a day off. My friend explained to me how to shift on a bike, so I ran through it in my head while driving that week. When the weekend got there I had it down. I fell in love with something I'd NEVER been interested in. The next day I got my license and the day after that my first bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozfireblade Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 I think I was 8-9 and my uncle took me on his honda and scared the pants off me... I loved it!! Then a peewee 50cc @ 14 that a mate let me use and I pinned the throttle and ran into a tree. Mum said no bikes (Driving instructors for parents tend to pretty strict) and I learnt to surf instead. I kept wanting a bike and, I loved the fact that bikes could park, beat cars, and I 'spose the main one is bikes look cooler than a cars. 4 years later I left home got posted to the other side of the country and bought a bike, found out about track days a few years later and loved it even more so since I was 18 I've had one motorcycle in some form or another. I dont think I could handle not having one now it'd be like my daughter moving out of home or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmj120 Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Always loved my mountain bike as a kid. Once, a friend's Dad took me around the block on his bike. All I could think was holy ###### this sweet! I finally got the opportunity to ride a Honda VFR in mid 2000. I got it up to 30 mph and said I have to have one. A friend sold me his 01 zx9r Aug 2001 for an awesome price... ..... and now..... I can't think of anything better than 2 wheels. I used to want a vet, now I just want a couple more bikes. I'm hoping my next "car" is Goldwing with a trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orc Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Like many others before me, I wanted to do what was verbotten by my parents. When I was 11, my uncle showed up on a Norton Commando. I asked my uncle to take me for a ride but me mum said 'Not while I'm alive, you're not'. To this day, I don't know if she was talking to me or my uncle. Nevertheless, a few years later, I saw my buddies ride their shining new Hondas 350 and move up to 750s in time. When someone wanted to sell his yellow Honda 400F to buy a Triumph (can't remember fer sure, but I seem to recall it was a Tiger), I jumped on the opportunity. At $0.75 per cc, I just had to get it! I did. It was the first of 16 bikes I got over the next 35 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 My first bike was a Honda 400f to, '76 (blue). Rode it a lot . CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmj120 Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 My first bike was a Honda 400f to, '76 (blue). Rode it a lot . CF you've been riding as long as I've been alive got any advise.... picked anything up over the years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orc Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Hmmm... My '76 was yellow. Maybe color options were different in the States vs Canada... Had it for two years before trading it for the CX 500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozfireblade Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 My first bike was a Honda 400f to, '76 (blue). Rode it a lot . CF you've been riding as long as I've been alive got any advise.... picked anything up over the years... +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted December 17, 2010 Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 I don't recall "getting the bug" - I've always wanted to ride motorcycles. Maybe it's a boys thing, since both the 3-year old kids on each side of me are totally excited about my bikes. Oh, that goes for my little nephews too. That my mother was very much against it, didn't make it go away either Kai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam06 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 What Pete said. Definatley the word "Ninja" brings back memories of posters in my mates Dad's garage when I was young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete Posted December 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Seems like a theme might be starting - parents said no, boy got a bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fajita Dave Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 My dad wanted to get my sister and me a dirtbike when I was three years old. Unfortunately my mom said no. I lived very close to a professional motocross track and saw my first race there when I was 8. On the drive home I asked my dad if I could have a dirtbike. Next year when I was 9 I got my first dirtbike . It was a 1996 Yamaha RT100. I beat the living ###### out of that thing with its dual rear shocks and severe lack of power. So one year after that I got a used Honda CR80 which was a HUGE upgrade. It was a little big for me at first and it was way to small for me by the time I replaced it. I was 16 when I bought my 2001 CR250R which I still have now. Since I started riding at the age of 9 I rode at least once every single week for 9 years at a professional track until I moved here to Virginia. It was about four years before I met the right people to find off-road places to ride my dirtbike in this area. This past summer I've found plenty of places to ride. I'll be 24 years old soon and I'm thinking about racing next year. I've had my motorcycle license and gsx-r600 for about two and a half years now. It still hasn't seen any track days but I can guarantee you it will as soon as my bank account lets me. The street experience has been fun but I really need to get to the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 My first bike was a Honda 400f to, '76 (blue). Rode it a lot . CF you've been riding as long as I've been alive got any advise.... picked anything up over the years... +1 Maybe a thing or 2, but the nice thing about riding today is you don't have to rely on learning by trial and error . CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Sauder Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 I was a bit of a late with the whole two wheel+motor bike. But I started with two wheels quite early. I still own the bike today, and ironicly was just looking at it today. The wheels honestly can't be more than ten inches. Something you would picture a clown riding. I jumped on that thing with out any training wheels and I was off. The trend would follow one summer evening at a friends house when I was 20-21. I had never been on a motorcycle, but just knew I could do it, so I convinced him I knew what I was doing and he handed me the keys and a helmet. He stood on the porch watching and as I could barely get my shakin leg over the seat, but before I knew it I was out of sight and never missed a shift. The rest was history! My mom still hates it when I ride, but did come watch me race. I guess its just a mothers love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Derek, Good story! I don't recall the very first ride on my grandfather's mini bike (Honda Trail 70)...for sure no helmet, and I wonder if we even were using gloves, likley not. This would have been like '73. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete Posted December 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 This would have been like '73. CF My Mom wasn't even old enough to drive then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslowmo Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 My dad had a bike in the garage for as long as I can remember. I remember falling a sleep on the back of his bike going down a LA freeway. To him popping wheelie's and yelling hang-on just before he would throw it up. Not sure when I first rode my own, but I've been hooked since my childhood. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 I'll ignore Pete's comments, he still thinks farting is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. But Aaron totally reminded me that I used to get rides on the back of my dad's Honda 350 scrambler, 3 up. Either my brother or i was on the front, the other one on the back...not even sure we had long pants on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 I got a tin toy for my 2nd birthday, a motorcycle with a sidecar and figures molded into it. It had a flywheel engine that could be wound up. I got it because I was already pointing at any two-wheeler with an engine with excitement. From that day I knew I was going to ride motorcycles. It wasn't until I was closing in on 16 that I actually started riding, back n 1980. Helmets had just become mandatory and I bought a very second hand Römer full face. That was the full extent of my riding gear. After freezing my digits off for some bit, I bought a pair of summer leather gloves. As the summer became a wet and cold autumn, I bought a Bellstaff style suit in 100% pure new nylon that had a nasty habit of melting on the exhaust header of my CB100. All gear was about staying warm and dry. Well, boots and gloves were leather and didn't keep anything dry for more than a few seconds. That it could be dangerous to ride was something I knew since I had met people who were no more after they got killed riding. But it never dawned on my mother that risk was involved. I even carried my 3.5 year younger brother along a lot, despite my apparent lack of experience and skill. And my mother never once flinched. Until two years later, riding a CX500, I hade a huge accident running into the side of a big farmer's tractor blocking the road behind a blind corner. Then she got it. Unfortunately, it wasn't my last bad crash. But I'm still here, still enjoying the ride. Although my mom - not to mention my wife - would prefer that I didn't. However, there are some things one simply have to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslowmo Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 But Aaron totally reminded me that I used to get rides on the back of my dad's Honda 350 scrambler, 3 up. Either my brother or i was on the front, the other one on the back...not even sure we had long pants on... Gear? what was that? 3-up, I saw a guy do that a few years ago. Cruising along. Can't believe he didn't get pulled over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Only 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete Posted December 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Only 3? Wait.... Is that Cobie at the handlebars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Who found the family album?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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