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.