Did you ask permission from your parents,the first time you rode a motor? Or yell "Hell yeah",jump in the saddle,kick 'er into first and flame off down the road? My dad was stationed at Ft. Leavenworth in '61,and you could get a learner's permit at age 13,in Kansas back then.Lotta' the farm kids needed to run equipment on and off the hiway,hence the young age allowance. Went to the base Jr. high,and one of my bud's rode his dad's Norton Commando in one day. Holy ****! After school,we're all gathered around admiring it,and he flips the keys to me and grins. "Think yer man enough"? My head was nodding up and down like a fokkin' bobble head doll. He showed me the shift pattern,how to prime and kick 'er over. I lit 'er up and kicked it down and twisted the throttle. What a rush. I went tearing all over the base,until the MP's pulled me over. Guy told me I was gonna' get killed riding like that,drove me back to school,and picked my bud up and took him back to get the bike. He was laughing like hell,I was so stoked I didn't sleep that night. From that day on,I had to have a motor. Back home in California,I had to wait to age 15 1/2 to get a learner's permit,then a job,and a first car to get to the job with,before I could even think about a scoot. So happens,one of my sisters had a boyfriend who rode a 450 Honda,and whenever he came over,he'd let me ride it,to get me outa' the house,so he could make time with my sis. I rode the wheels off that thing,out on the Palos Verdes Penisula,lots of twisty roads in the hills,and along the coast. I never paid much attention to Harleys. Cops rode 'em. But I got on one,one day,a big ol' panhead thumper,and I was hooked. Couldn't afford one,but got an old,beat up Vincent beast,and barely kept it running on what I made humping freight in the rail yards,but I knew a Harley was the only thing I was gonna' settle for,when I "had my money"

 

Great story, I see riding has been in your blood a long time.

 

Bought my first bike just because my parents said I couldn't have one or a car licence . When I up an disappeared on that bike for most of the summer of 71 when they tried to pull rank on me they finally figured out I was serious about it . That truce stood through all 3 of my brothers taking up riding too . Found out much later in life dear old mom carried 3 life insurance policies on me for years . You do what you have to when the bug gets that deep under the skin that early .

 

Couldn't believe it when I was 17 and my dad suggested I buy a small bike for riding back and forth to work in the summer. He even had a used one lined up for me. That was in the day when your parents taught you well and trusted you to be smart. I was pretty lucky I guess. That was 1967 and I'm still riding.

Thanks Pop. You have no idea what you started.

 

Well at least some of us weren't EMASCULATED as children, learned all about rebellion from the Catholic Nuns and Christian Bros.

 

Mother Saint Abercious (5th grade) comes to mind '63. Little frail old thing with a sharp ruler in one hand and a wicked open palm in the other. Bless her heart (And a Sears / Puch Moped in my parents garage.)

 

I was in and out of the Marines and nam too, so no, I didn't ask my mom if I could ride a "motor". She didn't like me buying a bike, since my cousin was killed on one a few years earlier. And she sure wasn't happy when I became a biker. She even asked me to stay away when our club was where she lived.

 

Twistn, great story.

 

My parents told me at the age of 10 (or roundabouts that age, its kinda fuzzy) You can have a motorcycle when you buy it yourself.They thought I would never come up with the money. So I took on 2 paper routes, and fixed an old lawn mower so i could mow lawns. 4 mths I had saved enough to buy my first dirt bike........a 1984 DR100. I hustled that into a 1984 KX 80 that needed rings, rebuilt that and the addiction continued on. I think I have owned about 25 motorcycles,3-4 atvs since then.

I still have a Suzuki DRZ 400, and am on my second Dyna. The Dyna reminds me of a cammed V8 hot rod. Lumpy idle, fun to ride, lots of charactar.

 

I bought my first bike aged 22, a Honda 125cc. Didn't dare tell my dad, he was really against bikes. I used to go visit him once a week and would leave my helmet, gloves, jacket and stuff in the lobby of his apartment building. He always offered to walk me to my car (not knowing I had arrived by motorcycle) and I always said no thanks.
One evening while at his apartment he went down to the lobby to get mail. He comes back up and says 'it's weird how there's motorcycle stuff left in the lobby' and I had to admit it belonged to me. He thought I was crazy. I think by then I was riding a Suzuki 425cc.
He's still alive aged 84 but he doesn't know I ride at the ripe old age of 56. Guess we are still kids whatever age we are.
Today I told my 25 yo daughter that she should take the MSF course and come ride with me. She liked the idea.