...sounds very familiar...

 

At age 9 I learned on my friends Honda 50cc mini-bikes, riding in vineyards. From 10 to 15 was riding bmx bicycles and I am not sure how I stayed out of the hospital during this time! At 15 1/2 I bought a RD125 2 stroke street bike and rode it to work (and worked on it!) for 2 years. Had several dirt bikes until I was 19 when I bought a new 1983 GPZ 550, 5 months later I was left turned by a 1972 Nova and almost lost my left leg. 2 years later after learning to walk again I swore off street bikes and stuck to the dirt (I kept my XR200). In 2003 my neighbor bought a new springer softtail and wanted to ride, he let me ride his restored Suzuki Cavalcade and I have to say that one ride let me know that once its in your blood you cannot refuse it - I knew that I needed to get back on (the street that is). I have many friends that ride for the CHP and have helped many while they practiced for motor school (not really a school!) and have investigated hundreds of motor crashes in the past twenty years so I know what I am getting back into only with alot more experience and maturity. I recently welcomed a new co-worker who was a motor school instructor and motor training officer and he has offered to run me through the training and said don't blow your cash on the MSP when he can do it for free! I have access to a CHP run out KZ1000 to practice on and so far so good! So at 46 I will be buying my first HD, an Ultra Classic POSE, hopefully in the spring.

 

it seems like the honda 50 was a gateway bike to an extremely addictive habit.

 

Yamaha DT250 back in 1976, I went thru lots of plastic parts and handlebars on that bike. Great memories

 

By crashing several times. I chose the negative reinforcement method and have the scars to prove it

 

I started off at about 13 yrs old on an old 1960-70 (can't remember how old but it was old) suzuki 100 road bike that was given to my dad It was a piece of sh*t, no brakes, motor running just, throttle cable that you had to pull by hand cause it hat broken off from the hand grip. Rode this around vacant lots that now 30 years on have residential & commercial buildings all on them. Then next a couple of road/trail bikes...then a twenty year break then on to my harley 2 years ago

 

At age 15 in 1956, I graduated from a Hiawatha balloon tired bicycle to a Whizzer motorbike with the 5 hp high compression head. Three years latter I got a new Simplex light weight motorcycle.

I rode them to school, to my after school job and all over the county. I even rode in the winter unless it was during a snow storm.

They helped develop a life long passion for motorcycles.

They represented being free of ties to home and dependency on parents for transportation.

They still represent getting away from it all.

Jeez I must be getting old. No one else started on a Whizzer bike that has posted. I quess 70 is getting up there.

 

Started out learning on my dads ULH 80 in the big yard we had. Dad taught me to retard the spark, 3 kick prime, turn the switch on and stroke it over. I was the coolest sum bich in school!

 

By the time I was ready to learn, my dad had sold his Harley years earlier and was riding a 305 Yamaha. I enjoyed riding with Dad through the local towns and my classmates said they could "hear your dad comin' from a mile away". I cut brush and cleared our access roads on our 40-acre woodlands and saved half the cost of a C110 SuperCub (50cc) Honda. At 11 I had already had a woodsbuggy for a year so I understood a clutch shift, and he coached me around the lane until I had the idea. The freedom I experienced was unimaginable, as I was surrounded by a 500,000-acre state forest in the NJ Pine Barrens. You never had to worry about "the man" as there was NO WAY he was going to follow you back there on those roads in his sedan. Fortunately we did get to ride once side-by-side down our 1/4 mile lane when we were both coming home. It must have looked very funny with him on that "big" 305 and this skinny little kid on his Honda 50 (not a minitrail 50), but the memory lives on in my mind. I am certain that he took great enjoyment to see that his son had the same passion for motorcycling. Dad has been gone 10 years now, but I like to think sometimes as I ride the backroads of SoCal that he is alongside, maybe on that old Sprint, encouraging me and sharing the sights, sounds, and smells of the Good Earth.

 

When i was a kid i rode snow mobiles all the time and my buddy had a dirt bike, he said let me ride your ski doo every once in a while and i will let you ride my dirt bike this summer... When i moved here 20 years ago i was poor as hell...i saved up my money and bought a $500 Yamaha 650 Maxxim...fixed it up and drove it in the yard and on a dirt road til i was pretty good..insured it and took it to the DMV and took the test and i passed....8 Bikes and 16 years alter i am pretty good i guess...