What got you started

[Piute]

                                               Thought of after seeing this ,
                                               Subject used before ;

[Bobber0071]

I never really messed with any thing as a young child. As a young kid I rode to a part job on the back of my bosses nighthawk 750. That started my passion for motorcycles.

[sgtslag]

My Father was a motorcyclist, riding on tours with a group of friends, a couple of times, annually, as well as taking my Mother on tours, separately, while I was growing up.  He started riding in 1969, on a motorized bicycle, then he graduated to a genuine motorcycle the following year.  My first ride (as driver) was in a campground (late-70's), on a 1965(?) Honda 65cc bike:  dead horse, but fun to ride.  I got my endorsement at 16 (1981), and I rode a 1971 Honda 175 Scrambler to/from High School, for 2+ years.  Rode several other bikes, owned by my folks, up until I finally got into it, seriously, in 2006, when I bought my first bike, my CB750K.  My wife and I took our first big tour in 2009; we've been touring annually, since (1,000+ miles, at least once per year, starting in 2009, with many weekend tours, in the 500+ mile range, several times each riding season, since 2006).  No end in sight, until I lose my ability to physically ride a bike/trike.  Cheers!

[shinyribs]

My Pops had 4 Cb750's off the showroom floor.I was never around any bikes growing up other than dirt bikes,but his tales always made me respect the CB750's even though i had no experience with them.All the years i rode dirt bikes i never thought of owning a street bike.I wanted an old bike this winter to put a crotch rocket motor into as a joke more than anything else.I got lucky and scored a '76 CB750F.Shoulda done this years ago.Lovin every mile.Later...im goin' for a ride....

[MarkPBG]

As a kid, I was always trapped in a car with a smoking parent…I couldn't breathe! Whenever I saw a motorcycle ride by…I thought…"there's NO WAY he can be trapped in a car with the windows up and breathing concentrated smoke!" I wanted one ever since our first four hour road trip and a nice bike pulled along side and rode off in the fresh air.

[Piute]

[Peterwh]

My brother and I bought a 50cc moped in 1970 when I was 13 and he was 11.  We tore up our parents garden on it till it fell apart.  Then we had a 125 BSA Bantam and later, a 500 Matchless, all before either of us could ride on the road.  Most of my pals were banned from driving for a year before we were 16.   Fortunately, only through luck, I wasn't with them that day.  An older friend of mine who raced a 500cc Velocette taught me most of my early mechanical skills around that time.  Then I got a 250 Ducati but didn't have much success with it.  My first proper road bike was a CB 250 then a matchless. Through those years I wouldn't want my son hanging out with the guys that were my best buddies.  After that I had a 28 year break and got back into CB 750s a couple of years ago.  In my youth these bikes were the thing of my dreams but I never thought I could afford one.  How wrong I was.

[rich]

My father was in the Air Force and we moved to Spain when I was 12. We lived there 5 years. I had several mopeds. Teens could ride anything 50CCs and under as long as it had pedals! (no registration, insurance or license). Here are a couple that I could find pictures of. These aren't mine but similar to ones I had:

This is a Derbi 50.


This was my favorite. A Puch mini-cross. It was a full size MX bike with a 50CC 2 stroke. It was a great bike. I had many a great ride on it.
 



Another kid brought over a Yamaha 80 and I bought it off him when he returned to the states. It was fast but actually smaller than the Puch. I tried to take the engine out and put it the Puch, but that didn't work out.



Since then, I've always had an affinity to small displacement two strokes and Yamahas.

I got a 175 enduro when we returned to the states in 1976. I traded it for a CB-350 about a year later.


I sold the Honda and bought my first car and that was the end of bikes for me for a couple of years. I joined the Coast Guard in 1979. In 1980 I was stationed in San Diego and started to get back into bikes. I picked up a lot of nice old bikes there.  As before, I started with small bore two strokes and worked my way back to a 4 strokes:

First, a 125 twin:


Then a 350:


My last Yamaha was a SR-500:


I traded the SR-500 in on a brand new Honda CX-500 in 1983 as a present to myself. I paid of the balance with my reenlistment bonus.


Things went downhill from here (bike wise). I got married not long after getting the CX-500. My spouse-to-be had two kids so I sold my bike and 4X4 pickup and bought a station-wagon and headed for recruiting duty in Salt Lake City.

I did manage to have a couple of bikes there, a Kawasaki 250 single and 1979 CB 750. I took the 750 with me when we got transferred Long Beach in 1987 but ended up selling it (needed money - LA was a heck of a lot more expensive than Salt Lake City, plus I added two more kids to feed). So I was bike-less for the next 20 years.  Unit I got - wait for it - another small bore two stroke!


It was off-road only and I wanted to ride the roads again. So I got this little enduro to get my license with and to take a MSF course with:


Last summer I got my 2nd 1979 CB750.

[wes]

growin up there were two brothers that both had minibikes, then dirtbikes. they never once let me ride them. i kinda dont blame them now. then i guess i was about 10 yrs old when i saw Mad Max for the first time. Those bikes made the hair on my neck stand up. Since then I have wanted a kz1000. i still watch that movie every time its on. i had a gpz550 in highschool.  I was looking for a kz when this cb came along. I still consider myself "learning to ride". and if im still riding this hard next yr, i might have to get something bigger i can haul the ole lady on.

[Re-run]

Started about 9 or so. Had an old honda trail 70. No front brake, clutchless shifting, and tiny but wide tires. Oh and bent handle bars. Not that it mattered. Once I could kick it, I was off. First air time experience sealed the deal. Moved onto a 79 yamaha 100 enduro. Proceeded to beat the crap out of that thing. Broke the passenger pegs a number of time. Somehow never bent the forks but had to prop the front wheel against things to straighten it out. Learned the hard way to NOT follow cattle trails and it wasnt the crap factor either. It was the end in a thicket and having the back the bike up hill to get out that did it!

Got A LOT of air time on that sucker. 2 strokes are so much fun
Later I had a yammy 500 enduro 4stroke that required a compression lever to aid in starting. If that thing fired back on you, it almost tore your leg off. Stepdad I think was trying to kill me as there were NO brakes front or back and the tires were bald. And yet, here I am!

Little break for a while then got my cb750. Still have it to this day and unless the situation becomes dire, I will never give that thing up. It might get buried with my dead ass if I have my way!

[shinyribs]

wes wrote

 i might have to get something bigger i can haul the ole lady on.

 I reeeeeally hope she never reads that


Rerun,I know what you mean about 2 strokes.My second dirtbike(all 4 were KTM's) was a '93 KTM 125 EXC with a little work done to it.It was a monster!I KNOW it would smoke my CB750.I'm sure it wouldnt match the top speed,but rolling into a wheelie on a 125 in 4th gear converted a few riding buddies from their brands over to KTM's.I had in order: '87 KTM125SX, '93 KTM125 EXC, '89 KTM250 SX, '95 KTM250 EXC. The 125's were left side kick,which i loved.That '93 125 was by far the fastest dirt bike i have ever ridden,mine or anyone elses,besides my buddies 650 Husky.That was a stupid powerful bike.It actually gave me whiplash!    Man,i miss wrecking in the woods...i need another KTM

[cityslicker]

I grew up all around Dirt bikes, but never owned one. My old man would tell me stories about going across country on a little 350, And I had always wanted a bike of my own, but not till I was 23 did I get my first one, a 83 Honda shadow 500. I loved it. I rode it everyday everywhere I went rain or shine. unless the rain was real bad. Until I  wrecked it. In a BAD wreck.
I completely totaled the bike, It was mangled. I was in the rain, going down Center ave in the hill district(the hood), and she just wouldn't turn ,.. just kept going straight... so hit the telephone pole or lay it down, I layed it down... woke up in the middle of a nearby side street. I had nightmares about riding for years afterwords. even though I was pretty much fine. Just some scrapes and knocked out. So fast forward... I'm driving down the street and see my buddy about to hop on his sportster, and I pull up behind him and am like I want to take her for a spin. he says yea man, so I tell him to meet me at my house.... well that feeling of freedom is more addictive then smack. I immediately, began searching for a bike. researching etc... till I found my old 74 750 that had been sitting behind a warehouse for years, rotting. and next spring, she'll be alive again.

[Piute]

Well I myself of course grew up with Harley's every were,Even had a poster blue print of a Pan-head above my bed, Pop's died when I was 13 and left me A Pan-head in a basket ,had been building it for me at the time he also had his 750.
My cousin had an A.M.F.175 that I couldn't touch the ground but was able to use the flower bed ,that I leaned on ,After my 1st run ,my uncle said that was good now try using the clutch.
  I've been around H.D. all my life have owned 5 h.d.s ,and 4 diff. jp. crp's, I always liked my Dad's 750 cause it never lost a race,and most were against H.D.'s.They couldn't shut there mouths long enough to learn there lesson that at the time the 750's were made to run and run fast ,They were the day.
                 
                           R.I.P. Pop's














































I put myself in this pic (1978 fxrs annv. spl.)<