Technically it was a Rupp minibike, but for all practical purposes it was a brand new (1972) Honda SL100. I loved that bike!
I rode it everywhere, much to my mother's chagrin. One day I was on a major 6 lane road in town, travelling behind an 18 wheeler when I looked up and there she was in her car, waving me over with a stern look!
One day on the way to school (with my buddy behind me on his Suzuki TL90), I was turning left at an intersection when a lady in a VW bug tried to pass me (on the left!
). Fortunately I turned into her door instead of her hitting me with her front end.
I remember laying on the ground with the SL on top of me, and she gets out of her car freaking out. She said "Look what you did to my car! And now I am going to be late for work!"
Grrrr, what a b*tch she was.
Luckily I suffered no injury and the bike was fine. Her car however had a huge dent in the door! At least there was some justice in the world (for one say at least).
After that, my parents forbade me from riding on the street, so seizing the opportunity - and the next best thing! - I stripped off the street parts, went to Preston Petty flexible fenders, a Bassani open header, and wider motocross bars. I was a real Walter Mitty on the tracks on non race days. I was absolutely convinced that a thumper could compete against 2 stroke bikes. I was a good enough rider that I managed to out drive a lot of the other riders, but in the end, the 2 strokes were way too fast.
Those were the days!
