Topic: inspirations, who made you want to ride bikes??

[benly- ben]

who made you want to ride bikes???

[scunny]

my cousin would ride past our house on his 69 Bonnie, hooked ever since

[tramp]

stationed in hawaii, boats gone for two weeks
whats a young sailor to do

[nickjtc]

It wasn't so much a 'who' as it was was a case of necessity. I needed to be mobile in my new career and could not afford to buy a car on an income of $20 per week. Some friends had motorcycles and seemed to be managing ok, so I got my first ever bank loan and went out and bought a bike.....1972 CB175.

[my78k]

$20 a week??? You must be old!!!      Man you can't even get a Grande Frappucino for that now a days! Or so I have heard...I only drink manly black coffee! 

Anyways, in terms of my inspiration...I guess I would have to say my brother as I first learned on his Rupp in a field in Scarborough. But my Dad drove us over there to play so I would have to include him in there too.

Dennis

[nickjtc]

$20 a week??? You must be old!!!      Man you can't even get a Grande Frappucino for that now a days! Or so I have heard...I only drink manly black coffee!

1972. Apprentice dispensing optician. Weekly wage: 10 pounds, less 57p National Insurance. 3 pounds to Mum for room/board. 2 pounds for loan payment. 1 pound for a p!ss up down the pub once a week (beer was 15p a pint). Don't know what happened to the rest.

You're only as old as the woman you feel.

[benly- ben]

it was the first time i went to a sprint meeting with my dad and samcr750. my dad races a honda cr750 replica. it was just the atmosphere smelling the fumes and seeing people doing 200mph down a 1/4 mile strip. as soon as i experienced that i wanted to ride!!
and now i can, a Honda CB92 race kit!!
Ben

[my78k]

Ben, are you really 12? If so you may have the honour of being the youngest member on here...although you are far from being the most immature!

Nick, actually it is funny....the same sort of math still applies today. Substitue the money to mom for a mortgage payment and it is pretty much the same....just adjusted for inflation!

Dennis

[benly- ben]

yes i am 12 dennis,
say ehh who do you think is the most inmature???

[my78k]

lol...in the interest of not making enemies I will bite my tongue on that one! 

What is your current ride Ben? Or do you just borrow dad's when he is not looking?

Dennis

[UnCrash]

yes i am 12 dennis,
say ehh who do you think is the most inmature???

Stick around, there is sometimes a weekly contest for that title  


My step-father built a 70's Kawasaki chopper, raked and hard-tailed -- one cool ass death machine.  He gave it up for corvettes and drag cars  

[Freaky1]

My dad was a true 50's hot rodder, racer and I grew up around street rods and show cars. Rod runs, auto shows and the like, then dad got hooked up with the World of Wheels car shows and began working for them. I got in during move in & out, this was before there were mega bucks trailer queens, people drove in and out to set up. Motorcycles always appealed to me, but at shows it was choppers I got to see.
Also my cousins had dirt bikes and back in the mid 70's you could ride in just about any field or empty lot. That got me into actually riding them also crashed the first time I ever rode, it was a little Honda Z50 and I went through a fence. I didn't get hurt but my parents, aunt and uncle had gone to dinner and made it very clear before they left that I was not to ride by myself, it was classic.
I had a '72 Yamaha Enduro and a Virago 500 (the year escapes me), however I was into cars. But building a car soon blasted way out of my price range and I started getting interested in street bikes again.
I started seeing stretched out, fat tyred choppers around and wasn't too impressed. Then I caught an episode of "Biker Build Off" and it was the first one Indian Larry was on and I was blown away, the guy built amazing bikes and rode the #$%* out of them. Everything about him was what I had been looking for, build it to ride it, build it yourself, ask for help if you need it, and help others if they need it. Larry's mantra was everything I believed and thought had been lost in the megabucks world of super choppers and motorcycles.
I was electrified and dove in head first and I have since found many people who think the same way. I also found this place and everyone here that I have chatted with has been great.
So now that the book is done, to answer the question, it started with my cousins and the people I met at shows and their bikes back in the 70's, and was reborn a few years ago by the one and only Indian Larry. Bikes to me are like women, I don't care where they come from or who built them, if they are hot then I'm getting excited!

[Johnie]

1966 & 1967 drove some dirt bikes in the woods while visiting an aunt in MI. 1968...was in the local drum & bugle corps and got a ride on the back of the drum majors Bridgestone on the way to practice.  Hooked ever since.  1970 bought my first bike a 1965 Honda Sport 65cc to learn on and the rest is history.  Like the rest of you guys, it's in the blood and I can not imagine not having a bike.

[benly- ben]

lol...in the interest of not making enemies I will bite my tongue on that one! 

What is your current ride Ben? Or do you just borrow dad's when he is not looking?

Dennis

a honda cb92 the race kit, with straight through open meggas!!
its gonna be fast!

[benly- ben]

My dad was a true 50's hot rodder, racer and I grew up around street rods and show cars. Rod runs, auto shows and the like, then dad got hooked up with the World of Wheels car shows and began working for them. I got in during move in & out, this was before there were mega bucks trailer queens, people drove in and out to set up. Motorcycles always appealed to me, but at shows it was choppers I got to see.
Also my cousins had dirt bikes and back in the mid 70's you could ride in just about any field or empty lot. That got me into actually riding them also crashed the first time I ever rode, it was a little Honda Z50 and I went through a fence. I didn't get hurt but my parents, aunt and uncle had gone to dinner and made it very clear before they left that I was not to ride by myself, it was classic.
I had a '72 Yamaha Enduro and a Virago 500 (the year escapes me), however I was into cars. But building a car soon blasted way out of my price range and I started getting interested in street bikes again.
I started seeing stretched out, fat tyred choppers around and wasn't too impressed. Then I caught an episode of "Biker Build Off" and it was the first one Indian Larry was on and I was blown away, the guy built amazing bikes and rode the #$%* out of them. Everything about him was what I had been looking for, build it to ride it, build it yourself, ask for help if you need it, and help others if they need it. Larry's mantra was everything I believed and thought had been lost in the megabucks world of super choppers and motorcycles.
I was electrified and dove in head first and I have since found many people who think the same way. I also found this place and everyone here that I have chatted with has been great.
So now that the book is done, to answer the question, it started with my cousins and the people I met at shows and their bikes back in the 70's, and was reborn a few years ago by the one and only Indian Larry. Bikes to me are like women, I don't care where they come from or who built them, if they are hot then I'm getting excited!

have you ever watched american chopper?? there bikes are really good the way that they can make different bikes to a theme is amaizing
ben

[Freaky1]

My dad was a true 50's hot rodder, racer and I grew up around street rods and show cars. Rod runs, auto shows and the like, then dad got hooked up with the World of Wheels car shows and began working for them. I got in during move in & out, this was before there were mega bucks trailer queens, people drove in and out to set up. Motorcycles always appealed to me, but at shows it was choppers I got to see.
Also my cousins had dirt bikes and back in the mid 70's you could ride in just about any field or empty lot. That got me into actually riding them also crashed the first time I ever rode, it was a little Honda Z50 and I went through a fence. I didn't get hurt but my parents, aunt and uncle had gone to dinner and made it very clear before they left that I was not to ride by myself, it was classic.
I had a '72 Yamaha Enduro and a Virago 500 (the year escapes me), however I was into cars. But building a car soon blasted way out of my price range and I started getting interested in street bikes again.
I started seeing stretched out, fat tyred choppers around and wasn't too impressed. Then I caught an episode of "Biker Build Off" and it was the first one Indian Larry was on and I was blown away, the guy built amazing bikes and rode the #$%* out of them. Everything about him was what I had been looking for, build it to ride it, build it yourself, ask for help if you need it, and help others if they need it. Larry's mantra was everything I believed and thought had been lost in the megabucks world of super choppers and motorcycles.
I was electrified and dove in head first and I have since found many people who think the same way. I also found this place and everyone here that I have chatted with has been great.
So now that the book is done, to answer the question, it started with my cousins and the people I met at shows and their bikes back in the 70's, and was reborn a few years ago by the one and only Indian Larry. Bikes to me are like women, I don't care where they come from or who built them, if they are hot then I'm getting excited!

have you ever watched american chopper?? there bikes are really good the way that they can make different bikes to a theme is amaizing
ben

Yea I have but, and this is just my opinion, they are a bunch of hacks. Yea theme bikes are interesting to look at but I can't respect the work. They used to have theme cars at the auto shows, "Mafia Mixer", "Mork & Mindy Egg Car", "Pinball Wizard". Great to look at but you couldn't drive them and they really were held together with gum and chicken wire. I know lots of people like them but I'm just not one of them.

[Sam Green Racing]

lol...in the interest of not making enemies I will bite my tongue on that one! 

What is your current ride Ben? Or do you just borrow dad's when he is not looking?

Dennis

He can't reach the floor on his dads bike, he can only just reach the bars.

He's just gone to bed so we can call him know, then delete it before he sees it tomorrow

He'll be riding one of my Benlys Dennis, the one I sponsored his dad on before I built the CR750.

It was bored out to 175 when his dad rode it, we have to scale it down to 125cc because of his age.

Sam.

[fuzzybutt]

my older brother and his late 70's honda hawk, his roomates 350four. then back in 91 or 2 a co-worker needed to sell his triumph chop as he was going to prison for a while. i offered him what i had in my wallet and that was it. i rode the thing around my front pasture for 10 minutes or so and that was all she wrote. i've been into motorcycles ever since.

[phactory]

There really wasn't a person who was my inspiration, as I really didn't know anyone who rode while I was growing up. I never even had a mini bike, though I did have a really cool racing go cart.

I just came home one day KNOWING that I wanted to get a motorcycle. That was a really tough sell in my house as my father was a registry Inspector and his job was to go inspect the scene of fatal accidents.

It will be 30 years this year and I have never looked back since!

phil

[ofreen]

My dad and uncles all rode, and my brothers and I all ride.  It was inevitable and maybe genetic.

[74cb750]

Back when I was in grammer school I used to be able to tell what kind/size of bike was roaring up the straight before hitting the curves by our house....that and my brother on his Yamaha 180cc ? twin & Triumph 650 convinced me. Speed is found on 2 wheels.
the rest is history....ie, speeding tickets not written due to skills learned watching/listening to guys antics when I was  young.
peace,
michel

[754]

<<<<--------  SATAN ----!!---        >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[HavocTurbo]

<<<<--------  SATAN ----!!---        >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Always figured my great grandfather was satan.... Mean bastard.

He raced motordromes in the early teens and looking at pictures of that and hearing his stories made me get my first motorcycle.

A bicycle with a rototiller engine welded to it. Made it myself.

[benly- ben]

lol...in the interest of not making enemies I will bite my tongue on that one! 

What is your current ride Ben? Or do you just borrow dad's when he is not looking?

Dennis

He can't reach the floor on his dads bike, he can only just reach the bars.

He's just gone to bed so we can call him know, then delete it before he sees it tomorrow

He'll be riding one of my Benlys Dennis, the one I sponsored his dad on before I built the CR750.

It was bored out to 175 when his dad rode it, we have to scale it down to 125cc because of his age.

Sam.

heyy sam, i saw them i can reach the floor on my dads i just cant reach the bars yet!!!
grrrr

[Ryan 550k]

When I was 24 yrs old, the owner of the house I was renting a room in was REALLY into motorcycles, especially Japanese bikes.  Old, new, whatever.  He ended up selling me my first bike, 72 CB500.  I ended up selling it 6 months later so I could move to the other side of the country, ended up regretting it.  I never stopped thinking about getting another bike.  7 yrs later I got one.  Now I'm more obsessed than ever