Topic: how did you get into riding motorcycles?

[seanbarney41]

...sometimes I leave the door open and somebody says, "Sean, were you raised in a barn?"  Nope, a garage...I used to be way into hot rod/muscle/high performance cars but it's just too expensive now....decent project cars $2500+, plus anything that has decent power is only gonna get 12mpg and $3.50 a gallon doesn't get me far these days,...plus car parts are cheap but you need sooo many of them!  About 15 years ago I "inherited" a cb350g from a roomate and was hooked.  Unfortunately, the motorcycle wrenching learning curve was steep for me and I rode that lil' guy into the ground.  Next up was a really clean cb360 from a co-worker which I rode for 3 years and sold for twice as much as I paid for it...one day a buddy stopped by with a cb750 he had just got and he let me ride it...that was a revelation to say the least...and the search for one of my own began immediately.

[grcamna2]

I Begged my parents for a minibike because the next door neighbor had one;he would ride it all around his yard every day...round & round & round.I finally got a Bonanza minibike w/ a 5 hp Briggs on it;I thought a 3 hp "Tecumseh" was faster because the neighbor kid had one in his bike & it sounded great wound out, so I had my dad swap the 5 Hp. Briggs(I never started that one)for a 3 hp. Tecumseh.I always had to wait for months to ride it "under supervised permission" & just got tired of it.Then fast forward from12 years old to 16.I was reading the road tests in "Cycle World" one day & was really turned on by the tests they did on the 1973' YAMAHA RD350A...well I just got my learners permit for motorcycles & wanted to get "motoring".I finally bought a good used 73' RD350A  and I was moving out into my own apartment soon...I WAS FREE !
I have had one other RD350 & a multitude of other bikes...I love Honda's the Most.

[Rgconner]

Well, it started when I used to go back to see my Dad in OK. He worked at Tinker AFB but lived with my Grandfather who ran his business out of the house.

Gramps had been a small engine mechanic since the late 40's after WWII.

He had quite a collection of bikes that needed some sort of work, but the owner had not thought it worth fixing and had abandoned. Sometimes after the work had been done.

So, when I went back he would point to one and tell me if I could get it running, I could ride it. He would help me fix it and then I would ride around the edge of town and the farm roads nearby. He was also the volunteer Fire Chief. If I got pulled over it was "Tell your folks hello for me, and stay off the main roads."

After I left he would sell it, then next summer I would have to fix another one.

Gramps rode around on an 1969 CL350K1 (At least best I can tell from the photo) even though he had access to just about any bike he wanted. I believe he rode it up until the last 6 months or so of his life, so possibly riding it for 30 years.

Tragically, this bike was trashed soon after his death. My cousin rode it, and he has a history of turning any mechanical device into useless #$%*. A now broken and rusted frame is about all that remains of it. (We won't discuss what condition his 1903 Springfield was in when it was finally recovered from my uncle. There would be blood.)

Fast forward 25 years and I bought a 250GTS Vespa, because that is what the wife would allow. 3 years after that and I was able to talk her into the CB550.

I don't know if I will ever buy another bike, the Honda does all I ask of it and more.   

[Bob3050]

My older brother had an Indian that he used to take me to grammar school on. So when I graduated high school in 1959 I had to have a bike. I found a '56 BSA Road Rocket with 500 miles on it for $500. When I started it and rode it home it was the first time I had ever ridden a motorcycle.

[Deltarider]

My girlfriend had a CB 350 Four. Eastern 1979 when we flew back from a short two week holiday on the Cyclades, we planned to go to Greece again next summer for vacation and she suggested to go on motorcycle. I said: "How? Haven't got a bike, let alone a permit." She suggested I could do some effort or we would go two up... on hers. I didn't fancy that. During that same flight back to Amsterdam, stewardess distributed newspapers and in the ads we picked a second hand motorcycle. She did a testride and said: "If you don't buy it, I will." I bought the bike but she had to ride it home since I did not have that drivers licence. Next June I got that permit just in time and we had the vacation of our lives in France, Italy, Greece (10.000 kms in over 6 weeks) and returned through Switzerland and Germany. It's the same bike that has brought me everywhere in Europe ever since and that's still in the garage. Odometer read 30.000 kms when I bought it, now 132.000 kms. Must confess I don't ride it as much as in the past. More and more I prefer my pedal bikes. Better for me, better for the planet. I feel much freeer on a pedal bike (no helmets, no heavy clothing) and you can transport them easy as luggage on flights (most companies don't charge extra) and so I have used my Koga's in remote destinations like Crete, Cyprus, Morocco and Zimbabwe. But the 500 is here to stay. It is in excellent condition.

[xsmooth69x]

i just want to look cool

[dave500]

i personally started out as a teenager tearing through the woods on a Honda xr75


as a kid i had an xr75,an sl100,the little xr 75 was far better,i shaved the head by hand on plate glass and had the cam ground,ive mostly been a dirt rider but now im a little older and the dirt bike boys have all moved on im into the mid size honda fours,,ive had a string of yammy two stroke dirt bikes,73dt400,it400,it250,dtmx125,and an xr600(worst of the handlers next to the it400)my only other road bike ive had was a mid 80s honda vf750v4,as a kid my older sister had a boyfreind with a cb450dohc,and he was the coolest,when he let me kick start it and he took me for a spin that was it man.

[dave500]

i just want to look cool

get yourself cryogenically frozen.

[Retro Rocket]

i just want to look cool

get yourself cryogenically frozen.

HAHAHA   

[strynboen]

got a cd 50 in 1980..and then it only growing bigger. and this year i got my cbx....ups my bicycle came with

its not only my bikes ...im also groving..but not in hight..there are ca 25 years between the pics..

it.. vas mad max this years..so have a toe cutter fairling..and it run 95 kmt

[orange550]

My father bought me an Arctic Cat mini-bike when I was 7 years old. It had a faux leopard skin vinyl seat! Wish I had that bike today. From there, I progressed to Kawasaki motocrossers; raced semi-pro for a while. In my teens and later, I went through various street bikes. Suzuki GS425, RD 400, Honda Interceptor, 600 Ninja, FZ 750, (and embarrassingly a Honda Shadow)

Stopped riding for many years, marriage, etc. Wanted to get back into bikes, but wasn't sure I would still love it. I always dug the old CBs, especially the 400 super sport.  Found a non-running 74 CB550. It was in good shape otherwise. It turned over so I was confident I could get it running. My dad helped me pick it up, and 10 minutes after getting home we had it running. Dead battery, bad gas, etc. Ran awful, but I went through it completely. Carb rebuild, valves, plugs, timing, etc. Now it runs like a champ. Did a 1500 mile road trip at the end of the summer.

Now I wonder which bike to buy next! Either a 750 or a 350 twin to turn into a tracker for running 'round town. Oh and I test road a Ducati Hypermotard last week. Great bike, but it would get me in trouble fast.

[ekpent]

My first bike was a 1970 Suzuki AC50 Maverick I got when I was 12.At the time I had a huge strawberry patch and I sold them. Used the money to buy the bike. Remember putting almost 50 miles on it the first day driving in the driveway.Had a lot of dirtbike trails,open spaces,gravel pits etc. and had an assortment of Suzuki and Yamaha MX bikes.Bought my first real roadbike in 1977 right out of High School,a real nice 73 Suzuki GT750 and the first Honda 750 came along in 1980,a 76 and have had multiple ones ever since.
   Those were quite the days and glad I was a kid in the time period I grew up,could almost get away with anything 

[MrGardman]

I used to look through the Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs at the motorcycles they used to sell. I grew up in a very small town in Indiana so I had a paper route and rode my bicycle everywhere. My mother knew the owner of the motorcycle dealership and probably felt he could teach me something that I would be interested in. So in '63 I started working at the Triumph, Ducati dealership near where I lived. I learned so much and I just soaked all the knowledge up like a sponge. The first bike I actually rode was my co worker's Ducati 250 Scrambler. He showed me the controls and what to do. I rode it across the road in a big old gravel pit area. I was hooked for life.
 
My own first bike was a very unreliable Triumph Cub. It could barely make more that a few miles before it would break down..LOL The freedom that I felt though was so unique. I just knew thats what I was going to be interested in for the rest of my life. I owned many, many more motorcycles after that though. Everything from Zundapp to Husqvarna to lots and lots of Hondas. I worked at a few different dealerships over those years.

The motorcycle dealership where I started has been long gone but I fondly remember those days growing up.

[HonderCB]

Rode 4 wheelers around the farm all childhood, but never had a desire to ride a bike much.  Played around on mini bikes and mopeds a time or two but was never really enamored.  When i was in college while home for a weekend i saw a dirtbike collecting dust in my uncle's shed.  He had been given it as payment for a debt and he didnt really have any use for it.  he told me i could have it and he would get it running for me by the next time i came over.  there were no stickers or anything on it, so after some google searches i discovered it was a TY350 Yamaha trials bike.  I went back to his house next time i was home and it was still sitting where i had left it, so i pulled it out and kicked on it to no avail.  So, i pulled the plug, poured some 2cycle fuel down the jug and kicked it again and it ran.  5 minutes later it was on the back of my truck and i was headed home with it.  I rode it around the farm all summer and then put it up when i went back to school and didnt touch it for a few years.  then one day on a whim my roomate and i got it to our house cleaned the carb and got it running but i still wasnt hooked.  A few months later a friend of mine let me ride his DT175 Yamaha that was licenesed on the street... that did it.  I guess i just needed to ride a bike on the road.  It wasnt long before i found a CB650 advertised locally and it was in good shape.  I brought it home that day.  Not too long after that i saw a black 750SS for the first time and thought it looked so cool.  I also found out that my father in law had one in parts in his back shed.  I was just a bit too long in the legs for that 650 anyway, so after a year i upgraded to a 750F after catching the sohc-4 bug and riding it is all i want to do now.

[FrankenFrankenstuff]

When I was 7 my best friend got a Honda Z50 for his birthday. We rode that bike into the ground. Through the years, and through a few bikes that Z50 was always on my mind. Like a daydream that had been on hold since I was 7; wanting to ride my OWN bike. Instead of being the passenger or waiting for a turn. Earlier this summer.....I bought one.

When I was in high school is when i saw "the wild one" and soon after found a Cb550 (my first street bike) which slowly turned into a wanna be Triumph.
etc. etc.
toys toys toys

[strynboen]

yamaha dt 175..my vinter bike...are the model the same overthere

[heffay]

yamaha dt 175..my vinter bike...are the model the same overthere

Your picture looks pretty much the same as any DT I've seen over here.

[Redman]

 The first motorcycle I rode was in 1965. My boss in the service station where I worked bought a brand new 65 Norton Atlas. One day at work he said to me " Want to take it for a ride cause I`m going to sell it".  I was hooked. After that my buddy and I rode CB 160`s. More riding offroad than on. Been riding ever since.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

My father and older brothers were into bikes.  I was into cars and specifically my Mustang.  Had to give that hobby up just after I left high school as it was becoming too expensive to keep it up.  The tree I wrapped it around had something to do with it too I suppose!

Fast forward through all the college, career, family & kids years with all those boring cars, wagons, minivans and conversion vans!  Then, about 7 years ago, I helped a buddy load up a moving van as he was headed out of state.  As a thank you, he signed over his old, non-running CB550 to me.  He didn't have room for it on the van anyway.

The bike spent the winter under a large gas grill cover.  In the spring, I dug into it and found a couple shorted wires.  I fixed those up, put in some fresh gas, and she fired right up!  Rode it around the back yard for a couple of weeks (we're talking a SMALL city lot sized yard!)  Got my MSF training out of the way and eventually my full endorsement. 

That 'ol 550 is the green '77 you see in my avatar.  I've since added a '82 CM250C, a '74 CB750 and a '82 GL1100 that I put a sidecar onto. 

Took me til my 40's, but finally caught the bug!  Saddens me a bit when I think about all those miles I missed out on.  But then again, I may not have survived a motorhead youth on two wheels!!

[Really?]

Dad hooked me up with a 400-4 when I was 14

[SohRon]

A friend had one of these Montgomery Ward cycles (50cc - actually made by Benelli). Small bike but a lot of fun to learn on; about 1969.

[CB500_k2]

Well it was 1963 and a couple of friends thought it would be a great adventure to spend the summer cycling through Europe.  Though I had never been on a bike it sounded like a great idea.  We went to Coventry and picked up some Triumphs, mine was a 500 Tiger.  I got on the bike and started off learning how to ride a bike and ride on the wrong side of the road simultaneously.   10000 miles later, much the wiser about motorcycle maintenance and the ways of the world I returned to college in the states with a lifelong love for bikes.

[veloracermike]

Although I blame (credit) Roger DeCoster for my 2 wheel addiction according my parents I've been a gear head since birth.  My first bike was a Briggs/Stratton powered mini bike. That led to a Honda Mini-Trail 50.  Then I got my first proper M/C that was a Hodaka Combat/Wombat.  After that it was XR75's CR125 YZ's and a few Husky's thrown in.  My first street bike was an RZ350 in Red/White. I've had a few Ducs but in 2000 when I had my first child the wife as adamant, no more street bikes.  I've been watching Cafe Racer TV this season and to my surprise and good luck the wife said "You should get a bike like one of those".  So I'm picking up a 74 350f this Saturday.  I'll post some pic here when I get it...I think some of you might recognize it as it's pretty famous on the google.

[grcamna2]

That CB350F is one Beautiful classic of a Honda ! I hope you enjoy getting into it.

[Gman]

MN, 1993 - college roomie had a 1985 Honda Interceptor.  I, unfortunately, had to ride byatch, and wasn't too enamored.  He later swapped it for a Shadow, which was more manageable as a passenger, but I still couldn't ride.  We graduated '95 and as I was heading home to my parents' house in CA, he tells me to get my act together, get a bike and he'll come to CA to ride back to MN w/me for a friend's wedding.  So, I flew back to CA, took an MSF class, and bought a 1988 Honda Shadow (all within about 3 weeks).  My friend showed up, we toured Northern CA on bikes and then rode the 2000 miles back to MN.  On the first ride w/my buddy, I started to understand the allure.  After the wedding, I rode MN to CA solo.  Within the first month of owning a bike, I put probably 6000 miles on it.  Doubt I've ridden 6000 miles since...
Got married, toodled around on the Shadow w/wife for a few years, then had my first kid.  Gave my bike to my brother, who got hooked and is on his 4th or 5th bike.  Finally, after a long break, I bought a '76 cb550k this past summer.  Only rode it a few times, schedule and weather permitting, but I'm stoked to be back in the saddle.  Met some good guys here through the forum and plan to ride and wrench as circumstances allow.