What was your first bike?

redpaso · Post by **redpaso** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:12 am

Hey Guys & Gals,

Thought it might be interesting to find out what your first bike was .

My first venture into the great world of Motorcycle ownership was at the age of 16 as I waited to be old enough to get my learners permit. (I think it was early 1986). My first bike was a V-Twin!

I could not wait as I was used to jumping on the back of my older brothers BMW R100RS for rides to the races etc. He had a Yamaha 250 dirt bike that he said I could use but I wanted to own my own road bike. I remember the day i found it parked outside the local pie makers factory with a for sale sign attached. It was a very shiny Silver VT250F Honda (the one with the Bikini fairing & square headlight ) Oh it was a beautiful thing & the biggest bike a learner could have at the time. (when it used togo on CC now it is measured on power to weight ) I raced home to tell my big bro i had found my bike. he checked it out & lent me the $1200 to pay for it. They were asking $1600 but we haggled them down.

I loved that bike & covered many many kilometres on her, wringing its poor old neck as i tried to replicate Wayne Gardner ( in my head at least) I only came off it twice & both times my fault (that is another topic for the future). I think i spend almost as much time polishing it as I did riding & the pipes sounded pretty good as they rusted out from the inside (until the Police gave me an ultimatum of replace the pipes or walk every where, I replaced the pipes).

I owned the VT for 3 years before I decided that I needed to upgrade as the girlfriend at the time liked to climb on the back & the VT was straining a little under the extra load. It was a sad day the day I sold it to a mate for the same amount that i paid for it. It was his first bike but unfortunately I saw it deterioriate rapidly as he neglected, abused & repeatedly put it down the road.

That was my first bike, what was yours?

KillerB · Post by **KillerB** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:53 am

I had ridden dirt bikes in my youth, but never my own. The first bike I actually owned was a 1986 Suzuki GSX550EF. I bought it new when I was 17. Shortly after I purchased it I saw the 750 Paso in a magazine and I knew I had to have one someday. Well, I never have owned a 750, YET, but I did by the 907 in '91 and have had it ever since. You know, it took me 2 years to sell that Suzuki as the heartstrings were still attached.
Regards, B

fasterdammit · Post by **fasterdammit** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:33 pm

heh ... my first legal bike was a 197x Yamaha Special 650. The first bike I had was a 197x Yamaha Enduro 175 ... no plates, no reg, no insp. ... and no highlight or turn signals most of the time. It was a train wreck waiting to happen, but it was blast. Just difficult keeping it from the parents and the police at 15 years old ...

Eventually a friend borrowed it, skipped school for the day, finally got pulled over on it ... 5 tickets, a trip in the cruiser, the impounded and eventually flattened. Easy come, easy go? Good times ...

wiggs · Post by **wiggs** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:26 pm

aw shucks,i wanted to say schwinn but it was really some lesser brand of bike but boy did it go. the sound it made was that of a juvie blowing air thru his lips as he shifted and clutched up thru the gears , all 10 or 12 gears at that. i doubt he even throttled and clutched from the same side all the time!
but later in life he got a honda ct 70 3 speed auto (darn it) and still has it 2-day although not in running condition for a few decades now. about this time he was also given 1/2 (or more) of a ducati 125 bronco that got carted around as his parents looked for that perfect house.after 20 yrs of this the ducati was sold with some other ducati's he had accumulated. soon after that he found a complete, running bronco that he still cherishes to this day.
thanks for the trip down memory lane,hope you enjoyed it too.

Post by **Skins** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:12 pm

Props on another great topic, cuz!

My first bike was a Velocette. You can read a bit about it on page one of 'funny stuff', now just below 'What was your first bike?' in this Forum.

Post by **jcslocum** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:53 pm

Had a few dirt bikes but at the ripe old age of 19 picked up a 69 Bonneville as my first road bike. Had too much fun on that bike. It was broken a bit of the time and took a bit of fiddling to get running just right. Amal carbs were a PIA.

HTH

qldman36 · Post by **qldman36** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:13 pm

Ha!So far got you all beat for off the wall bikes.First bike,1948 125cc Harley Davidson with rubber band front forks.Bought in many bushel baskets.Mother of po said take whatever looks like parts of the bike from the cellar.I sure had no idea what was or wasn't.Many weeks later had it on the road.Year of all this?1955.
Was first of many many interesting bikes from all corners of the world.[well almost all corners]

DuC-MaN · Post by **DuC-MaN** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 2:33 pm

My first bike was/is a '76 Honda CB400F

It had been from an uncle living in Amsterdam, he parked it on te street, has been stolen once and been found back with some dents in the tank from a joy-ride. After that it moved to our shed, where i just could assume the racing position without driving... it since i had no motor drivers license... In 1990 i got my license and then it began!

still have that thing, not really drivable; leaking fork leaking brake, seat rotten etc...

http://homepage.mac.com/b70/.Pictures/C ... GP0626.JPG

Post by **Skins** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:53 pm

I saw one of these, beautifully restored, in Wellington a while go - a very good-looking little motorcycle.

DesmoDog · Post by **DesmoDog** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:20 pm

My first bike was a brand spanking new '91 Ducati 907ie.

My mom didn't want me to have a bike when I lived at home, so when I got my first engineering job, guess what the first thing I bought was? :laugh:

I had fallen for Ducatis after seeing some F1s racing at Daytona a couple years earleir, and in fact was considering an F1 but decided it was too "racerish" for my first bike. I kind of regret that now though, the dealer I was talking to found a left over he would have sold me for $5300!

I still have the 907 by the way...

KillerB · Post by **KillerB** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:36 pm

I still have the 907 by the way...

All right. Another original owner. I wonder how many of us there are out there?

Regards, B

redpaso · Post by **redpaso** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:08 am

qldman36 wrote:First bike,1948 125cc Harley Davidson with rubber band front forks.

Wow I did not know H-D ever built something so small. That is impressive & it was 16 years before I was born

qldman36 · Post by **qldman36** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:32 am

.[/quote]Wow I did not know H-D ever built something so small. That is impressive & it was 16 years before I was born

[/quote]
Yeah,and the technology was just as impressive as todays HD's.48mph topend on a good day with following wind.Girder style forks with 4 rubber bands for springing.Can't remember now what it was a copy[poor]of,keep thinking Adler but that was Yamaha.
They also made as years went by,165,250 and 350's.

Duck01 · Post by **Duck01** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:15 am

AS a kid that LOVED motorbikes, but never had one - I worked whenever possible for local ag cotractors & farmers from age 12 - upon getting to age 16 - I had enough money to buy half a brand new Yamaha XT 400 (Mum & Dad helped me out with other half).
This was a great bike, especially once I got my bike licence (

) - once I left school, it was transport to work everyday, as well as trail-riding fun in the weekends.
It even came through fairly unscathed from bouncing off a XY Falcon that turned accross in front of me when it was 2 wks old.
Alas, due to the cold, girls, & other fun things in life - I sold it after the first yr of ownership. Did 15000 in that time, which was great.
Then after a few months without a bike, I brought another one, & it's been a bit like that ever since.............

(XT 400 - picture a white Yamaha XT 550J, with 150cc less....)

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:04 am

My first bike was just before I turned 16 in the UK (1978). It was a 1974 Yamaha FS1E moped in Purple. I have managed to find a picture of this one that has just been restored in the UK.

When I turned 17 I got a red 1976 Honda CJ250T, the one with the two-in-to-one exhaust as standard. I found this picture of a yellow one on the web.

I then emigrated to South Africa and went without a bike for many years. I managed to buy an old Honda XL185 which I used to ride around on until I had to donate it to my nephew.

In 2000 I bought a Yamaha RD400 that had a blown engine (and many weird modifications). I sourced another RD400 that had blown its engine to pieces (some bits in a black plastic bag, the rest missing) and had been standing outside for years. With some new pistons, rebore etc. I was able to build one good one.

In 2001 my father's friend wanted to sell the Ducati 750 Paso he had owned for 13 years (he was the second owner). I had always wanted a Ducati, but I really wanted a 900 SD. Anyway, nearly four years later I am still happy with it but I have only managed to put just over 1,000km on the clock. The wife made me sell the RD400 ("you are only allowed one motorbike !").

Paul