Another thread got me thinking what got me into this glorious addiction we call motorcycles. I'm sure lots of folks have good stories about where they got their first "fix".
My father was the culprit in getting me hooked. He always had a Harley in the garage and I was drafted early to help work on them (hey, small hands can go anywhere in an engine case). I've been told there is a great picture of him riding with me on the gas tank, my oldest sister on the back, and my middle sister on his shoulders riding down the road. When I turned 15 I was helping him work on his Softtail when I asked him if he would let me work on his Sportster which had been sitting in the garage for almost 15 years untouched. He said that if I could get it running and pass inspection, that it was mine free and clear.
14 years later and I haven't gone more than a few months without tossing a leg over a motorcycle.
My father got me into it with a couple of garage sale mini bikes when I was six. Those lasted awhile then it was on to the 80cc yamaha big wheel and so on. Took a break from motorcycle thru high school. I was gone every week playing hockey. Then after high school meet a great guy who had a custom bike shop. Became a shop rat trying to learn everything I could. Built my first custom with him. Rode it forever then found the wold of Ducati!
Father putting a helmet on me, putting me on the tank, & taking me for rides planted and/or watered the seed that is likely in just about every kids psyche...
My dad. He took me for rides on the back of his '86 BMW K100RS. It was a beautiful bike in its day but a fairly extreme riding position and I could just barely reach the pegs. We'd just do slow rides around the neighbourhood and back roads near my home. I remember being terrified and excited at the same time.
We ride together now. He has a BMW K1200S and an SS/CR. His bikes don't get ridden a lot but it's still special when we get out for the occasional ride.
:)
My wife got sick of me looking at motos, but not doing anything...so she got me a helmet and MSF course registration for Christmas. [thumbsup] The rest is history.
My parents (mainly mom) wouldn't let me get any sort of motorcycle when I was young...so no dad story here.
I always the simplistic aspect of the machines. But my parents viewed motorcycles with the same regard that most women view serial rapists, so having a bike was out of the question.
I did the only thing I could in the situation, saved up and bought a bike behind their back that I kept at a buddy's place. A busted up POS YZ250 that I almost killed myself on many, many times. Street riding was the logical progression of things.
Quote from: Triple J on September 15, 2010, 07:00:24 AM
My wife got sick of me looking at motos, but not doing anything...so she got me a helmet and MSF course registration for Christmas. [thumbsup] The rest is history.
Triple J, you are sooooo lucky.
My story. My deeply repressed desire for a motorcycle was finally satisfied as a result of an upcoming divorce. My Duc represents many things to others but for me my Duc equals FREEDOM from my future ex! Reminds me of a joke I heard many years ago. "I got a motorcycle for my wife. It was a good trade." ;D I'm so happy that I have my bike. It isn't a mid-life crisis, it's therapy.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Ciao!
r_ciao, you remind me of my own story! Wife never agreed to let me get a bike for the first 5 years of marriage. One day we had a big fight (not because of the bike thing...), almost both signed the divorce papers, then decided to talk, maybe there still hope kinda talk, and that's when I decided to slip in my desire to own a bike with the list of things she would need to get over [evil] A few months after that, we're still married, I have finished my license course, and last weekend I ordered my first bike (M796 Diamond Black Silk). I've wanted to have a bike since I was a kid, but I only recently became financially (and matrimonially ;)) able to own one [thumbsup]
My dad had a bike, but I rarely road on it and my mom soon told him to get rid of it. While working in Georgia they opened a Duc dealer and I went in to see the bikes. Fell in love. Brought the wife into the dealer. Told me that if I used it to drive to work and up in the mountains, she would be fine with it. Sign on the dotted line right there.
My brother and I were on a climbing trip in Joshua Tree right after graduating college. He was talking about how he was going to buy a bike. I'd kinda entertained the thought (like many non-riders have when they see a moto), but never actually considered it until he mentioned that he was probably going to buy one. No one I knew growing up rode motos. In the course of a single evening talking about motorcycles and climbing, and drinking beer by the fire in the desert, I became obsessed. I woke up the next morning and had this inexplicably strong
need to ride a motorcycle. I got back from our trip, immediately signed up for MSF, bought a bike, and took the course. All within about 10 days. My brother bought a moto a coupla months later.
Quote from: Triple J on September 15, 2010, 07:00:24 AM
My wife got sick of me looking at motos, but not doing anything...so she got me a helmet and MSF course registration for Christmas. [thumbsup] The rest is history.
Best. Wife. Ever. [thumbsup]
For me, "what" got me into riding is actually why we are all here - the Ducati Monster. I've never really cared for motorcycles until I saw a Monster. I didn't know anything about motorcycles or the different brands and models out there, so I didn't like it just because it was a Ducati. But for some reason, I wanted a Monster after I saw one. The rest is history. My first was a Monster 620 and now a Monster 696.
I don't really remember. It was during college when I got my first bike. I remember it just kind of occurring to me one day that a motorcycle would be a lot of fun.
Maybe I was just sick of my roommate taking pretty ladies on rides on his bike, and wanted in on that action. [laugh]
no disrespect but i don't understand the wife thing...I'm engaged and my fiance' rides a 200cc sport scooter (doesn't like the shifting) and finds bikes both fun and dangerous; hell my brother died on one (unfortunately he was a squid and it was bound to happen :( )
BUT
No wife, fiance', etc is going to tell me what i can or can't have with my own money just like i won't tell her what to do with her money (after all the bills are paid). No one should have that type of power over you except your parents.
-----------------------------------
As for my story, had a neighbor take me for neighborhood rides on his gas tank when was like 3 years old. Grew up loving bicycles and bmxing but never got a real bike cuz the parents wouldn't do it. Fell in love with Ducati's from the movie "Fled." Told myself i'd have one some day....fast forward quite a while and bought my monster last year (felt a sportbike in chicago wasn't a great idea).
I lived in a small village near a city (ok let's call it a bigger village [roll]) on the Croatian coast.
I was 14 years old and had only 2 options to go to the city:
1. hitchhiking
2. motorcycle
So my father back in 1994. bought me my first TOMOS automatic (the peak of the Yugoslavian technology at that time.. ;D):
(http://www.njuskalo.hr/image-w450/mopedi/tomos-automatic-a-3-sl-49-cm3-slika-1069015.jpg)
This is my 45th year of riding. Started when I was 10. Mini bikes, my neighbor's older brother's Bridgestone 175, etc. Got my first real off road bike in 1969, it was a Sachs 125cc with a leading link front end. It was pregnant dog to get that front end up in the air over anything! Talked my parents into letting me race it. Those were the very early days of moto cross in America. Next was a Husky 250 Cross... good old days of metal fenders! [laugh]. Then a couple different 250cc Bultaco Pursangs and a CZ. Finally ending with two Honda Elsinores (125cc and a 250cc) when they first came out.
My defense for racing (Mom still didn't like it!) was to say "Hey, I'm on a track, there are no cars to hit me, there's an ambulance right there, I wear all the protective gear. At least I'm not riding out there on the street!" Well, that all came crashing down on me when I rolled into the garage on a Yamaha R5!! Hey... she was pissed but she didn't make me sell it! [thumbsup] It didn't last long before I sold it and bought the new and improved '73 RD350. Wish I still had that bike!
The list of bikes since then is too long to remember and type out. My current wife doesn't like bikes at all (Mom would be proud of her! [laugh]) but now my defense of riding has changed to, "I've been riding longer than you've been alive!" [laugh] It's a conversation ender! She has no come back. Looking back on it I can't really say what got me started. I guess I just thought that was what I was supposed to do. It looked like fun and I couldn't stop thinking about it... nothing has changed. [moto]
For me it was a co-worker. He showed up to work on a brand new 1999 Yamaha R1 - when I saw it, it was as if I was seeing a motorcycle for the first time. I was completely taken over by it - later that summer I took the MSF course and purchased a new bike.
(http://www.yamaha-motor.pl/designcafe/en/Images/1999_avas_6639_1999_yzf-r1%20PS_tcm71-292247.jpg)
The rest is just icing [moto]
I had uncles that rode - Uncle Norm, a motorcycle gang member dating back to the 50s, and Uncle Sandy, a salty ex-marine who had my grandmother co-sign on his first Harley. Uncle Norm, who rocked a handlebar mustache waaay before it was trendy, always had a garage full of BMW parts - I asked him one day why all the parts? He said he was building a bike, a concept that completely blew my mind. One person can make something that awesome? By themselves? He might as well have told me he was going to build a unicorn or a working light sabre.
But one of my earliest, most indelible memories of bikes was a trip I made to downtown Houston when I was about 10 We were navigating the spaghetti bowl of one of the freeway interchanges, when I happened to look up at one of the flyovers while someone was wheelying their bike going the opposite direction. I happened to be looking almost directly into the sun at the same angle, so sunlight glimmered off the various parts as he passed by, seemingly in slow motion. You probably could not have planned a more dramatic wheelie. I was in awe. When I got home, I found that the episode had actually given me pubic hair. True story.
I finally got around to taking the MSF and buying a bike about five years ago, having wanted to do it for years. To my wife's sizable credit, she said nothing of the dent it was putting in our wedding fund. When I talked about selling my bike recently, she asked "you're going to buy another Ducati, right?" She was genuinely worried that I would have to do without one. I love my wife.
My wife.
Well technically she wasn't my wife at the time, but its still her fault [laugh]
Quote from: Spidey on September 15, 2010, 09:25:12 AM
My brother and I were on a climbing trip in Joshua Tree right after graduating college.
My younger brother moved to Europe and left me his M750ie. He encouraged me to give it a go. It did not take but a short trip down the street to get me hooked. He was visiting this summer and I hoped we could ride a bunch while he was in town, but fate bunged it up and either one of our bikes was down at a time. When one was back to operation, something would bung the other. They're both golden now, but he moved south.
at the age of 5 my Grandfather bought me a Zr50 Honda. Ever since I've had something to ride. A brief time in college no wheels because that Ninja almost killed me twice [leo]. Essentially as of 20 years ago I haven't gone more than a month without riding. It's my Zanax
A big wheel got me started riding, a 1986 Honda XR100 got me hooked on riding, the ducati monster was what got me into motorcycles, and the M796 is what got me on one.
So the evolution:
(http://www.babawheels.com/photos/o/39166-original_big_wheel_16_inch_tricycle_made_usa.jpg)(http://www.motorera.com/honda/h0100/xr100/xr100r-86.jpg)(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_J3_liDBfbvs/S9t01gCvpVI/AAAAAAAApbo/vvcoT4-XcSc/s400/2011-Ducati-Monster-796-Official-Pictures.jpg)
I don't know exactly what did it, but the show CHiPs was definitely an influence. (i did a separate thread about this) my family claims that when i could barely talk, i would point out the window of the car when one passed by and say "mono-hi-doe".
anyway, i spent my youth lusting after bikes. i begged my parents, i selfishly befriended kids who had mini-bikes, but it was all for naught. my parents wouldn't have it.
after college i lived in nyc for a while, so i didn't need a vehicle. later the wife and i moved to LA, home of year-round riding. we had a kid, and around the time he was 5 months old, i decided the bimmer payments were getting too expensive. so i pitched the idea of a bike to my wife as a financially smart move. after years of being against it, she gave in. i bought a 620. 2 years later, we're in the process of buying our first home, and i pitch the idea of upgrading to an S2R1k. without hesitation, she says go for it.
i told my dad, and he feigned disapproval. then every once in a while i'll get an email late at night from him ... "tell me what model of bike you got again ... i'm googling it to see what it looks like."
now i'm trying to learn as much as possible so that someday my 2-yr old will have a story like many of you ... "my dad got me started working on Duc's as a kid and that's how i became a world-famous custom bike builder and MotoGP racer ..." ;D
I'll be honest - midlife crisis
plus now I can afford more toys ;D
I believe it was 2000. iw as walking past a gas station to go to work and I got my first glimpse of the new r1. At that time, NOTHING looked like it. It looked like a missile.. traveling at 1000 miles per hour.. and yet, it was standing still. I didnt realize it.. but I had actually STOPPED walking and was staring at the astronaut fueling for his next mission. he takes off his helmet.. and its my brother in law. 3 months later i had a yzf600. 1 year later, a 929, 4 years later (finally) and r1.. and now, ive got a gorgeous white m1100.
My interests are a topic of discussion in my family, immediate and extended. I am entirely different from anyone I am related too. No one else has tattoos, is a musician, works in the entertainment industry, likes movies, enjoys cigars, or rides motorcycles. At 10, I told my parents, 'I want to play the guitar.' At 16, I told my parents, 'I want a tattoo, might as well help me find a clean place since you need to sign off on it.'
But at age 6, I had to give a presentation in my kindergarten class about what I wanted to be when I grew up. So I put on a baseball batting helmet, cut the fingers off some black cotton gloves, wore jeans, boots, and a fake leather bomber jacket, put on some sunglasses, and told everyone, 'When I grow up, I want to ride motorcycles. Sometimes I will ride too fast, and sometimes I will ride too slow.' Got it on tape somewhere. No clue whatsoever though as to why I was interested in them, my memory is hazy from that age.
At age 11 though I do remember being in Italy looking at Lake Como from my balcony, and a green Kawasaki rode by. That sparked my interest again, though thankfully my taste improved and I made my first motorcycle a piece of Italian artwork.
Motorcycles are fun.
I'd always been semi-interested in bikes (Read "zen and the art of...") and rode bicycles, but never really wanted a motorcycle. Got a scooter in high school, just to get around on, but never really caught the moto bug.
Then I saw this weird, low-budget Australian action movie...
(http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/121/kawa40116592fv.jpg)
(http://www.imcdb.org/images/019/419.jpg)
I traded in the stupid make the beast with two backsing scooter for the cheapest sport-bike I could find (a used CB-400F) and the rest is history.
When I was 5 or 6 , I got a 26" J.C. Higgins Bike .
Also there was a man who lived miles up the road beyond where I lived at age 5 or 6 and he rode a big H-D and every night he would go by our house since we lived across the street from a College ,( now a University ) and between was a 2 lane Highway in this small Town where I spent my 1st 10 years of my life.
So since I put the 1st Popsicle Stick or Putter Tube between my Bicycle spokes to make a noise that I thought sort of sounded like a engine Exhaust, I dreamed of having a Motorcycle.
Not until I was 16 did I get my 1st bike, a Honda Sport 50.
The rest is History 5 decades later.
Now w, a Ducati 1098 R , BMW K1300 GT, BMW S 1000 RR the dream is still alive.
Dolph :)
:( A late friend of mine. I traded him my Fender guitar amp for his 1980 Honda CB400T. He also got me into F1 and MotoGP. Its a bummer cause we were like brothers.
I wanted to ride since my grandparents bought me an Evel Kenevil toy as a kid and I thought Fonzi was cool. I was 14 and my first bike was a Honda 50 or 80cc that I saw in my landlords barn and had sat for 15 years and was basicaly a giant mouse nest. I had no money but said I would work it off. Well he owned a airconditioning company and so I busted ass for 3 weeks trying to work off the $75. Ya the numbers didnt add up, it was summer so I was doing about 6 hour days. but hay I wanted it. Surprisingly enough I put fresh gas in it and after 50 kicks or so it fired up and scared the shit out of me. I invested anout $30 more and rode it to till about everything was broke on it. So I guess Evel and Fonzi got me started and my stepdad bought me my first riding boots that I still have 21 years later (they dont fit their retired).
I had always been around motorcycles. My grandfather, who was a very eccentric individual, had, amongst other things-
1) 42 Volkswagen Beetles, in all stages of repair
2) 1950's Chevy truck
3) 1950's Olds Rocketfire
4) An old Ford Heavy truck
5) About fifteen motorcycles
I got an old 125 Kawa from my grandfather when I was 15. I was run off of the road, then let bikes scare me for another twenty years. I then raced bicycles for about ten years starting in my 20's, even getting into the building of bike frames and parts. I had a few itches to get a bike, but exes and ex-girlfriends would convince me otherwise. Fast-forward to late last year- I put a '77 Kawasaki KZ650 in lay-away. I rode that for a short while, then decided to modify it. New turnsignals ended up showing me what a mess the electrical system REALLY was on that bike. I became a shop rat, hanging out, escorting riders on their rental bikes to the DMV for their motorcycle test, etc., etc. I bought a '95 900ss, which had a bum electrical system. I was on a trip to my cousin's house, and saw what I really wanted: a 2000 Monster Dark 750 with 3K on the clock. I was so excited that I bought it, did some mods to it in his garage, and it's about to come home.
Quote from: jvax on September 15, 2010, 08:40:33 AM
r_ciao, you remind me of my own story! Wife never agreed to let me get a bike for the first 5 years of marriage. One day we had a big fight (not because of the bike thing...), almost both signed the divorce papers, then decided to talk, maybe there still hope kinda talk, and that's when I decided to slip in my desire to own a bike with the list of things she would need to get over [evil] A few months after that, we're still married, I have finished my license course, and last weekend I ordered my first bike (M796 Diamond Black Silk). I've wanted to have a bike since I was a kid, but I only recently became financially (and matrimonially ;)) able to own one [thumbsup]
jvax, good for you [thumbsup]. sounds like we both have happy endings. happy for you, your marriage and that gorgeous bike. and good for me b/c my divorce is almost done. ciao!
I've wanted a motorcycle for as long as I could remember. When I was 13 my next door neighbour's dad bought him a yamaha mx80 and he let me ride it on the trails around our neighbourhood out in the country. I rode it quite a bit for the next 2 years until we moved. My parents could never really afford to by one for me and didn't like the idea of motorcycles anyhow.
At age 18 a highschool friend of mine moved in with us after his home life became unbearable. He had a honda cb400 and even though I didn't have a licence, he let me ride it whenever I wanted to. He worked a day job during the summer and I worked a night job as a line cook at a local roadhouse. He let me ride it every night to work and back.
I would have bought a bike at this point, but was saving every cent for university, although many times I almost spent my savings on a bike and change my mind at the last minute.
Fast forward to age 30........student loans are paid off, mortgage is getting paid down.......... there's finally a little spare change for a bike. I spend a couple months reading every motorcycle magazine I can find and learning about every style and brand of bike. I decide a sport-standard would suit me nicely and the only bike that interests me is the monster.
My Dad when he bought a brand new 1970 Hodaka 100 trail bike. I was 12 at the time and I would bug him constantly to teach me how to ride it. Eventually I inherited it when he upgraded a couple years later. Every weekend during the summer, we would go camping in the mountains of Montana and go on trail rides into the back country. That bike was geared so low the top speed was about 25 MPH, but you could practically climb a tree with it. After that I was hooked and remember lusting after my friend's 125 Honda Elsinore until I saved enough money to buy a 1974 Yamaha 125 motocross bike. Those were the days. . . .
Quote from: El Matador on September 15, 2010, 07:17:11 AM
I always the simplistic aspect of the machines. But my parents viewed motorcycles with the same regard that most women view serial rapists, so having a bike was out of the question.
I did the only thing I could in the situation, saved up and bought a bike behind their back that I kept at a buddy's place. A busted up POS YZ250 that I almost killed myself on many, many times. Street riding was the logical progression of things.
Ditto on that, only my dad always had either a Harley or Triumph and it was my mother looked at those two wheel death machines with scorn. I used to keep my dirtbikes either in the woods or at a friends house. My dad wouldnt have cared if I had them but mom would have kicked us both out and my dad would have taken the blame for getting me into it. So I spared him the hassle.
I guess it was my dad who really got me into it. Growing up around motorcycles and my father pushing me to tinker and be creative helped me strap my first Tecumseh engine to my bicycle. The rest was history.
Currently, my wife doesn't care what I do. I just showed up home one day with an old Honda project bike and the collection grew from there. It's funny how people on my wifes side of the family and her friends all pass comments about her letting me have a motorcycle.
This thread is a good read. I like all the different stories that lead us all to the same thing. Pretty cool. [thumbsup] Good idea Artful. [clap]
For me, it was simple: Dad said no, I was 18.... I bought the bike. ;D
I had just installed a mildly hopped up 400 in my 68 Firebird. I had broken it in and it felt strong. I was going to visit a friend on a Sunday morning and the roads were empty. Two Harley riders pulled up on their Evo Softails. They nodded their appreciation of my car and I knew we were going to race. There was a straight road ahead. I didn't know much about bikes so I really didn't have clue of what I was up against. Anyways it was a fun race. They pulled away, but it wasn't by more than a couple of car lengths. They gave a thumbs up and a friendly wave as they turned off. I really dug the way their bikes accelerated, sounded, and squatted each time they shifted gears. Looking back I'm sure those bikes weren't stock and I could have launched a lot harder, but the impromptu drag race didn't matter. After that I was very interested in motorcycles. I couldn't find out enough about them. It didn't take long until I was riding.
No motorcycles in my family, but a neighbor took for me for a ride on a ratty old Harley when was about 15, probably 1960. Cut to the late 60's and I'm married and a friend was into bikes. (He eventually owned the first Duc I ever saw, a yellow, single-cylinder 350). Anyway, he had an old Bridgestone 125 and I just got on it and started to ride. Immediately hooked. My younger brother was in the Marines at the time; he came home on leave and bought a 441 BSA single. He rode that bike to Woodstock. I was starting to realize I really wanted a bike. Eventually bought a Honda 160.
Got married and went out and bought a new Honda CL350 ("Scrambler"). Eventually, times got tough and I sold that bike in the mid-70's. Didn't have a bike again until the late 80's when I bought an old Yamaha just so I could take my license test. Then I bought a 650 Nighthawk. It's been a series of Ducs since then, with the odd Honda and a Harley I'm currently trying to sell.
I can't put my finger on anything specific that attracted me to motorcycles. I simply always liked riding.
You have to be at least as old as me! Maybe older with the late 60's marriage. Love the 441 "victim" reference!! God bless old make the beast with two backsers! [laugh] And those hard to start BSA singles! Most folks today wouldn't know what an Amal carb tickler was, or a choke lever, or a fuel tank reserve or right hand shift... what the hell is a kickstarter???? [laugh] [laugh] Great stuff!!! [clap]
Two things got me interested. About 8 years ago I saw some show about some people doing actual custom bike building, pre-Discovery channel hype, and thought all the metal working and Engineering was way cool. The second thing sealed the deal. I was working in San Francisco and one day at lunch I stepped outside the building to cross the street and this motorcycle roared by that had this amazing sound like I'd never heard before. My friend, who rode a Bonneville, said "oh that's a Ducati". I was hooked. I drooled and plotted ways to save up or do extra work, and then the wife surprised me on my 40th and bought me a Monster. I may be late to the game, but I'm in it for life now. And now I have an 848 too. Life is goooood. [evil]
had a mini bike when i was younger around 16 but didn't ride it much and didn't get me into motorcycles, been riding bicycles racing one through my 20s and still no motorcycle interest.
get a job 5 years ago and a bunch of people on my floor i become friends with all ride motorcycles, one guy has 3 ducati's at first i didn't like the monster or the ducati sound that much. over the course of a year basically learning about them from my friends that have motorcycles at the office. sign up for the msf course and such and get a beginner bike, and also know that i want to now get a ducati because well the sound and looks fo the monster grew on me a lot.
bought the bike and now still riding it. funny thing is that i sort of now like it becuase its like cycling but i don't have to pedal the thing to move. love it. still havent' told my mother my father laughs everytime when i speak to him becaue he knows.
I don't remember when I tasted my first Pizza, but Ive been hooked on them for as long as I remember. I used to like the thick Chicago style ones best and those are good but the thin cru...Wait wrong thread.
I guess it helped to have brothers who had Rupp minibikes, and I was a tomboy and loved riding bikes too! I remember plowing into the sticker bushes in the backyard on a mini-bike!! They had more mini bikes, which led to 100's, which led to racing moto, (and that's when I stopped riding THEIR bikes).
Skip through high school and college years, and the 3 wheeled ATC's come out, and I now have a husband who grew up riding, and together we get ATC's. Rode like mad and loved it!
Skip through to having 2 boys who also love anything with wheels (especially 2 wheels!) Expensive downhill mountain bikes led to fun little pit bikes (Honda 50's). My oldest and my husband got woods bikes, and I still didn't feel the need to include myself in the endless injuries they came home with!!
Finally when I turned 40 I was sick of them going away and having all the fun, so I got myself a Yamaha TTR 125 (really a play bike, but not a toy to ME!) I was instantly insanely HOOKED on riding!!! Wanted to learn EVERYTHING! I just loved the challenges of woods riding - having to make split-second decisions, and riding up, down, and over stuff I just couldn't believe I could!! I hit trees, flew off into mud puddles, you name it, and never had so much fun in my life! We all rode the woods including the Hatfield McCoy trails in VW, and local moto tracks.
STILL no interest in a road bike yet.
We quit going to the moto races, because everyone was getting way too hurt - friends included. Didn't have much $ to drive the big trailer to places to ride in the woods, so we started just looking at road bikes, and the KTM supermoto bike seemed a good transitional bike to get for us to share since we didn't have the $ for more than one bike. Its stand-over height was WAY too high for me, so I just watched and listened to my husband and sons as to what they liked and disliked about the bike, riding on the road, etc.
Saw a picture of a Buell Blast and knew that was what I was looking for - a sport bike that I could easily touch the ground on! My husband was making up his mind on what HE wanted - a Buell or a Ducati. I told him... "Why get a Corvette when you can get a Ferrari?" and so our love for Ducati's began!!
Friends of mine (husband and wife) had Ducati's and once I got comfy on Buellie it was time for ME to move up and get a beautiful, snarling beast- Monster!!
I got the S2R 800 and love the s...t out of it - grabbed a Sharpie marker to make it my own, and the rest is history writing itself!!! I put almost 9000 miles on my monster in one season of riding! The lawn might need mowing, but I'll tell my husband... "screw it... I wanna ride", and off we go!
I'm doing my first track time in October - want to learn as much as possible to ride as much as possible!
Yeah, maybe I'm crazy, but so be it! I guess I've always like weird challenging stuff - raced short track speedskating a large portion of my life, and I think that riding on the track has many technical similarities to skating on a track, so wish me luck, and we should all be so lucky to do things that plant a huge smile on our faces, and surround ourselves with wonderful people who help us to follow our dreams and passions!!
Sorry for the long story, but it's 53 years-worth!!
My buddies dad had an old Beezer, '68 Lightning I believe. Gave me my first ride when I was in Jr High a very long time ago. That set the hook. Then assorted short hops on buddies machines, My uncle had a 175 Kaw etc.
Mom and Dad were not keen, My first bike was a brand new 1977 Yamaha XS650 I bought in April of 1977. I was finally old enough to sign both the title and the loan papers!
Quote from: rc51 on September 16, 2010, 02:59:39 PM
This thread is a good read. I like all the different stories that lead us all to the same thing. Pretty cool. [thumbsup] Good idea Artful. [clap]
Thanks, people's stories always interested the hell out of me. This thread has turned into exactly what I hoped it would be. Reminiscing, funny stories, and a better understanding of the folks that hang around here [thumbsup]
when I was in my early 20s I had always thought about picking up a bike at some point, but had been discouraged by my parents for the longest time. Then a few years ago I was finally pushed over the edge by one of my neighbors. Bob, from down the street, at the time he was 91, used to stop by and bs with me. one day i was out mowing the lawn and he was driving by and stopped to talk. half way thru our conversation a guy zipped by us on a bike. this prompted a long pause and look from Bob. He slowly turned back around to me. I was expecting a comment (he was very opinionated) like "those damn kids". but to my surprise he said "that is the one thing I have always regretted not getting into."
that was it for me. the next day I signed up for the MSF class that would take place a few months later and a week or two after that I picked up my monster.
Sadly he died before I even took my class so I never got to tell him how he'd impacted my decision...
Quote from: twistdchick on September 17, 2010, 09:36:57 AM
Finally when I turned 40 I was sick of them going away and having all the fun, so I got myself a Yamaha TTR 125 (really a play bike, but not a toy to ME!) I was instantly insanely HOOKED on riding!!! Wanted to learn EVERYTHING! I just loved the challenges of woods riding - having to make split-second decisions, and riding up, down, and over stuff I just couldn't believe I could!! I hit trees, flew off into mud puddles, you name it, and never had so much fun in my life! We all rode the woods including the Hatfield McCoy trails in VW, and local moto tracks.
STILL no interest in a road bike yet.
We quit going to the moto races, because everyone was getting way too hurt - friends included. Didn't have much $ to drive the big trailer to places to ride in the woods,
Your story of woods riding is near and dear to my heart. Once I graduated from riding in a field on Trail 50's and trail 70's its the way i learned to ride. first on a DT 100 then we My friends and I just rode our Motocross bikes through the woods and raced on weekends when we could afford it.
I sold my Last Motocross Bike A CR 250R before Going into the NAVY and was without a bike for many years. One day as I was sitting in stop & go traffic on my commute to the Oakland airport I really started taking note of all the sport bikes just cutting down the center lane like a knife through Hot butter. i knew about an old 750 interceptor that a friend had and decided that i had to get with that because the traffic was sucking. That was the start of my street bike experience. My neighbor had a 600 Monster that was kind of interesting to me but for some reason I went and bought a Super Hawk. The V twin in that thing got me addicted and I started wanting a Ducati.
twistdchick,
That's got to be your S2R on page 15 of the October issue of Cycle World! I read about it before here on the board (I think?) but to have it in the World's Coolest Bikes issue of Cycle World is freaking awesome!! Great write up and pics!! [thumbsup] Congrats girl! LOVE your bike!!! [clap]
rc51
I think there were a couple of people responsible. A few friends had bikes when I was a kid and they would let me ride pregnant dog. A memorable moment came when one of the coolest guys in high school gave me a ride on his 250 Yamaha smoker. I was blown away by the acceleration (I had no idea of what was to come). I got a job and saved money for college and to buy a bike. Dad was all for the college but said no to the bike. But strangely he was also the one that got me on my first bike. When I turned 21 he loaned me the money to buy a bike. Thanks dad for keeping me safe as a teen and realizing when I had become a man.
Quote from: rc51 on September 17, 2010, 10:56:17 AM
twistdchick,
That's got to be your S2R on page 15 of the October issue of Cycle World! I read about it before here on the board (I think?) but to have it in the World's Coolest Bikes issue of Cycle World is freaking awesome!! Great write up and pics!! [thumbsup] Congrats girl! LOVE your bike!!! [clap]
rc51
thanks! I'm so honored and psyched to be in Cycle World mag! Who would have figured... a woman's bike done by a woman... I bet THAT's a first!
My parents by making us stop. We always went riding motorcycles and three wheelers growing up although I rarely got to ride the motorcycles. But when my older brother was pulled off the seat of his XR75 by a strand of barbed wire someone strung across the road, my parents sold everything. After three years of growing desire on my brothers 18Th birthday he came home with an ATC 110 and we were back in. We had to buy our own bikes but we were riding again. I never really had the desire to ride before we couldn't, it was just what we did on weekends. But the desire was sure there after 3 years without it.
From dirt eventually came street. [thumbsup]
11 years old. Dad had a Suzuki TS185 which is a 2-stroke dual-sport from the 70's. I had been riding the wheels off a Honda TRX-125 4-wheeler. Dad rarely every rode the TS, but one day he had it out and I wanted to ride it. Well, he explained the starting method (choke, kick start, warm up etc). It was barely tall enough to ride it, in fact, we put a block by the shed for me to use to balance to start and get on/off. I had to learn the clutch, and brakes, since the TRX didn't have a clutch, it was centrifugal. I killed the motor a couple times, then dad said just rev it and let the clutch out. Well, I did, and folks, I did the best wheelie I've done on any motorcycle since. Held on like a champ, managed to get it set down and rode the tank dry. I've been hooked since.
I had my first crash on it too. Lowsided, slid, didn't let go, rear wheel grabbed, turned into a high-side, still didn't let go and was slammed hard into the ground. Nothing broken, a bit of a burn on my leg and that was it. Rode it until the motor seized, put it in the shed.
Fast forward to 2001. Graduated from college, got a real full-time job, and bought a 1981 GS650 to learn street riding. Since then, it's been a totaled GSXR, a trip to jail, then I found Molly, my M750 back in '03. All has been well since finding the quirky Italian mistress. I've even added a 900SS to the stable and my wife has a Honda Hawk 650. Seems V-twins are in my garage to stay ~
JM
QuoteAnd those hard to start BSA singles! Most folks today wouldn't know what an Amal carb tickler was, or a choke lever, or a fuel tank reserve or right hand shift... what the hell is a kickstarter?Huh? laughingdp laughingdp Great stuff!!! applause
My brother had that bike a few weeks before someone told him about the compression release. He had a very sore foot for a while from trying to kick it over against the compression of that big piston.
I have no idea what film it was, but some TV movie was on and they were riding. I think I was 4 years old, and I said something like COOOOOLLL. MY parents, in unison, both said YOU SHOULD NEVER DO THAT, MOTORCYCLES ARE DANGEROUS.
Of course, I obsessed about it after that and ended up buying my first bike on the sly when I was 16 with my lawn mowing money saved. I found a guy selling a Ducati Bronco for $80 (!!!) and hid it behind the shed. I rode that bike unlicensed and unregistered for about 2 years and my parents never knew.
It's also how I became a motorcycle mechanic... LOL
Hmmmm .... maybe because I was too afraid to try sky-diving...
I've been fond of motorcycles all my life. But if I have to pick one thing that really got the ball rolling, it was a show on HD Theater called Twist the Throttle. I remember after watching the Ducati episode, I decided to start the process. Starting with getting my permit, taking the MSF courses, forums lurking, and finally getting my 696. Now, I only wished I did it sooner.
I remember seeing a mysterious biker pass me and my friends walk home from school. It was rare to see bikers wearing full gear where i grew up. But this biker had all his gear and the whole thing was just mysterious. It was almost like a super hero passing by to me (In hindsight, it was just a dual sport tall bike) Anyhow, I promised myself that I would be like that dude one day. Fast forward to college, well I was too poor to even afford my rent so bike was out of question. After five years in the work world, I remembered that dream and the rest is history......
Actually and earlier memory just came to me:
As a kid I lived in France for a year, and as part of the planning on where we were going next (Africa) my folks had to jump through a ton of visa hoops. Long story short, they had to get some documents delivered to them pronto.
The door-bell rang and there was this motorcycle courier outside with our paperwork. Guy was on some custom (for the time, this was the 70s) cafe bike, wearing full leathers.
I thought he was the coolest grown-up (with the coolest job) I'd ever seen.
Grew up in Milwaukee...always hear the Harleys in summer. Dad gave me a ride on his Harley when I was 7. The rest is history, even if it took me a few years before I purchased my first one.
In grade school, my best friend's dad owned Southwest Cycle sales in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. He sold BSA, Triumph, Royal Enfield (the English made ones) and that new Japanese brand Suzuki. He taught me to ride on a TC120 in back of the shop.
My uncle sold BSA, Nortons, and Tahatsus. My dad bought my uncle's used Ducati 250 scrambler around 1966, and my mom bought a 50 cc Tahatsu. I started riding on back when I was about seven. Eventually, my brother and I got into dirt-track racing in the seventies and eighties. My bones became too brittle for dirt-track, so I started riding on the street around 1990. I have been playing on two wheels for about 45 years now, and I still have all of my teeth. My wallet, however, is a lot lighter.
I was three when this movie came out. It was all over for me from that moment on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ccVu992CYE
This show helped.
Then (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yM31522Fig#normal)
It all began in the 70s when an older boy from my neighborhood presented me 2 posters: 1. Kenny Roberts on his yamaha in extreme sloping position and 2. The legendary cutaway of a '72 Ducati 750 SS with upright shaft.
The big boys in my hood all rode 70s japanese bikes (CB 750, CB 500, Z900, Z1000, and so on). But there was one Ducati in town, owned by a TV dealer. It was such a 900 SS (may be MY 1975) which was looking great and the sound was awesome. After that I always dreamed to ride a Duc one day ...
Back in the 1st grade (early 60's) my best friends father would come by school in the afternoon and pick us both up. He had a big harley and a sidecar, plop us both in there and give me a ride home. It was the coolest thing EVAH. Had an older friend in high school who inherited his older brothers 305 Honda when he got drafted and we'd ride around on that my freshman year. That summer I saved my money and bought a brand new '71 CL-175 at the end of August...wow, almost 40 years riding now.
My father and I built a mini-bike when I was 12, then we got a Suzuki LT250R race 4-wheeler which I rode until I started driving when I was 16.
After that, I started with scooters which led to Ducati's. I got into the scooters for one simple reason: I drive an F150 also and gas prices rose to insanely high prices.