What was your first motorcycle?

[tinsnips]

1966 Honda 160 Dream, 1967 Honda 305 scrambler

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Anyone ever buy the same bike twice?
not just the same model...but the same serial number


I owned this 87 Honda Magna for about 10 years. I decided to downsize, and sold this to a co-worker. I regretted selling it shortly thereafter. I asked him every 6 months if he'd sell it back to me, without any luck...until about 4 years later, he needed the $.
Attachment 160744

[243winxb]

In 1979 , my new 500cc came from Honda titled as a moped, a low-power, lightweight motorized bicycle.

The mistake was found when a cop pulled me over.

[Bent Ramrod]

I had a used 1966 Triumph Tiger Cub. 200 cc and 16 horsepower. Worked at GMC Truck&Coach in Pontiac, MI to pay for it. Rode it to school and summer jobs.

I liked to ride it up steep hills and “jump” it at the top. Guess I overdid it because one day I was riding home and the frame broke just behind the steering bearing. Fortunately, I was on a dirt road, no traffic and going slow.

That bike loved me that way. All the weaknesses and problems of Brit bikes of the era, but if it ran out of gas (no reserve tank), it was always right across the street from a gas station. If the throttle cable broke, or some minor but important part vibrated loose and fell off, it was always as I was pulling into the driveway.

I had the frame welded, and stopped the off-road riding stunts. Finally sold it. Almost 20 years later, I got the yen again, and bought a Yamaha SR-500. Sort of like a Tiger Cub that starts on the first kick, can keep up with (most) traffic, comes to a stop quickly, rides a little cushier and doesn’t need all the nuts and bolts tightened after an afternoon’s ride. The headlight actually lights things up, too. Big change from the “Lucas, Prince of Darkness” magneto electrics on the Cub.

I don’t ride it much any more. Very few empty roads to just ride and look at the scenery. Too much crazy auto traffic.

[Hamish]

BR,

An SR500 was not my first, but it was my first nice bike. I had more fun turning it into a cafe racer. Bored and stroked that thing sounded like a tractor and would eat most 750's up. I think it ended up about 625cc's. What a great bike.

[wildwilly]

1956 Triumph TR6C Trophy. Bought in 1963 as a basket case. It was my transport to school, and on weekends served as my steed in the local hare & hound races. Sold her prior to my enlistment (USMC) in '68.

[Went2kck]

R1200 cl BMW in blue I still have it.

[Big Tom]

My first motorized bike was a "Peugeot 101", limited to 15 mph - with some illegal tuning, I got it to about 40 mph... Once I had my real motorcycle endorsement, a Kawasaki Z400 and then a Yamaha FJ1200, now I got something for more relaxed riding, a HD Heritage Softail Classic.

[Bulldogger]

A 1975 Yamaha Enduro motor combined with a 1975 Yamaha MX frame and carburetor, and misc. parts off a Suzuki road bike. Total investment under $150. Rode the wheels, chain and sprocket off the bike until trashing it trying to replace a VERY worn crank pin. All done without any manuals, minimal tools, and I was 14. Still tinker on bikes and anything else that doesn't move, but should, to this day.
BDGR

[fast ronnie]

Not counting mini-bikes, a 750 Norton Atlas. Second was a 45 Harley that I chopped when I was 16. Since then, maybe a hundred or more, but now ride a Top Fuel Dragbike. Still have a bunch of others, though.

[skeet1]

A 1966 BSA 650 Lightning.

[gwpercle]

Had a good friend who's older brother had the 750 Kawasaki triple. Man that bike could fly. Was set up for strictly drag strip until he flipped it. Then gave it a tank, some lights and rode it on the road.

Funniest thing I ever saw was a guy running the long straight drive from the high school out to the road on one of those Kawasaki racing green triples trying to "pull" the handle bars up to get a wheelie because he didn't know how to do it with the engine and clutch. Shift, yank, zoom. Shift, yank, zoom. Shift, yank, zoom. And out of road to be looking silly on. From the side it was a hoot.

My 4 year old daughter would wait for me to come home , I would pick her up at the end of the driveway and set her between me and the gas tank and put my helmet on her head....then we would blast down the driveway as fast as that Kawasaki would go with her screaming with delight...(like it was some thrill ride at the amusement park) and come to a tire screeching halt inside the open garage ... She's over 40 now and still talks about us doing that !
Gary

[OS OK]

My 4 year old daughter would wait for me to come home , I would pick her up at the end of the driveway and set her between me and the gas tank and put my helmet on her head....then we would blast down the driveway as fast as that Kawasaki would go with her screaming with delight...(like it was some thrill ride at the amusement park) and come to a tire screeching halt inside the open garage ... She's over 40 now and still talks about us doing that !
Gary

Just had my little sister Rhonda, 63yo out from Tehas last summer...took her for a ride in the mountains...every time I reached into the V Rod for a little throttle she'd scream & giggle. I stopped and ask her if she was afraid...she said..."no, I just can't contain myself!"

[Bulldogger]

Just had my little sister Rhonda, 63yo out from Tehas last summer...took her for a ride in the mountains...every time I reached into the V Rod for a little throttle she'd scream & giggle. I stopped and ask her if she was afraid...she said..."no, I just can't contain myself!"

I had a GF few years ago that did that every time I hit the throttle on my Super Glide. I LOVED IT. Wish I hadn't lost her, but it wasn't meant to be. New GF, now affianced, doesn't ride, but she's pretty darn cool despite that unfortunate omission.

I had a 305 Honda Superhawk before the 100 Enduro, but never managed to get it running. It got sold for scrap by my parents years later while I was at sea and before I figured out how to resurrect old bikes better. I still wish I could get another 305. I second those who've commented that they love the sound of a wound-out little old Honda. They were built for high RPM and love being pushed. RIP Soichiru-san.

BDGR

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My first bike was a 1985 Honda Shadow 500. 8-9000 rpm redline if I remember correctly and she ran like a Swiss watch right up to it. Got married and sold it. Now I ride a 200cc minibike with the kids. Fitted with a CVT, it's remarkably quick up to 25 mph or so. Pretty amazing for what amounts to a lawnmower engine. I wind it up to 5k, but with a few parts and $, people easily get 7k-8k, and some flirt with 9k, but not for long

[Parson]

First was a bicycle with a Maytag on the rear, next was a Zundap, last was a 58 BSA Roadrocket, got stolen and never got another

[40-82 hiker]

First and only motorcycle I ever rode: Harley Davidson 65cc Aermacchi Leggero, sold by HD here in the states. Can't remember the exact year of man., but around 1967 (I was 14 that year). Neighbor won it in a raffle new, but he was a severe alcoholic and never rode it, so he "gave" it to me, but kept the insurance and title on it for me to ride, along with his German WWII helmet. Never got a license to ride it, but too young anyway. I had to park it at his house next door, as my parents had a real big fit over the entire affair. I rode it for a few years, and realized I had pushed my luck as far as I could, and gave up any desire for a bigger motorcycle, having survived the horrific injuries I incurred in a car wreck as a kid.

I really enjoyed that bike. Just rode it around the area, to town and back, and stuff like that. I thought it too dangerous with such a small engine to ride in serious traffic.

So, while not true to the OP's question "What was your first motorcycle you owned", I include this as my only motorcycle I ever rode, and more to the point, the novelty of it having been a 65cc "Harley Davidson", or at least, that's what it had on the tank! Pretty sure I got the Italian company's name and model name correct. I'm sure many can concur or set me straight. I have been called out many times over the years that HD NEVER made a bike that small. This is technically correct, but they sure sold one with their name on it that was that small.

Good post... Brought many good memories of that 65cc fire breathing beast!

[15meter]

1969 Kawasaki Mach III H1, 500 cc , triple cylinder , triple carb. , two-stroke.
It developed more horse power than the car I owned that year.
The bike weighed only 384 pounds and had a higher hp to lb ratio of any other machine on the street.
A few runs at the drag strip turned in 1/4 mile runs with 12.4 second / 124 mph times.
I was a happy motorcycle camper with this one. I smoked a lot of Honda's with this one.

As fast as it was I never did like the two stroke oil burning with the gas or how the two stroke engine sounded... After awhile I got a deal on a old 1965 Triumph Tiger T100 , 500 cc , twin cylinder , 4 stroke ....not as fast but it didn't burn oil , sounded and looked good ...
I kept the Kawasaki also ...just for when the need for speed hit me....Sweet Bikes both .
Gary

Had a buddy who had one of these and then the 750 version, both stupid, scary fast but an absolute blast to ride. Best ride I ever took on the 500 was late afternoon on a sunny day going north on north/south road. Full throttle acceleration up around 70 you could watch the sun shine under the front tire about 50% of the time as the front tire made contact with the road occasionally.

Wearing cutoff jeans and nothing else.

I was dumb back then.

I'm older now.

[AllanD]

a Motobecane Sebring, a friend of mine gave it away

[stubshaft]

1963 Yamaha 80 - 1968 Kawasaki 238 Greenstreak (my first year of racing) - various CZ's, Maico's and Husky's finally sponsored by Yamaha with a YZ400E and TZ 750F.