Poll

What was your first, real motorcycle? No damn mopeds, please.

Honda
62 (37.8%)
Yamaha
34 (20.7%)
Suzuki
19 (11.6%)
Kawasaki
32 (19.5%)
BMW
0 (0%)
Triumph (the new ones)
0 (0%)
Triumph (the old ones)
3 (1.8%)
BSA
3 (1.8%)
Norton
0 (0%)
Ducati
0 (0%)
Moto Guzzi (seriously?)
0 (0%)
Harley
2 (1.2%)
Hodaka
1 (0.6%)
Maico
0 (0%)
Husky
0 (0%)
Bultaco
0 (0%)
Montesa
0 (0%)
Something Else (what?)
8 (4.9%)

Total Members Voted: 161

Author Topic: Your first motorcycle?  (Read 34490 times)

Offline Conrad

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #80 on: September 29, 2011, 04:54:25 AM »
Here's a pic just like my first one, only mine was not nearly in this good of shape. Early 1960s Honda CL72 Scrambler, 250cc of holy terror (not so much)



I just saw one of these yesterday. It was seriously trashed though but the guy was still riding it.
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Offline Gearhead82

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #81 on: September 29, 2011, 08:06:31 AM »
I just started riding a little over 2 years ago.  First bike was this '92 (or maybe '93) EX-500.  I paid $500 for it and had to replace the flywheel (charging magnets were shattered. Common problem on 1st Gen EX 500).  Also went through the carbs and bought a windshield for it.  Put a couple hundred miles on it and sold it to buy my next project ('99 VFR800).

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Offline Furbo

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #82 on: September 29, 2011, 08:29:49 AM »
I learned to ride on a 1970 Honda 50 Mini Trail!

My first real motorcycle was a 74 Kawasaki KD 125.

First street bike was a 76 Kawasaki 400 Twin.
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Offline Shadowofshoe

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #83 on: September 30, 2011, 02:38:24 PM »
A 72 Kawasaki F7 175 2-stroke enduro.  Man I miss that thing.


  Wow thats my 1st street legal, a pic..amazing, it had some sort of rotary valve thingy that was high tech then, he he, I loved that thing!
  mike
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Offline AlexG

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #84 on: October 04, 2011, 10:28:40 AM »
I found my first bike in rural PA - it was sitting idle for few years. It started after first push of the starter button and I rode it for a year just to make sure motorcycling was for me. The Nighthawk is a great bike to start on. It’s indestructible, functional and unpretentious... BTW, I found my current bike – the RT - in rural PA also. Hmmm, should be something about rural PA...  ::)

Offline ddavid

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #85 on: October 06, 2011, 09:29:20 PM »
1976 Yamaha xs 500. No pics but there is a 1978 for sale 3 blocks away from me. Hmmmmm maybe I should get it for old times sake.

Offline snarf

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #86 on: October 08, 2011, 03:25:06 AM »
82 Kawasaki 440 Ltd

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Offline xjs36uk

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #87 on: October 08, 2011, 09:11:58 AM »
That would be a 1976 Kawasaki KH250 which i picked up for a measly £20 GBP in 1984, still had it up til 6 years ago when I got my Mother to move my stuff from my old house, She sent it to the scrap yard!!!! and then said what did I want with that old bike!!! Also had a Suzuki GS125ES at the same time, small but looks like a big bike and being a four stroke single sounds (at tickover at least) like a big thumper. I'm now on my 27th to 34th bikes.
Mark, One half of the "Formation Crashing Greaves Brothers".    1986 GTR1000 A1, 1988 GTR1000 A2, 1989 GPZ900R A3, 1986 GPZ1000RX A1, 1983 GT750 P3, 2000 ZX12R-A1, 1990 ZZR1100 C1, 1986 CBR500, 1985 XT500, 1987 XJS 3.6, 1995 XJ6 3.2 Sport, 1992 XJ40 4.0S, 1987 Capri 3.0S,1993 Xantia 1.9TD, 1993 W124 250D, 1999 S210 E280 4-Matic, 1996 LDV400, 1999 P38 2.5 DSE. I think I have a problem......

Offline Crashcup

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #88 on: October 08, 2011, 07:08:06 PM »
Depending one what you mean by "real" motorcycle...

My first was a 1973 Honda SL70. (Some of my neighborhood friends gave me crap that the "SL" stood for "SLOW"... but did they have their own motorcycle?  Noooooooooo!)

This was in 1973. I had wanted a mini-bike BADLY for a few years, but living in the suburbs, no good place to ride. Then, in the summer of '73, we moved out to "the country" (mom re-married). Part of the strategy of winning me over to the idea was getting a bike. "...and guess what Keith, you can get a MINI-BIKE out there!"

But my step-dad said No, you really don't want a mini-bike with those small wheels. He didn't ride, but was asking guys at work for suggestions. They all told him the smaller wheels would really limit the handling off-road. It didn't take much to convince me of that wisdom, and one June Saturday morning we went into Moon Motors in Monticello MN to buy my FIRST MOTORCYCLE! Brand-spankin'-new! We wheeled it out into the parking lot and the sales guy went over the controls with me. After I clumsily putted around the parking lot a little, we loaded it into the trailer and took it home.

So that's how I spent my time that summer, on that little blue Honda. Part of making the whole motorcycle thing okay with my mom was telling her... "Don't worry, I'm just going to ride it around the yard." Of course,  after riding around the yard a couple of weeks, and wearing trails into the grass everywhere, I had to have more space, and started riding along the ditches and along the mississippi river banks. There were a couple of small gravel pits along my usual route, and that was a blast banging around the pits and climbing hills and using the small piles of dirt as jumps.

Funny, as nostalgic as it makes me feel thinking about that first bike, I really have no desire to get one now. If I wanted to get a bike for nostalgia's sake, I think it might be one of those dorky-looking Trail 90's. My uncle had one and let me ride it on the gravel roads by my grandpa's (this was prior to the SL70). That was like the funnest thing I'd done in my life, and I knew I had to have one!

BTW, the pic attached is not my bike, a pic from Marbles Motors of a 1971, mine was 1973.  I think the only difference is the decals.

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1999 VFR800 - "Stella"

Offline Conrad

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #89 on: October 12, 2011, 07:58:43 AM »
Depending one what you mean by "real" motorcycle...

My first was a 1973 Honda SL70. (Some of my neighborhood friends gave me crap that the "SL" stood for "SLOW"... but did they have their own motorcycle?  Noooooooooo!)

This was in 1973. I had wanted a mini-bike BADLY for a few years, but living in the suburbs, no good place to ride. Then, in the summer of '73, we moved out to "the country" (mom re-married). Part of the strategy of winning me over to the idea was getting a bike. "...and guess what Keith, you can get a MINI-BIKE out there!"

But my step-dad said No, you really don't want a mini-bike with those small wheels. He didn't ride, but was asking guys at work for suggestions. They all told him the smaller wheels would really limit the handling off-road. It didn't take much to convince me of that wisdom, and one June Saturday morning we went into Moon Motors in Monticello MN to buy my FIRST MOTORCYCLE! Brand-spankin'-new! We wheeled it out into the parking lot and the sales guy went over the controls with me. After I clumsily putted around the parking lot a little, we loaded it into the trailer and took it home.

So that's how I spent my time that summer, on that little blue Honda. Part of making the whole motorcycle thing okay with my mom was telling her... "Don't worry, I'm just going to ride it around the yard." Of course,  after riding around the yard a couple of weeks, and wearing trails into the grass everywhere, I had to have more space, and started riding along the ditches and along the mississippi river banks. There were a couple of small gravel pits along my usual route, and that was a blast banging around the pits and climbing hills and using the small piles of dirt as jumps.

Funny, as nostalgic as it makes me feel thinking about that first bike, I really have no desire to get one now. If I wanted to get a bike for nostalgia's sake, I think it might be one of those dorky-looking Trail 90's. My uncle had one and let me ride it on the gravel roads by my grandpa's (this was prior to the SL70). That was like the funnest thing I'd done in my life, and I knew I had to have one!

BTW, the pic attached is not my bike, a pic from Marbles Motors of a 1971, mine was 1973.  I think the only difference is the decals.

Sounds like the plan/plot to 'win you over' worked eh Keith?
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Offline CADMAN97

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #90 on: October 15, 2011, 03:25:14 PM »
My friend let me practice on his KLR 650, but the first bike i actually bought was a 1998 Honda Magna. My mom about flipped when I told her the bike in the garage was mine. I live 2hrs away from my home town, and when my parents came to visit one day, I knew the secret was gonna be over. But hey I was 26, and able to make my own decisions. Now 10yrs later everyone pretty much accepts the fact I ride. I eventually traded the Magna for my VFR800, which i just recently sold  :-\
« Last Edit: October 15, 2011, 05:30:53 PM by CADMAN97 »
1998 Honda Magna--->Sold | 2003 Yamaha FZ1--->Sold | 2003 Honda VFR800--->Sold | 2010 Honda VFR1200--->Sold | Kawasaki C14--->SOLD | 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 1000--->Current | 2014 Yamaha FJR 1300ES--->Current

Offline justbob

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #91 on: October 16, 2011, 05:31:09 PM »
My first street bike was a new blue Yamaha, that one was a 1973 RD250.
 Now I feel like a kid again, I just bought another new blue Yamaha , this one is a 2012 Super Tenere.
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Offline potshotpanda

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #92 on: October 21, 2011, 07:58:29 PM »
Learned to ride on a AMD 125 in a gravel pit about 10 miles away from my parents house (it was my older brother's bike)

First bike I owned was a 79 Suzuki GS425L, bought brand new.   Rode that bad boy for 36000 miles without a lick of trouble.  Made a trip from DC out to Columbus OH to visit a girlfriend via US 50.  Also rode it from RI to LA over a couple of days.   In January, missed any snow, fortunately.

Next bike was an 82 GS850 which caused me to fall in love with a shaft drive bike.   That one had issues, but still loved the bike. 

Last bike, before my 15 year hiatus was a Honda Rebel 250.   Not that I'd give up my Connie, but that was a nearly bulletproof bike that got near 70 mpg when I added a windscreen to make the airflow better around my rather square body.
Jeff Poston, Fitzwilliam, NH
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Offline SteveJ.

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #93 on: October 24, 2011, 06:33:26 PM »
First bike, 1970 CL450, brand new from Twin City Honda.
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Offline Uglydog56

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #94 on: October 30, 2011, 08:51:43 PM »
1978 Honda CM400 was my first bike that I owned.  The engine had flipped the speedo and finally broke the cam chain.  The guy swapped in a Hawk 450 motor and put another 30K on her before he sold it to me.  I rode it for a year down in FL and gave it away when I transferred to New York.

First bike ridden was a neighbor kid's Honda CR50.  When I was 8, me, him and my brother (5 yrs old) would rip up and down the county roads, all three of us sitting on the bike, no helmets, no nothing.  My brother had to sit in the middle so he wouldn't fall off (safety first!) We used to race the neighbor (high school age, with his girlfriend on the back) and he would let us win.  30 years later I looked at a 50 while I was at the stealer, and I can't believe I was ever that small.
Rick A. Cone
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Offline txfatboy

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #95 on: October 30, 2011, 09:10:21 PM »
Honda 650 Night Hawk, 83 or 84...... Painted midnight metallic blue, all the emblems removed and most of the engine blacked out. I even filled in the "Honda" that was machined into the engine side covers. It was a great first bike and looked great too.
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Offline gtr1000inFL

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #96 on: October 30, 2011, 09:54:23 PM »
1978 Hondamatic 400 Hawk, in 1985.  Not recommended.  Sold it for $200.  See the missing mirror?  Front caliper hanging by the line?  Spent a year recovering from injuries. No cycle endorsements back then.  Could have avoided it.     

Offline dvitous

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #97 on: October 30, 2011, 10:04:25 PM »
A '73 Yamaha AT 125...  looked exactly like this one.  Bought from a guy I worked with... if I'm not mistaken, for $1/cc.



I suspect my brother was somehow involved... but one day it just "disappeared" from the garage, never to be seen again.

Replaced shortly thereafter by an '83 Kaw 550 LTD... then my '99 Concours!


Dan Vitous
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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #98 on: October 30, 2011, 11:09:30 PM »
Tote Goat, best damn mule ever devised ;D

Offline danl

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Re: Your first motorcycle?
« Reply #99 on: October 31, 2011, 07:04:21 AM »
I'm a relative newb as far as riding goes. My wife and I bought our 1st bike in 2006 when our daughter graduated HS. It was a brand new 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750. We learned to ride on it and put about 8000 miles on the clock in a year, doing nothing much but local riding. She'd go out for a  couple hours, I'd go out for a couple hours later on. Lots of weekend morning country road cruises. After 6 months or so, I bought my own bike, a used 05 Suzuki C50. 6 months later, we traded in the 750 for a new '07 1500 for my wife which she still has. It's got almost 30k on it. I traded the C50 in with about 20k on it for my '08 Vulcan 1600 which I bought in '09 as a leftover new stock bike. I rode that for 16k and while I liked it, it never really made me want to just go out and ride. I bought my Connie a month ago and finally have the bike that I can't wait to ride.

Here's the 750:

And the C50