First Bike?

[BkerChuck]

No pictures unfortunately. First bike was a Kawasaki GPZ-750 with a Wiseco 900cc big bore kit, smooth-bore carbs, and a Yoshimura exhaust that I got in trade for my '74 Dodge Challenger. Absolutely no business having this as a first bike! (Un)fortunately it had some electrical gremlins and I traded it in after only a few weeks towards a new Honda VF500F Interceptor.

 

[Hertz]

1972 Suzuki 90. Loved that little 2-stroke....then some low life stole it.

 

[wetwolf]

1972 Honda CB100, bought in '74 for $200 by my dad. Mom was pissed. I don't think he got laid for a month!

 

[El Toro]

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If money had been no object, I would have sprung for either a Harley Rapido (Italian two stroke 125 rebadged as HD), or the Honda SS125 twin. These latter two were around $400 and there was no way my budget would have supported either.</p></blockquote>

I hear you....I lusted for a used CL160 but was still in college and couldn't afford it.</p></blockquote>

I was looking at some CB and CL 160s for sale this week. They're asking $2895 for them.

It has taken a long time for the Japanese stuff to get some value, but maybe that's starting to happen with the improving economy.

 

[Fred W]

My first motorcycle (mini-bikes with lawnmower engines and centrifugal clutches excluded) was a Moto Morini 50cc street bike that I picked up in the early 1970's. It was already well used, so I imagine it was of a late 60's manufacture date. Can't remember. Looked kinda like this one:

Some of my friends had "real" dirt bikes at the time, and that was what I really wanted. Montessas, Bultacos and early jap MX bikes were way cooler. Being a pre-license aged grommet, this was all I could afford on my paper route money.

We rode the snot out of that little 4-stroke (all the real dirt bikes were 2-smokes then ) and it was entertaining for a bunch of us at the time. We'd take it down to the local power lines and let the cops chase us around, but they never caught us. The riskiest part was riding the couple of miles to the power lines on the street.

What's funny, in retrospect, is that we usually wore just jeans and a denim jacket (leathers were for the rich kids, and that wasn't us), lace-up Herman Survivor work boots (if we could get our parents to fork up the $$) and maybe gloves when it was cold, but we always had a helmet on the noggin. We all biffed more than a few times, but being indestructible little pre-teens with rubbery elastomer for bones, I can't recall a single serious injury.

I vividly remember riding a friends Suzuki TM125 MX machine (before I later bought one of the same) at one of the local sand pits and going off a 20' drop jump only to land sliding on my faceshield. Thank goodness for the good ole' Bell Star full face or I'd be uglier than I already am.

 

[Old Guy]

In spite of Zilla's scoffing, I'm enjoying this thread. Best way to take a trip down memory lane. On a motorcycle!
What I'm noticing is mostly we started with pretty little bikes (especially Iggy!). Seems like anymore, nobody wants to start with anything smaller than a 650 or so. Not that I've looked much, but I'm guessing it would be pretty hard to find much in the displacement range of most of the bikes we started on back in the '60's and '70's. I think that was a lot better way to learn, and a lot safer. Kind of too bad, IMO.

A 500 is considered a started bike now, and when I started it was a big bike. I bought a 500 Suzuki, and people where concerned that I could handle a "big ol' 500." Heck, 750s were touring bikes then, and now there are people who think you can't possibly tour on less than an 1800

 

[eflyguy]

1982 Suzuki RG 50 ("Gamma") - front brake had anti-dive system.

 

[Iris]

Mine was a 1982 Suzuki GS450. I bought it New when I was in college.

....ahhhh.....those were fun times!

 

[rogdeb]

1978 Yamaha Virago 500. Nice little bike but way too small physically for two up !

We soon moved up in size and cc

 

[want2ride]

My first bike was an Indian 50 dirt bike. Not much but it provided a lot of fun out in the country side. First street legal bike was a Yamaha 650 Special II. Maroon in color until I changed it, lol. Loved picking up girls on it!

 

[rbentnail]

My first bike was an Indian 50 dirt bike. Not much but it provided a lot of fun out in the country side. First street legal bike was a Yamaha 650 Special II. Maroon in color until I changed it, lol. Loved picking up girls on it!

The first street legal bike I ever bought new was a 1981 Yammy 650 Special II. Great bike!

 

[red2kcbr]

'64 Honda CB125, given to me as a non-runner. About 3,600 yen ($100 US) got it running. This was 1973, running around on Kanto Mura housing annex, near Tokyo. Yes, driving on the left. Took the MSF course at Tachikawa AFB. Been riding on the street ever since. Immediately got a job to finance the next bike, This went on for 40 years.

 

[wetwolf]

'64 Honda CB125, given to me as a non-runner. About 3,600 yen ($100 US) got it running. This was 1973, running around on Kanto Mura housing annex, near Tokyo. Yes, driving on the left. Took the MSF course at Tachikawa AFB. Been riding on the street ever since. Immediately got a job to finance the next bike, This went on for 40 years.

Hopefully it will keep going for a long while.

Of all the things my father taught me in my lifetime, I would have to say that teaching me to ride a bike and fix it yourself was about the most profound influence upon me I've ever had

It opened up a whole new view of the world, one that happened at a much faster pace

 

[FJR Flyer]

Well, I did ride my brother's RD350 and my sister's CB250 (four-stroke dog) before I had a license. Then I got my own '80 Kawi 440 LTD for legal riding (loved that bike, but it lacked power), and also rode my step-father's 1969 Yami 250. Then I upgraded to my brothers XS650, then my FJ1200, and FJR.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Honda Nighthawk. Don't know what year. Don't remember the displacement. Or checking tire pressures. Or fluid levels. It got exploded by an old lady turning left on a sunny Sunday morning. I jumped off the pegs, vaulted the trunk, and ended up with scraped knees and a scuffed helmet. My survival was, in no doubt, helped by my steadfast adherence to all-the-shorts-and-tennis-shoes-all-the-time gear philosophy. Bike was all over the intersection. They had to drag the frame onto the rollback using a winch. The old lady started out crying because she thought she'd killed me, and was very apologetic. By the time police arrived 20 minutes later, she'd done a 180 and wasn't sure it was her fault any more.

 

[Uncle Hud]

1977 Yamaha RD400, two stroke street bike, and a real screamer. Bought it brand new from Pearl Harbor Yamaha, and had never, ever ridden a motorcycle before. She and I had a lot of fun blasting around Oahu for two years. (Not mine, but exactly like mine.)

I also subscribed to the Bill Lumberg school of protective wear: nylon shorts, t-shirt, flip flops, and a full-face helmet.

 

[Craigar]

1972 Suzuki 90. Loved that little 2-stroke....then some low life stole it.
[img=[URL="https://motorcyclesadsy.com/mwpics/1972-suzuki-ts90-1.jpg%5D"]https://motorcyclesadsy.com/mwpics/1972-suzuki-ts90-1.jpg][/URL]

Boy,does that bike bring back memories. My father had a yellow one and would prop me up on the front. Which I would be pretty much on the tank and holding the bars. He took me everywhere on that thing around town. That's when I got the bug for riding.

 

[Craigar]

First dirt bike - 76 Yamaha YZ-80. Then my first road bike I bought after graduation was a brand new Yamaha Radian.

 

[fjrob1300]

1974 RD250. Bought it for $75. Those were the days.

 

[RC65]

Honda SL70 when I was about 11 or 12. This would have been back in the mid-late '70s.