How old were you?

[Pilot2Wheels]

Interesting results so far. Over 50% of all respondents started riding a motorcycle on the street by the age of 18. I'm not surprised though. I wonder what that percentage would be if only those people born after 1980 could respond to the poll? Would over half of those have their first street riding before the age of 18?

 

[J Paul]

Harley said XLCH stood for XL Competition Hot but after owning 2,a68 and a 70 I have to agree with my old biker buddies-it really stands for Xtra Large Charlie Horse.Jeff

 

[garyahouse]

Gary

darksider #44

Waterford Kettering High School? As in Waterford Michigan? No way Gary! I went to high school in West Bloomfield. Small world.

Wayne

Hey Wayne,

Small world indeed. We used to cruise down to West Bloomfield all the time. I worked at Fox and Hounds in the mid 70's and cruisin' Woodward was a weekly thing. Do you remember a place called the Trading Post that was SOOO popular around 1972 or so? There were 40 or more head-shops: selling candles, leather goods, hats, clothes, etc... all these little shops under one roof. I think it was in West Bloomfield and we used to all pile in my 65 Monterey, fill her up @ around 32 cents a gallon, crank up the 8 track, and hope we didn't get pulled over.

West Bloomfield: I was on the Captains' wrestling squad in 71-72, and went to West Bloomfield a couple times. Beautiful school.

Gary/class of 73

Darksider #44

 

[gixxerjasen]

Took me till I was 24 years old to start riding. My lady roommate and good friend for a long time suggested it and was interested. We started looking for 1997 Katana's and I found an ad for one for $4999 which was quite a bit cheaper than anywhere else. Too bad the ad expired before the Cycle Trader was even published. Bait and switch I tell ya.

So we started looking some more and I picked up the phone book and there was an ad for Jim Walker Suzuki in Daytona with a bit saying "Worth the drive from anywhere!" I wasn't going to just up and drive up from Melbourne when I could pick up the phone. I called and the sales guy told me with everything going on (February of 98 while shopping for a 97 model) that he could let it go for $4999. I told him "I'll take two and will be there on Saturday!" I'm not sure if he dropped the phone but there was a bit of silence. I'm sure there's sales like this that come and go but rarely are they this easy I'm sure.

So we picked them up, dropped them a few times and picked them up again and rode them home with our friend who gave us a ride very nervously following us home. MSF course a little bit later and I've been riding ever since. I've been through several motorcycles and put on way more miles than she has, but she presently lives in Wisconsin and still has the same bike. Crappy weather has kept her miles down in addition to managing to be pregnant for several nice summer seasons.

Anyway, here I am young and dumb thinking I'm Valentino Rossi. Ok, I didn't know who he was but there was a very sweet helmet in the dealership that I wanted but couldn't afford. It had this cool tribal looking sun on one side and moon on another. Dang it looked fast just sitting there!

 

[radiummadman]

Allstate scooter in 1959 to deliver newspapers, delivered papers every day for the next seven years until I went to college.

At that time was the Denver Post, Sunday papers had 3 x 50' tree worth of pulp in them, I still hate Sundays.

 

[karstenp]

Purchased my first street bike 2 months before I turned 16. Emptied my bank account and purchase a 1981 Honda CB400 Hawk (cost me $1,300 at the time). A friend rode the bike home and we snuck in into my parents garage. My mother was absolutely against me riding a bike...... Dad said go ahead and buy it. My mom did not speak to me or my Dad for weeks after she noticed the bike..... I have been riding ever since!

On a related note. My son is turning 16 in two months and I wanted to buy a bike for him so that we can ride together...... Called the insurance company and they want $6,729 /year (no that is not a misprint!) to insure him to ride a KLR (liability insurance only)..... Makes me want to spit because it means that my son will not have the same opportunity to ride at 16 as I did (Note: My insurance on my first bike was $80/year).

 

[TellurideFJR]

1968 BSA Starfire 250 purchased for $25 from my sisters boyfriend when I was 14. Spent a little over $100 to get it running. Before that I rode a moped around but the BSA was my first real motorcycle.

 

[dunhamg]

13 on the gravel roads around home. It was a Honda CB650 Custom with a Vetter fairing saddlebags and a trunk. Riding it the 20 miles to work when I was 15 and had my farm permit, got pulled over the first time at 15.

Grady

 

[mcatrophy]

[bad post, deleted]

 

[mcatrophy]

Mine was a Tiger Cub at 16.

A hand-me-down from my brother. Always working on it to keep it running, including a new engine when the original crankcase cracked leaving the cylinder rattling as the motor turned, and a new frame with real suspension!

The only picture I have is from the owner's Instruction Manual (that i still have).

(Click on image for larger view)



This is equivalent to a full workshop manual, showing you how to strip and rebuild every component. Extremely useful.



Note all the dirty thumb-prints, it was a well-used book.

 

[Pilot2Wheels]

Allstate scooter in 1959 to deliver newspapers, delivered papers every day for the next seven years until I went to college.

At that time was the Denver Post, Sunday papers had 3 x 50' tree worth of pulp in them, I still hate Sundays.

I was a paper boy from 4th grade to 10th grade. I know exactly how you feel. I hated Sunday morning. Although this is where I got the money for my Honda CB550 four when I was 16.

Of course, you don't see paper boys anymore. The world has gone crazy. :angry:

Wayne

 

[bobg3723]

Had my first taste at the controls of a dirtbike at 16 or so. Asked my dad if I could have one and didn't grab the throttle again till I was 51.

I blame it all on the mid-life crises. Yeah, that's it.

 

[Bounce]

Rode this on the street quite a bit when in 5th grade.

 

[networkguy]

Although I rode a few mopeds before I got my license, 4 months after I got it I got a Yamaha Special 400. So Ive got about 30 years of riding.

 

[IAGeezer]

1972-16 years. Hot wired a friend's DT-175(?) at high school in Cedar Rapids, rode up to visit a girl in the MHI (Nut House) at Independence, 65 miles away, blew out a spark plug, begged one from a farmer, then returned the bike with a full tank of gas. Then I started buying bikes. '73 RD250, '75 XS650, '76 XLH (Took it out to 88 inches), then returned to Big Yam in 1989. '78 XS1100, 81 XJ650 (Flat Black buzz bomb with flat bars), '93 K1100LT, and the Mighty Feejer.

 

[Erin]

40... which was last week... I was a late bloomer.

What she said.

 

[PizzaJim]

I was 16 when I bought my first motorcycle. A Honda CB400T. It was all black with orange stripes and a cafe fairing.

 

[Enn]

I was also 16 when I got my driving license and then bought a Russian 175 cm3 Voshod 3 bike with a kind of electronic ignition which sometimes functioned and sometimes not. Rode it for 4-5 years at my summerhouse and then got so pissed with the reliability that just gave it to my neighbor. Had got a car by that time and that was more practical than the bike in those days as I could load more friends on it while driving out ...

Now then with the age it looks like the wisdom is coming back, so riding again.

 

[Dirty Hippie]

When I was 9 I bought a DR100 that became my streetbike. Rode it around all summer with my friend Robbie on the back. Finally got caught speeding in a 25 zone. My excuse to the cop was that I had to ride on the street to get to the next trail. He followed me home and gave my ticket to my mom. Dad took me to see the judge, had a few laughs, and everything was dropped. They told me to stop riding on the paved streets, but sticking to gravel roads was fine!! Small town life...

 

[Harald]

At 16 years of age I bought my first motorcycle, a 1978 Suzuki GS750E, while the parents were out of town for the weekend. "Hi Mom and Dad, look what I bought while you were gone." I subscribe to the idea that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

It's amazing I didn't kill myself because I only had a rudimentary idea on how to ride a motorcycle and there was no MSF at that time (at least not that I knew of). But I figured it out with minimal crashing and have been riding continuously since then. I even went a 6 year period that I didn't even own a 4 wheeled vehicle!

After almost 5 years, and 63k miles, of FJR ownership I haven't found a bike I'd trade it in for. Sure there's bikes I'd like to add to the garage, but none that would replace the mighty Feej!