What was your first bike?

[quad17dad]

O.K. folks. It's time to get out the scrapbooks and old photos. What was the first machine you owned? It can be a motorcycle, three or four wheeler, or mini-bike (no PowerWheels please). If you don't have a pic, it's alright. Just let us know what you rode. Don't be embarassed, Tatonka already admitted he rode a Honda CT-70 (girls bike) in another post. You can even send in your second, third, etc. machines. I started out on a 1972 Honda SL-70 - gold w/black stripes. Those things were bullet proof... well, almost. I beat the tar out of mine for three years until it was stolen. I found it two months later in the woods with bullet holes. Like I said, very dependable but apparently, not bullet proof!
Let the games begin!

[xr650rocketman]

It was a 1965 BSA Bantam 175cc.....These originally began life in pre-war germany as a DKW.....After the WWII the technology was given to the British and the US....I believe they even surfaced here as Harley Davidson "Hornets".

My next bike was a '68 Honda SS125A......I still have one today, with 1400 miles on it...

Today, 43 years later, the garage is full of Hondas and KTM products.....

I also have a camera now...

Steve Smith

[Riding the Metro]

Not in any particular order but here goes the "Way Back Machine" - Help me Mr. Wizard!

1973 Suzuki TM 125. El Mirage, CA. c.1973
Check out the Full Bore Boots, Barafaldi googles and the Hodaka Jersey. That down pipe was probably my fourth one that year, oh and the Bassini silencer.

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/73TM125.jpg


1979 Yamaha YZ 250, Imperial Sand Dunes (aka Glamis) CA. near Yuma, AZ. c1979
What can I say? I was confused wearing the Suzuki jersey and the ten gallon hat. I thought those Vera's Leathers were cool.


http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/79yamaha250.jpg


1985 Honda 250R - Baja 1000 or 500 - Somewhere in Baja de Sur, Mex. c1985
This was our second attempt at that distance on a three-wheeler. We finished around 4th in our class. Here we are changing one of the countless flats encountered. Being the "Night Rider" I was delegated as Pit Boss during the day. Limited help from Team Honda in those days. Team Husqvarna helped us that night with an electrical problem at mile 500. Those are dual "150W KC DayLighters" mounted.

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/Baja3wheel_small.jpg


Here's the 250 after the race in Cabo San Lucas, Mex. Pretty much thrashed.

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/Baja3wheel2.jpg


1983 Honda CR480R. Just outside of Las Vegas, NV. Whiskey Pete's "Best in the Desert" c1985
Just one of the three 480's we had to campaign. I just received my Open Pro Plate at last weekend's race and still sports the number. "Team Cheap" is what we were known as due to the fact we were racing on a Privateer's budget. The name stuck.
The Honda 480 was the badest, meanest, fire breathing bike of the day and still is regarded as one of the best CR's Honda ever made. I wish I still had it.

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/83HONDA_CR480R.jpg

My favorite pic of my first REAL bike is not shown 'cause I couldn't find it. I will post when I find it.....1973 Hodaka Super Rat.

Not my first bike pics but something that I recall during those days gone by.

C.R.C. Barstow to Vegas c1981
The first map is my route chart. I remember that day like it was yesterday

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/1981B2V.jpg

1986 S.C.O.R.E. PARKER 400
Talk about hairball ideas, this was the "Mother of all Hairball Ideas". Adolph, my lifelong friend talked me into this race, and yes he's still my friend.
1 Loop in CA and 2 loops in AZ with Trophy Truck on your tail the whole way. I was never so scared in my life. They never did catch me though, thank goodness. I was stupid enough to try it again the following year!

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/86ParkerCA.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~a.jurado/onlinestorage/86ParkerAZ.jpg

[50ccMoM]

I love this thread.... keep em coming ! If only I could get my scanner to work. :cry:

[char393]

This is such a cool thread. I wish I'd had the opportunity to start riding as early as a few of you guys.

I didn't learn to ride until I was 18 on a Banshee of all things. I think really Daniel was trying to get rid of me... LOL I learned to respect the machine in a hurry. I also learned that there is nothing sweeter than the sound of a Banshee all wound out running across the desert.

[MotoMan]

My first bike was a 1979 KE 100....I destroyed that poor bike. lol I then moved up to a 1988 YZ 250 and kinda evolved from there. I will look for some pics when I get home and see if I can't post a few.

[quad17dad]

Well, I feel a little guilty that I don't have my pics up yet since I started this thread. There are definitely a lot of boxes in my attic that I have to sift through. Yes, sounds like a weekend project.
On the bright side, you guys are putting up some great posts. The whole riding thing started in my neighborhood with a couple of those C-50's. Since I don't have the pics yet, I'll just have to start with the list. Here goes:

1. 3hp 2-stroke mini bike
2. 1972 Honda SL-70
3. 1975 Honda CR-125 Elsinore
4. 1970 BSA Gold Star 250
5. 1976 Honda MR-175 - Ported, polished, milled, Basani X chamber, front
air fork conversion, S&W rear shock with Skunk Works cantilever system.
6. 1978 Kawasaki KL-250
7. 1972 Honda ATC-90
8. 1989 Honda 300EX
9. 1988 Suzuki GS1100?
10.1998 Yamaha Warrior
11.2000 Yamaha Virago 535
12.2003 Honda 400EX (Stolen by Anthony)
13.1989 Honda Pacific Coast
14.1987 BMW K75
15.2004 Suzuki DRZ-250

After all that, I currently do not have a ride but a new sport tourer is in my future so I can go cruisin' with my trophy wife. She's a hottie:grin:

[KTMissouri]

I do not have a picture of just my first bike. The picture below is from 1978. This is a picture of all three of my toys. My first bike is the 1974 F-11 Kawasaki that is in the center. A true Enduro bike, that means street legal 2 stroke dirt bike. The n my 1978 XS 750 Yamaha Triple. I picked up my now wife on that bike. And my baby, my 1969 Mustang. Not much to look at externally, but she was fast. I think I will go some place and cry now.

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/medium/My_1978_toys_small.jpg

[HRO52]

The only thing close for me to riding anything was a Suzuki 125 3-Wheeler. I wish I had a scanner to put the photos up here. Of course the 3-Wheeler belonged to my uncle, in which he only used it for Farming, since that was what he had done after puting in some time in the Service, before coming back to take up the family buissness. He has since moved on to be a Camp Director of a Church Camp here in Nebraska that is owned by the American Baptist Churches of Nebraska. The Camp by the way is an awesome place and has 560 acres (which the land there would be ideal for motocross and hare scrambles).

[quad17dad]

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/513/sl70rd.jpgThis was my 1972 Honda SL-70. I was a bit big for it at this point!

[quad17dad]

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/513/cr125rd.jpg

My favorite bike of all time. My 1975 Honda CR-125. $500 brand new off the showroom floor. Those days are gone forever!

[quad17dad]

http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/513/mr175rd.jpg
The CR was fun, but just would work on the woods... no bottom at all. The MR-175 was great in the woods but lacked the power of the MXer. So I ported & polished & milled the head, put on a Bassani pipe, a CR carb & filter, air forks, S&W rear shocks with the funky skunk works suspension mod and a host of other mods. Sure wasn't as cheap as the CR!

[Riding the Metro]

12 posts? That's it?
Come guys and girls - let's see those photos and long hair!

[Tatonka]

I really need to sit down and work on this one when I have some time. I don't have too many pics of the very early days (you know before flash photography and all :evil: ). We actually just bought a scanner so that might help with a couple of early shots.

My first gas powered minibike was something we cobbed together in an old frame we found out behind a neighbors shed. It had an old Reo lawnmotor engine (no clutch - direct drive, we had to run alongside to get moving and stall it to stop!) with a bicycle wheel on the front end! It's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves on that thing. After seeing me play & work on that thing for so long, not to mention the pestering for a "real" mini bike, which in my mind at that time was a Rupp Dirt Digger, Mom & Dad finally gave in. Yep, Santa brought me a used Honda Mini Trail 50. Let the fun begin!!

[Riding the Metro]

Riding the Metro. Stateline, NV. c.1985
http://www.riderdown.org/forum/photopost/data/500/WP83.jpg
Whiskey Pete's Best of the Desert Race. End of second loop. I was wiped out and I'm not even standing to traverse the downhill to finish line about 100 yds. away. If I recall, those bars are bent pretty good from a high speed get-off.
Ah, those were the days. Real leather pants, Thorsen Hallman Boots, Bell Moto III helmet and HRP Flak Jak were the attire.

[Jaycycle]

'96 Xr100.

[Riding the Metro]

What a shame - no posts in this thread for 6 months! Someone has to have stories or pics - POST UP!

[xr650rocketman]

What a shame - no posts in this thread for 6 months! Someone has to have stories or pics - POST UP!

It's a little difficult, we can only have ONE first bike!!!!

Maybe expand to first new bike, first single shock, first 2 stroke, first 4 stroke, first bike you hated, first bike you loved, first bike you stole, last bike you stole......Just checking to see who's paying attention.

I've slept a few times since this thread started so I don't even remember if I posted my first bike......

First I have no pictures!!!!!!

It was a 1965 BSA 175cc Bantam Major. The design was liberated from the DKW plant in Germany at the end of WWII.....Even before my time....

A US model was sold by Harley as a "Hummer" I believe but that was way before my time in the US.

I rode it to work at the steel plant in the UK from my 15th birthday until I wrapped it around a utility pole, sometime before my 17th birthday.

That was the end of my time as a street rider......I then found the dirt.

A very humble beginning but the start of a lifetime of joys and pain on two wheels.

As Jimmy Buffett sings....."I'm growing older but not up"

Bikes sure have improved in the last 44 years!!!!


EDIT.....

I just checked back and found my original post #2......Who says I'm losing it?????

[Macho393]

It was a tire shreading, hub snapping, hole shot pulling ,arm yanking beast of a 1973 yamaha 60...............thats how I remember it anyways!

[Tatonka]

Woo Hoo - finally a real bike! So long to all of those Briggs & Stratton contraptions! :thumb

'68 Honda Mini Trail 50....I rode the wheels off of that thing before graduating to the Honda CT70 !! :) ps. Nice PJ's eh? :lmao

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[stickman776]

My first bike was a brand new 1976 Hodaka Dirt Squirt. That bike was awsome, it was followed up by a Super Rat. The Rat did not hold up as well as the Dirt Squirt.

[fastlearner]

My first bike was a '79 Honda Z50r thanks to my dad. All the pics are still at my mom's house somewhere.

The first bike I every rode was my dad's CB 550 "four". He taught me how to ride by putting me in the front seat, him on the passenger seat and making me ride that thing around my elementary school ball field. Wish I had pictures of THAT.

[50ccMoM]

Woo Hoo - finally a real bike! So long to all of those Briggs & Stratton contraptions! :thumb

'68 Honda Mini Trail 50....I rode the wheels off of that thing before graduating to the Honda CT70 !! :) ps. Nice PJ's eh? :lmao

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Mini bikes in the hair salon, that is how it should be ! :cool

[Keiger]

Save up 500.00 in 1975, took a year and half but bought me a brand new YZ80.

Secound bike 05 450X, bit of a gap, but between there I road everyone else.

[K-T_MX_75]

A Honda 70 quad. My first dirt bike was a SSR 110!