| Author | Message | ||
     Bullitt |
I'm curious to find out what kinds of bikes you Buellheads started out on - I mean that very first one. How old were you? Was anyone around to help teach you to ride, or did you learn by trial and error? What made you want it in the first place? I'm really interested in seeing if there is a common thread. I'll start out. Pastel orange and white 1977 Yamaha DT125 ring-ding Enduro at age 15. No one around to teach me to ride it - to this day I don't know why my Dad let me have it, since he doesn't ride, or how I avoided killing myself. After seeing "On Any Sunday" at least a dozen times, though, I just knew I'd be sliding along side Mert in no time! That 10 HP (maybe) rascal sure felt fast, esp when cutting class to go dirt donkin'! | ||
| Mikej |
Early '60's Yamaha 80 street bike converted to a dirt bike. Didn't have enough ground clearance or traction so my dad welded on some tabs to the swingarm and mounted the 19" rear wheel from an old Sachs with a knobby on it. I was about 10-12 years old. Rode that thing all over the place. Even got chased by a few tanks at a testing ground we rode at in Renton Washington. Had to ride thru about 10+ miles of neighborhoods and powerline roads to get there. Great place to ride on the weekends. After me and the neighbor kids got older and got bigger bikes we could go play cat&mouse with the security guards at the gravel pits next to the tank tracks. On the 80, I think all my dad did was to tell me how to start it and how to shift it and then he turned me loose. I should probably add that back then bikes didn't have to have quiet mufflers and my dad rode an old rigid 2-stroke bike to work with a homemade openend expansion chamber on it. I could still hear him several miles away on that thing. | ||
| Doncasto |
First motorcycle ridden was a Honda 250 Scrambler. First one owned was Honda S90. Then came a 305 Scrambler, Triumph T100C, Truiph TR6C, a string of basketcase Bonnevilles . . . Learned by doing low speed fallovers and running into soft objects in the residential construction around my family's house in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, California. All on borrowed friends bikes and at the peril of being eternally grounded if discovered by responsible adults. Don | ||
| Jssport |
*** 1975 H1 Mach III triple *** Baddest wheelie bake ever built, High HP/wt ratio, Evil handling, and and a light switch pwrband kept things interesting. I still have it! | ||
| Jssport |
Ok, actually I started on Rupp 5hp at the tender age of 7, quickly graduated to a Honda 50, then to a Kaw 100. I rode em everyday winter too, had a great time. In our local woods I was the Champion, no one could beat reguardless of bike on my track! The first time I roadraced I was humbled. I had a hard time grasping I had been lapped, by old guys. So I went out and bought an H2R(75 Kaw factory 750 2 stroke roadracer) , fastest track bike I ever road. Got tunnel vision fromn the acceleration on the back straight at Riverside. This scene from the early 80's is where I frirst heard of Eric Buell. We were all awaiting an affordable GP 750 that would compete with the TZ 750,.. a lot of people were very pissed off that the 750 class got eliminated,.. but if it had not and the RW went to full production,.. what kind of Buell's would there be today? | ||
| Road_Thing |
Early 60's Honda step-thru trailbike. I was 12, maybe 13. My aunt Marion (cool lady) turned me loose on it, and I promptly fell down and fried my leg. Still have the scar. Bummed rides on friends' bikes until I came home from the Navy in '71. Bought a '70 Triumph TR6 and left the next day on a 6 week road trip from Baton Rouge to Wyoming. Learned a lot about bike maintenance on that TR6--I owned it until 1993, when I took an overseas job and sold the fleet, which included at that time the Triumph, a CB900F, R100/7, CR450R, XR200R. Other bikes have passed through Road_Thing's_Garage: a Kawi 120 short-tracker, another Kawi, a 350 Avenger (rotary valve twin-really quick for its time), an RT1, a '54 BSA 500 one-lunger that I bought in Burma, probably some others that I don't remember. The current fleet includes 2 '96 S1's, a '95 S2, a '96 FLHR, a '98 Confederate (113"-you think Buells have torque? Come ride this baby...), an XR600R undergoing a sex-change from an enduro tool to a super-motard , and a '74 850 Commando, mostly in boxes (but I did take the motor to the machine shop last week, so the restoration may commence this winter). Aren't you glad you asked? r_t | ||
| Pilk |
Orange and white Z-50 Honda, 4 years old, thought I was Hurricane Hannah after about the first 2 days. I have many great memories of that bike, and a few very painful ones. Pilk | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Learned to ride on my cousin's Bridgestone TMS100 when I was 11 or 12. Kind of an odd duck. It was a full sized (for a 100cc) bike, enduro type. It had a 4 speed tranny if memory serves. The odd thing was the shift pattern. It was all down to up shift. If you pressd down again it went into neutral then back to first. You could upshift and downshift but the pattern was backwards. That neutral got me more than once. My first bike of my own was a Harley Rapido! I was around 13 or 14. My Dad bought it from the local dealer real cheap, it had been in a fire and kind of pieced back together. I learned a ton about fixing engines and motorcycles back then. The damn thing was always broken. Next bike was a real dirt bike. A Suzuki TM125. Then a Honda CR125, a YZ250, a Honda 150 Dream, Yamaha 650, a Honda Magna, ..... a couple more in there somewhere. Had an Hodaka (100cc)somewhere in there also. I wish I still had that old 150 Dream. Kind of a collectors bike now. Hmmm, wouldn't mind having the old CR either! Great thread Bullitt, brings back lots of old memories. I have a line on an old 1975 Honda TM250. Might be fun to restore for kicks if it not in too bad of shape. Brad | ||
| Jasonl |
A 1973 (same year I was born) RD350. It was Dad's first bike and he kept it. It hadn't run for 15 yrs and I revived it. After that I rode it around the neighborhood quite a bit. The suspension was shit and it would've cost an arm and a leg to get street legal. I left it to rot, again, and bought a '83 VF750 Magna. Then I test rode an S1 at Waugh Hd. | ||
| Spidey |
-first- early 70's Suzuki RM80 when I was about 10 -owned 81 Honda XL80 until I was 15 -bought a 78 CB400 Honda-matic (auto trans he,he,he) and drove it until I was 17 -Kawasaki GPZ 750 drove until I was 20...got cut off bad and T-boned a Caddi...walked away... -swore I'd never drive in the city again -took 12 years off -bought a 99 S3T 3 months ago...and now it's -20C (-4F) and I can't ride it again until spring I must say that the 500km (310mi) that I put on this fall was the best 500km of my life!!! The Buell kicks ASS!!! | ||
| Loki |
Spidey, still have my 82 750R1 in the storage unit. Just awaiting some tender loving care. Started out on a 81 XS650S, real good at floating the front at 105mph. Next came a 74 RD350 / 400 Daytona Special. Then came the shovel headed pan sport from the beyond. Then follwed by a couple of Shadow VLX 600s. The above metioned GPz made its appearance and has stayed with me. Then in 98 took a test hop on an S1. A defining moment in my riding career..... Now have the 00 M-Deuce. All have taught me something Loki -wanting some warmer temps to return.... | ||
| Djkaplan |
First bike I ever rode was my neighbors Honda 50 back in 1970. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. I remember it had an automatic clutch and was very easy to ride. I can vividly recall that day as if it were yesterday. My first motorcycle was a '75 Kawasaki 175, an F7 D. I got it new in 1976 - the Bicentennial! I taught myself how to ride and then taught my dad how to ride. That bike was a real piece of shit. They came hard and fast after that. 1976 Suzuki RM125A - A revalation. The suspension was cutting edge, 8.65 inches of rear wheel travel! My first race bike and my first experience racing (better than any drug). That bike gave me instant credibility in the neighborhood and practically defined my 14 year old existence. 1978 Suzuki PE175C - Raced enduro's and hare scrambles with this one. If I was ever an ace it was on this bike. My first 1st place trophies. 1978 Yamaha DT175E - Street legal fun for a 16 year old. It was the first motorcycle I ever recieved a concussion on. 1979 Honda CB650 - My dad's bike actually. The first really big bike that I could wheelie. My dad saw me once and was actually quite pleased. I'm really surprised I never dropped it. 1980 Honda CB125 - Kind of a joke. Used it to get around campus when I went to Georgia Tech. Another student riding a KH750 laughed his ass off when he saw me. I actually bracket raced this bike at the drag strip when my Camaro was apart and made it to the semi-finals (I red lighted). 1982 Honda CM450T - Inherited it. The only cruiser styled bike I ever rode. I was more embarassed on that bike than the CB125. I quit riding streetbikes after this dismal experience. 1987 Kawasaki KDX200 - I remember bringing it home and telling my roomate I didn't have rent money because I used it as a downpayment on the bike. Used it sporadically. The only time I raced it, I broke my collar bone. Great for irritating the neighbors and impressing the skateboard rabble. After that nothing. I had gotten totally out of bikes. In the summer of 2000 I was trying to get over a failed relationship and, I guess, suffering from a mid-life crisis. One day at work, I called the Harley dealership and asked, "How much for a Buell?" I didn't even know which one. I wish I could remember my ex-girlfriend's name... | ||
| Whydididothis |
all started with a 87 suzuki sp dual purpose, then went with a full dirt 87 yamaha yz 250 [nice bike] next a hawk 750 then 2 sportser's and finally a 2000 m2 | ||
| Blake |
Finally, after having been denied a dirt bike all my young life, at 16 I gained access to my dad's 1970 CB450. I don't think he ever layed hands on it after that. Off came the utilitarian saddle bags, windshield and raised bars. I could adjust the points on that bike with my eyes closed. Relished the kick start. | ||
| Sportyeric |
Interesting. Except for Loki, everyone started on small bikes. Sensible enough. My first was a 72 CB500. The few friends I had with bikes had 750s so I was sucking hind tit all the way back then. Some things never change! The fate of my 500 is related in the profiles section. A damn well written tale, if I may say so myself. Alberta summers were too short and evenings too cold for me to enjoy biking too much so I promised I would get another when I moved to the coast. Although a couple of dirt bikes came and went quickly through the 80s. 175 Yamie and a Honda 250. Couldn't go out without breaking me or the bike. Got to the Wet Coast and sprung for an 81 Virago. Pulled into a parking lot once when someone in an old pickup truck beside me said "Almost sounds like a Harley." I replied," Yeah, needs a tuneup!" Still think that was a great response, though I left before finding out if they agreed. Next on the list: 2003 Anniversary Special V-Rod engined sport-touring Buell. Yeah baby! |
