For me it was a neighbour's uncle that had a Honda 305 Dream.

I was 8 and the friend of a young girl my age two doors over. She had an uncle that by all accounts was a little wild. He had a thick German accent so that made him all the more eccentric, and fun to listen to.

He'd come by their house from time to time to visit driving either an old Mercedes dressed up as a home made stock car, or sometimes he'd show up on the Honda 305. One day he asked all the adults hanging around if anyone wanted to go for a ride around the block on the bike. No takers. Maybe because they knew him better than I did.

When no one else stepped forward I said "I'll go". I really believed he wouldn't take a "kid" on that bike, but he replied with "hold onto za seat schtrapp ya, und lean mit me into za turns".

That trip around the block changed my life. My back alley became my motorcycle test track until I was old enough to legally drive and I have never not had a bike of some sort or another in my life since!

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