When did you discover that riding was in your blood?

[unsub]

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!

Attachment 21533

[six2go]

In 1956 or '57 a neighbor kid bought a brand new Lambretta scooter. He was a little older than me and at that time in Michigan you could get a license to ride a 2 wheeler of less than 5HP at the age of 14. He took me for a ride after school one day and that sealed the deal. I started saving every nickel I earned from my paper route and managed to come up with $410 to buy a brand new 1959 Cushman Eagle. I was 14 at the time and like the OP, I have had a bike of some kind pretty much since that time except for a short period when raising a family. I'm almost 72 now and have been riding pretty much non stop for 58 years.

[unsub]

I started saving every nickel I earned from my paper route and managed to come up with $410 to buy a brand new 1959 Cushman Eagle.

How could you NOT like riding one of those beauties!

[TailGunner]

In 1956 or '57 a neighbor kid bought a brand new Lambretta scooter. He was a little older than me and at that time in Michigan you could get a license to ride a 2 wheeler of less than 5HP at the age of 14. He took me for a ride after school one day and that sealed the deal. I started saving every nickel I earned from my paper route and managed to come up with $410 to buy a brand new 1959 Cushman Eagle. I was 14 at the time and like the OP, I have had a bike of some kind pretty much since that time except for a short period when raising a family. I'm almost 72 now and have been riding pretty much non stop for 58 years.

I'm impressed you were able to save that amount with a paper route during the 50's. That is total dedication to your goal!

[six2go]

I'm impressed you were able to save that amount with a paper route during the 50's. That is total dedication to your goal!

Well, I had a little bit to start with so not the entire $410. But it was about a 2 yr. program that I set out on and stuck with it. I wanted that Cushman real bad.

[opas ride]

Bought my first ride at 14 back in 1954. A Whizzer motorbike from a buddy in school for $50...Rode it for a over year delivering papers and saved enough to buy a Cushman scooter.....Been riding motorcycles on and off since then...About 20 or so bikes over the years...Did not ride much from 1958-1998 while I was in school, traveling on my job and raising 5 kids..Been back on bikes since then and hope to ride until I am least 80....Ride safe

[pilotguy299]

It actually happened much later in life for me. I had decided to give up flying as much as I had been doing, and was looking for something less expensive and more accessible to do during my free time.

I took up riding at 44, and been doing it pretty regularly for the past 10 years. And much more since I got the F6B.

[53driver]

That this thread started today is quite ironic.....

I just discovered a few hours ago that the Army Colonel who lived a few rooms down from me in the MCAS El Toro barracks in 1997-1998 had passed away in 2012.
Col Matt Fevang was the owner of the '73 Ironhead that I eventually received from my wife as a coming home from deployment in one piece present and it was the first Harley I ever rode.
Matt was the one that got me into motorcycling.
I was always fascinated by motorcycles, but parental pressure and Catholic guilt kept me far away.
Then a wife, kids, life, etc. And in the USMC for an officer to ride was career suicide.

Then, as a Major, pretty much guaranteed retirement, I watched Matt on that bike and decided to take the MSF course.
I passed, and started looking for a bike and found an '81 Wing std whose owner needed cash. He was getting married in two weeks and expecting a child in 4 weeks. Same gal.
We bartered and I called my wife who was 3300 miles away in Cherry Point, NC and said I need $1800 for my midlife crisis. (I was 35).
She asked if it had blonde hair and boobs. I said no, but she had 4 cylinders and was shiny. I got the okay.

524829_543773455652559_334813393_n.jpg

This bike is still running today. It was the starter bike for one of my crewchiefs and he has had a lot of fun with it.

[unsub]

That this thread started today is quite ironic.....

I just discovered a few hours ago that the Army Colonel who lived a few rooms down from me in the MCAS El Toro barracks in 1997-1998 had passed away in 2012.
Col Matt Fevang was the owner of the '73 Ironhead that I eventually received from my wife as a coming home from deployment in one piece present and it was the first Harley I ever rode.
Matt was the one that got me into motorcycling.
I was always fascinated by motorcycles, but parental pressure and Catholic guilt kept me far away.
Then a wife, kids, life, etc. And in the USMC for an officer to ride was career suicide.

Then, as a Major, pretty much guaranteed retirement, I watched Matt on that bike and decided to take the MSF course.
I passed, and started looking for a bike and found an '81 Wing std whose owner needed cash. He was getting married in two weeks and expecting a child in 4 weeks. Same gal.
We bartered and I called my wife who was 3300 miles away in Cherry Point, NC and said I need $1800 for my midlife crisis. (I was 35).
She asked if it had blonde hair and boobs. I said no, but she had 4 cylinders and was shiny. I got the okay.

Attachment 21534

This bike is still running today. It was the starter bike for one of my crewchiefs and he has had a lot of fun with it.

A few throwbacks on that one. Queen seat and a sissy bar. Do you still own it?

[53driver]

A few throwbacks on that one. Ape Hangers, queen seat, and a sissy bar. Do you still own it?

I do not. Sold it to one of my crewchiefs as his first bike.
Bates saddlebags, Yamaha windshield bolted on. Sissy bar was held on by 4 hose clamps - wasn't going anywhere.

Some days I miss her. I knew I should have ridden her better than I did. She was very forgiving and helped me along.
ALL my rookie mistakes were made with her.
Dropped her at a stoplight when I hit some oil with my boot.
Snapped a clutch cable and about launched over the handlebars, but she absorbed the shift.
Ran out of gas.
Blew the Main Fuse.
Learned all there was to know about wiring the alternator with one contiguous piece of wire and remove that clip that caused shorts.
We went on trips and she never let me down - all stranding occurred within 2 miles of home.