Your First Road Bike/s?

Mine was a brand new Kawasaki Z250. I had it delivered to a college carpark in Openshaw on a Saturday, where the local Star Rider chap was going to show me how to ride it.
Several other lads turned up on various second hand machines. It was supposed to be a 2 hour course. After 2 hours all the others had passed but I was still there. Couldn't get the hang of it. After 2 more hours (!) the exhausted chap signed my Star Rider card and waved me goodbye into the Manchester afternoon traffic. I was terrified.
Long(er) story short, I crashed it. So having delivered a brand new bike in the morning, the bike shop van collected a broken bike in the afternoon. It was fixed and returned within a couple days but it was another 2 weeks before I found the courage to take it on the road again.
Moral of the story? Don't start out on a brand new bike!

Despite the dodgy start I've had 45 unbroken years of bike ownership.

 

1973, just turned 17 and bought a BSA Starfire. Did about 1,000 miles on it, of which I pushed it 900.

Photo is not my actual bike, but the same colour and model.

 

Great MPG then Mick

 

Another BSA Starfire here. Bought 2nd hand in 1975 from Greys I Birmingham. I was warned 1. Do not buy from Greys, they are cowboys. 2. (Greys salesman) Buy a Kwaka 250, they are reliable,m the BSA will give you problems.
So, saying, I don't want that Jap crap I bought the Starfire. Went out the back of the shop to collect it and ride off a la Easy Rider. Kicked it over and 1. It didn't start, 2. The kick-start stayed down, broken return spring. I should have known there and then but they fixed the spring and off home I wobbled , stalling it a couple of times. I loved that bike, it taught me a lot about engines and gearboxes, the times I stripped the box down coz it jumped out of 4thgear at 50 mph. Turned out to be a hairline crack on the quadrant spring which you couldn't see. Happy days. Can't believe those bikes fetch so much money these days.

 

If it weren't for my dad, who's been into all sorts of bikes all his life, I'd never have ridden a Kawi. It was many years ago, my first biking experience, quite impressive and all that. But I still decided for myself back then that bikes are for my dad, not for me. If I ever replace my car with something else, I'd probably go for electric scooters. They may not be as fast as bikes, but they're great for the city, economical because they run on electricity, and cost way less than bikes, which suits my budget perfectly.

 

My first bike on the road at 16 was a Honda SS50, the 4 speed one.Good memories.

 

I started out on a 1964 Lambretta 125 (Series 3 "slimstyle", white with red side panels, flyscreen, spare wheel carrier and backrest) which I bought from a guy at school and fixed up with my Dad. I first rode it at midnight, the minute I turned 16! That sense of freedom.....

First motorbike was a year or two later, a Royal Enfield 250, horrible thing which constantly ran the big ends! That was replaced with a 1959 Triumph 500 (5TA) bought in boxes.

Here is that Triumph, and my new Triumph.... there were a lot of other bikes in between!

 

My first streetworthy (barely) bike was a Sears Saber 50. But it wasn't registered, and I didn't have a driver's license, let alone the MC endorsement. It was kept at a friend's house until I was discovered, and it was taken away from me by my parents. My first legal bike and the one I took my MC endorsement test on was a Honda CB250.

Sears Saber 50 (not the actual one I owned). Mine was black and not in as good condition as this beauty.



CB250