What Got You Into The 2 Wheel Life?

Don’t really know the first bike interaction, I just seem to have been around them all the time... from dad’s yamaha step-through (which I used to nick off with when the parents were out) to the farm and field bikes my mates managed to have. There were bikes in the village too, from my mates dad who was building his fibreglass racerstyle body, to the teacher with his 400/4... my brothers were older and had bikes first, so I bought off them as soon as I got my provisional... a Yammie RD50 with a noisy as f... Micron exhaust follow quickly by a CB125t as soon as the 50cc capacity limit was out-aged... got my tests rapidly and moved into the middleweights and larger bikes... loved them... even in the fallow years that I couldn’t justify a “recreational vehicle”, just always loved them and had to kickstart (pun intended) my ownership again about 10 years ago...

 

Either where the Raj of India is or within a door or so.

 

Great thread

I reckon Evel Knievel got me started in circa 1975 and I even had the famous stunt cycle toy, just imagine how much that would be worth now! Later on of course our own Eddie Kidd blew me away with his skills but his career end and the recent Top Gear tribute still brings a tear to my eye.

My first bike was a 4-stroke Honda SS50 (poor man’s FS1E) and my Brother helped me to do it up ready for my 16th birthday. 30+ bikes and nearly 40 years later I still love bikes and have never looked back.

 

Shame it’s not still a bike shop; the Raj of India is a bloody awful curry house.

 

My Grandad had numerous motorcycles but my Dad was never interested. I was also a comparatively late starter at 21 and became "accidentally" hooked through simple practicality. I had a XJ12 at the time which was doing around 10 mpg on the commute to work. No way was the Jag going so I decided I needed a cheaper alternative. A Yamaha DT250MX, some L plates and job done. From that day on I never looked back!. The old one part test was passed easily (what a joke that was) followed by the first of many Superbike purchases. I often think, if I'd never bought that Jag I may never have taken the 2 wheeled route.

 

I still remember the day in my mid teens when a friend borrowed their parents step thru' moped. I had a go and was hooked, motion without pedaling and faster to boot.... Then soon after I got to ride pillion on a honda CB360 and I came back certain it was for me.... Nearly half a century later and I still get a kick out of it.

 

Going to scrambling events back in the late 60's, i had my first bike on the road at the age of nearly 15 and started a six month ban on my 16 birthday for getting caught without a licence lol. I have never not a had a bike since then.

 

I had my first pillion ride on a bike at the age of 6 when my cousin dropped me home after staying with my aunt and uncle. He had a Norton of some description. A couple of years later I rode my first bike age 8 at a school picnic at Druridge Bay, Northumberland. Two brothers I went to School with were the sons of a Motorcycle Shop owner in Newcastle called Harry Wood and he brought two Honda Monkey bikes to the picnic for anyone to have a go on. After that I was hooked on bikes and got my 1st as soon as I turned 17.

 

My dad had an allotment which had a private road around it. His mate had a Lambretta scooter and took me on the back afew times thrn it broke and he got a Honda Cub, dont know if it was a 50cc or 90cc but he raved about it when he got it and of course he gave me pillion rides on that bike too. That was it for me, my mate at school had posters of a Honda CB250 from the local Honda dealer and I got some for my bedroom and dreamed....

 

Same here My Dad and a partner had a shop and he used to give us all the old wrecks not worth selling. So i rode bike since way back and surely before i was legal to do so. I lived in the country and we all had old bike to get us from the farms where we worked to home and back. Most people didn't mind as they knew we were going to work. But me i loved the sound the smell and the fun we had whizzing around fields and back roads. Tried to explain to many non biker and they just look at me as if i should have a padded cell.
Joe.

 

I saw a Harley Davidson t-shirt once that said 'If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand'.

 

When I was a kid I was obsessed with things that were loud. Cap guns, firecrackers, even thunderstorms. As I got a bit older I found that I also liked things that went fast, like jets and sports cars. Then I found motorcycles. They were loud AND they went fast! A friend and his brother had Honda 125 dirt bikes. We were about twelve or so and rode the hell out of those little bikes all through the woods and fields. A couple years later I got my hands on a Sears Sabre 50 It wasn't running, but I traded off a substantial number of treasured items and a little cash to obtain this piece of crap. I got it to run after some minor mechanical work and tooled around, unlicensed, for about a year. My parents didn't know I had it. I kept it at a buddy's house. I was eventually ratted out and had to give it up. I never lost the bug for bikes and as soon as I got out of the house, I found a Honda 250 for cheap and got my motorcycle endorsement on my license. Except for a couple years in the late 90's (sold a V45 Magna to buy my daughter a car when she turned 17) and for a year after I sold my Victory in 2019, I've always had a motorcycle. Just the word "MOTORCYCLE" makes my heart rate jump!

 

What a great thread, @Jordan B! Thanks for starting it. I just saw it this evening and just now finished reading all the responses.

I definitely started riding motorcycles later in life--let's just say I was "50-ish". Unlike most of those of you who shared about how you got started, I didn't ride scooters, or mini-bikes, or motorcycles at all as a kid. My first experience riding was pillion with my ex-husband during the six months or so he owned a Honda Shadow 750. But he was a surgery resident at the time and when he did a rotation through the trauma unit he sold the bike. At the time I was racing bicycles and although I'd enjoyed riding the Honda with him, I didn't give much thought to riding again until Mr. Sandi (Steve) and I started started dating and I rode pillion with him on his 2001 H-D Fat Boy. I knew really nothing about bikes but I knew I loved riding on the back with him. Lots of folks asked if I wanted to ride my own bike, but at the time I was perfectly content to be on the back just relaxing, looking at the scenery, and enjoying the ride.

But after about a year of that, one day I was driving to work and very clearly recall thinking, "I want to ride my own bike!" I thought about it for a few days then shared my revelation with Steve. That weekend he took me to the Harley dealership "just to look" and the following weekend I purchased a Dyna Street Bob weighing 650 pounds with a 1500+cc engine. Madness. I'd never even ridden a motorcycle before. I'd already signed up for the MSF Beginning Rider Course and took that a couple of weeks after my new bike was delivered to my garage. After passing the course (Edit: on a 250 cc Honda Rebel) and getting my endorsement, I started riding very conservatively and just added a bit more time and a bit more distance over the following days, weeks, and months with lots of learning and practice along the way. And lots of "firsts"--first night ride, first freeway ride, first ride in the rain, first trip....

Overall what really stands out for me--and came as a complete surprise--is how much I loved motorcycles and riding and nearly everything related to motorcycles from the get-go. I always say that my biggest regret about motorcycling is that I didn't start earlier in life. And now I'm making up for lost time. Motorcycles and riding have brought great joy; wonderful friendships (including forum friends!)' and lots of adventure, exploration, and fun into my life. And, as a woman, riding motorcycles has instilled confidence and strength in me through doing things I never thought I could do. I do wish I'd started younger. But, hey, better late than never! And perhaps I appreciate it all the more.

 

This for me too @Sandi T !

 

And there was me thinking you were born in the saddle/seat.

 

Gosh Jordan what a question, well in my case my first experience of motorbikes was a short ride on the back of one in 1956 as a kid, I was fascinated how the guy kicked it over and it "roared into life", from then on at every opportunity I would gaze in dealers windows and dream of owning one. Around came the very early sixties and not far away from me a guy had a BSA Gold Star, he was tall with dark hair slicked back, locally people said "don't mess with him he's a hard case", I wasn't to sure at the time what was meant by that, anyway I struck up a conversation with him, and to my surprise he said "sit on it if you like, but don't touch a thing", he had a girlfriend whom was also tall, slim with dark hair and exceptionally good looking, they turned out to be great fun, although they never gave details of anything really personal, we were on first name terms not long after that. I had huge amounts of respect for them both even at the young age I was, the whole experience inspired me. I had seen the "Teddy Boy" era as a young boy, but this was on a whole new level. bring it on is what I thought.

Not long after I bought for the then princely sum of £3 (a lot of saving among other things, a lot of money back then, at least for me). The bike was an ex dispatch riders WW2 machine, the guy demonstrated how to start and stop it, I paid him and pushed it home. I had permission to ride it on a farm track in return for some free labour. Gosh it was a "baptism of fire" and I enjoyed every minute.

I passed my test in 1967 and rode with a group of "Rockers", we had fantastic times, although there were dark times mixed in when we lost someone. I was certainly very rebellious back then, but I will remain a "Rocker" until I am no longer here. We customised our bikes no end, not caring what people thought. Our girlfriends who rode with us had the same values and we had respect for one another.

I just lived for adventure, I got into Rock and Ice Climbing, then Mountaineering, searching new adventures, venturing to the Alps and further afield. I took up White Water Kayaking and feel blessed to have paddled some excellent rivers and completing some first descents. Sadly I no longer participate in these, and I have said before "it's a long story".

I have owned 82 different machines over the years, some I have restored to show condition, others I have sold to forum members, and some to dealers. I love anything with an engine (although scooters have never done it for me, I appreciate the mechanical aspects, but they are not for me).

My other motorcycling passion is real road racing, I do watch short circuit racing, WSB and Moto GP, but I guess it's the feeling of raw excitement for the roads, and as Stephen Davidson titles one of his books "Beautiful Danger" it sums it up nicely. (anyone who would like a copy of Beautiful Danger PM me for a price, these are sought after and no longer available).

The whole area of biking, cultures and sub cultures are complex, I wrote a dissertation on the subject and know I only scratched the surface. Rick Hulse who contributes a page in Back Street Heroes has a sound knowledge of the subject, and he also has a good sense of humour. Ride safe all from an ageing Rocker.

 

Great write-up, @Iceman. There's a book in there somewhere.

 

Wow, @Iceman, I agree with @Octoberon that there's a book in there somewhere. In fact, I'd say your life sounds like one that could be a movie.

Your story is amazing and it sounds like your life has truly been an adventure. It made me think of this Helen Keller quote:


I'm very curious about the dissertation you wrote about bikers and the cultures and subcultures around the motorcycle world. Is there a copy of it available online anywhere? I've commented many times to non-bikers that one of the things I find so intriguing and compelling about motorcycles and riding is just that--the whole culture of it and those subculture off-shoots.

Your early experience with the "hard case" and his girlfriend fits in there, too. Meeting many a tough or scary-looking biker over the years has reinforced in me the admonition that you can't judge a book by its cover. Who knows what path you may--or may not--have taken had you not been inspired by this "hard case" couple in your younger years? Although it does sound like you were primed to live an adventurous life already.

And I think it's w-a-y cool that you were and are an honest-to-goodness Rocker. Cafe racers and Rockers captured my attention and heart early on when I started riding and that's how I wound up with my first Triumph, a Thruxton. I don't know if you'd be willing to share any old photos of you from those days (if you have any) but I'd love to see one or two if you are. Thanks for sharing your story!

 

Was never interested in bikes until late 30s, fell in love with the look of cruisers.
First ride scared the hell out of me!!

only been passed 6 months and it took me 10 years to finally do it.

now it’s the best thing ever! It’s the only way to truly switch off these days. Helmet on, no interruptions, just concentrating on the road and enjoying the camaraderie.

love getting the nod from other riders, feel like part of something bigger.