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Who gets credit for getting you into motorcycles?

A good friend of mine had an older Shadow 600 and he just won some Cobra pipes on it off Ebay. I was always into cars and solo II autocross so he asked me to help with the install.

Once we got finished and fired it up I loved that opened up exhaust note from the little Vtwin. I immediately bought a Suzuki VX800 that had been sitting in the owner's garage for years. While I worked on rebuilding the carbs and other issues I took the MSF and got to riding. Wish I started sooner bu wow, I can't beleive I've been riding 10 years.
 
Ex-wife! Married young, had kids, was responsible and stuck with it. When the marriage ended, kids grown and working, woman I was dating, now wife, heard me say I'd always wanted to ride but first wife was against it because financial responsibilities precluded irresponsible behavior. She said, "if you want to ride, go buy a bike, take the MC course, and ride.

I did. She's the good wife. Now with 3rd bike, FLTRU, and say it's never too late.
 
Tough way to get to ride but I am on the bike more than I was on her. (Hey, not meant as an angry chip shot but as a happy realization than I am enjoying something I always wanted to do and giving credit to the person who supported me.)
 
Funny a couple of you said turned to riding by divorce. I was riding, had two motorcycles, met a hot leg, and married (stupid me :doh:). Sold one for ring other for family car. She was all for riding but she spent the money I had and bankrupted me. After she left me with 3 girls to raise I regained my smarts and divorced her.

I finally found a sucker to marry me and my daughters. After daughters raised my newer, great wife said go for it. So I got back into the motorcycle fun. Sorry I missed 26 years but maybe it makes me enjoy it more. :rider:

BTW my present wife does not like to ride but doesn't mind me taking off on an adventure. I wish she did ride as she is missing a lot.
 
Seems like most of you guys grew up with motorcycles just being part of the air you breathe, so I'll give my experience which was different...

I grew up not knowing ANYONE who rode a motorcycle. My dad was not into cars or bikes, was not mechanically inclined at all. None of my uncles were, either. I was aware of motorcycles only from seeing them ride around Arlington, where I grew up. To be honest, I considered motorcycles as white-trashy transportation for perpetuating a tough-guy image. Then when I became aware of sportbikes, I just thought they were for irresponsible adrenaline-junkie man-children with something to prove. My only hands-on experience with a motorcycle was when one of the maintenance men from our apartment complex got one in the mid-80's- I was probably 8 years old (in retrospect, I think it was a 70's Kawasaki two-stroke street bike). He insisted on giving me a ride, so I hopped on and he proceeded to scare the living **** out of me. I held on for dear life, and when he finally let me off I swore "never again"!

It wasn't until around '99-2000 when I was heavily into traditional styled hot rods and customs, that I started seeing pictures of 60's styled custom bobbers (especially Triumphs) that I thought were cool. That was the gateway into being able to appreciate the motorcycle aesthetic. Of course, I rode my BMX bike everywhere as a kid so it was just a matter of mentally meshing my love of riding a bicycle with the love of a motorcycle's lines. Unfortunately, the reality-TV boom with all that chopper-buildoff crap kinda spoiled me on it again before I fully embraced it (I was into air-cooled VW's by then) but I came around.

Now, I will never be without a bike and if I can help it- I don't plan on owning another car either! :rider:
 
A friend of my Dad who was nicknamed Gorilla.
 
A boss that actually gave me my first bike. I was 39 at the time. Haven't looked back since.
 
Don't think I can really credit no one person overall. I guess it was kind of a gradual calling of such because at first I was like meh...then as time went by, everytime a bike would ride by I was always pausing to check it out. Then the bug kicked in and I did the safety course, got the gear, then got the bike....and the rest is history.
 
I find it so interesting knowing how all of you got your leg thrown over that first bike seat. Alot of you have not chimed in yet and there are a bunch of newbees. I will be restoring one of my dads bikes this coming winter(fingers crossed). Anybody else have a story of the person that got you in the saddle first? Drew
 
My parents. I have pictures of my dad riding an off-road moto in Del Rio, TX with my brother on the gas-tank holding onto the handlebars. My mom is close behind with me doing the same thing on her bike.

He used to race circletrack until an "incident" where a moto had to ride over his chest cross-ways - when he decided to stop doing that!

Flash forward to teenage years - Northern Virginia. He bought me and himself Matching XT250/125's. From there - it took off. I rode moto (on and off road) long before I got a drivers license. Worked at the same Yammy shop for a summer - and rode everything I could get my young hands on.

Now - I have that "offroad itch" again - and I'm trying to convince him to buy one with me (and my son and daughter) so we can go on trips together. I think he is about 80% the way there. All I need to do is find somebody selling dual 250s, and dual 80cc's and a trailer for a good deal and we would be set:trust:
 
Evel Knievel

When I was about 5yrs old, I saw him jump over a line of cars while wearing a red/white/blue costume and I was hooked. I promptly went outside to find a cinderblock and a 2x12 so I could jump over my toy cars with my bicycle. Begged my parents for a mini-bike and ended up with a Cushman scooter for Christmas when I was 6. Progressed from there.

But it started with Evel...
 
It was 197x....my uncle Curt had a CB750 with a big windjammer fairing on it. Gave me a ride. Hooked. Took me a long time to have my own from there...about 10 years, when I turned 18. But I've been riding since. I don't know how long Curt had that bike, not terribly long I don't think...and hasn't had one since as far as I know. Odd how things go.
 
My parents. I have pictures of my dad riding an off-road moto in Del Rio, TX with my brother on the gas-tank holding onto the handlebars. My mom is close behind with me doing the same thing on her bike.

He used to race circletrack until an "incident" where a moto had to ride over his chest cross-ways - when he decided to stop doing that!

Flash forward to teenage years - Northern Virginia. He bought me and himself Matching XT250/125's. From there - it took off. I rode moto (on and off road) long before I got a drivers license. Worked at the same Yammy shop for a summer - and rode everything I could get my young hands on.

Now - I have that "offroad itch" again - and I'm trying to convince him to buy one with me (and my son and daughter) so we can go on trips together. I think he is about 80% the way there. All I need to do is find somebody selling dual 250s, and dual 80cc's and a trailer for a good deal and we would be set:trust:

You should try to post them pictures. I bet everyone would get a kick out of them. Drew
 
Fred Flintstone!

Ok I'm gonna ask,How? Drew
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my dad as well. got my first suzuki 50 at age 6 for Christmas. went through about a hundred bikes since then. he used to be one of them there "pirate bikers" :rofl: he used to take my mom and i on runs and i would ride on the gas tank or with one of his friends if their "ole lady" wasn't there. good times....
 
My dad. I started riding my brother's hand me down Montgomery Ward mini bike when I was 8, you know the one, steel frame no suspension and the brake was a paddle against the back tire...LOL. My dad had been riding for years before I was even thought of, so the sickness was just passed down, and I loved it...,
 
I blame Birney Jarvis, the real Bronson.

The "Then Came Bronson" series just put fuel on my fire. I had a '68 BSA 650 Lightning when it was on. I'd like to hear more about youi and Birney Jarvis. I read up on him a little. Extremely interesting fellow. Didn't he pass not long ago? There is a real cult following. I want to go to the next get together. The last one was in Colorado I believe. Are you keeping in the loop?
 
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