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Who gets credit for getting you into motorcycles?

Who gets the credit? That's easy. The King of Cool......Steve McQueen
 
Loved his riding scenes in the Great Escape. That peaked my interest I guess, and the rest is history.

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Who got me into bikes? Well, that would be my first EX-wife. After she left I had nothing and bought a 1981 Honda CB900 SS.
467431-870-0.jpg


That bike got me through a ruff patch in life until the day I was hit on it. In some ways I think I was asking for it. I think the throttle only had two positions, wide open or closed:trust:. I think I would like the guys at SteelBent Customs to make me a bike out of one. Kind of like this one.
SBC02.JPG
 
Who got me into bikes? Well, that would be my first EX-wife. After she left I had nothing and bought a 1981 Honda CB900 SS.
467431-870-0.jpg


That bike got me through a ruff patch in life until the day I was hit on it. In some ways I think I was asking for it. I think the throttle only had two positions, wide open or closed:trust:. I think I would like the guys at SteelBent Customs to make me a bike out of one. Kind of like this one.
SBC02.JPG

Looked at one of those Hondas locally last year,but it was too ruff for the price. More work than this guy had time for.
 
who got me into motorcycles? i guess i get the blame.

i hung around my dad and brother while they rode. my dad always had a street bike or two. when we were little, my bro usually had a dirt bike. they tolerated me watching, but it was a rare day if i got to ride on the back.

years later, as an Air Force wife living overseas, motorcycles were a good way to get around the little island of Okinawa. Hence, my first bike, a 90cc Yamaha enduro.
after about a year, i bumped up to a 250.

returning to the states (early '90's), i put bikes out of my mind, succumbing to the belief that the roads/traffic here were just too dangerous.

Life moved on, I found myself living in Georgia with a great little 45 minute commute thru the countryside on two lane, black top roads. And gas prices were going up and up....the gears in my head got to cranking and soon enough I had taken the MSF course and bought an old beater to cruise those 2 lane roads on.

November 2011 I bought my Wee. A 2009 model, she had 14k easy cruising, highway only miles on her.

This different style bike really opened my eyes to the possibilities of riding. The bike was comfortable, what a new concept to me! Stable and easy to control...not to mention easy power no matter where you were, gear-wise.

Two years later, she is pushing 40k and has never run better, THANKS to very generous friends found here through TWT.

I suppose Dad gets the credit after all. If he didn't ride, I don't think I would have wanted to.
And though he didn't encourage me back then, I know he would be proud to see me ride today.

And, boy, would he get a kick out of today's motorcycles.

Thanks for reading!
 
who got me into motorcycles? i guess i get the blame.

i hung around my dad and brother while they rode. my dad always had a street bike or two. when we were little, my bro usually had a dirt bike. they tolerated me watching, but it was a rare day if i got to ride on the back.

years later, as an Air Force wife living overseas, motorcycles were a good way to get around the little island of Okinawa. Hence, my first bike, a 90cc Yamaha enduro.
after about a year, i bumped up to a 250.

returning to the states (early '90's), i put bikes out of my mind, succumbing to the belief that the roads/traffic here were just too dangerous.

Life moved on, I found myself living in Georgia with a great little 45 minute commute thru the countryside on two lane, black top roads. And gas prices were going up and up....the gears in my head got to cranking and soon enough I had taken the MSF course and bought an old beater to cruise those 2 lane roads on.

November 2011 I bought my Wee. A 2009 model, she had 14k easy cruising, highway only miles on her.

This different style bike really opened my eyes to the possibilities of riding. The bike was comfortable, what a new concept to me! Stable and easy to control...not to mention easy power no matter where you were, gear-wise.

Two years later, she is pushing 40k and has never run better, THANKS to very generous friends found here through TWT.

I suppose Dad gets the credit after all. If he didn't ride, I don't think I would have wanted to.
And though he didn't encourage me back then, I know he would be proud to see me ride today.

And, boy, would he get a kick out of today's motorcycles.

Thanks for reading!


This is the wonderful stories that help to interest more former riders to get back in the saddle. It seems that there are a bunch of us that rode a lot got away from it to raise kids then dove back into it head first. Once motorcycles get in your blood it is hard to eradicate. KP
 
In 1978 after getting married I saw a new add for a 400 or 450cc that Kawasaki had just come out with and it had side cases and I wanted it. Could not justify spending $1700 or so as I recall. Then into my 30s. Told the wife that I was going to get a bike. She said "Okay". Ran across an older gentle man who said, "You shouldn't get a bike until you are at least 40 when you get all the wildness out of your system". Urge went away.
Then more than 4 1/2 years ago the program 'A Twist Of The Throttle' finally ignited the pilot light. Again I told my wife I was getting a bike. " Okay" she says. " but you are going to take the rider safety course and wear a helmet." "No problem, dear," I replied.
I wanted to buy a vintage Triumph Bonnieville 750. Needed that vintage Brit as my first bike! Then three years ago last November found my GS on Ebay in N.J., got it shipped in December, and have wished I had started long ago. I really enjoy being part of this great fraternity of motorcycle riders and a member of this forum! :rider:
 
In 1978 after getting married I saw a new add for a 400 or 450cc that Kawasaki had just come out with and it had side cases and I wanted it. Could not justify spending $1700 or so as I recall. Then into my 30s. Told the wife that I was going to get a bike. She said "Okay". Ran across an older gentle man who said, "You shouldn't get a bike until you are at least 40 when you get all the wildness out of your system". Urge went away.
Then more than 4 1/2 years ago the program 'A Twist Of The Throttle' finally ignited the pilot light. Again I told my wife I was getting a bike. " Okay" she says. " but you are going to take the rider safety course and wear a helmet." "No problem, dear," I replied.
I wanted to buy a vintage Triumph Bonnieville 750. Needed that vintage Brit as my first bike! Then three years ago last November found my GS on Ebay in N.J., got it shipped in December, and have wished I had started long ago. I really enjoy being part of this great fraternity of motorcycle riders and a member of this forum! :rider:

Now you must post a picture of said BMW.:trust:
 
No idea who it was originally back in the late 60s.
Thinking about going and digging out the 1959 HD 110cc hard tail that I had back then and restoring it. The model name started with a 'C' is all I remember.

What got me started back, was passing a motorcylcle on my way to Henderson.
For some reason I just kept watching him in review mirror. When he turned into a store, don't know what got into me, but turned around just to have a chat.

Conversation then went on to off road riding and he mentioned TAT.
He told me what it was about and that is what did it.

Right when I got back home, looked it up on the internet.
Now I have a 2002 DR650SE that I am getting ready to run the full length of the TAT.

I have some other rides (rock hounding) planned also in Tx that may be of interest to y'all,
plus thinking about posting a treasure hunt that I am sure you will enjoy.
Might make it series type of deal.

Soon as I feel like I have some sort of trust in it mechanically to run with y'all local, I will.
 
When I was a wee lad, my mom's baby brother Curt, who's only about 12 years older than me, had a Honda CB750 with a windjammer fairing. He took me for a ride. I was perhaps 7 or 8. This was the 70s... our sculls were harder then so helmets weren't necessary. LOL But I was hooked. I had all kinds of toy motorcycles. Another uncle had a mini bike that I got to ride. That ride lasted about 20 seconds. He told me what the throttle was but nothing else. I ride straight into a picnic table. LOL More years and toys later. I turned 18 and told my mom I wanted a motorcycle. She was nervous but OK with it. That was a long time ago. Still makes her nervous to know I ride almost every day, probably worse because I live in a big city. But I'd credit my Uncle Curt more than anyone.
 
A friend I met when he and my wife worked together at a parts house here in Graham got us started riding dirt bikes. At the time he had a SL350, and a Kawasaki Centurion and his wife rode a Hodaka Super Rat. He sold me the Kawasaki Centurion and we started riding mostly at Flying P Motorcycle Ranch in Weatherford. My wife would ride with Tee on the 350, 2 up, his wife on the Rat and I would struggle to keep up and upright on the Centurion. Tee was a flat tracker and pretty much an all around outlaw, and he could skin a scooter with the best. Well the Centurion was replaced by two 1972 SL 125's and the 4 of us continued to ride until my first born came when my wife retired to raise 2 boys until they were old enough to stay with Grandma when we could ride. We continued riding and went thru several bikes, DT250, SP370, CX500 XL185 and the boys would go with me when they were big enough to hold on. When the boys were big enough for their own bikes we got them an XR80 and a Z50 and bought the wife an XR200 and I was on an XR500R. We then were hanging out at Red River every chance we got. Later added a KDX80 for the youngest, XR200 for the oldest XR250 for the wife and a KDX200 for me. The riding tapered off as the boys were in high school and then off on their own. I finally sold all the bikes in 2000 and was out of the motorcycle business. The youngest never lost his lust and would always have a new to him bike for me to ride around the block when I would see him. Then my oldest decided he wanted back in and now I could ride around the block when I saw him.

Part 2: March 2012, my youngest called and told me he had seen a really clean TTR250 and was I interested. Well of course I was. I added a DR650 January 2013, and a KDX200 November 2014. My wife doesn't ride anymore but I hook up with my boys ride every chance we get. My grandson rides also and he and I like to 2 up on the 650.

So I have 2 people I credit with getting me started.

My youngest son Justin got me started back riding after a 12 year hiatus.

Tee got me started riding back in 1971. Tee may have coined the term "Hold my beer and watch this". Tee passed away this past September.
 
My dad always rode. He would buy two of every bike, every time. I started out sitting on the gas tank. Eventually, I rode pillion. He absolutely FORBID me to ride, assuring me I would get killed. My older brothers apparently were more disposable. When I was 10, I went on a summer trip with friends who had a Honda minibike of some sort. With my best friend on the back, I rode about 15 yards - right into the side of a cabin.

Some 37 years later, my dad was long passed away and I realized I didn't have to listen to him anymore. I got a Kymco Super 8 150 (loved it), then an S40 (hated it), then Q and life has been generally quite wonderful since then.
 
This (attached) was the reason. Although this guy left my mom, brother and I, this photo burned in a house fire, has been with me for a very long time. I think the urge to ride may be a bit "genetic". As more photos surfaced of him doing things I started on my own in college (hunting, fishing, road trips), I realized I was destined to have his adventurous spirit, but luckily my mothers sense of parenting... Number two was Steve M. in The Great Escape.

For anyone curious about the bike... after much research best guess is a 1964 BSA Hornet, aftermarket head and tail lights as they were not imported with lights.
 

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Definitely my dad.

My dad had dirt bikes growing up, and when I was 6, bought me a brand new PW50 and he bought a TTR225 to follow me around on. He was always tinkering with my bike trying to make it a little faster, lol.
 
My older brother is the guilty individual.
I raced BMX in the mid '80s in the N. Houston area and asked my folks for a dirt bike many times and always received the same answer, no. Until my brother got a job at a motorcycle dealership (long gone by now) in a College Station, when a customer brought his 1979 Yamaha DT100 in for repair and never returned to pick it up. My parents finally caved and bought it for me.
I began to mow lawns to feed my new found addiction. After a few months I saved enough to buy a 1980 Yamaha YZ80. I mowed more lawns, sold the bike, combined the money and bought a 1985 YZ80, then a 1984 CR125 and on to a 1983 XR200 then followed by a 1986 YZ125. I rode the YZ for a until I bought my first street bike, a 1989 Suzuki Katana 750. I kept the Katana for quite a few months before going back to the dirt on a 1992 RM250. Anyway, following bikes include a 1993 CR125, a Kawasaki Vulcan 800, 1996 HD Sportster 1200 Custom, 1997 YZF600R, a 2003 Aprilia SL1000R Falco and currently an '01 Kawasaki ZRX1200R. I plan on getting some dirt bikes for the family in the near future and ultimately a KTM RC8R on my bucket list.
 
Thought I would revive this older thread since we have so many new members that might want to tell their story.
 
Mr. Evel Kneivel


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My father was my inspiration for riding motorcycles, as he rode when I was young. Here is a pic from 1962 where he took me on his Montesa. I was 3.

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Edit: I believe this motorcycle is a 1960 Montesa Brio 125cc, customized a little.
 
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My fellow 12 year old friend with a Sears minibike and the Sears & Robuck catalog showing all the bikes they had available.
 
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