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Post by toshtego on Oct 9, 2019 9:38:57 GMT -5
My first time, I was 18, and an Ariel Red Hunter 350 single cylinder was the one. Rigid frame, telescope forks. Four speeds and used them all. Top speed was about 55 MPH. I kept mainly to back roads. Paid $125 for it. Being rigid frame meant low to ground with a low CG so I had no trouble keeping it up right.
What was your learning experience?
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Post by Ronv69 on Oct 9, 2019 11:29:44 GMT -5
1966 Cimatti GT 160. 2-stroke Italian that ran great but always had parts falling off. I had it over 72 once by the speedometer, and I was passing freeway traffic so I guess it was close. I really never rode it much because the footpegs, brake and shift pedal lever kept falling off. If I had known about Locktite it would have been ridden to death. I don't know if you could by Locktite in 66. My uncle got it from the importer who was a friend for free. I still have the service/owners manual that covers everything from starting to de-carbonizing the cylinder head.
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Spartacus
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First Name: Cliff
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Post by Spartacus on Oct 9, 2019 11:34:32 GMT -5
In 1972 Honda 90.
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driftingfate
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Post by driftingfate on Oct 9, 2019 11:58:21 GMT -5
First bike I twisted the throttle on was a ubiquitous Kawasaki 500 or 550, can’t remember the exact model but it was like many of the thousands running around which were built in the early 1980’s.
Really learned on a friend’s Kawasaki 250 Eliminator. Man, that was a great little bike. Lots of get up and go for it’s size, nimble, lightweight... I scrapped the pegs going through the S-turn during my motorcycle endorsement test. Royally upset the tester for some reason, but they couldn’t deny I aced the test!
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SCF Dan
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Post by SCF Dan on Oct 9, 2019 12:07:01 GMT -5
1988 Kawasaki VN750.
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Post by Legend Lover on Oct 9, 2019 12:09:40 GMT -5
Still yet to learn.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2019 12:11:10 GMT -5
A Bulltaco Alpina that I bought in a pile of parts and my father helped me put it back together. This was back in mid 70s not a easy task getting the parts back then except for the tires. Good ol JC Whitney always had motorcycle tires in the paper catalog. I had a lot of fun on that bike as a young teen
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Post by monbla256 on Oct 9, 2019 12:17:43 GMT -5
Got my first scooter in '66 and it was a '64 Triumph Tiger Cub. Was a single 500cc and I loved it ! Like all Brit bikes of that time the electrics were dicey as they used Lucas "prince of darkness" electrics ! 
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Post by mgtarheel on Oct 9, 2019 12:38:32 GMT -5
On a Honda 250
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Post by oldcajun123 on Oct 9, 2019 13:19:54 GMT -5
 650 BSA Lightning in the sixties.
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Post by adui on Oct 9, 2019 13:33:15 GMT -5
FIRST learned on a little Honda something or other that was a moped without pedals. My buddies dad set it up for off pavement riding and put a HUGE sprocket on the rear tire so it topped out at about 20mph.
First road bike was an 87 Honda Rebel CM450. Fairly gutless for a 450 but it made near 100 if you pushed it. (Yea, I was that guy...) Road that bike Till it was stolen while serving my second duty station in San Diego..
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Post by daveinlax on Oct 9, 2019 13:52:24 GMT -5
We had a Heath Kit mini bike at the lake. Moved on to old enduros and to bigger street bikes as I got older. I lived through my last ride over 30 years ago now.  |
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Post by oldcajun123 on Oct 9, 2019 18:44:09 GMT -5
When I was in school a Cushman Eagle was the thing we dreamed of, only well healed boys had them.
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Post by pepesdad1 on Oct 9, 2019 18:53:20 GMT -5
Oh, yeah...I remember those...if I remember right there was the Cushman scooter that had an enclosed engine.
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Post by toshtego on Oct 9, 2019 20:57:17 GMT -5
I had a girl friend back in the late 60s who rode a Honda Super 90. As a kid She would go all over Berkeley and Oakland on that thing. |
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Post by toshtego on Oct 9, 2019 21:01:06 GMT -5
A Bulltaco Alpina that I bought in a pile of parts and my father helped me put it back together. This was back in mid 70s not a easy task getting the parts back then except for the tires. Good ol JC Whitney always had motorcycle tires in the paper catalog. I had a lot of fun on that bike as a young teen Bultacos and Montessas were hard to beat back then. Light and very fast. I remember a guy in the early 1970s who made a road racer out of a Bultaco 250. Nothing could keep up with him on winding Mt. Tamalpais roads back then. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2019 21:04:51 GMT -5
I learned on this.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2019 21:57:22 GMT -5
I learned to ride on a Honda mini-bike when I was a kid.
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Post by unknownpipesmoker on Oct 9, 2019 22:51:00 GMT -5
1964 bsa c15
Fun as hell to ride... A glorified bicycle... Noisy and liked to quit a lot but I just couldn't have enough of the thing. took me everywhere for a short time. Thing liked to spring a few leaks.... ALL THe TIME. I guess old brit bikes all do
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Post by trailboss on Oct 9, 2019 23:04:28 GMT -5
My brother from another mother. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2019 6:30:54 GMT -5
Actually, it was a Honda XL250. But I would like a Flying Merkel. So I can retire early.
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Chuckus
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Post by Chuckus on Oct 10, 2019 6:38:10 GMT -5
My first was actually a Rupp, I was 6 but that was more of a mini bike than a motorcycle. Then a honda trail 90 I think.
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Post by toshtego on Oct 10, 2019 10:42:19 GMT -5
My first time, I was 18, and an Ariel Red Hunter 350 single cylinder was the one. Rigid frame, telescope forks. Four speeds and used them all. Top speed was about 55 MPH. I kept mainly to back roads. Paid $125 for it. Being rigid frame meant low to ground with a low CG so I had no trouble keeping it up right.
What was your learning experience?
Here is a stock photo of my Ariel 350. Mine was not so clean nor as complete but much the same. I sure loved the little thing.  |
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Post by Darin on Oct 10, 2019 14:17:43 GMT -5
My first ride was at the age of 6 on a 1970 Honda Mini 50cc ... loved that alley burner!  In Illinois, at the time, you had to be 18 to get a motorcycle license unless you completed the State Safety Course. My buddy Paul and I took the weekend courses at age 16 and had motorcycles that summer. |
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Post by isett2860 on Oct 11, 2019 16:48:05 GMT -5
First a mini bike in 1972.
Then in 1974, some off brand 80cc dual sport miniature motorcycle. It was street legal, but I was only 14.
Rode the heck out of it on some trails in a nearby wooded area. I h ad no mechanical skills and no 1 to show me. So drove it along the railroad track 10 miles to where I bought it to have them
Change the oil etc. they also reminded me that like a bicycle I had to put air in the tires😆
Rode it a fair amount the next summer, but now had a drivers permit. So was doing more of that.
Then that fall it wouldn’t start and then the Minnesota winter came.
The next year, girlfriend and driver’s license, bike was forgotten. Had a 1969 Buick Skylark now!
Don’t even know when it happened, but someone stole.the bike out of the garage that year.
Didn’t touch a bike again until 1996
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Post by simnettpratt on Oct 12, 2019 6:46:52 GMT -5
Had an orange Garelli 50cc moped in 8th grade, then when it was time to get my first car, realized I'd much rather have a new bike than the used Pinto my sister got, so it was a black Suzuki GS300L. It would go 60mph, but you felt like you were hurting it, so puttered around at 55. Had it for three years. Snow was scary. Good looking bike, though.  |
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Post by qmechanics on Oct 13, 2019 20:01:45 GMT -5
Honda 750...
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Post by Ronv69 on Oct 13, 2019 21:16:44 GMT -5
Wow, that's quite a starter bike! |
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Post by Cramptholomew on Oct 13, 2019 22:50:31 GMT -5
First bike I ever got on was a 883 Sportster with the cylinders bored to 1250. That was a surprise. I then bought a 1897 Rebel 250, and rode back roads for a few years. I was going to turn it into a bobber, but never got around to it. Kids came, and I stopped riding.
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driftingfate
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Post by driftingfate on Oct 14, 2019 8:18:18 GMT -5
First bike I ever got on was a 883 Sportster with the cylinders bored to 1250. That was a surprise. I then bought a 1897 Rebel 250, and rode back roads for a few years. I was going to turn it into a bobber, but never got around to it. Kids came, and I stopped riding.children are a blessing, but sorry you stopped riding. Just think how cool they would be if their dad showed up at school to pick them up while riding a Harley with a sidecar? You owe it to your kids to get back out in the wind! |
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650 BSA Lightning in the sixties.
