First bike ever ridden

[Skywagon]

This video is the kind of bike that was the very first bike I ever rode.  One of the neighbors who was probably 20 years old let/taught me to ride it.  I was probably about 8 at the time.  It wasn't nearly that nice.  What was your first?

 

 

[Hosstage]

Neighbor's mini bike was the first when I was about 8. Crashed it. Short ride

Another neighbor got his kid an old Honda Dream, had no idea what it was at the time. Took turns riding it up and down the alley for a summer when I was about 11 or 12. Didn't crash it.

[MikeB60]

Buddy taught me to ride on his Yamaha 80 like the one in the first photo when I was 10 or 11.  The first bike that I owned was a DT175 that I bought from a buddy who won it in a radio call in show. I can still smell the 2 stroke exhaust!

 

 

[greiffster]

Kawasaki EX500.  Late 80's

[wbw6cos]

Not counting my mom's 1978 Honda CM185T Twinstar and step father's late 70's Honda CB 450, powered by my brothers pushing me around the yard, I first rode a '78 Suzuki GS 550.  I bought it used when in the Navy and traded it a few months later for a new Suzuki GR650X Tempter. 

 

[Hank in WV]

My first ride was on a friends 250 Ducati Monza. I think it was a '62. My first bike was a '56 Triumph Thunderbird. Learned a lot about mechanics with that one.

[syntorz]

 

Mid 70s H-D factory race motocrosser in the mid-80s. Not this one but one of its brethren. GFs (now wife's) Dad was close to the factory team and somehow came away with 1.5 of these when the the team was killed by corporate. It was a short ride but sparked an interest, fer sure.

 

 

[Rougarou]

[Rinkydink]

My brother’s Honda CB160. 
 

 

 

 

[TEWKS]

A hand me down from my destructive older brother. Had clutch issues that nobody could seem to sort out. A lot of early on disappointment.

 

 

This was my first new bike. Now up until I searched the net for pics, I thought my bike was a 1978, this one is a 77. Maybe they did orange two years in a row. 

 

[BrianT]

My fathers bike that I learned to ride on.

 

 

 

The first bike I owned and had many firsts with.

 

 

[Oldrider51]

1969 Honda CL350, 1969 honda CL350 - - Image Search Results (yahoo.com); about 1971 or 72

 

[Paul De]

Being a kid from Milwaukee the first motorcycle I road was appropriately enough a Harley Davidson. Dad bought it used from the local Yamaha dealer as a family starter motorcycle, which meant I spent more time wrestling my two brothers for time on it.  I no longer have any pictures of that bike, but this is as close to the actual bike right down to the bad ass OEM purple paint scheme. Gotta love HD for their paint schemes.

 

Pretty sure it was actually 165 cc 3 speed Aermacchi hard tail that got a Hawgly styling treatment.  It really looked like a miniature one cylinder Knucklehead.  Cool stuff for a 12 year old to throw a leg over.

[Old School]

1965 Honda S90 in 1965 shortly after getting my license. put quite a few miles on it before upgrading to a Honda 305 Super Hawk.

 

(Mine was white}

 

[roadscholar]

62 Vespa 175 when I was 14, think my parents wanted me out of the house. It worked, I came home for dinner.

 

[Paul De]

6 minutes ago, roadscholar said:

62 Vespa 175 when I was 14, think my parents wanted me out of the house. It worked : )

Really nice.  A neighbor friend where I grew up had a similar vintage 175 Lambretta scooter that  I wanted to buy from him.  He didn’t ride it at all but wouldn’t sell it to me but let me ride it a few times.  It would count as the first scooter I ever rode. It had a manual clutch lever and twist grip shifter.  It  was pretty cool to ride and surprisingly fast.

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, Paul De said:

Really nice.  A neighbor friend where I grew up had a similar vintage 175 Lambretta scooter that  I wanted to buy from him.  He didn’t ride it at all but wouldn’t sell it to me but let me ride it a few times.  It would count as the first scooter I ever rode. It had a manual clutch lever and twist grip shifter.  It  was pretty cool to ride and surprisingly fast.

 

The Vespa was pretty fast too, I think 65, maybe 70 downhill. We had a little scooter gang, Lambretta, a Cushman, Honda 50, and one kid had a Mustang, ln Florida with a restricted permit (14-16) you were only allowed 5bhp, it had about 17 but no one checked or probably cared unless it was obvious. Told this one before but I wore out the rear tire in about 6 months and there were no bike shops in the small central Fla town we lived in especially to find a Pirelli that size. It had the clutch/shift also and would spin the rear thru 1st and part of 2nd, I figured what the heck, went to the hardware store and they installed a wheelbarrow tire for me. It was a little dicey in the curves but you learned to deal with it, lasted a long time. Then I traded it to a riding buddy for his CL110 Honda 50, lost a few ponies but it was a motorcycle. 

[Bernie]

Solex, a French built contraption. With a 50cc two stroke motor suspended over the front wheel from the steering head of a beefed up bicycle frame. 50 years ago or so. 

[Red]

50 cc Bridgestone.  Belonged to a friend.  Popped a wheelie (hard to imagine) and crashed.  He was still a friend afterwards! 

[RandyShields]

Surprised I haven't yet seen a photo of one of these in this great thread.  Honda mini trail 50 circa 1970. A blast to ride around a friend's farm.  

 

[Rougarou]

12 hours ago, TEWKS said:

A hand me down from my destructive older brother. Had clutch issues that nobody could seem to sort out. A lot of early on disappointment.

 

 

This was my first new bike. Now up until I searched the net for pics, I thought my bike was a 1978, this one is a 77. Maybe they did orange two years in a row. 

 

 

Two of my brothers had TS185s,.....they ended up stripping the street stuff off to make them full time dirt,....then they ended up geting rm125s-rm250s.  

 

I quickly outgrew the RM50, so, dad bought a RM85 in 1980ish,.....fast forward and the next bike I got was a 1995 Nighthawk 750

 

Sold the Nighthawk in '97 and didn't get another bike until 2010,.....the 2006 RT that I still ride.  The rest are in the signature below.

[taylor1]

I truly don’t remember the first bike I learned to ride on. Seems like all the kids had some kind of 2 wheels with a motor on it. I had a couple mini bikes then got this.It was a little big for me, but I managed. Didn’t last long. Then it was a slew of dirt bikes until I hit 17 and got a Triumph 500   Sears Allstate

[92Merc]

For me, a Yamaha 250 Exciter:

[JSCOTT]

15 hours ago, MikeB60 said:

Buddy taught me to ride on his Yamaha 80 like the one in the first photo when I was 10 or 11.  The first bike that I owned was a DT175 that I bought from a buddy who won it in a radio call in show. I can still smell the 2 stroke exhaust!

 

 

 

We still have our DT175 (exact bike as yours).  It was and still is a PIA to start :)

[Wooster]

First bike riden ? 
My older brother’s 50 cc two stroke mini bike. Hit the backyard fence. 
First bike owned ?

Excellent 1969 250cc Bultaco Metrella. 
wooster

[duckhawk64]

I rode a friend's 78 Suzuki RM125, like the one in the background. It's a mirical I survived the experience. 

[Skywagon]

Sears Allstate… that looks like their 250. Did you ever notice the Sears moped, 60cc, 106 Gillera, and the 250 all had the same muffler that screwed onto a plate in the exhaust pipe?

 

I had a Sear moped~1961 model and later the (forgot name) 60cc with 3 speed transmission ~ 1965

[9Mary7]

15 hours ago, RandyShields said:

Surprised I haven't yet seen a photo of one of these in this great thread.  Honda mini trail 50 circa 1970. A blast to ride around a friend's farm.  

 

Mine was a '69 in blue metallic.... Dad was gone all day shopping for it. My brother and I didn't know what was up, just that something was UP!

[MichiganBob]

My buddy taught me to ride on his 1947 Knucklehead with tank shift, suicide clutch and fishtail pipes.

 

My first bike was a 68 BSA 441 Victor. My ankle on the kickstarter side still hurts.

 

Fond memories. Thanks for the poke Skywagon.

[roadscholar]

For Michigan Bob, an iconic motorcycle. I always wanted an SR500, also beautiful in it's simplicity, the Yamaha version but it was kick start only too. I didn't want it that bad!

 

[Rougarou]

So, the town I grew up in, population about 12k, I lived dead center, block from the city hall, sheriff's office one way and police dept/fire dept a block the other way.  The town was built with gravel ally ways in the center of the city blocks.  At 10, home alone, you know, back then different generation latchkey kids, I'd hop on that little RM 50 and ride up and down the ally 'cause weren't allowed on the street.  About a mile from my house, a new sub division was being constructed, but still had plenty of open fields.  Once I'd exit an ally, hop off the bike and push it on the concrete to the next ally until I finally made it to the fields.  There were a few kids that had bikes, a couple of go carts too.  We'd ride all day and not one, not a single sight of anyone above the ages of 13ish.  All these kids riding motorized bikes at "high speeds" with no helmets, pads, boots, nuthan!  And we ain't died during those wonderful days.  There were a couple of spots where we could get some air and the challenge was who would hit the jump the fastest,....I pegged the RM50 for my jumps.  Those were the days. 

 

The only significant bike I remember being there that I really wanted to ride, 'cause it was cool looking, was the Z50 a guy had.  He wouldn't let me on it, even though I offered my RM50 to ride,.....I think he didn't know how to work a clutch

[MichiganBob]

I'm down to two bikes Road Scholar. My 2018 RT and ..... my 1981 SR500. I would consider selling it to someone who would appreciate it. Even has an anti-kickback pawl. 

 

Yes yes yes, that was my Victor. I was living in Topeka and my girlfriend threw me under the bus so I had to ride to burn off my despair. I headed to Emporia. About halfway there, my headlight assembly had vibrated out and hung down on its wires and all but one expensive Whitworth sprocket bolt had vibrated out. Great memories.

[MichiganBob]

Enjoyable read Rougarou. Thanks. 

[NormR]

My z50 that I started riding at 9yrs old. My daughters first ride at 1yrs old :) She loved it! 

[MikeB60]

8 hours ago, roadscholar said:

For Michigan Bob, an iconic motorcycle. I always wanted an SR500, also beautiful in it's simplicity, the Yamaha version but it was kick start only too. I didn't want it that bad!

 

Beautiful bike! When I was growing up we had a neighbor who raced boats which were really cool for a young boy but he also had a BSA. I was enthralled with the bike, I remember it being obnoxiously loud and whenever I heard it crank up I immediately ran to the front yard to watch him ride by.  He also had a awesome gun collection and taught me how to handle a gun and shoot. Still love motorcycles and guns guess Mr Traynor had an lasting impact. 

[RandyShields]

6 hours ago, NormR said:

My z50 that I started riding at 9yrs old. My daughters first ride at 1yrs old :) She loved it! 

Love the ATTGATT.

[dduelin]

On 1/25/2024 at 6:33 AM, RandyShields said:

Surprised I haven't yet seen a photo of one of these in this great thread.  Honda mini trail 50 circa 1970. A blast to ride around a friend's farm.  

 

Christmas 1970 I got a silver over candy red Z50 Mini Trail like this one from my parents. I rode a friend's lawn mower engine mini bike a few times up and down a dirt road but the Mini Trail was my first motor bike followed by a CT70 Mini Trail 70. I wanted a "real" motorcycle like a street legal Honda Scrambler 70 or Super Sport 100 but my parents drew the line - mini bike only. I grew up in a town of some size and got a paper route soon after getting the CT70. I would leave the house at 5 AM and ride about 8 miles to the newspaper drop (stopping for a fresh doughnut at the Tasty O where I learned cops didn't mind an enterprising young man riding a bike without a tag at 5 AM), then ride 3 miles to the route, then about 8 back home. Between 5 and 6 AM the 45 mph non street legal CT70 was perfectly fine but at the end of the first month I rode the 8 miles to collect subscriptions in broad daylight. I was king of the road but my parents must have been terrified because a few weeks later my dad took me to the Honda shop where a Scrambler CT175 had my name on in. $41 a month.

[NormR]

4 hours ago, RandyShields said:

Love the ATTGATT.

About that, I pushed her stroller faster down the road then I went down the driveway lol

[Michiganr80rt]

I grew up on a farm, and rode three wheelers and tractors as a teen. My first motorcycle was a 1972 Honda CL175  

[RTinNC]

First bike I rode was probably a Honda Trail 90 when I was about 12 or 13 years old.  We were at a relatives house in south Jersey for my cousin’s wedding.  They had a Trail 90 and said I could try it.  Ha!  Think I put 50 miles on it riding it for hours around their yard. 

 

First bike I owned was a 1982 Suzuki GS650g. 

 

Found the same bike in 2021 at the AMA Museum!

[Roadflyer]

I rode the hell outta one of these, took me everywhere.

I used to run the tank down deep into the reserve, tell the gas station attendant to fill er up, handed him a buck and told him to keep the change!!

That would keep me going for the week.

Mine was a beautiful candy Red, not orange looking like this one.

 

 

 

 

[SDCRJohn]

1969 Yamaha CS3C Scrambler. Two stroke, ring-ding-ding with 200cc. Probably all of 22 horsepower, I’m guessing. Fun machine to learn on, IIRC, paid about $250. for it, with newspaper boy money..

[RTinNC]

[Bluenoser]

1 hour ago, Roadflyer said:

I rode the hell outta one of these, took me everywhere.

I used to run the tank down deep into the reserve, tell the gas station attendant to fill er up, handed him a buck and told him to keep the change!!

That would keep me going for the week.

Mine was a beautiful candy Red, not orange looking like this one.

 

 

 

 

I had the red one as well. Myself and my cousin both had one, talk about fun. Top speed of 71mph! Not bad for a 90cc production model. I rode it to the motor vehicle bureau to take the license test, the examiner didn't ask how I got there.

[DavidR8]

The first bike I rode was a friends Honda XR75.

[Paul De]

On 1/25/2024 at 6:34 PM, Wooster said:

Excellent 1969 250cc Bultaco Metrella. 

That poked me to quote reply. While my first ride was a 165cc HD/Aermachhi, it was soon replaced by a second family machine.  A Bultaco 175 Mercurio which was a way more capable machine.  

That started my long love of the thumbs up logo bikes which led to my purchase of a mine only machine, a 250 Alpina which I traded for my last Bultaco, a 326 Sherpa T.   Sold the T for tuition money… I still miss that trials bike.

 

A funny anecdote about the Mercurio was I had pulled a fairly whimpy wheelie with it and it went dead as a door nail.  Told Dad it was dead leaving out the wheelie part.  We spent the afternoon investigating what was wrong determining it had to be the coil as there was no spark  The next day my dad went to get a new coil.  The owner of the Bultaco dealer said to try this part first and handed him a tail light bulb…Huh, what   I put the bulb in and the bike fired right up Turns out the Senior Bulto wanted to save a few cents on a commuter model and the electrical system was a single circuit through the head lamp, tail light and finally the spark plug coil  From then on a fresh headlight  and taillight bulb was kept on the bike just in case

[Motorhead1977]

First bike ridden: 1967 Honda 90

 

First bike owned: 1973 Honda CB350 F (4 cyl) I rode that 350 F everywhere 12 months a year when I was living in Cincinnati.

[walton66]

Sort of like you, my first was a CL90 like this.  I was 14 and somehow my dad acquired it new but my mom persueded him not to be caught on it so it became mine.  A few years, and a few citations, later it was a hulk and I moved on to a CL125.

 

 

[Stiggy]

Does a Puch Moped (sold by Sears back in the day,) count as my first motorcycle?

 

My parents swore that I'd never have anything powered on 2 wheels (already had a go kart,) but she brought this thing home from her hairdresser's home one Saturday morning. (I think I was like 12 y.o. at the time.) :)

 

 

[taylor1]

My 250 Sears Allstate was made by Puch