After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st one

I wrote this story a while back of how I got my first bike and I'd be interested in hearing how others got their start in motorcyles......

350 Honda story

Way back in the mid seventies.......

I had been working with a HVAC contractor who had to pick me up everyday before work since I did not own a car. He told me that he had a 350 Honda in his shed that he would not only sell to me for $350 but he would let me work it off over time. I had a driver’s license for a car but had never ridden anything bigger then a minibike a couple years earlier. I of course jumped at the offer and days later I had a blue 350 Honda parked in front of my home. It wouldn't start and I had no knowledge of engines other then how to replace a starter(miserable bastard) in a ford station wagon, a water pump in a '63 Lincoln Conty(SOB) and a couple of other names- ah, repairs that my dad had taught me. I always helped my dad when he worked on our cars because that's where he would use words that I had never heard him use before. I actually heard him use the F word once...while working on a car of course.

Anyway, I puttered and explored and finally, with a little help from friends, got that 350 running. I taught myself to ride since none of my friends knew either and ran that bike up and down a nearby dirt road 1000 times every chance I got. I practiced stopping and sliding and falling down caused by a combination of the first two. I lied and wrote a fake insurance policy number down at the DMV and got a tag for it. I had no insurance and no license but I was on the road! Wow, it was like a drug but better! I rode that bike everywhere....for 15,000 miles I rode that bike until I sold it and bought a '72 T500 titan Suzuki.

My riding continued and included all of the 2-strokes of the 70’s and learned the fine art of building very fast two stroke engines. I even did some club racing on a breathed on Water buffalo. I had made a personal promise to myself that when I had married, I would give up riding when my first child came along. Years later I would keep that promise after never having told it to my wife. She couldn’t believe that I was walking away from something that I loved so much. My reasoning was simple really, in a car you slide, on a bike you go down and I didn’t want my kid(s) growing up without a father.

Fast-forward 22 years. I got back into the sport with a new Vstrom1000 in ’07 and began to collect and restore older Japanese bikes. Eventually I amassed quite a nice collection but one bike was missing……

So last month I get an email from a friend saying he saw a 350 Honda for sale up in Pa. I chase it down and call the guy. We talked for maybe a half hour and he tells me that it's low mileage but he took the carbs off to rebuild them after they sat with gas one winter and never did it so that has to be done but otherwise the bike is in perfect shape mechanically. When I asked what was the least he could sell me the bike for...$350 was the reply....the same as I had paid for mine over 35 years ago!

I got it home and one of the carbs was bad....the needle jet is integral to the carb body and it's a pressed in deal. I searched the net and couldn't find one anywhere then I found a carb body with a jet that looked like I'd be able to get out at the VMD event in Ohio that I rode my Strom out to last week.

After getting home I sprayed some hoogie stuff on the jet and let it soak. It pressed out with little more then a slight tap on a wooden dowel. I finished rebuilding the carbs and replaced the main and secondary jets, jet needles, float valves etc. I installed the carbs and fixed the leaking fuel petcock and electric starter button then installed the battery.
When I hit the starter it spun for maybe 5 seconds, nothing.....I opened the points cover and sanded both sets of points (I haven't installed the tune-up kit that he gave me with the bike yet), pulled the plugs and hit them with a wire brush, gapped and reinstalled them. I sat on the bike and hit the starter again....it spun for about 6-7 seconds before coming to life and settling into a beautifully smooth idle...all with no choke!

Wow, it's hard to believe that this cheap little bike could bring back those memories so vividly. No, it's not really fast and the RD350 I have will run rings around it on a twisty road but I just have a special place in my heart for this bike. You guys that collect and restore old bike know exactly what I'm talking about...it's just a special feeling and it's cool as hell.

Jeff

 

A few years ago I was looking to get a bike and or a old vw beetle. I found the beetle and started restoring it but lost my garage space so it has ended up sitting torn apart mostly in primer for about 2 years (Friend is putting up a new garage in the spring and has a work area reserved for it yay!). My brother ended up getting a bike a few months after I got my bug and then last year my father got a bike (he used to ride years ago.) This summer I decided It was time to go look for a bike again and ended up making 6 or 7 longish trips to look at bikes that ended up not starting or shifting and the like with my dads truck. Dad was loosing interest so we ended up taking my car the next time and found my maxim it ran and looked great. The lady I got it from even let me use her tags to run it home so we didnt have to run back up with the truck.

 

Re: After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st

1974, I was 10. My 16 year old brother that had a job after school came home with a lime green Honda QA-50. He taught me how to ride. After deciding that the bike was too small for him and being tired of finding the tank empty, (because I had been riding it all day) he decided to get someting else and gave the QA-50 to me.

 

Re: After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st

The Start of something:
The wife and I were at a garage sale and I was talking to the seller and Harley owner commenting that I didn't know how to ride. He told me to look up the free/cheap MSF class held locally. Wife says sure why not. (Her mistake /evil laugh).

A week later I had found the class schedule online and decided to go to the Wednesday night class (Day 1 of 3) and try to get in as a walk-in. A family of 3 were no-shows and I got in!!! I passed with flying colors (even while doing a frontie on my first HARD EMERGENCY stop in front of the instructor) and loved it.

Passing the class = easy license upgrade (kinda like acing drivers ed and not having to take DMV tests).

The search begins
I started to look on Craig's List. I spotted my ride for $1350 about 30 min from my house. I briefly researched the model number and found XJbikes.com for the first time. About a week later the wife and I went and checked out a $500 honda semi locally. It was a piece of crap and the people selling it were... ODD. We walked away (quickly) after they finally got it jump started and siphon'ed some gas out of a neighbor's golf cart.

Shortly after that I found my XJ750 on CL again for $1150. After calling the seller he agreed to deliver it for $1200 total. If the PO was to be believed it was his GF's ride and he took good care of it for her. SURE... Truthfully the bike was in very good shape and past fall damage evidence was minimal. (Replaced signal, scrapped MC and a few other scuffs). So I ran to the bank and went out and bought my ride without checking with the boss lady. 8O

I brought it home and let it sit for about a month while waiting for my class certificate to arrive in the mail.

Let the riding and modifications begin
While looking on the web for pics of XJ750Js I found a picture of someone with a full Vetter touring package installed. I fell in love with the luggage.

Shortly after that I found someone selling an 82 XJ750J & 4 piece Vetter set with the fairing bracket. He was 3.5 hours away. I was going to drive there alone, but the wife suddenly asked me if I wanted to go to St. Louis for a weekend getaway. BINGO!!!! After waiting about 2 hours, I finally got my parts for $100 and we continued on our way to St. Louis.

On the way back, I hit up another CL seller to get a few fairing parts that were missing (ie headlight bucket). I walked away with a complete fairing, headlight, fairing lowers, 2 extra windshields box of misc parts and extra turn signal housings for $40. JACKPOT!

Shortly after getting home the saddle bags were installed and I started working on mounting the trunk. The fairing got mounted late fall.

Onward!
My touring set and a tank are out of paint. I just got my 7" LED DOT headlight TODAY. I only need to figure out rear tail lights and I'll be 100% LED and then some.

Obviously I've been here since the day I bought my Maxim
<---- Look at that crazy post count already!

 

You'll be a Wizard in about 3 weeks !!

I got a paper route in 1973, when I was 10. Is that even legal today ??
A pull start Tecumseh mini-bike was $40 used, and I paid for it myself.
A couple months later Dad comes home with a CB200, and I didn't even know he rode. He and my 2 uncles had some Indian from the 30's as a beater bike when they were in high school.

The mini needed lots of attention with the clutch and chain, then suddenly, a brand new Yamaha Chappy appeared. I sold the mini for $80.

 

When i was young i guess about 4 or so all the neighbors were older then me. and everyone had bikes. We must have had 50-60 miles of trails even a race track. The neighbor showed me how to ride 1st year mini trail 50 it was yellow and white. I pushed and pushed my father to get me off training wheels. After i did my neighbor let me drive it by myself. When i came home riding it thought my mother would freak out. My neighbor was at the age he moved up quickly bigger and bigger bikes and us younger people got the hand me downs from the older crowd. Was great times we never got in any trouble and all the kids older and younger got along great we were like a mini chain gang lol

 

I started looking at bikes last year but realized I couldn't afford the bikes I was looking at. So back in November, I decided to look around for older bikes and came across an XJ750 listed for $900 at a Harley dealer about 90 minutes south of where I lived. I had to drive down to Philly for a Fliers game, so I decided to swing by the dealer since it was on the way. I went in and started talking to a sales guy about the bike and told him that I was looking for an older bike to fix up during the winter, and something to learn to ride on. I ended up sitting down with the sales managed and he asked me what was stopping me from taking the bike home. After telling him that I just wasn't sure, he asked me if I would take it for $600, so I caved in and bought it. I had to wait about a week to get the bike home though, but when I finally did and finally got to take it for a short ride, I knew I made the right choice. Now I have about 2 more months to get it in great shape so I can start riding it regularly.

 

just keep at it you will get it done and ready for riding season

 

Yeah I know. The 'to do' just never seems to go down though. Everytime I cross one thing off the list, 2 things get added on, haha.

Once the weather warms up, I'll be able to put more time and effort into the bike though. It was 34Ëš in my garage today...with a space heater on max.

 

Torpedo heater is the only way to go . I bought mine a few years back from northern tool for $75 bucks My garage has been close to freezing takes 5 min to make it toasty. I don't blame you thats to cold especially if you have to sit on the ground

 

Re: After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st

i was 16 and still at school.wasnt really into bikes back then,but wanted a moped so i could get to school when i had exams without having to stay all day waiting for the bus for return trip.
so MUMMYYYYYY and DADDYYYYYY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.......eventually we found a cheap and rather beaten up heap that was my mz simson 50.it did 40mph on the flat and was the 2nd fastest bike in the school after a yammy fizzy.it wiped the floor with all the sparkly shiney new bikes,and had a sticky throttle that acted like cruise control.lots of no hands overtaking manouvres just to rub salt into their wounds.
it was the ped that got me into bikes.never been without 1 since.

 

Oh I could wax poetic about those long long long months ago I got my first bike. Seems like only 5 months... maybe 6 months, when I was just 38.
The wife had been riding for about a year (and I bemoaning she would be killed by a car). Finally, after her avoiding being smeared across the road, I decided to give it a whirl. She didn't expect me to ever get on a bike, then suddenly I wanted one. A riding buddy commented on this new/old bike that just came in and he could help me get a good deal. Sale Complete.

Hard to believe, but I've been lurking on Craigslist and eBay for a Yamaha XS/XJ1100 already.
If I can help it, Im not giving up the xj750.

 

Re: After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st

Hard to remember MY first bike as the family always had bikes. I guess I was about 8 and my brothers quit riding it and my dad wanted to sell it, I purchased it from him for $5. It was a 1965 Honda trail 55. I got the $5 from my local lawn mowing business. I didn't know it was a street bike, I treated it like a real off roader! Lots of fun and lots of 50cent gallons of ethyl run through that baby. For those of you who know what I mean.

 

I think for most people their first bike was the one with the most memories. Heck my first street bike was a Yamaha rs100 i wanted bigger because everyone else had 125s but in fl when you got your restricted license at 15 100cc was the biggest you were supposed to be able to ride. But the cops did not care. That sucker i kept put together and running with bailing wire and zip ties. I worked on it everyday heck when i got it it had 16k miles. It only knew 1 throttle position wide open. That's the bike i taught myself how to work on them. The lower crank bearing went. At 18k i had it board wich i thought 18k on a bike that abused with a std bore was great. Sold that sucker right before my 16th birthday for more then i paid for it with 23k. Ran across an rd125 found some chambers for it was just a toy. A friend of mine had an rd250 ran it into a ditch at 70 broke his arms and 1 leg. Messed up the bike pretty good bent pipes forks wheels. Bought it for next to nothing fixed it. I think i had about $225 in it with parts drove it for a year well worth it

 

My first bike is a fond memory. It was a Suzuki 50cc, green as the kawazaki brand color of the following decades.
I was 18, and found out that a boy on the neighborhood was selling it. I spoke to him on a monday, agreed on the price but explained that I would only have the money by the week's end. Poor him! I gave him a token downpayment to secure the deal, and went every late afternoon to his house. I would start the bike on his garage and keep pulling it backwards to a wall, then "riding" it on first gear up to the other wall! Every night until saturday!!!
Well, saturday came. I went there with the money and a friend to bring "my" bike home.
I rode that bike the whole afternoon, circling my block - a couple times clockwise, a couple counterclockwise. Do you guys believe that I put 75 km (40 miles) in it that day, that way?
I confess that I loved every bike that I had, but always chied away from repairing any of the four-stroke engines. Now I have an XJ400 Diversion and, thanks to this wonderful forum, I have overcome that old fear. I have learned what shims are, how to check which are installed, which ones I need - the help you guys give is priceless... and yet, this is the exact attitude I learned to expect from my biker friends back in Brazil. I love the spirit here. Make me feel ageless.

 

Re: After listing your past bikes, tell how you got your 1st

My first bike was like grinder - a case of wearing my parents down to lend me the money. I was working and had just left school. Because my birthday is in August I was one of the youngest in my year so everybody got one before me.



It was one of these - a 16'er special Suzuki AP50 - so called because of the UK licencing system. It counted as a "Moped" because it had pedals but was really a proper bike. They had 5bhp and could do 55mph flat out. A "Friend" crashed it for me then had to pay for it to be repaired.

At the time, there were several european manufacturers who made similar models with up to 7bhp - a Fantic Caballero was rumoured to do 60 but had rubbish electrics.

My second bike was sitting in the garage before I was 17 - a GT250 Suzuki which I bought while I was still 16. I took it for a test ride and realised I was doing 60 - I had never been that fast before!!!

 

markie i had a 69 ap50 green had the high pipe and enduro type tires. Was a fast 50cc for sure but no pedals. Would take anything under 100cc top end at the time. I was pretty young and it was my dirt bike

 

Well, I was looking to get something that would be cheap and good on gas mileage to get to and from school. And I'll be honest, something cool to pick the babes up with. But like most people, the bike just turned out to be a nightmare and have spent more on parts and tools than I did on the bike. But, hey. I've grown so much as a person because of my POS bikes. I wouldn't change anything.

 

so i take it your old bikes don't pick up babes like the shiny new plastic ones lol

 

Cutlass - that was the thing about a 16 year olds licence - it had to have pedals. Suzuki had a system of levers and catches where you could rotate one of the pedals so both of them pointed forwards - just like regular footrests.

They changed the law in about 1980 and restricted 16 ers to 30mph. They didnt need pedals anymore.