When did you get hooked on motorcycling?

I think this was the day I did. I know, it's not a cycle and doesn't have a motor but I didn't know any better.

I wish I still had it so I could restore it. I wonder if Len has any parts for these.

 

i recall being very young seeing my fathers midnight maxim parked in the corner of the garage. it sat there my whole childhood. i always wanted a motorcycle, and as my father knew i would enjoy it he said i could not while under the roof of his home due to the fact my mother would kill him.

so i waited and waited until i moved out. right away i got my first bike. a 81 xs400 special. i only drove that for a season and i moved from michigan to oregon; leaving the bike behind. once in oregon i spent almost two years strictly riding my bicycle for transportation.

until...

the summer of 2012 my folks came to visit and with there visit i was supposed to receive my trusty xs400. upon their visit a shinny 83 midnight maxim sat upon a trailer all tuned up ready to go.

and here i am today. riding the old mans bike.

 

A Midnight Maxim? Let's see some pictures. I've always like the gold and black color scheme.

 

as she sits. this was taken a few months back.

 

Ever since I began driving at age 16 I had always been fascinated by motorcycles. A combination of their looks, sound, presence really drew me in. The first day of riding my first and current bike, I was just overwhelmed with the 100% awesomeness of the way it feels to be on two wheels. Probably gonna be hooked for life.

 

Bendoza, that Midnight looks utterly fantastic. 8O

 

thanks.

up close there are a few dings and it shows its age. but from 10 feet away its a looker.

 

creative coaster

used bike if you feel like reliving your past biggs.

 

I was hooked since the first time I saw a 73 honda cb350 sitting in my buddies dad's barn when I was 16. I bought the bike for 150 bucks, rebuilt it, and then rode it for about two years until I sold it for college money. I went through college and another few years until I was finally able to buy another classic which is my 82 maxim. I've always like anything with a motor and wheels...or a hull hah...

No better feeling than cruising on two wheels, just wish I knew more about bikes in general.

 

tons of those cb350's around. they are a neat looking little bike.

 

I was hooked when my older brother bought his first bike, a Honda SL175 1972 (I think). It was 40 years ago.

It looked like a lot of fun, I instantly wanted to have one of mine!

 

In 1968; my "first car" was a motorcycle like it says in my sig. I was 16.

(This is NOT my bike, just a good example.) 1966 Honda CB160 Sport! (The "Sport!" is actually on the tank badge.)

 

i was rather young

 

My first time on anything with an engine & two wheels was when I was either 12 or 13 years old (more than a couple years ago). Had an old BMX bike, an old Echo 451VL chainsaw found (running great, missing the bar) at the dump, a stick welder, and a TON of time on my hands during summer break.


Chain driven & completely unsafe, but so, so much fun. Had to peddle along until you'd hit 15mph or so, and then it would just take off & keep climbing.

It was a screaming metal death trap, but I loved every little bit of it. And the best part is that it only cost me in welding rod.

 

For me it was a small 5hp mini trail bike with a centrifugal clutch, no suspension, and a pull start. My dad bought it at a garage sale. It didn't run, but my brother and I took the carb apart and cleaned out a bunch of crud and put it back together and spent the rest of the summer driving the old man nuts. lol. That was many,many years ago, but i'll never forget that first ride.

 

May been here:



Looks like this should have been from 1963. A 1940's era BSA M20 or M21; British Army surplus from the war.

But it was 1974 when I fell in love with motorcycles. A few of the young men in town had cafe'd CB400F Super Sports and at least one 750 thrown in there. By cafe'd I mean they had clipons, LOL. Those bikes were incredible, with the 4 in 1's wild exhaust and their sportiness. Got hooked for sure.

 

27 yo after getting out doing time.. midlife crisis for real

 

Age 14. Cushman scooter. It was my brothers and he left it with a bad clutch when he went to college. I got some tools and stared banging around and got the centrifugal clutch off and had the local scooter shop put on new pads. Put it back on and when it cranked and started moving--with me on it-- I was hooked for life. By the way, that was in 1959.

 

Soooo, you'll be 69 this year or are you already?

 

it was a YZ 80c remember it like it was yesterday .

 

Grew up near an off-road track and a dirt 1/3-mile oval but I never got into dirt bikes. Just liked going to races from the time I could take my bicycle there on my own (1977?). My first bike was a yard sale wreck that I bought for $10 bucks and pushed half-way across town to our garage. I have no idea what it was, I just had a blast taking it apart and boasting to my other 12 year old friends that I owned a motorcycle.

 

Got hooked at the age of 12; went on a school camp and one of the teachers took his Honda XL175 and taught those that wanted how to ride. 4 years later I bought a brand new Suzuki AC50. Teacher wouldnt get away with it now here in NZ due to all to political BS in schools.

 

1975; I was nearly 5 years old and visiting a friend on his father's (and grandfather's) farm. They conspired to sit me on a Honda Z50. It was so much fun that I was sure my father would get mad at me if he found out

 

Last summer
my father always forbade me to get a motorcycle
but I am 38 and decided screw it
so I bought a 150 CC Scooter.. not a motorcycle
then before driving it.. all that much
did the Motorcycle Safety Course
finally told my dad.. he was mad but asked if I wore gear
of course... now he is ok with it

last fall bought my Maxim.. hope to have it
done by July.. only per lack of funds

 

As a child in the late 60's, apparently I always passed on the matchbox cars and grabbed for the 2 wheeled versions. Like many, I was not allowed a motorcycle while living at home, and as a nerd I wasn't a dirt biker. In the mid-80's in college my housemates and I shared a CB for traveling in town, and by shared I mean it was mine!

 

Back in 2007 I had a good friend with a Suzuki 440ltd that was in decent shape. I helped him get it running after a few years of sitting, and asked him if I could take it around the yard. I felt how easy it was to control so I took it up the street and back. I had absolutely loved it. He had offered it to me for about $500 back then and I should have jumped on it. He passed away a little over a year later (car accident, NOT motorcycle related, but still very tragic), so his father kept his bike since that was something they did together when he was of age to ride.

I had really started to miss him in 2011, so I decided to get a bike. And thus, I have my 82 xj650. I know he would have loved it.

 

1978. My brother would sit us on the tank of his CB750 and take us up and down the street. I was 2, my how times have changed.

 

my first bike was a Honda mini trail 50 (this bike developed a leak in the tank where the triple tree was hitting it which resulted in a fire), after that I had a Kawasaki 75 (this bike had broken rings that seized the engine at 45mph on a logging road, it broke the chain that then wrapped around the rear sprocket locking the rear wheel. my buddy on a Honda 125 enduro almost hit me as I skidded to a stop). my xj is my first street bike. I can't wait to get our bikes roadworthy so we can ride!

CN

 

i didnt realize i belonged on a bike until last spring, my wife suggested it... and i happened to have the money.. last spring i bought a 1982 xj750 maxim for $750 ( guy was asking $1400). now all i think about is riding and working to get that bike into perfect condition. What the hell was i waiting on! btw.. so glad i found this site.

 

Well one day my friend asked me asked me if I wanted to go dirt biking with him. Didn't have a bike but said sure. Well waited around for him to come back so I could go... He got back and said we gotta go. No ride. So I went and bought a dirt bike. Ktm sx125 with a big bore kit. Soon after I had to get a street bike. That's when I found the xj. Picked her up for 650$ from a dealership running. Been riding ever since. Except for the period where she wasn't running after sitting for a 1 1/2 due to an accident on the dirt. But that's when I found this site and very glad.

 

First time I remember wanting one I was 10. I friend was riding around on a mini bike that had a Briggs & Stratton 3 hp motor. Never rode it though. Got My first bike at 19 a Honda XT175 (that was in 81). Only rode it for a year didn't get on another bike until 2007. My wife suggested I get a bike, she didn't have to tell me twice.