What was your first motorcycle?

[Knifekulture]

My first motorcycle was a 1979 RD400 Daytona Special. I had bought it second hand in 1981. By the time I got it the previous owner had installed DG heads,Lectron carbs,port work and some nice loud Toomey chambers. It handled like a dream!....I wish I still had that bike. My next bike was an Kawasaki H1 500 (godawful fast)........more on that one later.

 

[tvodrd]

Mine was a Rabbit 90cc 2-stroke, 4.2HP motor scooter in ~1964. From there to a Cushman 1951 Eagle and onwards to a Yamaha YDS2 (mix the oil and gas), followed by a YM1. ("autolube" 305cc that would "dust" Honda SuperHawks and Dreams.) Onward to a Norton S in 1969 slightly before I got outta the service in 1969. It was Nortons until 1975 until I bailed street riding in about '76. (Too much idiot traffic!)

Larry

 

[HarryN]

1968 Triumph Daytona 500 with twin carbs. A real classic. Yes, it is equipped with left hand operation, and that is what I learned on. Has messed me up ever since.

I purchased it second hand with about 7 K miles, and only added a few hundred. Did some fix up on it, but it has been in storage most of its life.

My wife wants me to sell it, but I am not so sure. Hard to sell something like that - even though I never ride it.

 

[NA8]

1967 Harley Davidson Sprint SS-250. Built by an Italian firm, Aermacchi (Aeronautica Macchi), and imported by HD. Later had a 1975 (the red tank) Honda 400 4 cylinder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_CB400F

 

[HighLight]

1972 or there-a bouts Honda 350

 

[BIGIRON]

Here's an old thread.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=134393

 

[Lasernerd]

a Villiers engine in a Greeves frame

 

[dulridge]

Heavily modded Honda XL185 (Almost to XR chassis spec but engine left more or less alone for reliability as a breakdown there could have been fatal) in '84 was the first one that I used. It was about 3 years old and spent just about all of its time in deep sand in a desert. The nearest road not made of sand was several miles away. You just can't lube a chain when you live in sand - it ate a chain and a set of sprockets every couple of months - which were hideously expensive as was everything imported there - as the currency went down the toilet there, I was spending 5 weeks pay every couple of months on new chains and sprockets.

You are supposed to ditch a chain when it has any sideways play - when I dumped them I'd taken out 12-15 links (of 108) and could bend the chain in a 30cm circle against the sideplates. By this stage the sprockets had little by way of teeth left on them and the chain jumped like crazy.

This was the typical scenery which is to be found in the middle of the Zambezi floodplain in Zambia, close to the border with Angola.

I actually owned a Kawasaki S1 (mostly repaired with KH250 engine parts) before that but hadn't passed my bike test when they changed the rules for what learners were allowed to drive - the maximum capacity was 125cc after the change.

Here's the most recent machine.

One of my more fun pics - the wee boy was 4 when this was taken and is ethnically Tamil. It always makes me think of a Bollywood movie.

 

[dudemar]

My first bike? Still working on that one.:laughing:

The last photo is cute Dulridge!

 

[Lasernerd]

My first motorcycle was a 1979 RD400 Daytona Special. I had bought it second hand in 1981. By the time I got it the previous owner had installed DG heads,Lectron carbs,port work and some nice loud Toomey chambers. It handled like a dream!....I wish I still had that bike. My next bike was an Kawasaki H1 500 (godawful fast)........more on that one later.

man I wanted one of those!

 

[iced_theater]

Well first bike I actually bought myself was a Kawasaki Ninja 250. Wasn't by any means very fast, but was still able to break the interstate speed limit at 6300 ft elevation when I used to weigh 240 lbs and wore 20 lbs of gear.

 

[gadget_lover]

There were lots of neat bikes around in the late 1960s that are no longer around. I had a Honda 50 that was sort of like a scooter, sort of like a motorcycle. It was called a "stepthrough". It had a top speed of only 45 or so, and a 3 speed transmission. I learned on that one.

By the time I gave up bikes I'd had about 20 of them, in every size and style. I weather like this I consider buying one again.

Daniel

 

[Knifekulture]

I also owned a Norton Scrambler (1970) I loved that english fiberglass petrol tank and the high pipes.

 

[Fallingwater]

I don't know if it counts, since it's not really a motorcycle, but this was my first ride:

(not actually mine in the pic, but almost identical)

It's an Area 51 scooter by Aprilia which my parents bought me nine years ago. Two stroke carburated 50cc engine (electronic injection in scooters was unheard of back then), dual disk brakes (was quite the exception), inline suspension, LCD display, various bells and whistles. It used to be the finest 50cc scooter money could buy. When I realized how expensive it was I told my parents to get something cheaper, but my dad liked it so I got it anyway

In Italy many young scooterists like to tune the snot out of their rides, transforming little 50cc buzzers into 80cc shriekers that guzzle gas at an alarming rate, accelerate like mad, get to speeds in excess of 120 km/h and would never pass any mandatory servicing if it wasn't for the complacency of some garage shop owners who turn a blind eye.

Me, I always left it stock. I did remove the restrictions that forced it to 45 km/h, so it now gets to 75 or thereabouts, but I did no other modifications.

I recently replaced the old, rusted, clogged exhaust pipe with a new one, made some repairs and some maintenance, and now it runs like new.


If the scooter doesn't qualify as a motorbike, then my first one is my Kawasaki ER-6F, known in the usa as Ninja 650R:

 

[TranquillityBase]

1978 Yamaha XS500E

Should have kept that one.....

 

[EV_007]

Honda CBR 600 F1.

 

[chaoss]

Honda ATC 90, not sure of the year.

 

[Kilovolt]

My first motorcycle was a 1951 Matchless single cylinder 350 cc identical to this one:

I rebuilt it with a friend in 1968 and we used it around town. I remember that the engine threatened to seize at any minimum climb including bridges ...

 

[dulridge]

My first motorcycle was a 1979 RD400 Daytona Special. I had bought it second hand in 1981. By the time I got it the previous owner had installed DG heads,Lectron carbs,port work and some nice loud Toomey chambers. It handled like a dream!....I wish I still had that bike. My next bike was an Kawasaki H1 500 (godawful fast)........more on that one later.

This device used to have RD400 motors in it till the supply of them ran out. Best description of the RD motor was, "If it won't wheelie in 2nd, then it's worn out." The frame was Yamaha TZ circa 1967 - at the end the engine was a DR400 single - we had to chop great chunks out of the frame to make it fit. Most fun machine ever and about the least practical too. RD motors made it a bit hairier but not nearly as much fun.

The H1's were totally crazy, the purple people eater as they were often known. The fuel consumption was outrageous and the plug consumption if tuned even worse. Not to mention the spaghetti frames - going fast on those was only for the brave.

 

[Uncle Bob]

1981 Yamaha 250