What Was Your First Motorcycle?

[NancysToy]

For those of you who have ridden before, and those of you whose Spyder is your first motorcycle, what was the first motorcycle you owned (or rode) and when? My first ride was a step-trough Cushman around 1958. I was just custodian of it for the neighbor, however, so the first I owned was a $10 Whizzer I bought in 1962 when I was 14. Nancy's first ride was on a Honda CB160 about six or seven years ago. She has owned a 1968 Honda Trail 90 for about five years, but the Spyder was her first street ride...at the age of 54.

[GA-SPYDER]

1968 Honda 350 Scrambler. Couple of riding buddies went out and bought Honda 750's. Couldn't keep up with them, sooo, my next bike was a '72 CB 750 K2.

[RAL]

A 1975 root beer brown Kawasaki KZ 400. She had a disc brake and pushed about 35 HP. Great first bike. Rode it like I stole it right from the start. Would give the Yamaha 650 twins that were common then a run.
I paid right at $1200 for her. For another $600 I could have got the KZ900. Thought about it but glad I didn't, not a good first bike. Likey would not be here


RAL

[RodO]

Three years ago, I got a '76 Kawasaki KZ900, but it blowed up after something like 36 miles (it's still in parts), so I picked up an '07 Suzuki V-Strom 650, which I traded in June '09 towards my Spyder.

[Ken C]

After my friends Bull Taco, my first ride was my fathers 1965 Honda 55. Shortly thereafter he traded it in for a Honda Trail 90. That thing would climb a wall if it could get traction. It had a small lever under the crankcase that you could flip to a real low gear ratio. I rode the heck out of that little bike, on the highway and in the dirt. Yes the highway..... I'd take it on the freeway and twist the throttle til it could twist no more in an attempt to keep up with traffic. It had no tach so I never knew how fast she was spinning but she never blew! Some years later he stepped up to a Honda 350. I laid it down one day racing a friend of mine. Boy, did I hear about that one! In my twenties my very own first purchase was a Maroon 1979 Honda CB650. Wish I still had that one. Good memories were had and I'm still alive.

[BillGargan]

1975 Suzuki GT380

[turk]

1966 honda scrambler, wish i still had it!

[NautiBrit]

I started off with a James 125, vintage unknown, that I found in a field and brought back to life. I then talked my father into sharing a BSA 250 then a Lambretta TV175. I quickly realized that I wanted to be a "mod" not a "rocker".

[retread]

1948 Cushman Pacemaker in 1954, then a Whizzer Sportsman in 1956 (kick start model on a 20 inch bike with pegs, no pedals), then a Triumph 200 Tiger Cub in 1957.

john

[WizardMaster]

'87 Kan a Tuna. (Katana)

[NancysToy]

1948 Cushman Pacemaker in 1954, then a Whizzer Sportsman in 1956 (kick start model on a 20 inch bike with pegs, no pedals), then a Triumph 200 Tiger Cub in 1957.

john

I knew there was something I liked about you. Sounds like a mirror of my first rides. My Whizzer was a Sportsman, too, but I really wanted a Simplex. Traded up to a Mustang a year later. My first Triumph was a 1953 rigid frame 650 in 1964, but my dad made me sell it......and probably saved my life in the bargain.

[MarkLawson]

I bought my first bike in the spring of 1989. It was a black 1980 GL1100 Goldwing. I replaced it a year later with a new wineberry 1989 GL1500 Goldwing. I replaced that one with a new black 2001 GL1800A Goldwing, which I still have. I expect to keep it even after my RT comes in, but I also figure that after the first riding season with the RT, I may be able to decide if I can live with just one or if I need to hang onto both.

[chris56]

in europe its (still) not allowed to drive a bike with more than 50ccm max speed 30mls/h - if you are not 18 years old ( now 17)..
so I startet 1972 with a watercooled zündapp ( 7hp) - too fast for the police .. after that a Norton 650 and a lot of BMW´s
chris

[indian02]

I bought my first bike in the spring of 1989. It was a black 1980 GL1100 Goldwing. I replaced it a year later with a new wineberry 1989 GL1500 Goldwing. I replaced that one with a new black 2001 GL1800A Goldwing, which I still have. I expect to keep it even after my RT comes in, but I also figure that after the first riding season with the RT, I may be able to decide if I can live with just one or if I need to hang onto both.

You might want to hang on to your Goldwing. It always nice to be able to ride a different bike every now and then. If one of them is in the shop and its a nice day outside then you will have a backup to ride on.

[indian02]

For those of you who have ridden before, and those of you whose Spyder is your first motorcycle, what was the first motorcycle you owned (or rode) and when? My first ride was a step-trough Cushman around 1958. I was just custodian of it for the neighbor, however, so the first I owned was a $10 Whizzer I bought in 1962 when I was 14. Nancy's first ride was on a Honda CB160 about six or seven years ago. She has owned a 1968 Honda Trail 90 for about five years, but the Spyder was her first street ride...at the age of 54.

I don't mean to make you feel old but i was born in 1958. Now that i have made you feel old my first bike was a Honda trail 70. I was riding through a field of tall grass one day and hit a bob-wire fence head on and came to a quick stop and took a nice flight over the handle bars. I bought a Honda 360 after that and ran over a beagle that had ran across the road in front of me with just shorts on. I was the one wearing the shorts I got a real nice road rash off of that. That was in 1970. I thought i would never ride again. The bug bit me again after that and i went out and bought a 2002 Indian then 2008 Harley Road king Classic and a 2009 Spyder. I still have all 3 of those. I was just kidding you about being old. Here in Louisville they had a antique motorcycle show this past summer. They had a cushman and a whizzer in the show along with alot of other vintage bikes

[glynnk]

Honda 750 Shadow...great bike, but moved on to a Kawaski Nomad, then a Harley Electra Glide Classic and now to a '09 Spyder (waiting for the delivery of my RT-S)

Glynnk

[4leafpat]

First bike I rode was a "Monkey Wards" minibike. The first one I owned was a 1961 Tohatsu Runpet Sport 50cc. You had to mix your own oil and gas and it fouled a plug a day it seemed. Layed down a lot of smoke too! I have been riding some 2 wheeler (Several Hondas and Yamahas, a Pirelli, a Suzuki, and Kawasaki) since 1964 until the Spyder last year.

[Roaddog2]

1968 Rupp Sprint 4th Grade

[3tracs]

I had purchased a 1982 Yamaha Virago XV750 in 1995, and it sat in my parents driveway until I could complete the MSF course. 7 years later, I upgraded to a 2002 Yamaha V-Star 1100 Custom which was new out of the crate. This past September of '09 I sold it and bought my Spyder.

[docdoru]

[3wheeldemon]

[Gordy]

my first bike was a 98cc james next a 250 panther followed by a 1947 knuckelhead .since then there have been very many, loved them all .

[bikeguy]

In the early 1950's I helped a cousin build several motorbikes using old bicycle frames and whatever engines we could dig up. One actually had a Maytag washing machine engine that was pretty neat because it had a kick starter. We pushed them way more miles than we ever rode them. We compared the power of each other's bikes by how far we could get up a hill called Jail Hill without having to peddle. Several here have mentioned James as their first bike. A fellow in town had a James and he could not only get all the way to the top of the hill but do it while dragging one of us behind him. Very powerful, those James's.

The first thing I actually owned was a Salsbury scooter. Unfortunately, I pushed it just about as much as the motorbikes. At 13 or 14 I didn't realize the significance of a worn out keyway in the flywheel of a magneto ignition.

The first "real" motorcycle I ever rode was a friend's military surplus 45 c.i. WLA Harley-Davidson. It had a foot clutch and a contrary hand shifter. It took me a dozen tries before I managed to get it into second gear before slowing down enough that I needed to be back in first. But it also had enough power to climb up and down the hills in a local gravel pit and hook me on dirt riding, an addiction that has never gone away.

Cotton

[woodchuck]

For those of you who have ridden before, and those of you whose Spyder is your first motorcycle, what was the first motorcycle you owned (or rode) and when? My first ride was a step-trough Cushman around 1958. I was just custodian of it for the neighbor, however, so the first I owned was a $10 Whizzer I bought in 1962 when I was 14. Nancy's first ride was on a Honda CB160 about six or seven years ago. She has owned a 1968 Honda Trail 90 for about five years, but the Spyder was her first street ride...at the age of 54.

The first bike I ever rode was a 1950 Harley with a side shift and a suicide clutch. Then i got my drivers license and bought a brand new 1958 Sportster XLH. Wish I had that today.We tore down the motor in 1960 and put some goodies in it. Ran 125 in a quarter mile. Miss it today.

[jeremy taflinger]

2007 suzuki sv 650 which I wrecked 1 week short of a year and bought the spyder a month later