Reuniting with an Old Friend. What was your first motorized experience?

[DuneHopper]

Hmm lots of Go carts and Mini bikes. Maybe a KZ250 if I recall.

 

[clearconscience]

Mine was my stepdad's Honda 90 trail bike and his Polaris 425 4 wheeler.

They were a ton of fun.

 

[Mikej]

I wasn't driving it but this would most likely be the first motorized bike I rode. Pic says June 1962 so figure dad was pretty proud of his creation and this couldn't be too long after building it. I was 7 at the time.



Frame, handlebars, bracing all hand bent and welded by hand. A CVT clutch system like on a snowmobile. That was a 6hp Briggs & Stratton motor on it. I remember Dad having to hold the throttle with his left hand when pulling the starter rope, which was on the right side. He had to switch back quick when it started so he could apply the brake which was on the left. Brake levers for both throttle and brake. There were small chains/cables keeping the front tubes from falling completely out if you caught some air with the front wheel. It's possible they figured that one out, the hard way!

 

[Cardoff]

I don't remember exactly, but it was most likely an old Case tractor on the farm

I was 8 years old, the year was 1984 and it was a 1948 Massey Ferguson. Got a little goat at 10, used and abused with a pillow wrapped in duct tape for a seat. 3rd lap around the yard and I crashed it into my uncles mustang. Funny thing, I dont remember ever seeing it again.

 

[orygun]

@Mikej Those are precious pictures, Thanks for sharing.
Don't happen to still have that Goat around, do you?

 

[ron]

First bike I road was a Tote Goat.
In 1973 I bought a brand new Yamaha DT250 Enduro for $825.
Owned lots of different dirt bikes over the years.

 

[johnny bob]

At 12 my dad let me try his 1949 Indian Sport Scout Verticle Twin and I didnt have the grip to hold the clutch in so I was off and moving before I was ready. That and a 1/4 turn quick throttle made it very interesting. I got one lap around the house and he took over. At 13 I had an afternon paper route and a friend had a Whizzer that would do 32-33mph and he would let me take a spin now and then. A friend in High School had a Lambretta scooter that he let me take once in a while. I got my own first bike and it was 500cc AJS and it was a stripped down dirt bike. No headlight, tail light, fenders, muffler, or any of that stuff. Times were different then and I street rode it and when the fellows with the lights took me home they told me dont bring that on the road again. I needed parts one day and I rode it to a shop on 15th in Seattle and on the way home a fellow with the lights stopped me and said where are you going? I told him I was going home by the airport. He looked at my drivers license and said you live by Seatac airport not just down the road to Boeing Field. Uh yeah. Go home and dont come back. Great memories. I just changed oil/filter etc in my 2000 FXDX and took a short jaunt and it never gets old.

 

[Mikej]

@Mikej Those are precious pictures, Thanks for sharing.
Don't happen to still have that Goat around, do you?

Don't I wish! I also wish I had the Honda 90, XL 250, and the '63 Rambler Ambassador with the Nash seats.

For the most part those machines were real turds. I'm sure when Dad rode a Honda 55 for the first time that it wasn't long after he STOPPED building/riding tote goats.

 

[jbett98]

Forget the mini bike, that VW Bug in the picture is the real prize.

 

[Mikej]

Forget the mini bike, that VW Bug in the picture is the real prize.

Dad had several of them over the years. He swore off VW bugs when they hit $2000.00. Then he bought a Toyota Corona. He sold the yellow ford in the pic because the exhaust was too loud, as I recall. I seem to remember thinking it sounded REAL cool!

 

[etrain16]

I wasn't driving it but this would most likely be the first motorized bike I rode. Pic says June 1962 so figure dad was pretty proud of his creation and this couldn't be too long after building it. I was 7 at the time.

View attachment 366568

Frame, handlebars, bracing all hand bent and welded by hand. A CVT clutch system like on a snowmobile. That was a 6hp Briggs & Stratton motor on it. I remember Dad having to hold the throttle with his left hand when pulling the starter rope, which was on the right side. He had to switch back quick when it started so he could apply the brake which was on the left. Brake levers for both throttle and brake. There were small chains/cables keeping the front tubes from falling completely out if you caught some air with the front wheel. It's possible they figured that one out, the hard way!

View attachment 366569

My first wasn't far off from that. My dad built it from scratch, used a lawn mower engine. Had a single hand brake. I ran it into a big rock (bigger than me) in the back yard once when I panicked and forgot how to use the hand brake and bent the forks.

Later we got a little 50cc mini bike, followed by the Honda ATC 90 3-wheeler in the early 80's. Next it was a Honda TL125 trials bike. Eventually moved up to a Yamaha YZ 125 and 250.

Seems like a long time ago though. Haven't ridden, or owned a bike since high school. I wanted a street bike but was forbidden by both parents as my dad ended up in a coma after being hit by a car while riding a street bike while in high school himself. Since then, off road was given the okay, on road a definitive no. Just never got back into it after that. Thinking about it, I do miss it at times.

 

[jbett98]

A kid down the street had a homemade mini bike that was powered by a 12 volt electric motor.
It was incredibly fast off the starting line and was my first experience riding a motorized scooter.
Super quiet and tons of fun until the battery died down, then we would push it back into his dads shop and wait till it charged back up.

 

[The Heretic]

After several tractors (including driving them on public roads to move from one farm to another - which with many tractors is dangerous in more ways than one), I operated various farm trucks, and then a '51 Chevy coupe, and then various other family vehicles. It is hard to remember which came in what order as that was 50 years ago.

We never had any motorized two wheeled vehicles until long after I got my license and was driving cars on my own, and even then, it was my little brother who was the first to own one.

 

[Mikej]

Later we got a little 50cc mini bike, followed by the Honda ATC 90 3-wheeler in the early 80's. Next it was a Honda TL125 trials bike. Eventually moved up to a Yamaha YZ 125 and 250.

Those 3-wheelers were some dangerous, scary things to ride! When I worked on them I'd need to test ride it. And of course you'd have to do some hot-dogging in our small dirt lot at the shop. I learned that if you're foot slipped of the peg you could run your own leg over and pull yourself right off the machine! Those were some unstable pieces of equipment for sure.

 

[etrain16]

Those 3-wheelers were some dangerous, scary things to ride! When I worked on them I'd need to test ride it. And of course you'd have to do some hot-dogging in our small dirt lot at the shop. I learned that if you're foot slipped of the peg you could run your own leg over and pull yourself right off the machine! Those were some unstable pieces of equipment for sure.

Yet we somehow survived

Yeah they were dangerous, very unstable in a turn. I learned not to take a tight turn at over 1-2 mph and managed to never roll one over. Actually had more injuries from the 2-wheel machines. I look at the quads now and think about how much fun they would be.

 

[Mikej]

Yet we somehow survived

Yeah they were dangerous, very unstable in a turn. I learned not to take a tight turn at over 1-2 mph and managed to never roll one over. Actually had more injuries from the 2-wheel machines. I look at the quads now and think about how much fun they would be.

I don't get that. I'd like to feel the freedom of the two wheeler under me again. More control and get into smaller spaces. I don't know.....but I'm too old now to risk doing what I used to do on my bike anyway! And having a quad and having to trailer, license, permit, insure, pay to park at The Dunes, ride around with a bunch of others. doesn't sound fun. When were down near Florence we can hear the machines running all over the dunes from a couple miles away. Doesn't sound fun at all. Now when were mushroom hunting in The Tillamook? Hoo boy, I see those on the bikes on those trails that criss-cross everywhere? It makes my heart ache.

 

[etrain16]

I don't get that. I'd like to feel the freedom of the two wheeler under me again. More control and get into smaller spaces. I don't know.....but I'm too old now to risk doing what I used to do on my bike anyway! And having a quad and having to trailer, license, permit, insure, pay to park at The Dunes, ride around with a bunch of others. doesn't sound fun. When were down near Florence we can hear the machines running all over the dunes from a couple miles away. Doesn't sound fun at all. Now when were mushroom hunting in The Tillamook? Hoo boy, I see those on the bikes on those trails that criss-cross everywhere? It makes my heart ache.

I'm thinking in comparison to the old 3-wheelers primarily. I did enjoy 2 wheeled machines, but enjoyed the others too. I just enjoyed riding anything with a motor, still do to some extent. But these days it would be far more casual than it used to be - no tearing up the ground making as much noise as possible.

That, and I miss airplanes too. I flew in high school and for a number of years after before the cost of living was too much to sustain that hobby. I think I had even more fun flying than I did on bikes, etc., but damn is it expensive. Loved firing up that noisy plane though and taking off into a beautiful blue sky.

 

[Mikej]

AIRPLANES! I'll stay close to the ground thanks.

 

[jsparks747]

My first time was with a 2005 Polaris Ranger on my aunt and uncle's farm.

 

[mikeybuck]

My first motor bike was after I turned 18 and could buy one. Had no idea what I was doing so I went out and bought a 1981 kdx 420 2 stroke dirt bike lol. At the time I was a 170 lbs, could hardly kick start that thing, or keep the front wheel on the ground. Once I blew that up I bought a 01 arctic cat 300 4x4 quad.