My favorites were my Honda 750f, 900f and 1100f. At one time had all three at the same time. This was back in my racing days. Here's one of my son's on the 750.
I have a picture of what kind of bike my first one was,mine was red in color......it was Mfg. in 1958, I got it in 1966.....I could tell you what it is , but I want to see if some of the old timers can identify it...let's make this fun..
Now as for my favorite bike I got a 1960 Pan Head FLH in 5 boxes in 1978 and built it. I really wish I had that bike now to ride around town.
This is a picture the same model.
Of the bikes I had early on, my fav was my Honda Dream 150, it was white and it had chrome exhaust. Sorry, no pics.
I rode it on and off road, and it never gave me a minutes worth of trouble. It was a chick magnet [emoji3465] and I always rode it safely with a young lady.
When I was 12 Dad got me a brand new '77 Honda XR75. Four of my friends also had one, plus one who decided he'd like to ride after dark and got an XL75 (it was street legal with a headlight, turn signals and even a licence plate holder). For 3 years the five of us rode the wheels off those bikes, trying our best to imitate the motocross riders we watched at the local track and tearing through the trails behind our subdivision. I remember being stopped by the the RCMP once for riding on the streets. My buddy was ahead of me as we rode past another street. The cop pulled out between us and cut me off but he got away. I think I was grounded for a few weeks after that little incident. Never did tell them his name, but I'm pretty sure they knew who he was. Ah, good times.
Loved those CB's Lesblank, my brother bought a 750f new in 82. I ended up buying it from him in the 90's. Had it till 2000 when I bought my Max which is my best one to date.
My second bike was a yellow cb200. My buddies had a xl175 and xl250 so I was a little jealous as we rode off road a lot, the little cb tried but struggled in the sand. I put a lot of miles on it until the cam chain broke.
One of my favorite memories was just after I got out of the Air Force in 1981 and had a job for a while I heard about a 1974 CB750 4 about 15 miles away. Went out there and it ran well. Paid for it ( didn't even try to talk him down ) After the RD350 in the 70's this thing was a beast. My favorite until the next one.
In 1974 I got orders to Eglin AFB in Florida. I bought a honda CB500 off a bud who was getting out soon (DOSing as we used to say).
Shortly after that I picked up a 2 or 3 week school at Robbins AFB in Georgia. I packed my sack and took off in a drizzling rain that got heavier as I went east. No windscreen, no rain gear. Fatigues, fatigue jacket, boots, helmet. I finally got past it somewhere in southwest Georgia. I think Albany is where I stopped at a laundromat to shuck my duds and dry my stuff, repack, and hit the road again.
It was a geat trip. School was interesting. Bumped into some old tech school buddies from a few years earlier. Beer was drunk. Took a day trip to Lake Tobesoffkee. Beautiful lake. Was introduced to quaaludes that day. Night trip to Uncle Sam's in Macon to hear some damn fine music and watch as a couple dozen college kids streaked the stage. Yeah, streaking was a thing there for a year or two. Uncle Sam's was kinda the Armadillo World HQ of that part of the world.
Made some good friends. Had a barley pop or two with classmates when school was done and we were heading home so I got a very late start. Fell asleep on the bike and survived totally unscathed. Had no trouble remaining awake for the rest of the trip home and also did not use the throttle lock again. Back in those days, 24 hour convenience/gas stores were few and far between out in rural Georgia and Alabama. I was saved by a middle of nowhere late night gas station in some tiny town SE of Dothan, AL. I think I got home around 3am.
Since the question was not about what bikes were/are liked, but rather is about which was MOST liked I would have to say my most liked bike is my current ride a Honda VTX 1300R:
I would qualify/clarify to anyone asking that for a favorite bike that for many a biker who's ridden many bikes over the years (I've owned 10 street bikes) the most accurate answer would be what bike was the most favorite for what reason. For instance, my favorite bike for ultimate comfort was my Goldwing, my favorite for speed was my Suzuki GS1100, and my favorite for bad Ass looks is my VStar 1100 Midnight Custom:
Point being that many riders had/have a favorite category bike that may have shined in one category over some other loved category.
The reason my XS Eleven is a favorite memory it is the first bike I bought from Ted Evans Yamaha. The 1st of seven I bought from there. Mom bought my brothers RD250 about 10 or 12 years before from Ted. Alas it is also one of my worst memories
Excellant, it was a Cushman Eagle, foot clutch and 2 speed suicide shift, it is what made always love cruiser style bikes.
The wife and I just rode to Biloxi for yesterday and last night then rode back today. The strat is a great bike for interstate travel.The tunnel in Mobile was a ball on that bike.It is just so dang hot right now.
Did anyone else own a Yamaha Cat trials bike. That was a very fun bike , the balance was awesome. The way it was built allowed you to do things that at sometimes it felt like magic. Riding trials in the 70's was different then today, your brain could see the section, figure out the problem and then be amazed sometimes this bike really can do what your brain figured out.
the image ended up being in the post above this one.....long day
Rolling off the showroom floor knowing that it was PAID FOR! The wife won some 8K at Bingo the night before so the next day it was in my driveway, free and clear!
Normal street 2 lanes going east 2 lane going west middle turn lane. I was in the right lane heading east he was in the right lane heading west all of a sudden he needed to turn left across five lanes to a gas station. I now know to expect anything.
When I was a kid, down the street was a father with two grown sons. Dad had a bought new '82 Springer Softail and the sons had used Sportsters from the mid to late 70s. On Saturday mornings I'd run down to hear them start up. Being a very young Rooklet in He-Man PJs, they thought it was cute. Every so often, one of the sons would put me on the seat as he kicked the Sporty over. For a 5 year old, it was like riding the back of an ancient demon, roaring to life and trying to shake me off. Of course I had to "help" by, looking back now, turn the high beams on. But I'd hit the switch as he kicked, so it looked for all the world as I started this thing that gave my mother such a fright.
That's something I try to do now. Introduce kids to motorcycles in a friendly and positive way. Sometimes they help me back it into the driveway, other times we "race" down the street.
I'd like to think if nothing else, in 10 years or so they'll have happy memories of motorcyclists and maybe try to look for us as they're driving.
I love hearing stories like this. I wonder if the family down the street from you know the positive effect they had by just showing some kindness to a 5 year old boy. We should all strive to follow their lead.
No Pics
First Bike was Yamaha 100 trail bike.
Folks got it for me when I was 10 or 12 years old. Loved riding the trails.
Before the 70's, Interstate 40 was detoured around my town. In 1970 they stated working on it and I could reach it thru the woods from my house. I could ride for miles on the dirt. The hill climbs were great.
My cousin lived near a mountain that had logging trails all over and it was great to ride.
Those were the days !
My first motorized bike experiences were not great. A friend of mine brought his mini bike over to our house. Riding around the back yard all was going well until I tried to stop...looking around for the brake...dropped my head down... and over the wall between our property and the neighbors...Hand brakes...what a concept..LOL The second MC experience was a friend of mine loaned me his Suzuki 380 while my car was in the shop. Rode it a few days and started getting cocky... rode it up the front yard hill into the back yard.. Stood up riding around. showing off.. cracked the throttle....whoa nelly...back end started fish tailing... I tried to ride it out but my life flashed in front of me...Not because of going too fast or anything like that...Nope my life flashed because my parents were watching and looked really pissed... So I laid her down instead of hitting the house... street tires on grass...who knew how slippery that would be...LOL.. My friend felt the cold stares of caring parents so he came around less and less...fast forward 40 some years.. Bike bug bites me hard..Take a rider safety course.. get my license and buy my 950.. My only regret is that I did not do this sooner as I will soon be 61... Ride safe everybody!
Your story reminded me of my son's first real bike. He was 10 and had been riding a Chinese knock off he bought with his grass cutting summer money. He was actually getting good so I went to look at a KX100. For those that may not know,a KX100 is a MX racing bike, it is not to be disrespected. A man was selling one brand new but a year old with a broken clutch lever. He had bought it for his son to LEARN how to ride. It's not a beginner bike. His boy stalled it a couple times, finally got going, twisted the throttle and up and over it went. His son would not touch it again. I got a fantastic deal, cleaned the carb, fresh 2 stroke gas and it run like the new bike it was.
Reminds me of my first bike Honda Elsinore mt250 enduro when i was 17. Long story short i learned the importance of a helmet. Never broke anything but roughed a few things up a bit.
Ha, another one with the old MT. As a young teenager, I "inherited" my brothers XL 250 and my pops MT 250. Rode them bikes all over. Eventually blew 3 gear on the MT landing a jump with my foot on the shifter. Rode it a while with no 3rd but that was not much fun. Updated to a new XR 250 after that. That bike was fun. Well more fun i should say.
I love hearing stories like this. I wonder if the family down the street from you know the positive effect they had by just showing some kindness to a 5 year old boy. We should all strive to follow their lead.[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah. My father and that father used to talk and empty beer cans. I'm sure it came up. Hell, it was him found my old man some model of Kawi from back then, a little ULM that went for half of nothing. He'd ride it up and down the alley until my mother put the kibosh on that.
Also, like them, I know what I look like. Big tall bearded man who looks very grim usually. The kind of guy that, when I take my kids to the playground, mothers dial 9-1 and watch me like a hawk. So anything I can do to make a child smile. Especially drifting down a hill in neural with the throttle goodly cracked and making lots of noise.
So now there's a boy who thinks they're awesome (he's right BTW), a mother who might start looking at big scary hairy guys and motorcycles a bit differently, and a dad who now wants a motorcycle. There's also two more drives, with more on the way, who'll maybe start looking for motorcycles on the road.
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