I've been riding motorcycles since age 10, when my brother put me on his brand-spanking new 1966 Honda CL-160. First I did several power-off dry runs, coasting down a hill in front of the house. The first one ended rather ignominiously when I dropped the bike after coming to a stop. The next few went well, though, and I was soon putting around the yard, having the time of my life.
That was in the fall of the year, and by the next spring I had my very own motorcycle. My brother, no doubt fearing for his little Scrambler <grin>, decided I had to have a bike of my own, you see. It was a '66 Harley-Davidson M-50S, a single-cylinder 50cc 2-stroke built by the Italian firm Aermacchi. Not too many folks can claim a Harley as their very first motorcycle, at age 10, but I'm one of them!
That little bike changed my life, without a doubt, and I've never been without a motorcycle of some sort in the intervening 30+ years.
In the pages to follow, I'll show you some of the bikes that influenced me when I was growing up; bikes that my brother owned, mostly, a procession of bikes that I've owned over the years, some bikes that I currently own. Also bikes that I read about (and lusted after!) in the cycle magazines of the time, as well as a few Fidonet friends and their bikes.
| 1960 BSA Gold Star | 1966 BSA Lightning |
| 1966 Honda CL-160 Scrambler | 1969 BSA Victor 441 |
| 1966 BSA Hornet Scrambler |
| 1970 Hodaka Super Rat | 1976 Kawawasi KH-500 |
| 1972 Honda CB-350F | 2000 Honda ST1100 |
| 1975 Honda XL-350 | others |
| Evel |
| Bigtoe |
| The Bleeding Edge |
| If I won the Lottery... |
| My heroes have always been.. flat-trackers! |
| Ray Woods | Mike Murray (and Linda) |
| Bryce Lee | Helmut Lenders |
| William "Buffalo" Pearson (and Sue) | Jack Schwendener |
| Fluffy | Jim Lane |
| Jim McGee | Birgit Murphy (und Rocky) |
| Rusty Stevens (and Sharon) |
