Motorcycles

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.

<my latest bike>

My brother's bikes

1960 BSA Gold Star 1966 BSA Lightning
1966 Honda CL-160 Scrambler 1969 BSA Victor 441
1966 BSA Hornet Scrambler

 

My past bikes

1965 Harley-Davidson M50S 1973 Yamaha RD-350
1968 Suzuki 80cc trail 1973 Harley-Davidson Sprint SS
1972 Honda SL-125 1975 Goldwing
1972 Yamaha RT-2 (jump) 1976 Honda Z-50A
1972 Yamaha RT-2 (snow) 1977 Honda XL-350
1968 Yamaha DT-1 1991 Honda ST1100
1972 Yamaha XS-2 1992 Yamaha WR-200

My current bikes

1970 Hodaka Super Rat 1976 Kawawasi KH-500
1972 Honda CB-350F 2000 Honda ST1100
1975 Honda XL-350 others

 

Memorable bikes

Vincent V-twin 1969 Honda CB-750
Early sixties Honda road racers 1971 Kawasaki H-2
Early sixties Honda automobiles 1972 Yamaha SC-500
The 2-stroke motocross revolution 1973 Honda Elsinores
Maico 1976 Yamaha XT-500
Husqvarna 1977 Yamaha IT-400
1965 Honda CB-450 1978 Kawasaki Z-1R

 

Random tidbits

Evel
Bigtoe
The Bleeding Edge
If I won the Lottery...
My heroes have always been.. flat-trackers!


Fidonet friends

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)

 

<my latest bike>

<return to Hobbies page>