Most Memorable Motorcycle Experience.

[SmithSwede]

We are all hopeless addicts addicted to this motorcycle thing.   So tell me, what is your *single* most memorable motorcycle related experience? 

First ride? First crash?  Buying your dream bike?  Seeing the sun rise while riding some scenic area?  Achieving some riding goal?  First wheelie?  What is it?

Personally, I think I got “hooked” on this motorcycle thing while riding passenger with my cousin on a late 1970s Kawasaki Z1 900cc bike.  The King of its day. 

But my single most memorable experience was my first attempt to ride a bike myself.  Yamaha RD400 in a nearly vacant parking lot in the early evening.   Put it in first gear, gave it too much throttle, accelerated more than I had ever experienced before.  But did not crash.  Regained control.   

And felt like “yeah, this is it.”

[Guzzistajohn]

Riding up Dairy Queen hill @ Chadwick on my FANTIC 300 for the 1st time with my feet on the pegs!
https://www.google.com/search?q=chadwick+motorcycle+and+atv+use+area+dairy+queen&oq=chadwick+motorcycle+and+atv+use+area+dairy+queen&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l2j33i299.1850

[Gliderjohn]

At 10 years old my several years older cousin who owned a Honda 90 trail bile suggested we time race around our farm yard. I learned not to apply front brake during a turn in a dirt/sand mix. Remember it like yesterday.
GliderJohn

[80CX100]

I've had some epic motorcycle moments,more often than I'd like to admit,usually involving an extreme lack of judgement.

Without a doubt,way back in the day,rode 300 miles on my XS1100 to Toronto for a family Thanksgiving dinner/weekend,the ride down was a warm sunny fall ride,very enjoyable.

We had a freak snowstorm for the ride home,it was a white knuckle ride the whole way. I've never been so cold in my life. Stopped every 30-45 minutes for coffee and to thaw out. The last gas stop was in Perth,by then the snow had changed to sleet/rain/ice pellets,I was drenched and so frozen, I knew if I got off the bike for a coffee and to warm up I wouldn't be able to get back on the bike. So I sat there in the freezing rain while the attendant filled the tank.

By then hypothermia brain fog & stupor had set in so bad, I could barely control the bike and process traffic and vehicles around me. It was a miracle I didn't crash for the last 11/2 hr ride home.

I remember sitting in a hot bath tub for hours before I felt warm again.

Bought my 1st car the next week,lol 

[kballowe]

There are so many memories.  It's hard to pick just one.

How about my top ten?  Twelve?  Fifteen ?

 

 

[Huzo]

Coming home at age 14 to see this…

[Scout63]

1982. I had just finished my first year of college in Charlottesville and was riding home to Cape Cod on my new Honda 750F. I was riding up the Skyline Drive early in the morning, loaded for the trip and running just fine. A bobcat jumped out of the woods onto the stone wall and ran alongside me for about 5 seconds then jumped back into the woods. My whole world was in balance. The memory still calms me.

[chuck peterson]

Just left girrrrrl friends house…

Steady beat of an R60….

At 2am…

Full moon on an empty road..

About 90 degrees on the hottest summer night..

Bugs splat hard on the face shield…

Reaching up I turned off the headlight…





Hook set.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Just left girrrrrl friends house…

Steady beat of an R60….

At 2am…

Full moon on an empty road..

About 90 degrees on the hottest summer night..

Bugs splat hard on the face shield…

Reaching up I turned off the headlight…





Hook set.

Yep, that would do it.  Riding at night near Gatlinburg with my girl friend on the back running in and out of the smell of vanilla is certainly one of them.
The hook was set, though, when the old man bought my older half brother a Whizzer, and I rode home on the tank. He was over the moon, and was singing "Balling the Jack.." I was thinking this was the coolest thing ever. I was 6.

[Navydad]

I've been doing this too long this is a tough question. If I have to pick one it would be the trip in 2019 after my cancer treatments and my wife finally retired. We spent five weeks on the road with no particular destination. It was October and early November so we went south from Ohio and just rode Florida and the Gulf coast. What made it memorable over the countless other adventures is that I was healthy again and she was retired as was I. A whole new phase of life which we both still enjoy.

[Joliet Jim]

Escaping from the Minnesota National Flood Rally on a washed out mud covered road with trailer attached to the back of the Stone. Actually that whole morning was surreal and one Cheryl and I will never forget.

[jrt]

So many good memories.  What really 'set' me for motorcycles though, is when my grandfather give me rides on his Honda Superhawk. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7.   "Safety gear" consisted of wearing socks with my tennis shoes and and wearing a repurposed football helmet.  We would scoot down the country roads in central Texas and that was like flying on a magic carpet. I am pretty fond of my grandfather, so that helped. 

[9fingers]

My first overnight and camping trip on my Royal Enfield 500 and going through the wilderness areas in the Catskills for the first time........exhilar ating! It was my first or end year riding road bikes, maybe 4 years ago.
Scott

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

Rode the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway in Colorado with a friend in the summer of 2017, it was great fun and a beautiful ride. Probably my most memorable because it wasn't so long ago.

[tommy2cyl]

Impossible to say which is most memorable over the last 38 years. Too many road trips with friends, and two up with the wife to choose from.  Fond memories of riding and camping on the COBDR with pals multiple times.  An experience outside of normal riding does come to mind.  I started road racing
a Triumph Thruxton in AHRMA about 15 years ago.  Never raced motorcycles before but had done a few track days on bikes.  My first race was at a track in Michigan.  First session was just trying to learn the track and get my bearings, oh, and process that two of my fellow racers in my class were Jay
Springsteen and Gary Nixon.  By the third practice session I was feeling more comfortable, getting braking points down, touching a knee in corners, feeling like a real road racing rider, a little cocky if you will.  Then, going into a corner I felt like I was starting to really have nailed, Springer went down inside of me and around that corner and gone in a heartbeat.  It was a startling, breathtaking, humbling and mesmerizing moment.  I remember talking to myself in my helmet questioning how is it possible to be THAT much faster.  It was truly a spectacular moment to have a front row seat to watch a member of the "1% Club" show a mere mortal how it is really done.  Later in the weekend when I lined up on the grid for the race,  Springer was on pole and I was behind Gary Nixon on the second row.  Gary turned around before the start and gave me a thumbs up.  So, yeah quite a moment.

[Shorty]

I guess riding a Guzzi and it hits you. You are in the zone. Perfect peace and joy. The sound of the engine, the smell of the wildflowers, or the dank fall aromas. The wind in your face, the little nip of cold at the nap of your neck in winter. Riding home on a summer night after an evening of music, cold brew and illegal smiles. Your lady's fresh washed hair whipping around as she grips you tighter. I dunno. Pick one.

[SmithSwede]

Good stuff.  The bobcat story is quite cool. 

[Huzo]

I guess riding a Guzzi and it hits you. You are in the zone. Perfect peace and joy. The sound of the engine, the smell of the wildflowers, or the dank fall aromas. The wind in your face, the little nip of cold at the nap of your neck in winter. Riding home on a summer night after an evening of music, cold brew and illegal smiles. Your lady's fresh washed hair whipping around as she grips you tighter. I dunno. Pick one.

Damn…!
THAT one is hard to beat…..

[twowheeladdict]

There are so many memories.  It's hard to pick just one.

How about my top ten?  Twelve?  Fifteen ?

 

 

 

I guess if I had to pick one experience it would be when I checked off my 48th State toured.  Started that goal in 2012 and completed in 2016. 

[Shorty]

 

Damn…!
THAT one is hard to beat…..

   

[Huzo]

     

Jeez that last phrase was well written, wish I’d have penned it….

[Shorty]

Jeez that last phrase was well written, wish I’d have penned it….

  Dude, you the man. I write about things, but you DO them... 

[Muzz]

Going to sleep on my old Matchy. Flipped in the gravel at the edge of the tar seal, I stopped on the edge of the drop and the bike sailing down,down down, landing perfectly on it's rear wheel and hitting a pine tree at the 6 foot line and landing in a heap at the foot of it.

Yup, with the aid of a family that saw it all we got it running, scrambled it up a fire break and I continued with my journey.

[Huzo]

  Dude, you the man. I write about things, but you DO them... 

Some stuff yes..
But that bit about where your girls freshly washed hair flying around on the bike, exemplifies carefree abandon with bike and girl. A wondrous union if ever there was.
Reminds of a time when the air was a bit cooler, cleaner and we were all a little less jaded.

[Perazzimx14]

1st motorcycle trip 1st time being on the BRP and resulted in my 1st big game kill.

[jrt]

1st motorcycle trip 1st time being on the BRP and resulted in my 1st big game kill.

Good submission for 'one sentence horror stories'. 

[LowRyter]

My most memorable experience is a gross story, so might move on.

It was about 25 years ago, my neighbor and coworker with Beemer Kbike invited me and my Bandit to the Beemer rally at Talimina St Park.  I got some of my first bit of sportriding in the Ozarks, running the drive, SE Ark and Hot Springs. Anyway, it was unseasonably warm, even hot.  We got back to camp on Saturday, the guys had a BBQ truck, most of the food was gone but I had what was left.  Anyway, over the night I got a bad case of food poisoning.  It was hot.  I was so sick that slept in the bathroom.

The next morning, I was feeling bad, put my gear to make the 200 mile trip home, got immediately overheated and threw up.  About the time I got on the bike to leave, the weather changed.  A frigid cold front came in, dropping temps in the 40's with 30+ mph headwind.  That was a temporary blessing for me as I was able to unbutton my jacket and get cool air which really made me feel better. 

For the 200 miles home, we stopped once for gas.  So I was sitting frozen on the bike, trying to not the throw up.  We were about an hour from home, going down I-40 when my prescription glasses broke and I lost the left lens. Luckily my right eye was far sighted, didnt stop, just kept going.

Finally getting home, I must've gotten too cold.  I was shaking uncontrollably.  Still sick.  So rather than going to bed right away, I went into the tub to warm up and then, threw up into the bath water.  After cleaning up I finally went to bed, woke up midday Monday.  I felt OK.

All in all it was still a good weekend.  I had great time riding.  I did think I might die getting home.

[Moparnut72]

I'm still thinking on this one, there were quite a few. This last one reminded me of a Saturday night in Sturgis, actually Deadwood. Got a snoot full at the Old Style. Got stopped by a cop, wanted to know where I was going since it was only a short distance he let me go. Got sick during the night. Died a thousand deaths on the way home with a pounding headache and feeling terrible. When I come up with a more pleasant experience that rates near the top I will post it, I have several.     
kk

[LowRyter]

I'm still thinking on this one, there were quite a few. This last one reminded me of a Saturday night in Sturgis, actually Deadwood. Got a snoot full at the Old Style. Got stopped by a cop, wanted to know where I was going since it was only a short distance he let me go. Got sick during the night. Died a thousand deaths on the way home with a pounding headache and feeling terrible. When I come up with a more pleasant experience that rates near the top I will post it, I have several.     
kk

Funny, we got a new pizza joint, I'm guessing a chain.  They serve "Detroit pizza".  Sorta think like Chicago style but more puffy bread.  It's pretty good hot but can't recommend the leftovers.  Anyway, the have "Old Style" on tap.  Can't get it here, can't remember having it before.  Really good beer IMO.

I'm guess it's from the same company that took over PBR, Pearl, Lone Star, etc.  Anyway, I recommend it.

[moto]

An 8-day, late September 1975 ride with my girlfriend on my clapped-out Triumph 650, from upstate New York to southeast Idaho. A hurricane (Eloise) unexpectedly moved inland over Florida and up to the Ohio valley, causing continuous rain for the first four days. No rain gear but a couple of thin, fraying, orange rain suits from a K-Mart. Many breakdowns and road side repairs. Crossing the Colorado Rockies in the snow through the half-completed Eisenhower Tunnel to find a brilliant blue sky, gold aspen and fresh snowfields on the other side. Sleeping in a fairground stable at the invitation of the Medina OH police, and in a Uhaul trailer in Utah by courtesy of the gas station attendant. Also in a tube tent in pouring rain on the first night, on a picnic table, not recommended. After arriving in Idaho, a trip to the Rocky Mountain foothills, only to get lost at night off-road in the sage brush, fording creeks, have the alternator fail, having to turn off the headlight to keep the motor running, having my girlfriend hold a flashlight beside my head to see the way, and finally navigating overland North by the stars to discover a tiny bunkhouse in which we slept together in the single sleeping bad I had thrown on the bike just in case. Wet boots frozen in the morning. This is my most memorable adventure. Interesting thread.