Motorcycle memories from childhood

[faffi]

My obsession with motorcycles began when I got a wind-up toy the day I turned two. The first brand name I learned was Suzuki, followed by Tempo - a neighbour had a Suzuki AC50, and later a cousin got a Tempo 50 with a double saddle. It would take several years before I learned the first model designation, which was when the neighbour upgraded from the AC to a T500, but I am not sure if it was a 1967 /Five or a 1968 Cobra. Another couple of bikes that made big impressions on little me was the Honda CB750K (the rider had a full face helmet, the first of those I saw) and the Yamaha R5 350.

The most popular, or should I say common, motorized two-wheeler in the 60s and 70s was the locally (Sandnes, Norway) Tempo Corvette, a 50cc moped featuring a Sachs two-stroke engine. However, from the late 60s, more and more Japanese motorcycles began flooding the country. When I first began riding in 1980, age 16, I first got a Suzuki A100, but it was very unreliable after being hammered for 6 years by various teenagers, so I bought a new Honda CB100. I never gelled with the sound of two-strokes, nor the smoke they produced or the lack of engine braking, so getting the Honda was fantastic.

From the age of 16 until 18, you could ride a moped with no training. These where limited to 50cc and 2.5 hp and a single seat. Top speed was restricted to 50 kph (31 mph), but quite a few tuned their mopeds. The Suzuki AC50 and Kreidler 50 could both be made to go double of the legal speed. With a license for lightweight motorcycles, you could ride up to 100cc and 7 hp, limited to a top speed of 80kph (50 mph), but again many bored them out to 125cc and removed the restrictions. If you got caught with a tuned moped or lightweight bike, it cost a lot of money. The police used to be present outside various schools with a rolling road they used to check that bikes would not go too fast. I was dependant on my bike for transportation and kept mine stock and restricted.

Back to the AC50 and my neighbour. He was a speedway racer as well, and used to tuning, and his AC was tuned to within an inch of his life. He was obsessed of getting it up to IIRC 61 kph in, I believe first gear, but while it would do 60 kph, every time he went past the crank broke. He went through a lot of cranks, but not one survived going past 60 kph (37 mph). He would also sit for a half mile at a time, in first gear, on his T500 trying to get it to an indicated 105 kph / 65 mph. He never quite made it, but the engine held up. Redline was 7000 rpm, an actual 105 kph would require 11,600 rpm. How much of this was bragging and how much was honest, I cannot say. But I, and several other kids, did witness him repeatedly sit for half a mile with the throttle pinned in first gear, apparently with no ill effect to the engine.

 

[TOMB]

My father was a motorcycle cop and the early 50s, and the police department in Meriden Connecticut, the Dept.had a couple of 3 wheel harleys with the box on the back to do meter money collection. And he was allowed to bring  the bike, not the money it home every night. And since we lived on a farm that a very long driveway, I would meet him at the end of the driveway and get a ride on the motorcycle. Sitting between my father and the tank and we would drive it home, that was my first exposure. I still have a picture of it. Someplace, but I'm still into motorcycles. Many, many years later.

TOMB

[snobear]

We grew up on the farm, dad bought us a Suzuki TC90 I think it was a 1970 model.
It was a two range bike and the rule was kids you need to leave it in low range till you learn to ride better.  Of course once we were out of hearing range it was quickly shifted to high range.
Once of the first modifications was to take off all those turn signals so it was more like a dirt bike.  Good times and what started a lifelong love of motorcycles.  Thanks Dad!!!

[JJ]

My first "SOLO" ride on two wheels, at age 12, was on a TACO 22 Mini-bike, just like this one.





It belonged to my cousin's friend in Beacon, NY.  We rode it around and around his house on Route 9 on the lawn.  After that, at age 14, I got my very first motorcycle a used 1965 Yamaha YG1-K, two-stroke, 4-speed, 80cc Rotary Jet.





The rest, as they say, is history...

[Shorty]

My neighbor had a beautiful Knucklehead. My friends older brother also had one. Hearing those things run was magic. Neighbor on the other side had a CL450 Honda. My mom had a little Benelli, and my dad had a CZ Jawa. I never had a chance...

[Dukedesmo]

My Father only ever had bikes before meeting my Mother and his Father never drove a car but had a sidecar combo when my Dad was young for family outings (as my Dad was an only child it worked for them).


When he and my Mother met, she had a car so he carried on with bikes for his own transport but they could go out in the car.


He was into bike racing, his last race bike being a Norton 500 Manx but after a crash which left him bandaged/plastered/limping etc. he was 'persuaded' by my Mother's parents to give up bikes.


At which point he got a car and never had another bike but after he bought me my first (and second) bike he would sometimes sneak them out for a ride.


I was always into 2 wheels with bicycles from pretty much when I could walk. My first ride on a motorbike was as pillion on my Grandad's Honda C70 that he bought in his retirement and my first go at riding was at around 10/11 yrs old on a similar (but much crashed) Honda Cub that a few friends owned, around a local field track.


Got my first bike in the late '70's at age 15 and always had at least one since and, although I find myself riding less (and slower) these days, I intend to keep going as long as I'm enjoying it and health allows.

[RinkRat II]

   I was 4 or 5 years old and our neighbors garage caught on fire and as most people did back then, all the neighbors watched from a safe distance.
  When all the excitement was about over one of the neighbor ladies came over to me and gave me a rubber Cop on a motorcycle. Scarred me for life!!
     



   Wasn't till I was 12 did i get a Byrd mini bike and haven't been without a motorcycle since. I blame Mrs. Van der Brock.

     Paul B 

[faffi]

Thanks for sharing your stories - hope more will chime in with theirs!

[Huzo]

Over the journey like most guys, I’ve had ordinary bikes, nice bikes and fabulous bikes, from crappy XJ900 Yamahas to MV Agusta F4’s and the like. My current Norge is the longest and most treasured of any of them…
But.
No motorcycle has taken me overnight from what I had when I went to bed, to what I had by lunchtime the following day like this one at age 14.


Later in the journey, I could set my sights on something and with enough time, I could make it happen, I had a Moto Martin CBX in my sights at one point and it was achieveable, as was a Mc Intosh Suzuki GSX 1100 which again I could have risen to, but nothing compared to the inconceivable moment that my Honda SL70 appeared with a list of demands from Dad, that read like the Dead Sea scrolls…

It was not possible to imagine having such a bike, we were a working class family and it was a big stretch for Mum and Dad to make this happen.

But just after dawn on a Saturday morning, I would be out of bed, a couple of rounds of Vegemite sandwiches, one dollar on the bench for me to top up the bike and with a full tank of two stroke fuel pinched from our  motor mower, it was off for the day into the forest.
I can still recall the smell of mud burning on the motor and the familiar burble of the engine, with the freezing morning air and musty smell of the damp pine forest, luring me away to a place where I could not have reached without the bike…

Nothing’s changed.

Back then it was Magpie State Forest, later it became Nordkapp and Eastern Europe, the thrill is the same but the memory is burned deeper than any that have come along since. I’m sure there is a link that exists between journeying over the horizon to make new discoveries that lure you towards them, but they do not hold the same appeal unless you get there on a bike.
Those early memories do not remind me of my early life…
They are my early life

[faffi]

I think my proudest moment was when I rode my brand new CB100 home from the dealer in pouring rain. I felt like I was on top of the world. No other motorcycle have come close to that sensation for me.

[jcctx]

When we moved off the farm in'56 I had to sell my little mare. Bought a used Allstate (Cushman Highlander). Missed my mare but the scoot was great for a 13 YO!!!!

[JJ]

   I was 4 or 5 years old and our neighbors garage caught on fire and as most people did back then, all the neighbors watched from a safe distance.
  When all the excitement was about over one of the neighbor ladies came over to me and gave me a rubber Cop on a motorcycle. Scarred me for life!!
     



   Wasn't till I was 12 did i get a Byrd mini bike and haven't been without a motorcycle since. I blame Mrs. Van der Brock.

     Paul B 

That blue toy motorcycle was made by the Auburn Rubber Company and they are very collectible today...

[bad Chad]

13 years old, on the back seat of Dad's 78 R100/7,  somewhere in the Rockies.  We camped as much as possible, left Chicago for a rather grand tour into Idaho, Cal, Utah and much more.  It was a fantastic trip for us both, I got along pretty well with my Dad, I was a lucky kid!

[Bulldog9]

My obsession started when an Uncle brought a little Honda Trail 50 in the trunk of his car at a 4th of July family gathering.......... . I was 8-9 years old. Hooked ever since.

But I also have a memory of one of my dads (or moms...lol) friends coming over on one of those 1970's Harley Sportsters. Don't remember much, but it sitting idling in the driveway and going for a ride. Another memory was my grandfather talking about his years as a MC Cop in NYC back in the early 50's. He got taken out by a car, so MC's were verboten in our house, and I kept my motorcycles at friends houses till I was in college. I remember my sophomore or junior year of college. I was planning on going home for some family event and couldn't because my car was broken down. It was a 4 hour drive. I hoped to catch a ride or convince a friend to come to the Promised Land (Long Island) for the weekend, but it looked unlikely. While on the phone telling my mom, breaking the bad news (not easy with an Irish Italian Catholic mother) I said that I would 'take the bike' she says "You can't ride your bicycle, it is a 4 hour car ride....... (insert stereotypical NY accent tyrade)..... I slipped and said "No, I'll take my Motor.............. ..........cycle.... ............." She flips out and starts yelling and saying "You bought a motorcycle while you were at college????!!!!????"

I then awkwardly had to tell her that I had not bought a motorcycle while at college, but had bought it at home the summer before and rode it to campus, and then the whole story of riding and owning a MC of some type since I was 10, but hiding them at a friends house. She immediately got off the phone and called my buddies mother and yelled at her for 1/2 an hour........... And the next day she tracked him down (he ended up being a local mechanic and has owned his own shop for years) and she yelled at him and gave him the 3rd degree..... LOL............ Still friends with this guy and we often talk about that experience.

Needless to say, I didn't go home until the summer semester........... ..... Crazy that I still have that Motorcycle......... ... It's now enshrined as a piece of furniture....

[MikeP996]

My father was totally anti-motorcycle - considered anyone who rode them to be a hoodlum/drug pusher/user.  So I had NO childhood exposure to motorcycles, even as a passenger.  First one I was ever on was a 50cc Honda which I rode while stationed overseas with the US Army!  I thought it was fabulous and vowed to buy a motorcycle when I returned to the USA.  Owned them ever since.  Fortunately my wife likes them as well so buying one whenever is not an issue - she has several herself. 

FWIW, I read a post by a guy a few years ago who claimed that his wife doesn't like motorcycles and refuses to "allow" him to own more than one or to buy a new one.  So he SAYS he buys a new one every few years but always a black one so his wife never knows the difference!  My wife says there is NO woman that stupid. ;)

[faffi]

My dad was not really interested in motorcycles, although he did a tour around Europe on a Matchless 250 after WW2. Also, my grandfather on my mothers side (her dad) also rode a bit when he was young, and owned a Henderson at one stage, but when I was old enough to have meaningful conversations with him - he was not good with children - he had lost interest in motorized vehicles. A bit strange, since he had his own car workshop most of his adult life. Or maybe not strange at all - he may have had an overdose.

My son before his first ride with me (gingerly around the block). He was about 20 months. The summer he was 3 yo and onwards, he had full leathers, including motorcycle boots and gloves. A year later, age 4, we bought him a Rossi replica helmet, which he still has 26 years later.

[MikeP996]

Faffi's post (#15) made me recall this...

My niece, Heather (now early 30's),  loves motorcycles.  She had no interaction with them as a kid growing up BUT... when her mom (my wife's sister) was 8 months pregnant with Heather and they were visiting us in NY, she asked me to take her out on the back of my Ducati 916 and "do the ton."  She had never been on a motorcycle and wanted the experience.  Her husband was aghast at the request but off we went.

She (and I) are convinced that Heather's love of motorcycles came from her ride (in the womb) on the back of that 916!  Her older sister thinks motorcycles are stupid!

[hauto]

When I was a very young preschooler I would guess. Our old Italian next door neighbor took me for a ride( with my moms blessings) on his Vespa scooter to the neighborhood bar. To me it felt like I was halfway to the other side of the country. In regality it was about a half mile. Anyway, my love for both motorcycles and my destination have not ended. Oh yeah, I'm sure I had a soda.