BMW Luxury Touring Community - Where did you get the bug to ride Motorcycles?

DaveDragon

Nov 24th, 2006, 11:30 pm

RaffyK

Nov 24th, 2006, 11:42 pm

My mother's cousin came visiting from Switzerland when i was about 5 years old. He had a Vespa that he was getting around with. gave me my first mtorcycle/scooter ride. I stood on the floor board while he rode the scooter. Been hooked ever since.

I used to save my allowance and rent mopeds and eventually motorcycles (started age 11). My parents did not know. Even had my own Bell full face helmet that I kept at the rental place.

zippy_gg

Nov 25th, 2006, 12:31 am

My dad was a professional rider, working for a radio/television station in Paris (Radio Tele Luxembourg). I remember him on the ole beemers, when they only came in one color:rolleyes: . He also had his own bike with a side car and had a second job delivering papers and magazines to stores and kiosks in Paris at the crack of dawn (actually well before the crack of dawn).
He got me my first moped, a Honda 50cc... The rest is history...:)

Randy

Nov 25th, 2006, 12:31 am

Well, I came by it naturally as it's in my blood.

My old man caught the bug when he was a kid working for the L&N in Birmingham as a message courier.

He rode a Harley between the Southwestern yard and North Eastern Train Yards about ten times a night.

This was his first motorcycle from way back in the day.
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/5082/961/320/276635/CIMG0064.jpg

His second motorcycle was issued to him in Germany, he was an MP Motor cop in the 582 MP Battalion.

When he got back from Germany and secured his job back with the L&N.

Parents go married and he bought a new Packard.

Mom got Pregnant and the old man got a wild hair one Saturday and traded the Packard in on a New Harley.

The old Lady was pissed.

http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/5082/961/320/314726/CIMG0065.jpg

All the photos here: http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/5082/961/320/314726/CIMG0065.jpgMy dad got me started when I was about 12. He would tell me about his past experiences and the bikes he really loved - an Ariel square 4 and Indian 4 among them. He began riding in the early 30s. The first bike I rode was Honda Super Cub, then graduated to a Trail 90, an S-90, CL-77 (305), an SL-350, Kawasaki H1 and finally a Kawasaki H2 when I graduated high school. I also has a series of dirt bikes among them an Ossa and a Yamaha DT-1. We spent almost every summer weekend on a dirt track between Dallas and Ft Worth where DIA Airport is now. My dad urged and encouraged me to ride, buy, fix and sell motorcycles.

My house became the place where everyone came to work on bikes, until I bought my first GTO in 1970. Then cars were the center of my life, but I always had and rode motorcycles. From the time I was able to ride legally on the street the motorcycle was an instrument of pleasure, it was means to travel rather than to arrive. I used to ride the 305 from Dallas to Austin, and was in heaven the entire time. I can't imagine how uncomfortable I would be now making that trip on that motorcycle.

Over the years I have owned a number of great bikes including several Yamaha V-Max and a couple of Honda V65 motorcycles. I had always traveled on motorcycles, but graduated to my first fully faired touring motorcycle on a 1995 Honda GoldWing. Michelle and I were married in 1995 and unlike my first wife, Michelle loved to ride and urged me to move to a touring bike. We put over 50,000 miles on that GoldWing until we sold it to buy a 1999 K1200LT in March of 1999. It was among the first K1200LT models sold in Denver. We had over 30,000 miles on that LT by the end of the second summer.

While I always had loved riding, that first LT marked a drastic change in my (our) riding. We began finding excuses for a ride. We didn't hesitate to ride 300-500 miles just for a dinner meet and made our first of many trips to Canada.

After several years as a passenger Michelle has gotten the bug as well. It is amazing to see the look in her eyes after a great day of riding and we now spend most of our winter planning on the rides we are going to take the next summer. While we usually plan a couple of rides each summer, it is not unusual for us to take off on a week long trip, after only planning it a few weeks earlier.

With Michelle going back to school, she will be unable to plan any trips until CCR next year, so I have begun planning a trip to Inuvic, YT and/or Deadhorse, AK for next June. That will represent an 8,000-10,000 mile trip on and off-road and a completely new chapter in motorcycling for me - I can hardly wait.

I guess I have it in my blood as well.

DavidTaylor

Nov 25th, 2006, 1:30 am

I'm not exactly sure, honestly. I was raised in a "as long as you live here you you will not have a motorcycle" house. But most of my friends had bikes and I would sneak rides all the time. We lived in Arkansas and there were lots of open spaces, trails and such to ride "undetected". First one was when I was about 8-9 on a Honda QA50. From that to sneaking around on a Trail 70 and an Elsinore 125 the Vaccaro boys owned (my best friends with less restrictive parents). We owned a car dealership so once I was 16 getting 4 wheels was no problem. But buddies with bikes had troubles taking dates out on their Honda and Suzuki street bikes. So I would trade them my cars for their bikes for 2-3 days at a time. All of this clandestine riding definitely got it stuck in my blood, and I finally bought my first bike (all mine, not shared with friends) in 1989. Haven't been without one (or two in man cases) ever since.

Ted

Nov 25th, 2006, 1:33 am

I grew up in Syracuse, NY and lived on top of a hill. Learned how to ride a bicycle by kindergarten, and soon enjoyed the feeling of gliding downhill without peddling. I think that's where it first started.

When I was in 5th grade, a friend in 6th grade got a mini-bike - nothing fancy - your basic 5 hp lawn mower engine type. Anyway, after my first solo ride I was hooked. Unfortunately, my parents did not share my enthusiasm! In high school a few friends had dirt bikes and would let me ride, but I had to wait until freshman year in college before I bought my 1st bike.

There's just something about twisting the throttle and feeling the power that is the same today as it was back then.

Great post subject - thanks for rekindling some great old memories!

Steve_R

Nov 25th, 2006, 8:59 am

Mine came from riding behind my cousin on his dad's early 60's "R" bike. My first scoot was a Suzuki RV-125 while stationed in Japan. Brought it home and rode it stateside for a while. Friends with multiple bikes kept me riding up until we had kids, then it was off until Rover came to the house two and a half years ago.

My cousin still has his dad's bike. He and I have talked, and one day it is coming to live with me.

rkirker

Nov 25th, 2006, 9:14 am

I road in the woods on off road bikes growing up in Ohio.

I hit 40 years old and thought I want to be a kid again !!!! :bmw: Heck I am on the down hill side :rolleyes:

So took MSF course at 40 then started street riding on the LT (first street legal bike for me, what a way to start) road a 03 Goldwing and was not comfortable.

Every time I go for a ride I am a little kid again.

Its that simple :D

SilverBuffalo

Nov 25th, 2006, 10:09 am

I was born and raised in Holland, where bicycles and mopeds were the majority of all vehicles,

When I was real young my father strapped some type of basket to the handlebars of his bicycle
and we set about on "my" first "roadtrip".
Eventually he graduated to a moped and then a small 2-stroke motorcycle.

My father was an amateur marching band musician (a very good one)
and we used to ride to events nearly every weekend
(carnivals, parades, amateur competitions etc) all over Holland and Germany.
He also had a colorful wartime history,
he escaped from a German work camp and hid out for two years working for german farmers
(their sons were all "drafted") and moving to another farm every couple of months.
Because of this he had a lot of friends and places to visit in Germany
and he always brought his first born son along.
So you might say I was a high mileage rider before I reached puberty :) :)

At sixteen I had a part time job pumping gas and one day the managers "girlfriend" crashed her Sears moped at the station,
it sat around back for a couple of weeks until one night I needed a ride home and "borrowed" it,
I rode that little 50cc moped the rest of the summer,
by the next summer I had saved enough cash to get a Suzuki 250 cc X6 hustler
which was at that time the fastest production motorcycle on the market.
I was able to do wheelies in 1st, second and third, not long before I experienced my first crash
(doing a wheelie in a drive thru restaurant parking lot when a car pulled out)
the bike and I slid by the majority of my high schools lunch crowd.
I can tell you that my road rash healed long before my ego did,
as a matter of fact, I'm still embarrassed.

Somehow I lived through my teenage years and graduated to Honda's, BSA, Triumph and eventually Harley's.
There was a time if it wasn't a Harley "it wasn't a motorcycle" and I wouldn't even look at it.
Through it all I took a couple of small engine courses and got pretty good at fixing bikes.

Then came that phone call that changed my life,
a friend who worked for a loan company pointed me to an old BMW (76 R90/6) leaning up against the back of the building behind the loan office,
I looked at it, they were asking $300, I said naah, it ain't worth it.
They called me back the next day and asked me what I would give them,
for a hundred bucks I took it home.
The next day with a car battery strapped to the luggage rack I rode it around the block.
A little paint and TLC and a month later I listed it in the paper,
the add ran for three weeks and only one guy looked at it.

So I started riding it to work, funny thing the more I rode it the better I liked it,
by the following summer the R90 was "sporting a Windjammer fairing, saddlebags and a tour pack,
I started going to BMW rallies, that was 1988
By the time I sold it I had put over 87 thousand on that bike.

Now I'm old, fat, riding BMW number six, I've got a coffee can full of rally pins,
several shoeboxes full of pictures, more stories than I can remember,
and I feel like I'm just getting started.
I can truly say motorcycles have "enrichened" my life

mwnahas

Nov 25th, 2006, 10:43 am

I don't know. I bought a motorcycle before I had a car. Cheaper than an airplane I guess. I loved flight and the motorcycle gave me almost the same feeling. You feel the machine more on a bike than a car. Its not so much the speed but the things you have to do to make it do what you want. On a bike your whole body is involved in the process. You ride in a car, but you are part of the machine on a motorcycle.

CajunBass

Nov 25th, 2006, 1:08 pm

I don't guess I ever really had a burning desire for a motorcycle. I remember my Dad saying he had one at some point. All I know is it was "An Indian with a suicide shifter." (He had a 40 Ford Coupe with a rumble seat too, my Mother told me. Her mother told her to "Stay away from that man. He's a bootlegger. :D )

A couple of my friends had bikes when we were kids. There were miles and miles of old logging trails and we could ride all over and never hit a hard surface road. I remember riding a Honda 90, and a Suzuki 118 a couple of times, and a Rupp Mini-bike with a lawn mower engine. I wiped the Rupp out on a logging road once, and hit a tree. Helmet? What's a helmet? Anyway I survived that but it was probably my last motorcycle ride for a while.

I looked at bikes a couple of times over the years, but didn't seriously think about them until last summer, when it was obvious that gas was going to go over $3.00 a gallon. I've got a long ride to work so I was looking for something inexpensive to drive to work that got good gas mileage. Somewhere along the line I remembered having looked a Honda Silverwing Scooter a couple of years before. So I went looking for one.

The local Honda dealer didn't have a Silverwing, but they had a Yamaha Majesty 400. My wife and I compared that to a couple of other bikes, and decided that was the best one for me since it had an 'automatic" transmission, some protection from the weather, and had some locking storage. I hadn't ridden a bike since the Rupp which was probably 40 or more years ago.

I went to the DMV, got my learners permit. Got a Brother from church to bring the bike home in his pickup. The first time I ever rode it was just after we got it off the truck. I was hot, and sweaty so I jumped on it, and rode to the end of the cul-de-sac in my polo shirt, dress slacks, and loafers. That was the last time I ever rode without a helmet.

I practiced the DMV course over and over and over in the church parking lot, and did some bootleg riding around the back roads, and finally got up enough courage to take the DMV test, and flunked it almost before I got started. I knew I had made a mistake, and sort of just gave up and blew off the rest of it off. Then the tester told me that I had gone over the points allowed. POINTS? You don't have to be perfect? She laughed and explained what I had to do, I came back a couple days later and passed it.

I logged 20,000 miles on that Scooter, crashed it once, and fixed it. One day I came home and told my wife, "You know. I really LIKE riding a motorcycle." She said "You just figured that out? I knew it the first time you came back from riding to the end of the street. You were grinning like a possom when you came back."

A couple of months ago, we stopped by the local Beemer dealer to get a pair of gloves, and left with a K1200LT.

So far about all the riding I've done has been commuting, but I think I'd like one of these days to just go somewhere. Anywhere. Hopefully by next spring I'll have enough time with the LT to feel confident to try riding two up.

Handlebar

Nov 25th, 2006, 1:29 pm

I was very young and there was a policeman who rode a motorcycle. One day my dad was visiting with him and I was all over that ride...lol..I then got a mini bike and rode and rode and rode and that is pretty much it. Got my endorsement soon after I got my drivers license. Had to do it on my cousins bike. Bought my first motorcycle when I was 21 and have had a motorcycle in my garage ever since. Currently own two and still love to ride..

Hbar/Don

gholt417

Nov 25th, 2006, 2:01 pm

Gawd, from reading everyone's posts, I feel like such an amateur. I only got into motorbikes just over 4 years ago when I had to go from Liverpool to Manchester everyday (40 miles) and couldn't take 20 miles of motorway congestion. The idea was to cut my up to 2 hrs each way travelling to 40 mins each way by riding a motorbike.

What have I missed???

I only work local now but I still ride to work every day no matter what the weather.

Oh, it only took my mum 3 weeks to start talking to me again once she found that I had a bike.

Graham

gulfxray

Nov 25th, 2006, 2:33 pm

Some graet stories!

Mine is no where near as exciting...

I think I caught the bug from a TV show (no one in my family rode)... 1969-71, Then Came Bronson... I used to have to plead to watch the show.

When I graduated from HS in '74, my mom asked if I wanted go with her to visit on of the ladies she works with - oh boy... They have a motorcycle they are selling... OH BOY!

It was a Honda XL175 - orange and in great condition... I had never been on a bike before (but I knew everything), but they let me ride around in the pasture while mom and her friend drank coffee....

I learned a lot on that bike riding the backroads to college - man it was fun!

Anyways, that was followed by a Yamaha 750, Kaw 750 Triple, & Yamaha 1100 -- then 20+ years of nothing... and then thanks to some of you guys, a LT 3 years ago!

ksailor

Nov 25th, 2006, 3:25 pm

Always on 2 wheels ever since I could ride down our hill; must have been around 4 or 5. Remember the old bikes with direct drive chain. No breaks - the main sproket was direct to the rear wheel. The peddles turned as fast as the rear wheel could spin. Take your feet off the peddles when it was going too fast and let-er-go.

Wanted to go faster and longer so tried to mount a lawnmower (old Briggs & Straton) engine to a bike; but that didn't work. Couldn't get the mounts right. Finally when I was 16 started riding an old Honda 50. Been on 2 wheels with an engine ever since.

SanMan

Nov 25th, 2006, 8:16 pm

With me it was my cousin. I was a city boy and he was a country boy. As we visited over the years he always had something with two wheels to ride and would let me check it out. I just always knew I was going to have a motorcycle.

Scott

hschisler

Nov 25th, 2006, 9:06 pm

I'm a real amateur: been riding since August 2005. But first, some background:

Dad wrecked a bike in high school (1940s, right before WWII). My 2 brothers (5 and 6 years older) wrecked bikes in high school (one was pretty serious). So... before I could even think of getting one my parents said "Don't even think of getting one". :(

Flash forward to my high school years (1971-75). Freshman science teacher AND his wife BOTH have BMW touring bikes (probably early K bikes). "I didn't know BMW made motorcycles..." I said. Once I heard their bikes go by I knew that was a bike I was going to own some day. It was the beemer's sound that got me hooked. Senior year in high school a friend had a tiny Honda 100cc bike. I rode that thing a few times clandestinely, on back roads. Cool.

High school graduation, military service, marriage and two kids happen. First kid graduates college and it occurs to us "Hey, why don't we have a motorcycle?" We start looking at bikes. Come home with a Honda VLX600 -- something to learn on. Took the MSF BRC the first week I had the bike. Traded the bike in after 1 month on my '05 LT. 22k miles the first year I had the LT; commute every chance I get. Rode that thing throughout the winter with the BMW short shield and an open-face helmet. There were a few days when I got to work (65 minute commute) that I couldn't talk for awhile because my face was frozen. This year: Cee Bailey #2 w/wings and a full-face helmet.

In the past year I've been to STC (tip-toed through the Dragon), BMW MOA's national rally, CCR, and hosted a couple of Tech Sessions; done a couple of large group rides w/the Harley crowd (one more tomorrow); been to a lot of BMW dealers and spent way too much money on everything we all spend our money on (bike-related). Had a couple of close calls but haven't had any significant incidents or any accidents. Met a lot of very nice people; met some... "interesting" people. It's been a blast, and like someone said earlier, every time I hit the throttle I get this big dopey grin on my face. The fact that my wife likes doing this is just icing on the cake.

bob_menton

Nov 25th, 2006, 9:57 pm

In my case. it was my wife's dad who got me started. I asked Sharon to marry me; after saying "yes", she said we'd better visit her folks so they can see that I don't have 2 heads. Got up one morning at her house, walked outside, and saw a 250 cc Harley Sprint in the garage. I asked her dad Charlie, "Whose bike"?, fully expecting him to say, "My son's", or "I'm storing it for a neighbor". Charlie said, "It's mine; want a ride"? I loved bicycle riding when I was a kid, so I said to myself, "Hey, it's a bicycle with a motor; what could be bad"? So I said "Sure"! I learned to ride on that Sprint (a Harley that any REAL Harley rider denied was a Harley). Had at least one bike ever since. Year was 1967. Had BMWs since 1972.

Great thread.

- Bob

messenger13

Nov 26th, 2006, 1:04 am

I have 4 older brothers. While growing up, they all had bikes at one time or another. I couldn't wait to be old enough to ride on the street. Rode in the dirt on my friends' bikes a lot, and the desire only grew stronger. Finally got a Honda 700 Magna in the mid-80s, and I haven't been without a street bike ever since.

Fast guitars, and fast bikes. Don't get any better than that! :)

Florian

Nov 26th, 2006, 1:08 am

bought my first bike a Kaw650 when I was 16, then it was Harleys up til now.

F

dcwchfc

Nov 26th, 2006, 5:58 am

When I was growing up a few of the older boys in the neighborhood had whizzers or cushman scooters, I thought they were 'neat'. I only got a couple of rides.
Fast forward 20 years, I'm in the army, in basic training, and one of the cadre sergeants had a Honda Dream, he rode it every day to 'road guard' the platoon as we marched everywhere. I saw that bike every day, all day, for 8 weeks.
Fast forward 15 years, now I'm 39, married, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a mortgage. I'm on my way to a sales call, pulled up to a red light, and there's a gas station with that same model Honda Dream for sale. I pulled in and bought it. Then called a riding buddy and had him drive it home for me and show me how the controls worked. I lived on a cul-de-sac, which gave me the opportunity to drive it in a circle - for almost a full year, before I went around the block.
By the next summer, I was taking my son to his boy scout meetings on the back. I took the rider safety course, and always wore boots, gloves, and helmet. One day the boys had a canoe practice, so I rode to the other side of town. On the way back, I took it up to 40mph and thought I was going to leave the ground (I had never experienced such high speeds without a windshield)
By the next summer, I was ready for a 'big ride'. I learned a neighbor rode with a friend of mine (I didn't know before that either of them were riders). We took off up along side lake michigan all the way to milwaukee, then back through the back roads.
By the time I got home it was getting dark. I pulled into the garage, and felt an exhiliration I'd never experienced. My feet never touched the ground from the garage to the house - I felt like I was walking on air.
I was playing golf a couple of times a week at the time. I decided that I would give up golf and spend my spare time on the bike.
Not long after I was on my way to a little league game, a wind came up and blew me off the road. I've not experienced such an event since, but at the time, I ended up going over the handlebars and landing on my head and shoulder. I got a ride to the game, then went back later to pick up the bike.
After a emergency room visit (I couldn't raise my arm), I was diagnosed as having a rotator cup bruise, and wore a sling for a week or so.
Then my dear sweet wife looked at me over dinner the next night (I was waiting for her to kill my idea altogether) said to me, "I've been thinking about what happened yesterday", and I thought, 'here it comes', and she said, I think you need a bigger bike.
So I got one, and then a bigger one. Rode an '83 Venture over 140,000 miles over the next 20 years
Been in all 48 lower states, a little of Canada, became a Rally Regular, BMW, AMA etc
Both kids became riders, and one still rides, the other will get back into it a little while, I'm sure.
While I still don't go to every rally I'd like to, this forum gives me the feeling that I'm sitting around a campfire, or on Charlene's couch at the Iron Horse, and listening and talking with old friends I've just met.
(While I haven't been to STC, I've been to the Iron Horse twice on my way to the Ga Mtn Rally)
Dave Wright

Lynn_Keen

Nov 26th, 2006, 9:50 am

Great thread Dave, this is fun.
Like someone else said, I came from a "There Won't be any motorcycles in this household"! I was stuck driving my dad's Studebakers, grandpa had a dealership. Mom & Dad said - You can go to college or you can buy a car, your choice. Glad I choose the latter. Anyway, always had this desire to own a bike and one summer while working to get money for next years tuition a friend stopped by on his new BSA and took me for a ride. That firmly planted the seed but unfortunately I still had no money. Fast forward a few years, out of school, married, one kid, neighbor comes home with a Honda 90. He said jump on and I'll take you around the block. So I climb on the back, he gives it full throttle and pops the clutch, does a wheelie and leaves me sitting on my butt in the yard! After we stopped laughing and regained our composure he took me for a real ride and I was hooked. Went back in the house and told the wife I wanted a bike. Of course she said no, they're too dangerous and besides we can't afford that. Well, in spite of her objections I went shopping and found a bike we could afford. It was a Yamaha 180cc twin and was lying in a pile of parts in the back corner of the dealer's shop. He said someone had tried to fix it but couldn't get it back together and brought it into the shop for them to sell. I said how much and he said $50. So we loaded all the parts into a basket and put everything in the trunk of the car, I bought a Clymer manual and proudly drove home and announced to the wife, "Come see what I bought!". Of course I probably don't have to tell you what her response was. Let's just say that it wasn't favorable! Anyway, in a couple of weeks I had the parts reassembled and fired up the sweet little bike. That was back in 1965 and I've never been without a bike since.

bowlesj

Nov 26th, 2006, 10:59 am

Well, I'd say my father did. Not so much by being pushy, but by his ingenuity and tinkering skills. He had made it to the finals of the National Soap Box derby as a young boy with a car he built himself. His last motorcycle before I came into this world was an FLH from somewhere in the 50's. He went in the Air Force and my grandmother sold the machine. Then along came me.

When I was about 5 yrs old he started building little go karts for me to play around on, powered by all kinds of strange motors. One even included an automotive starter motor. My buddies and I were in the generation of kids that kind of created the BMX style bikes by taking the banana seat Schwinns and removing fenders, changing gearing, and adding single saddles and straight bars, then go out and find a patch of dirt to race on and have a blast. So Pop then moved to 2 wheels for us kids by drawing up plans for a minibike with a wooden 2x2 frame. He put in a 3hp Briggs and Stratton. There were several kids with QA50's in the neighborhood. So, one day I took our wooden wunder out to play with them. Everyone was laughing at my ride, you know how brutal kids can be, so I challenged one of the QA kids to a race. We had a 3 1/2 hp motor by then. I smoked the QA kid but couldn't get stopped, and ran into a shrub to stop. The throttle was stuck open and I got shocked about 3 times trying to kill the engine with the plug ground strap. That was the start of love for motorized 2 wheeled fun for me.

After turning 18 I rode progressively more aggressive on the street, took a 10 year tour of serious roadracing, then when the money ran out, returned a bit more sedately to street riding. Meantime my dad went through a Moto-Beta, Honda 305 scrambler, Yamaha 90 Scooter, and a CB350.

I have always enjoyed the intangible, and hard to describe to non-riders, feeling of being in the scenery rather than just viewing the scenery. The aroma of a well tended fireplace still makes me smile while heading down the road.

My father has a nerve problem that causes his legs to kick out uncontrollably and can no longer ride, so my wife and I are trying to save real hard to buy him a 3 wheeler to play with. I think he would really enjoy tinkering with a Ural, and I'd love to see the look on his face while riding again. In the mean time he stays busy with that old CB350 and one of my old race bikes, an EX500. He just takes 'em apart, keeps 'em lubed up and rust free, and runs 'em every now and then.

jzeiler

Nov 26th, 2006, 11:14 am

I remember my Dad scaring the badoobies out of me on the back of an old, borrowed Triumph in some twisties above our house when I was 8 years old. Later that year he bought me a 20” bike with a 2-stroke motor on it. I was allowed to peddle it to the school yard, and then fire up the engine. I don’t think I ever did; wait that is, as soon as I was out of earshot - Varoom! I never looked back. Graduated to a ’57 Vespa 125 in Jr High used extensively to trail ride and hill climb as I couldn’t drive it on the roads legally. Once I had a driver’s license I shifted to cages.

After a five year hiatus it was back on a Honda 350, after that was stolen I was going to get a Honda 450 - 4 to fix up when my bride of 4 years said, “Why don’t you just go but a new bike?” I did and it was a 74 Suzuki GT-750. Continued dirt riding on a Suzuki TS-400, and then dabbled with some Kawasaki H2’s (too fast for my blood) then a Yamaha 360 Enduro. Following the loss (thieves again after 10 years) of the GT-750, I got my first BMW, a 78 R80. She served me well for several years and then we parted ways in DC (sold not stolen) before I went to Guam.

Arrived in Alabama in 94 and found a 76 GT-750 in Colorado, just had to have it and still do. I didn’t ride it much until a trip to the smokies with some Huntsville friends re-awakened my desire to ride (it must be something in the air up there). I began fixing up the old girl when my bride of 35 years said once again, “Why don’t you just go buy a new bike?” That is what led to the LT and many more trips to the smokies.

JCabranes

Nov 26th, 2006, 12:32 pm

I don't have nearly the colorfull history on bikes that some of you do. But here goes anyway. In 1988 I took a cruise to Bermuda. In Bermuda the favored method of transportation is the motorscooter so I rented one and toured the island. I was about 27 or 28 at the time and had never ridden a scooter and just loved it (inspite of the fact that they drive on the left and I almost got myself killed making a right turn into oncomming traffic). By the time I got back to L.A. I had the bug... just had to get a motorcycle. I knew nothing about motorcycles but went out and bought a Honda CB750. Didn't even know how to shift the thing (learned that by asking the salesperson then doing it on the fly). Hit a patch of sand making a left about 1/2 mile from the dealer and wound up sliding on my ass through the intersection. First lesson learned. Had a few more close calls (learned lessons 2-5 without being maimed) and decided to sell the bike before I killed myself. I'd never heard of an MSF course back then. The bug never went away... I went to Law School in Wisconsin and lo and behold there were all of these Harleys all over the place. I started getting the fever again (still hadn't heard of the MSF course) but this time couldn't afford one. Harley's 95th Anniversary came and went and I was going a little nuts but still no bike. Got married in 2000 and had other priorities so still no bike. In 2003 during Harley's 100th I told my wife I was going to buy a bike... she said ok on two conditions. First, I had to take an MSF course (she apparently had heard of it) which our local Harley dealer offered. Second, I had to buy her her own bike. We took the course got our endorsements and bought our bikes. Since I had two bikes to buy and I was on a budget I bought myself an 04 Sportster which I loved... but at 6'1 close to 300lbs I was a tad cramped on the bike. Towards the end of the 04 riding season I sold the Sporty and bought a used 96 Ultra Classic. Much more comfy but mechanically unreliable. In 05 just before what later turned out to be a 5K motorcycle trip from Wisconsin to Vegas I decided I couldn't trust the bike so I traded it on a 05 Ultra. Wonderful bike, I put 17k on it in less than a year without a hiccup. Took another long trip this last spring and my wife decided that on these long trips she would rather snooze than drive so she suggested that we move down to 1 bike (and she didn't want it to be the Ultra because she wasn't comfortable on it). We were all set to buy a GW but on a lark decided to go to Beaver Dam and check out a BMW. The owner of the dealership gave me the keys pointed me in the direction of some nice roads and told me to have fun. Made the deal on the 05 LT as soon as the test ride ended (btw my wife likes the LT too and insists that I let her drive - a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs). Work and weather (and a slave cylinder) limited me to 5k on the LT this year... hopefully many more to come.

dglenn1

Nov 26th, 2006, 3:08 pm

I'm going to be lazy and refer to a previous post:

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=117897&postcount=2

myk_edwards

Nov 26th, 2006, 5:19 pm

I blame my Father, he used to ride an Ariel square 4, it was military issue, and I can remeber him coming home on it. As a quartermaster, he could lay his hands on anything he liked, and he liked the bike, so kind of used it as his personal transport.
10 years later and he has a Greaves 250 sports (his own), which he rides off road, and I'm now 13 years old. Dad lets me play and I get to ride round on it quite a bit. I'm now 16, and old eneough to ride on the road, and Mum buys me a Yamaha FS1E - in yellow ! Wow! so cool to be on the road, but just no guts compared to the Greaves. 1 year later and I have a Honda CB125, now this is a little quicker, but still nothing like the Greaves... "Dad, can we get the greave registered for the road? It's way better than this Jap Crap" "No son, I'm selling it".......Ahhhhhhh!
Oh well, guess I'll have to buy the Susuki 250 Ram Air... "Mum! can I have some money please? I want a new bike" "OK...." and this is how it went on until I was 19, Mum would buy me a new bike, or at least new to me. I joined the RAF when I was 20 and started buying my own bikes, and have been riding ever since. Mum is with me all the time I'm riding my bike, and it's thanks to her I'm a biker, because she funded my early biker days, even though I got the bug from dad.

Sadly, I have a handicapped son, who will never ride, But I am pround to be a step-grandad to a 15 month old, who appears to like my bike, so when he's big enough, I'll take him for a spin, and maybe buy him his first bike if his Mum and Dad will let me.

BamaLT

Nov 26th, 2006, 10:20 pm

Good thread Dave..Well here goes… you know I got a story to tell!

Well in my teenage years, I had a paper route and a bicycle… I wanted what the other guys had…Cushman Eagles…but my parents with four boys couldn’t afford that for me and my part time job wasn’t enough…

A few years later my father started his own business, I was a junior in high school and his labor force was ….the four boys…. surely no motorcycle now… had to work and no extra money…then off to college and then … started my own business at the age of 22., married at 24…child at age 27, had to take over may father’s business at age 36…from age 27 to 36 I purchased a couple bikes…still had the desire to ride.. a Honda 750…chopped it…that was cool.. then Honda 1100 custom., but being in the funeral home business was a 24/7/365 job and commitment…the bikes usually just sat there…no time….

In 1995, I had a sudden illness that stopped in my tracks for 14 months…By this time I had personnel in place to carry on the business and I began to think (I had plenty of sit at home time). When my wife would drive me to the doctor … We would see a motorcycle rider and I would say…someday I going to be able to do that… That was one of my goals…

In 2000, I set a plan in action to transfer my business to my employees, I tried that plan for three years with the business, then I started to transfer stock to my faithful employees in 2004.. one guy has been with me for 28 years, the other for 18 years… In late 2000, I purchased a LT….crazy it seems…had not ridden in years…but I wanted a touring bike…In 2001 my brother and I took a month long vacation (part of the plan), we did the Blue Ridge Parkway and just kept going…to Nova Scotia and return…

In 2002, I traded and got another LT, this one the E with everything on it… (didn’t know about farkles then)… still got that Mauve beauty…

Also during 2002, a major change…. I discover the LT forum and took one of the RTM/E weekends in Natchitoches LA… I was hooked… then CCR in Gatlinburg and I met more and more folks in the LT forum and the friendships began.

My plan is paying off now…while I am still involved with the business, the transition is working… The plan has afforded me the opportunity to ride to all but seven states in USA…I now have the LT and a 1200GS and still got my 1150 GS.

“It was the bike that got us together, but the friendships keeps us together”

Ted Shred

Nov 27th, 2006, 3:48 am

when i was 10 years old I bought a mini bike for 25 bucks. It had a Briggs and Stratton mower engine 5hp. That was it for me !! When I was 17 a buddy had a Honda single 250cc and that was my first ride on a real motorcycle. I was really hooked then. When I moved out of Mom's house at 20 the 1st thing I bought was a 1992 CB 750...

Daman858

Nov 27th, 2006, 5:06 am

I was home on leave from the army and my friend let me ride his Honda Super 90. It was all over, I was hooked............

varoom

Nov 27th, 2006, 7:42 pm

Had a bud whose dad ran a Western Auto (the only local one) - we used to take turns on this little mini-bike in the middle of a dry creek-bed. Single gear, red in color, just sit and spin that thing on the right ;).

After that, I guess I was 7 or 8, Evel Knievel jumped something in Las Vegas and then failed trying to get over Snake River. Seems like I had to sit through HOURS of ice skating waiting for the jump! To this day I HATE ice skating :D. Anyway, I was hooked - mowed lawns for ten bucks a pop and bought a used Yamaha 80 for $300 as soon as I saved up the money.

My first moto-memory is laying on my butt :eek:! My first wheelie ended up me watching my perfectly perpendicular bike riding away while I laid on the grass and watched. End result was grass strains on the tail light - was a wonder I didn't flip it backwards! Managed to ride that little 80 for a few years before I took a turn too wide and rammed my toes (and the jumpstart) a bit hard. Bike was toast after that - waited a while (I had to save some more moola) and got a Suzuki GS650G that I rode for hell, I reckon 8 years. Finally sold the 650 when I got stationed in Panama...

Evel Knievel was an inspriration to me - thank gawd I had sane heroes ;).

cfell

Nov 27th, 2006, 9:57 pm

When I was 10.. with my cousin and his Sears Scooter... Allstate I think.. then when I was 12 a friend of my Pop said I could ride the MC in his barn if I could get it started. It was an Army issue HD that belonged to his dad... well, I got it running and rode it all over the local sugar cane fields.. then moved up through a Sportster and some Jap bikes for "dirt riding"... then came street riding and on and on...

Now I finally own a real motorcycle.

Looking back, each was a stepping stone.. moving through life... and each has a place in my heart.. funny how we connect with inanimate objects, isn't it..

Bruce_N

Nov 28th, 2006, 8:37 am

Grew up in upstate NY, parents said NO motorcycle. So I bought it anyway, 125 Rickman dirt bike, I think I was 14. All my friends had dirt bikes, we tore up the woods and each other. Had a couple other dirt bikes, Bultaco, CanAm 400 (man-killer!!). Bought my first road bike at 16, a 1969 Triumph TR6. Still have it, finished restoring it a couple years ago. Had a bunch of bikes over the years, Norton 750, BMW R90S, couple of Honda crotch rockets. Now I have a Triumph Sprint for commuting to work and the LT for traveling.

RiderRay

Nov 28th, 2006, 10:06 am

My best friends parents both rode for most of their lives. I just learned to love it from them. BTW, he just turned 89 and still riding with a club in Vermont.

TandemCyclist

Nov 28th, 2006, 10:34 am

This has been the best thread. Everyone is happy.

Cushman in the mid 60s because a friend needed a partner with $20. Strayed Flying lessons.

CZ390 in the military because friends were riding motocross. Strayed bought an airplane.

Yamaha 250 because coworkers were riding in the woods. Strayed built an airplane.

BMW K100 because coworkers said it was good stress relief from our air traffic control jobs. Strayed because we all started hang gliding for stress relief.

Moto Guzzi V11 because I busted my shoulder hang gliding. Strayed because Vicki and I bought a sailplane.

LT because Vicki got tired of following the RV in a car and the LT would fit on the back of the truck.

So I've actually gotten into MCs several times for different reasons. But through all of this I have managed to put 8-12 thousand miles a year on 2 wheels. Should pass 400,000 miles on a bicycle next year.