1962..... made my own out of a Schwinn Panther bicycle, a Briggs & Stratton tiller engine, and Whizzer rear drive pulley. After welding the mount plate for the engine, the front wheel wouldn't fit so I substituted a go cart wheel on the front. Should have done a little study on steering geometry first!!!!
Moved up to an S50 and it's been on ever since!
How many years have you been riding a motorcycle?
Bought a 65 CL 77 in 1972 right before I got out of pharmacy school. Had to borrow $300 from my dad, who was very anti- motorcycle. Made me sign a 6 month note ( he was a small town banker.) I was the 7th owner of the CL and it had been thoroughly thrashed. I remember going down US 41, laying down on the tank, throttle wide open, and looking to my left to see an Indiana State Trooper right beside me. He looked at me and went on down the road. The speedo was non-working, so I had no idea how fast it would go. One of my friends was following me, and when we stopped, I asked him how fast I was going when the trooper passed us. 'Bout 50 was his reply. I dont really miss that one
Been about 12 or 14 bikes since, with a little dry spell of about 8 years in there where I sold a water buffalo to make a down payment on a house. ( I sure miss that one. It was a real nice bike.) Mikeyrx "a free motorcycle is a bottomless hole intended solely for money"
66 CB 77 76 BMW R75/6 99 GL 1500 trike 75 & 79 XS 650's
first rideI started riding in '58 or '59 on 50cc Moto Guzzi Hispanias an old Guzzi mechanic managed to keep running for rentals. His shop was out on the edge of town (Madrid, my dad was in the Air Force) and we'd ride them out on the campo outside town, chase sheep, run from rock-throwing shepherds. A carton of Winstons ($1.50 at the px) would rent a bike for most of the day. The bikes looked similar to attached pic, only stripped of everything non-essential like fenders, lights, front brakes, kick starters. No working first gear on any of them. Note the gear shift lever on right side of tank.
Got an Allstate Moped in '61 for commuting to class at UT, then fell in love with and bought my "305" in '63 from a friend. Later bikes were a '76 CB360, which I didn't really appreciate, and later a used '72 Moto Guzzi Eldorado which was a great road bike but too clunky for around town so I sold it. There was also a friend's '82 XL250r dirt bike I "boarded" and rode for a while in the mid-80's 'til he got PO'd at me for letting my brother-in-law ride it and took it back. After about a 20-year hiatius from riding I dragged the old Super Hawk out of hibernation in '08 and resurrected it as chronicled in great detail here on the forum. Love all over again. Here's a coda, my friend with the XL250r was so inspired by my efforts that he got that bike running again. He's better than me at taking care of his stuff so it didn't take much. Then, unfortunately, he had a stroke (he's my opposite, a clean-living 59-year-old vegetarian Christian, go figure). He recovering as well as can be expected but probably won't be riding anytime soon if ever, so I'm once again fostering his bike, will probably either buy it from him or sell it for him at some point. In the meantime I replaced the rotten rear tire and empty battery and have been having some fun with it. Keep telling myself I really need a dirt bike. Full circle, as it were, if I just had some sheep to chase. So happy to be able to post pics again, thanks to the unseen hand that fixed the problem. --Lee
'62 CB77. "It's a rider."
I got my first minibike when I was 8. My dad bought it at an auto parts store, and me and my two brothers shared it. It was at the welders a lot, broken bars, broken frame etc. By age 11, I saved enough money from my paper route, and mowing lawns, to buy a a used SL100. What a dream ride that was after the minibike! At 15 1/2, I bought a CB400F, and was able to ride it everywhere with my learners pemit. I also had a 78 YZ250 monoshock. At 17, I went to work at the local Harley Davidson dealer. I pulled the 400 four into the shop on my first day at work, and was promptly asked to remove that F'in rice burner from the shop, and yes they were serious! 6 months later I was the proud owner of a 1976 FX 1200, bicentennial edition. I had that pig for about 6 years, and ended up trading it for a Toyota 4X4 pick-up. Since then I have owned more than 100 bikes, none of them a Harley! I currently have way too many bikes, 2 Z50s, a CT70H, a S90, 5 CB77s, 3 CL77s, 3 CL72s, a DL1000, a YZ250F, a TTR125LE, a XR650R, and a recently aquired Greeves that's a real POS. I'm 48, and just can't get enough of these old Hondas, and new dirt bikes!
davomoto
what and when...This is fun to remember.
First bike at age 15 (1970); Honda 160 Scrambler, blue. Loaned to a friend whilst I drove his car and he smashed it up for me (fortunately, lawsuit craziness hadn't swept the nation yet). 1974 I picked up a Honda CB 750 Four with a fairing to match for 600 dollars. Absolutley loved that bike. That got stolen a year later. Then I got married....now the kids are grown and gone (but not far!) Some 30 years later a friend "forced" me to ride his HD FLHT. Uh oh... Then last year I picked up this 305 Scrambler and it's easier and just as much fun a ride as the touring bike. HA! Nice to think about this! My first bike was a 1966 Blue Honda 50 that I shared with my older brother,we bought brand new--sold a go cart and boat motor to help pay for it, $249 and no sales tax then. I was 11 and he must have been 14.
We rode it in the fields until he got his license, then he took it on the road sometimes, but I still had it in the fields. He graduated to a Bridgestone 90 so I had the 50 to myself. After a couple years I got a B lack CA95, still for the fields. When I turned 16 I bought a 1963 Superhawk from the kids down the street. Metal flake purple, high bars and a big sissy bar. I was the king of the road! I had that a year or two and it seized up on the way back from the motocross races in Unadilla Valley NY. I needed transportation so looked for a bike. I looked at a great BSA 650, and a new 250 Jawa. My grandfather was loaning me some money, and said he would help me with the Jawa, but not with the BSA because "you will kill yourself on that damn thing". So I got the Jawa. Never really figured out what caused the Hawk to seize. After the Jawa I had a Hodaka dirt bike, some 650 Yamahas and an SR500 Yamaha. Got out of bikes shortly after the first kid was born then got back into them about 5 years ago. Now have 14 vintage bikes, and do moto giros and vintage roadracing. It's a disease! In my collection I have reaquired a blue honda 50, black CA160 (close enough to the ca95) and now the superhawk (gonna paint it purple!). All I need is that 250 Jawa!
I got my first bike, a 1957 James Captain -- Villiers 197cc -- at 15 in 1970. I stripped it and repainted it metallic orange (in tribute to my true desire -- a '69 Honda CB250!), ready for riding legally on March 2 1971. I passed my test in May of that year and bought my first CB77 the day after; pic re-posted.
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