Tell us about your biking history

[SSS]

Well, as im kinda new around here, i had a look to see if any threads about how everyone got onto motorcycling in the first place and how you got 'here'. Couldnt find any so heres my potted history from the start.

When i was 9, my dad had a Honda XL 175, and my sister got a pony, so my dad bought me a Puch Magnum X schoolboy scrambler. We used to go around local trails, forests and fields together (my dad never passed his test and you could ride up to 250cc on L plates).
My dad sold his bike around 1982 when the 125 laws came in, and i sold mine because we couldnt ride together and wanted to learn to ride horses. The motorbike was sold to pay for a pony!!

Fast forward to age 16.... boom.. moped. I got a Honda MT50. Used to ride it to school and EVERYWHERE-my mates had TS50s, AR50s, DT50s and Fizzies. Ah those were the days.
17... Boom ...MT50 ... bye bye, got a Honda MTX125. Passed my test within 2 months of turning 17, and used the 125 for about a year. Mates had KMX125, DT125, TZR125 etc at the time

Wanted a bigger bike, and since i had a 125, and my dad didnt have a bike (cos he never passed his bike test), the deal was he would buy me a bigger bike and pay the insurance.
Deal struck
Got a Honda CB250N Superdream....(stop laughing at the back) in fact i actually had 3 in succession. White first (broke), silver one (got stolen) and then a black one.
My mates at the time had Honda CX500 and a Suzuki GS650GT. My mate who had the GS650 wanted to buy a Kawa Z1300 - but the bike shop wouldnt take his GS in for trade in. But they would accept my black Superdream. So we swapped. I was now the proud owner of a GS650GT (as he was of the Z1300)
I had been working since i was 16 after leaving school, but decided to jack it in and go off to Uni. The bike had to go as I couldnt afford to keep/run it (as did my car - Vauxhall Astra mk1 GTE - god i loved that car). But dad still had the MTX125, and still got to use it whilst being a skint student!!

Back working, and the 400 fad was coming online, 400s imported from Japan to the UK. Got myself a VFR400R and kept that for a few years and traded it up for a Kawasaki ZX6R (J1). It was fast, but not in the same handling league as the VFR400. I still regret trading the VFR400 in to this day.
Sold the ZX6R few years later to help pay for a house deposit. But still kept biking as my dad had a Honda XL125 now, and still got to use it when the mood took me!.

Roll on early 2010s, and still regretting selling the VFR400, saw an RVF400 for sale. Bought it and had it ever since. Didnt want to use the RVF all the time so picked up a GPZ500 for commuting and fun (but dry weather only!! In the wet one cylinder cut out - youd get home but not a nice feeling so had to keep an eye on the weather.)
Sold the GPZ as had enough of it, and bought the Thundercat. So thats what i have today in the stable.

Bikes nearly bought (by that i mean test ridden with view to actually buying) - in no particular order GPX600, Kawa Z650, NS400R, VFR800 and CBR600RR. For whatever reason, i didnt buy them. Im not tall by any stretch so have to watch my bikes for size/fit (i remember sitting on a CBR900 Urban Tiger a mate had - i couldnt safely stretch over the tank!!! Torso and arms too short to the handlebars )

Biggest regret bike sale/trade in - VFR400R

Always interested to hear others motorcycling 'journeys'...

[Demannu]

Pfffffffftttttttt
Some on here have had more bikes than that in a week!

Welcome to the bear pit

[tricol]

Mine is fairly short and boring. Needed some transport for freedom and working in 2001 when I was at Tech (college). Always loved bikes, motor and human powered, and I used to pop into my local Yamaha dealer to nosy at bikes, probably every few weeks. Finally got myself two wheels as I could do it on my provisional licence. So, got myself a nice Yamaha Aerox 50cc scooter. Really wanted the 100cc version, but too expensive. Rode that for a couple of years and then fancied something more powerful. I messed about on a few mates bikes, DT125's, scooters, and even a nice de-restricted Cagiva Planet. Got an MBK Thunder 125cc scooter, which was basically a Yamaha Maxster with different badges. Ennjoyed that for another couple of years. Mostly commuting to work and back everyday and every weather, and the odd blast about the local b-roads. Finally started to consider getting my licence around 2005 or so so started lessons. In the middle of winter. Dragged on a bit and then I passed my driving test. My late grandad worked for Ford and he got me a great discount on a new Fiesta, so I ended up buying that. It was the thought of more winters in a nice warm car that lured me over. Anyway, shortly before I'd bought the car I had my motorbike test booked and put £99 down on a nice shiny new SV650S. I don't quite remember what happened, but lessons stalled and I think my test was postponed for some reason or another so I ended up with the car.

So, fast foward to 2020 when I decided to try again and passed at the end of that year. Put a deposit down on a Trident 660 just after they were released and a few months later I started my second stint on two wheels. Shame I left it so late to do it again, if only I'd done it first time around.

[Horse]

Took car driving lessons but was nowhere near passing the test when I got my first job - which required train then bus. Colleague was selling a bike (Honda CB175 sports twin).

Owner lived at a pub, dad test rode it around the car park. I was impressed, he was zooming around in circles! Driving home, he told me that he'd never ridden a bike with the rear brake on the right - he'd been trying to slow using the gear lever ...

FF a few years, first 'big bike' was a CB400Four. Then CX500.

A friend got involved with the local RAC/ACU training centre. I joined too. 1979, I think.

When the RAC pulled out (due to the implications of the 1981 Act that introduced the Part One test) that moved to the BMF. I continued training until 2008.

Bikes? Horribly boring.

BMW R65, R100RT, K100RT, K100LT, K100RT, K75RT, R850RT.

Then, 2016 on, health issues mean walking straight is a problem let alone riding. Operation in 2020 stopped deterioration but didn't reverse the problems. Even if they had, the op meant that my neck would literally be at risk in a crash.

Training took me to the USA. OK, not really, but I earned US instructor qualifications via the USAF in the UK. And that took me to Luxembourg.

Along the way, managed the introduction of an advanced course across the UK and helped develop a BTEC accredited instructor course. And introduced probably the first dedicated course for 'born again' riders.

But, much more importantly, biking led to wife, child, job, friends*. Even you lot

* edit: I was in the pub a few nights back with three mates who I met via bikes - in 1977!

[Skub]

A brief summary.

50 years on bikes in 2022.

Started work at 16 in 1971.

Bought a Suzuki T250 Hustler in 72 from a mate who raced and that was me hooked.

I've only been without a bike for six months since. When I was 30 I did my car test and had to sell my GS1000 to buy a shitty Vauxhall Chevette. A real low point. I still view cars as a utility item to this day,I dearly wish I could do without one.

There's been a long list of bikes since,but it's all pleasure miles for me now,no commuting or salty road use.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I was about 4 when I first took the handlebars of a motorcycle, my dad took me up the road and back on something, probably an Ariel Red Hunter, me sat on the tank holding the bars. Through the rest of the 70s I had goes on various old MX bikes on waste land.
In 1983 I turned 16 and got a TS50ER, went everywhere on it.
Had a GT185 that pretended to be a GT125
Passed my test in 1985 a couple of weeks before I was 18, then on my 18th birthday bought a 250LC that got ridden on the road, raced and used for trail riding over the next two years, then got a 350LC, got banned for speeding, decided to do some Motorcross while I was banned, so bought a YZ125 and went racing, I was slow, but soon got to average, I was never fast. Bought a KTM250 that was slow and heavy compared to the Japanese bikes of the late 80s.

Work asked me to stop doing MX because I was having a lot of time off work with injuries, so as I had a good job, I knocked it on the head, and bought my first 4 stroke, a 1979 GSX750ET which expired at Santa Pod, so I bought my first YPVS 350, a lovely bike which I made better with a Stan Stephens tune, and then ruined with a set of Lomas exhausts, which made it fast (135 mph) but horrible to ride.

Then through the 90s I had a string of GSXR750s and a YZF750, got into trail riding with an XR250. In 2000 I bought a 98 R1, which was mental, did my first track day on it, and hit an Astra with it, so I took the insurance money and bought a DRZ400, which over the following 7 years would be used for trail riding, commuting and enduros.
Got back into sports bike in 2001 when I bought a GSXR400RRSP for track days, did a load of track days at Cadwell on it, started using it on the road as well and would go out hunting R1s to embarrass on twisty roads.
Then had an FZR600R followed by 2 more GSXR750s, became a father and bought a Husky 610 to enjoy myself at more sensible speeds than the GSXR.
Lost interest in bikes for a few years while my children were small, then one day decided to get the Husky out and go for a ride, realised the engine knocked like the cam bearings had collapsed and it wasn't a very nice bike to tootle about on, so I bought a CB400 Super Four, which was nice to tootle about on, sold the Husky to a weirdo from Kent (who remembers him from TRC? ) , sold the Honda to another TRC member who was completely normal.

Bought my Kawasaki, discovered it needed an engine rebuild, made a whole load of new friends through that, got talked into doing Classic Bike Track Days, bought an FZ750 for a road bike, bought an FZR400RR for the track, did a load of track days on it, bought another 350 YPVS because I could, sold the FZR400, bought my Suzuki because I got sick of 30 year old bikes that needed constant attention to keep them running right.

[mangocrazy]

Some of my earliest memories involve me and my sister sitting with Mum in the sidecar while Dad was 'outside' doing the manly stuff. I wanted to go on the pillion, but the only time I was allowed on it was when the outfit was stationary and Mum had her camera out. At the time we lived in Bexleyheath, Sarf Lahndan, and on the way back from one family holiday in Hastings it blew a gale with biblical amounts of rain, Dad got soaked to the skin and was in bed for a week with 'flu. Next thing I knew the motorcycle and sidecar had gone and been PX'd for an abortion of a Bond Minicar. So we'd gone from a 500cc Norton ES2 to a 250cc Villiers 2T and seriously downhill in the street cred department.

But the damage had been done; I wanted nothing to do with 3 or 4 wheels - I wanted a motorbike. I had all the spec sheets and price lists, but everything seemed way out of my reach. Until I found a broken down Honda C200 in some bloke's front garden, that is. You could tell it was a non-runner; the piston and conrod poking out of the crankcase mouth gave the game away. I went back 2 or 3 times, trying to get the price down to something I could afford, and eventually we had a deal; £9 and it was mine...

But first I had to convince Dad. He was brutally honest about it; he made it clear that he would have nothing to do with it and that all and any work that was needed would be either done by me or funded by me. Inadvertently my old man had set me on the path of fettling and spannering bikes. Thanks Dad...

So I rebuilt the engine, making mistakes, paying for stuff I didn't need and omitting stuff I did until eventually I had a runner. It was the perfect beginner's bike; just enough power to be interesting and sufficiently crash-proof for me to make a lot of my early mistakes on. It got crashed on mud, wet roads, ice and snow and taught me valuable lessons about grip (and the shit Japanese tyres of the day).

This was the '60s (1966 to be precise) and I was a clueless 16 year old. Eventually I got the bike to a state where it was PX-able and traded it in for a Honda CD175 (the Sloper, as it was known) and a heady top (wind-assisted) speed of 80mph. After that came a Honda CB77 that gave me my first (indicated) 100mph moment. It was probably less than 90mph in real money, but it felt fantastic and I was well and truly hooked.

And I've stayed hooked for over 50 years since then. I've clocked 56 years of riding motorcycles in 2022 and I can honestly say I will carry on for as long as I can throw a leg over a two wheeler and wobble off down the road.

[Buckaroo]

A brief summary.

50 years on bikes in 2022.

Started work at 16 in 1971.

Bought a Suzuki T250 Hustler in 72 from a mate who raced and that was me hooked.

I've only been without a bike for six months since. When I was 30 I did my car test and had to sell my GS1000 to buy a shitty Vauxhall Chevette. A real low point. I still view cars as a utility item to this day,I dearly wish I could do without one.

There's been a long list of bikes since,but it's all pleasure miles for me now,no commuting or salty road use.

We're like twins!! Except I started with a C90 at 15, but the law changed, so so I phaffed about on it in the back garden until I got a licence and then bought a Hustler in 72 and have never been without a bike bar a few months. I sold it to buy an engagement ring for my lady wife to be. My dad bought me a Honda SS 50 so I could get to work.
I've lost count of the bikes I have owned. Got to be well into a hundred or more.
Still have two and have no plans of stopping anytime soon.

[Skub]

We're like twins!! Except I started with a C90 at 15, but the law changed, so so I phaffed about on it in the back garden until I got a licence and then bought a Hustler in 72 and have never been without a bike bar a few months. I sold it to buy an engagement ring for my lady wife to be. My dad bought me a Honda SS 50 so I could get to work.
I've lost count of the bikes I have owned. Got to be well into a hundred or more.
Still have two and have no plans of stopping anytime soon.

In the interests of brevity I left out the previous step thru field bikes and an NSU Quickly,so there are even more parallels.

[Noggin]

I was a late starter compared to most on here!! I took my car test at 17 and had a car soon after. I learnt to drive in a Mini Pickup, OLD landy, tractor etc etc in the fields - one of many benefits of growing up on a farm! No one in our family was even remotely interested in bikes. I think my SDad took his bike test (in the days when you just had to ride around the block and arrive back with no signs of crashing!! LOL) but that was it.

I fell totally in love with bikes after watching bike racing on the tv at a mates place. No idea at all why, but damn i was hooked - at 18.

Downside was I was totally in fear of my mother and she was 100% (no, she was ONE HUNDRED PERCENT) anti bikes!! LOL

I took my direct access test at 27 and got a SERIOUS written lecture/emotional blackmail letter from my mother - still don't know who told her I was taking the test!!

But, a couple of months later, before I bought a bike, I did a parachute jump, landed badly and broke my back. Cue back brace for 3 months and serious lectures about dangerous sports from mother. Despite the fact that the first time I broke my back was horse riding and she would have been quite happy for me to go back to horse riding!!


Anyway, about 5 years later, in November, I got made redundant, received a decent payout and bought a car and a bike REALLY tatty ZZR600. Really tatty - but I rode that bike all winter! Sun, cold, wet, frost, and snow!! LOL

In the spring I did a full service but that involved, at one point, taking the rear caliper off and going to a local bike garage to get the caliper freed off and made to work again

On recounting this to my BDad, he was horrified and asked how much a slightly more modern bike would cost, gave me a budget and I a went a got a Blackbird (he knew nothing about bikes, but still not sure how I got away with it!). I had been looking for a Thunderace but there weren't any available locally, and a friend recommended the BB

Damn it was good. I had Blackbirds for 8 years after that. Crashed two on the road in stupid and not high speed offs - hurt the bikes way more than me!! An ex racer friend taught me how to ride far too fast on the road!! Ended up with the last BB being lowered through the front forks, 6mm spacer on the rear shock, high level exhausts and de linked brakes Even tracked that one a bit too

After the 8 years I decided I should try a bike that needed more rider input. I bloody loved the BB but it was almost twist and go - in a good way, but still . . . .

I changed it for a Fireblade - the one with the small front wheel. That was amazing but after the BB it felt really cramped and hurt my back!! I'd probably have got used to it, but the one bike I had fallen in love with at 18 was a TL1000s and I had the opportunity to change the Blade for a 1997 TLs.

DAMN that was fun. I hill climbed the Tilly, tracked her and rode her everywhere!! I still miss that bike!

Whilst I had the Tilly, I was left some money and bought a KTM390 Duke with a view to learning to be an instructor, and a 2004 ZX10r with a plan to have a go at racing!!

But, I also decided to move to France. So instead of learning to be an instructor, I hooned about on the KTM with another ex race friend who had taught me a lot on the the Tilly and was impressed at how well the KTM went!! LOL The KTM got stolen (my fault, didn't put it in the garage ) and I did manage lots of track days on the 10r and even two endurance races.

Two days after the second endurance race (August 2017), I managed to throw the Tilly into the back of an Astra on the M32 in Bristol on a Monday afternoon and smash up my shoulder a little bit badly!!

So that caused a bit of a hiccup in my biking life from that - but hopefully 2023 will bring back the ability to ride LOTS more. Currently on a 1998 Monster that I'd bought to race (non runner when I bought it, lovingly made into a runner by Demannu and with the help of wonderful folks from this site). But I do need an IL4 due to ongoing issues with my shoulder.

I do often wish that I'd learnt to ride bikes in the fields and not to drive cars!! But I'm trying to make up for it now - just gonna be a while before I can start to learn to do any road stuff, but I'm gonna try one day


But, from that first time seeing bike racing on the TV, nothing has changed in my head. I BLOODY LOVE BIKES Can't imagine my life without them anymore (although I fell like I've almost lived without them for five years!) and I've made my best friends and the best of friends because I got into bikes

[mangocrazy]

and I've made my best friends and the best of friends because I got into bikes

^^^ This is absolutely true.

[Taipan]

Had bikes since i was a kid, albeit them being £5 field bikes. Fizzy ready to go at midnight on my 16th birthday. Came home frozen in the early hours, but hooked. The RD250 followed at 17 and then variety of bikes until finally interest in women overtook the one in bikes. Did a few months dispatching after leaving the motortrade and then dropped them completely. I returned to them several years later after getting fed up with driving into London. Been on various bikes and scoots ever since.

[G.P]

Very briefly

A Honda SS50 in 1976 followed the next year by a Norton Jubilee, BSA C15, Honda CB175 and then an RD250.
46 years later, still going strong although not so much winter commuting as I did up to a few years ago.
I'm consolidating the fleet, keeping my Triumph Tiger 800 and 2 x Ducati 900SS abd letting the Monster 1200 go.
Planning on another euro trip in 2023 and a couple of MotoGPs.

[David]

Started with a 125 yas yamaha.....I would have had a new 125 lambretta had my older bruvver had not fallen off again..I had a messerschmidt to go to school in....later I had the yam, at around 30...followed by an le 200 and and a gold star 250ss....a triumph 350/500 that never ran...a 55o/4 that flew...another le that was great...a BMW 800
....lanother le 200 and a Viceroy.

[David]

Rode stuff for TV including Boones beezas..,odd fed bikes.....etcetera...and some weird cars.

[Couchy]

Hold my beer…..

Started at 6 years old, riding for 49 years, 194 bikes, 10 years racing, 300+ Trackdays, on road off road etc it was fun.

[Alan PBTD]

Hold my beer…..

Started at 6 years old, riding for 49 years, 194 bikes, 10 years racing, 300+ Trackdays, on road off road etc it was fun.

And a personal hot line to the DVLA ?