Motorcycles

"Man, I wish I was you"

Do you remember that scene and those words from the television series, Then Came Bronson"?  My whole family have been motorcyclists.  I got my first bike when I was 14 and then my parents and later my younger brother got the bug as well.

As I said, I started riding motorcycles when I was 14.  In my younger days I rode a lot both on road and off road.  I really enjoyed off road riding but it is hard to find places to ride off road.  I will try to list all the bikes I have had to ride and include pictures whenever possible so you can see what they looked like.  Most of the pictures won't be the actual bike I had as I don't have pictures of most of them.  I got these pictures off of the internet. 

 

I started out with a minibike which I got from a friend.  The engine didn't  run so my dad worked on it and got it running.   I don't really remember much about the minibike as far as my riding it goes.   One thing I do remember is the time we took it with us out in the country to visit one of my dad's coworkers at his home.  It was winter and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground.  There was a farmer's field which was untouched as far as the snow is concerned.  It looked like a nice smooth field to ride in.  I took off across the field and only got a few feet before disaster struck.  The field had been plowed and the ground was frozen.  It was bad news!  Needless to say, after picking myself and the minibike back up the riding across the field was over. 

This is not a picture of the minibike I had as I don't have any pictures of it.  I am just showing this one so you, the reader, can see what a minibike looks like in case you didn't know.

 

After the mini bike I had a couple of motorscooters.  One was a Vespa  which looked something like this one:

 

and the other was an Allstate.  I can't find any picture of a motorscooter which looks like it did, but here is the closest I could find:

 

The next bike I had was a 165 cc Harley Davidson which was a basket case my dad got.  It took a lot of work but he got it all back together and working.  He had to figure out the transmission as it was all apart also.  It looked something like this picture:

This picture is of a 125 cc engine but I think the one we had was 165.

 

The next bike was a 125cc Allstate Puch motorcyle.  It looked like this one except it was not red:

 

The next bike was a 250cc Yamaha ... one of their first I guess as it was sort of experimental.  It looked something like this:

 

 

The next bike was a 350cc BSA.  It looked like this except it was blue and chrome:

 

The next bike was a 400cc Norton Electra.  It looked like this:

 

The next bike was a 250cc Suzuki X6 Scrambler.  It was a very fast bike for only a 250cc power plant.  It was the first bike I bought myself as an adult.  I was in the navy at the time.  It looked like this:

 

The next bike I had was a 175cc Kawasaki Enduro.  It looked something like this:

 

The next bike was a XL250cc Honda Scrambler which looked something like this:

 

The next bike I had was a 250cc Bultaco Matador which looked something like this:

 

The next bike was a 185cc Honda Enduro which looked something like this:

 

The next bike I had was a Motobecane Sebring Moped which was one sharp looking bike for a moped.  It looked like a motorcycle and had a two speed transmission.  It looked something like this:

 

The next bike I had was a 350cc Bultaco Alpina which looked something like this:

 

The next bike I had was a 1973 600cc BMW which looked something like this:

 

The next bike I had was a 1995 1400cc Suzuki Intruder.  It was an extremely fast bike and nice looking but very uncomfortable to ride and had very annoying and embarrassing brakes which squealed like crazy whenever applied.  It also had so much vibration it was horrible to ride.  I wrote to Suzuki about the bike and their reply was so disappointing that I vowed never to do any more business with Suzuki.  Their attitude was "Hey, you bought it ... We don't want to hear it ...  We make a good product and we are pleased with it".   It looked something like this:

 

In disgust with the Suzuki I traded it in on my next bike which was the most comfortable riding motorcycle I have ever ridden ... bar none.  It was a 1986 1300cc Harley Davidson ElectraGlide Liberty Edition.  Lucy and I loved this bike.  You could ride it all day straight for 12 hours and get off of it feeling as fresh as when you started.  Any other bike I have ever ridden including Honda Goldwings would beat you to death on a long ride.

 

Alas we made the decision to sell the bike and work on our debts.  I didn't have a bike for a few years.  We moved back up to Indiana and I bought a 1982 450cc Honda Nighthawk which has been a very good bike.  I still have it but much to my surprise my interest in motorcycle riding has given way to riding bicycles and I have the Honda for sale at this moment.

 

And that is the story on the motorcycles in my life.  I have had a few minor wrecks and only got slightly injured dispite the danger always present.  I have been fortunate indeed.   As I get older I think of this and it is probably another reason I just don't ride the motorcycle much any more.   Bicycling is dangerous enough.