A 1969 Kawasaki 175 Bushwacker. Bought it to get to back and forth to college in 1969. The next year it was taken to a Hare Scrambles outside of El Paso, Texas to compete for fun. I took the tools necessary to remove the headlight, tail light, and turn signals to lighten it and make sure it could be ridden home. It was entered in the 250cc beginners class. To my surprise I narrowly missed winning that class by about 30 seconds. Turns out the owner of the shop where it was purchased attended the race. He was impressed enough with my skills that he offered me a sponsored ride on a 1970 Kawasaki 250 full blown dirt bike, model unknown. That 250 had no suspension to speak of and weighed a ton. It got me into motocross racing though until I dropped the sponsorship and purchased a more competitive Ossa 250 Stiletto. That is me and my brother on the Bushwacker.
Honda QA 50 bought brand new. I rode it around and around and around our tiny backyard for what seemed like forever. Ugly little bike but it started a lifelong passion for me. I upgraded after that to a Yamaha JT1 Mini Enduro 60 that my dad rode for a little while. I still have that bike after 40+ years, it runs, leaks and smokes a little bit but it puts a smile on my face every time it cranks on the 2nd kick. Wish I still had the QA50
That is a Puch /Allstate 50cc scooter. 3 speed handlebar shift auto clutch. Wasn't the greatest machine overall, but we thought it was for the day. Mid 60's when we had it.
A 2004 Buell Blast 500CC. Loved that bike so much. Laid it down in a road construction area. and totaled it. That's been 12 years ago and I still miss that little bike.
Mark kinda got me thinking about our first bikes as he's been sharing pics of classics from the Barber Museum.
My very first bike I bought back in 1968 in Huntington Beach, California was a 66 Yamaha 250 Catalina, parallel twin 2 stroke naked street bike. Mine was the first year that Yamaha came out with the automatic oil injection system. Had a buddy with a stock 65 Yammy that had to mix his oil in the tank and his bike was faster than mine. I cursed this darn bike so much as it was notorious for fouled plugs. I darn near wore myself out pushing it down the street trying to jump start it as the kick starter just couldn't get it going most of the time. I was happy to see that bike go and get replaced with the classic Honda 305 Scrambler. Now there was a bike to lust after.
Not my first bike but I had a '67 YM-1 305 for about 35 years and planned to restore it some day. I had it running once but it was too far gone to be worth restoring so I sold it to a guy who used it for parts on one of his projects. I had read about its notorious oiling and plug fouling issues, which only further convinced me it was a bad base for a restoration.
My first bike was a Honda 90 three speed with automatic clutch. Was only 12 years old. Bought it with saved paper route money 4 days before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Next was a Honda 100 Motorsport. Loved it. Then I graduated at age 16 to a 350. Everyone seemed to have a 350 back in 1973.
My first street bike was a 1978 Yamaha XS750 Special. This photo of it was taken in 1981.
It was a good bike for a few years but eventually cost more to maintain than it was worth. It developed a growing stress crack in the bottom of the engine block. I removed the engine a few times to have it welded, but it never held. The last straw was when the timing chain jumped and it dropped a valve into the #2 piston. I traded it as soon as I got it fixed.
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