Show us your first bike!

I'll get the ball rolling, this is me age 13 in 1997 with my corroded Yamaha Fs1- custom! I think the bike was an 83 model, my Auntie bought it used with next to no miles, rode it about 500 miles then left it under a big oak tree in my grans yard for 13 years! I begged and pleaded with my Aunt to sell it to me and eventually she did for £10 ! It had 680 miles on it, I put in a new battery and got a neutral light but no spark, I then took off the points cover with an impact driver and cleaned the furr off the points which gave it a good spark then I put some 4 star in a Coleman fuel can and rigged it upside down with the fuel line fixed in the bottom cos the yamahas tank was scrap, one kick nothing, 2nd kick and it growled then I remembered that some choke might be a good idea so 3rd kick with choke and it ran as nice as a Stihl chainsaw! A week later I swapped it for a Suzuki TS50 , but that's another story!
What was YOUR first bike, pics and story's?

Here's my first bike - a 1963 350 BSA single; I bought it when I turned 16. Second picture shows same bike after I fried the engine and replaced it with a 500 BSA twin. Changing the engine to a 500 twin caused me to change MANY things on the bike to make that engine work. That BSA 500 engine was a full race version that I bought from Gary Nixon! The last picture shows the BSA toned down a bit when I sold it. I had that bike for a total of 11 years. Ed

Wow that's amazing! :laugh: what a first bike to have! And it certainly went through some changes, in the middle pic it's got a kind of Steve McQueen vibe to it! I bet it was loud too, really loud in the middle pic phase I'd say! I believe in the 60s to mid 70s bikes were the uk's biggest export to the states then I think it was liquor, cigarettes and cars, two out of every three Jaguar E types (xke) went state side I read somewhere ,they were full of body filler from the factory (I guess they picked up dents during production ) and they used lead filler! So I guess you could call them lead sleds :laugh:

I do not any pics of my first bike, at least I can not find one , but it was a Honda 160 that looked just like the pic below.

Ah cool one of those scrambler type Hondas, one of those got restored nicely on American restoration a few years ago

Mine isn't as interesting, but I bought it a week before I turned 18. My parents wouldn't sign the form for me to get my MC Permit so I had to wait to (legally) ride it anyway. 83 kz1100 Title says exempt, but odo read 1800 miles. I'm at ~4200 now. That was 4 years ago. I rode my brother's (who is 1 year older than me) cbr 600 and I had to get a bigger bike. Can't let him one up me y'know. Not the best first bike, but too late to worry about it.

You were COOL Ed! Please tell me you have that BUCO helmet! I will pay you well for it!

Back in '85, about seven weeks after I got it on the road. Chopper parts weren't easy to find but when you did they were cheap because nobody wanted a chopper back then.

I love the vintage photos and certainly nothing wrong with an 1100 for a first bike!! Keep em comin guys!

z1kzonly wrote: You were COOL Ed! Please tell me you have that BUCO helmet! I will pay you well for it!

I gave it away decades ago. :laugh: Ed

1971 Honda SL70 (pictured via Polaroid). I beat the daylights out of that bike and often jumped it. Eventually, the frame cracked on both sides, near the footpegs.

I rode it for years, then it was stolen. It was recovered and a hot mess.

The genius thief painted it salmon pink and tossed the bike into a pile of leaves, which embedded into the stealthy Pepto-Bismol color.

I remember my Dad telling me that the State Police called and said to come pick up the bike. We arrived and I saw it from 25 yards away.
I laughed at the Trooper and said: "That's not my bike!".

He said: "You might want to go take a close look at it".

Yep, he was right, it was my bike!! I was very upset!! We got it home and the back tire was ruined and 2nd or 3rd gear made noise.

I couldn't stand to keep it, so we got rid of it and I got a brand new 1974 Suzuki TM125, probably the worst bike I've ever owned .
The crankshaft bearing seized at top-speed, on a public road. That's why those Suzooks were painted LEMON yellow! Got a new
1975 Honda CR125 Elsinore after that one.

Happy Ending: My friend and I ran into the thief by chance one evening. It didn't go well for him. :evil:

Excellent story! it sucks that the poor bike was stolen ,but at least you got some batman style justice in the end the picture is hilarious it looks like it was taken in the 1880's old west :laugh: my next bike after the first was a yellow Suzuki!