Spinoff...what got you attracted to bikes when you were younger?

[Apex]

Somewhat the same topic, but in a different thread...


I guess I'm different than the other guy....


Thanks to Miguel Duhamel, Doug Chandler, Ben and Eric Bostrom, and the rest of the guys that participated in the 1995-1997 AMA series broadcasted on Fox Sports (when I was in high school). Because of you guys, I owned my very first bike at the young age of 19, despite what my mom kept telling me about motorcycles. I mean, how did she know what she was talking about, she never sat on a bike before. Because of you guys, I am unable to kick the habit of riding. You are the reason why I am unable to stop riding and got me to purchase my 2007 Ninja 250. You are the reason why I love riding so much. You are the reason why I went to a motorcycle track day and got out there on a parade lap. That parade lap told me what I should be doing, I should be riding, and at a fast pace on a track. You are why I want to race.

Thanks to you all who inspired me to ride and push myself to learn as much as I can about the sport.

Now I need to get rid of the debt my wife and I have, then off to hopefully get a nice ZX6R by the end of this year.

EDIT: And thanks to all of you on here who are great people and make my time spent here, and on the roads, that much more enjoyable.

[xTKx]

+1000000
I don't know many MotoGP riders ... or watch very many races ... but I think you put everything quite perfectly.
It's the riders who know when and where to unleash their skills that have my respect (even stunters).

[Snake]

My older brother who is 12 years older always rode Harleys that he built & chopped himself. Then when I was 12 I started riding dirt bikes and I was hooked from then on.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Not sure if I'm allowed to answer, seeing is that I'm still a kid (as you guys always tell me). I've always wanted a street bike since I first knew what they were. I had ridden dirt bikes and atv's since I was about 5. My Dad told me I couldn't get a bike until I grew up, got my own place and paid my own bills. So I did. I got a 250 because I like bikes, but I equally like myself and didn't want to tempt fate by getting something with 150hp. So far I'm happy I got it. I'd really like to keep it even when I get another bike. My sister has had her eye on it and wants a bike pretty bad too.

[OldGuy]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

My sister has had her eye on it and wants a bike pretty bad too.

Oh, Oh CB - two of you on the Dragon at the same time. This could be interesting.

[Apex]

Originally Posted by OldGuy

Oh, Oh CB - two of you on the Dragon at the same time. This could be interesting.

Picture worthy even!

[Snake]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

Not sure if I'm allowed to answer, seeing is that I'm still a kid (as you guys always tell me). I've always wanted a street bike since I first knew what they were. I had ridden dirt bikes and atv's since I was about 5. My Dad told me I couldn't get a bike until I grew up, got my own place and paid my own bills. So I did. I got a 250 because I like bikes, but I equally like myself and didn't want to tempt fate by getting something with 150hp. So far I'm happy I got it. I'd really like to keep it even when I get another bike. My sister has had her eye on it and wants a bike pretty bad too.

By the way. You are not a kid you are a young independent woman. You have alot to be proud of.

[Apex]

Originally Posted by Snake

By the way. You are not a kid you are a young, independent, knee dragging woman. You have alot to be proud of.

Fixed!!!

[noche_caliente]

Easy - my daddy I rode with him for 22 years before I got my bike

[DerTeufel]

I fell in love with motorcycles at an early age. I finally convinced my parents to let me buy a dirt bike when I was 12 (with my own money). I scoured the classifieds until I found the bike I wanted. A 1976 Honda CR125 Elsinore.

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I didn't know anyone who had bikes, and never really watched any races or anything. Always wanted to get a dirt bike, but was never able to. Didn't even really think about it until about a year ago when I decided to take lessons. I got hooked, and here I am!

[lockie]

Bikes were few and far between growing up in rural New Brunswick (dare I say, back in the 60's) but a friend talked his mother into getting a 50cc AllState scooter from the Eatons catalogue. You could get anything in the catalogue back then. I never got to run it but got a taste of riding as a passenger and the bug never left me, although I was often a nervous passenger.

Never seemed to have the spare cash until I was out working after university. Bought an old Yamaha 125 and ran it a couple of months until the engine blew. Then a few years later I got a Honda dirt/street 250 that lasted one season before it went out for parts. Maintenance is not one of my strengths.

I had a family by then. I thought I was finished with bikes as it seemed I was unlucky with them. I won't dwell on the couple of spills I had in the sand on that dirt bike. So older and wiser I gave it up.

Then one weekend not long ago I took my now collage age boys down to Boston for our first Red Sox games ever. We stayed with my cousin who had a HD Sportster in the garage. My son asked for a lesson and played with it a bit in the long driveway they have there. When I jokingly asked for my lesson my cousin said "sure. Go ahead." I took it around the block at a max 30 mph for 10 minutes. I didn't stop grinning for two days.

That's when I got really hooked. Now I'm much older and retired and loving my little blue 250. I don't know if I'm any wiser but I do say to myself a day without a ride on my ninja is a day without sunshine.


Take care

[CC Cowboy]

When I was a kid, sitting in my car seat watching motorcycles roar by our car on either side, I said to myself, someday I'm going to be a squid. I'm going to wheelie and split lanes and really try to freakout drivers. I'll make people fear me and my motorcycle. So I started watching all the movies and read the book Hells Angels. For years I would go to the front of the line whenever I pulled up to a light or stop sign. I would scream and yell at drivers who even looked at me wrong. I made my bike a loud as I could so people could hear me coming then pass them at the speed of sound. Life was great. Then I got a Kawasaki Ninja 250r and had to learn to be respectful. The bike made me courteous and I started to ride somewhere near the speed limit. I cut my hair and shaved my beard. I covered my tatooes with gear and took all the patches off my leather jacket. I learned to be nice to others and actually waved to a few other motorcyclists. Then I sold that Ninja. I'm glad things are back to normal.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Geeze CC, that's such a sad story. I guess the guys on GSXR 1000's are right, Ninja 250's are for losers. I knew they were right, they kept telling me.

[Sailariel]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

Not sure if I'm allowed to answer, seeing is that I'm still a kid (as you guys always tell me). I've always wanted a street bike since I first knew what they were. I had ridden dirt bikes and atv's since I was about 5. My Dad told me I couldn't get a bike until I grew up, got my own place and paid my own bills. So I did. I got a 250 because I like bikes, but I equally like myself and didn't want to tempt fate by getting something with 150hp. So far I'm happy I got it. I'd really like to keep it even when I get another bike. My sister has had her eye on it and wants a bike pretty bad too.

C.B. You are a young woman and a great rider. We love you.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Aww, I love you guys too.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by DerTeufel

I fell in love with motorcycles at an early age. I finally convinced my parents to let me buy a dirt bike when I was 12 (with my own money). I scoured the classifieds until I found the bike I wanted. A 1976 Honda CR125 Elsinore.

to have an early elsinore now would be awesome.

[Sailariel]

I got into motorcycles in 1958 when I bought an NSU Special Max 250 (1956). Back then it was my transportation. In 1962 I got an R60 BMW with a Steib sidecar and that was my transportation year round--even in Central New York winters. The BMW was my only transportation till 1966 when I gradu8ated from college. I stored the bike with my parents while I did a year in VISTA and three years in the Army. I rode the bike from 70 to 71 and bought a Norton Benelli Jawa dealership. Rode a lot of different bikes in those years and had a blast. In 1985 I remarried and the wife hated motorcycles so I stopped riding. I had sold the dealership in 1982. We moved aboard our sailboat in 1991 and sailed all over the east coast, Bahamas, and the Caribbean. In 2004 I was diagnosed with cancer and we moved ashore--buying a house and all that. I got heavily involved with bicycling and opened up a bike shop. Last year I decided to get back into motorcycles to the great disappointment of my wife who is convinced that I will be killed or rendered a vegetable should I continue this stupid and dangerous hobby. Well, I did not get killed in two tours in Vietnam as a Medic. I have not been wiped out riding my road bicycle 15 to 20 miles daily to stay in shape, and I have put 7000 miles on the Ninja with no adverse effects. I even took the advanced Motorcycling Safety Course to convince her that I am not crazy. I have been driving cars and motorcycles for 50 years accident and ticket free. I would think that this should mean something. Wife has had six accidents and three tickets. I am still the one engaged in dangerous behaviour--go figure. Surviving cancer gives one a different outlook. I shall continue riding motorcycles as long as I am physically able. When my eyesight fails and some physical impairment comes up, I will surrender my driving priviledges in the interest of safety--a decision a mature individual should make when the time comes.

[smcbride11]

House. Yes, as in House M.D.

I'm a recent convert - growing up in SoCal, I always thought that those "murdercycles" were loaded with folks that were either 1%ers or had a death wish.

But House, man, he looked so damn cool!

Seriously, it was mostly the fault of a few friends that convinced me that riding was a really good time and not as dangerous as I had always been told (I haven't died yet, 9 months later. I had always been taught that you had to die as soon as the engine started.), so I bought the 'jette at the tender age of 30. And embarassingly, House did play a part... "But House, there's snow on the ground." "So what? The roads are clear." So f*?%king cool.

[hzrnbgy]

i started riding at a ripe age of 25 (roughly a year ago)

i just wanted to impress some girl at work so i took the MSF class and got my first bike 2 days after. she now lives in california and im stuck here in hawaii

[kkim]

3 events led to me being a dyed in wool MC enthusiast for life.

When I was 16, my brother came back from flight school w/ a 250 Kawasaki enduro. I learned how to ride on that bike, barely getting out of first gear on a deserted back road and some easy trails to get acquainted with riding. From then on, whenever I could steal his bike away from him, I would go cruising the streets and back roads with it. That was the bait...

The nibble came in a form of a movie released around that time. If you've never seen "On Any Sunday", you need to watch it. As a motorcycle nut who was just learning to ride, that stoked the fires of desire to own a bike so much, I went out and bought my own Yamaha DT1 enduro bike and proceeded to strip it down to make a lightweight trail bike. Weekdays in high school was just dead time to get to the trails on the weekends to ride with my brother and his friends.

The hook came when there was a motocross race held at the local marine base in Kaneohe. A track was carved out of a hillside on base and before the race I was doubtful the riders would even be able to scale the sheer hills and drop offs that was marked as the course. Well, world class riders were in attendance that day and I watched in amazement and was absolutely blown away by the riding talents of motocross legends. Roger Decoster, Joel Robert, Bengt Aberg, Sylvain Geboers, Ake Jonsson and Hawaii's own John "The Flying Hawaiian" DeSoto, to name a few, were there tearing up the course on their factory prepped Husqvarnas, Maicos, CZs, Suzukis and doing unimaginable riding on such impossible terrrain at speeds that were downright terrifying to me at the time. I don't know how they got those riders to come to Hawaii for that event as there was never anything like that ever again in the islands.

I was hooked and hooked for good.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by kkim

3 events led to me being a dyed in wool MC enthusiast for life.

When I was 16, my brother came back from flight school w/ a 250 Kawasaki enduro. I learned how to ride on that bike, barely getting out of first gear on a deserted back road and some easy trails to get acquainted with riding. From then on, whenever I could steal his bike away from him, I would go cruising the streets and back roads with it. That was the bait...

The nibble came in a form of a movie released around that time. If you've never seen "On Any Sunday", you need to watch it. As a motorcycle nut who was just learning to ride, that stoked the fires of desire to own a bike so much, I went out and bought my own Yamaha DT1 enduro bike and proceeded to strip it down to make a lightweight trail bike. Weekdays in high school was just dead time to get to the trails on the weekends to ride with my brother and his friends.

The hook came when there was a motocross race held at the local marine base in Kaneohe. A track was carved out of a hillside on base and before the race I was doubtful the riders would even be able to scale the sheer hills and drop offs that was marked as the course. Well, world class riders were in attendance that day and I watched in amazement and was absolutely blown away by the riding talents of motocross legends. Roger Decoster, Joel Robert, Bengt Aberg, Sylvain Geboers, Ake Jonsson and Hawaii's own John "The Flying Hawaiian" DeSoto, to name a few, were there tearing up the course on their factory prepped Husqvarnas, Maicos, CZs, Suzukis and doing unimaginable riding on such impossible terrrain at speeds that were downright terrifying to me at the time. I don't know how they got those riders to come to Hawaii for that event as there was never anything like that ever again in the islands.

I was hooked and hooked for good.

On Any Sunday - great movie. Roger De (the man) great rider and still managing race teams today.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by kkim

3 events led to me being a dyed in wool MC enthusiast for life.

When I was 16, my brother came back from flight school w/ a 250 Kawasaki enduro. I learned how to ride on that bike, barely getting out of first gear on a deserted back road and some easy trails to get acquainted with riding. From then on, whenever I could steal his bike away from him, I would go cruising the streets and back roads with it. That was the bait...

The nibble came in a form of a movie released around that time. If you've never seen "On Any Sunday", you need to watch it. As a motorcycle nut who was just learning to ride, that stoked the fires of desire to own a bike so much, I went out and bought my own Yamaha DT1 enduro bike and proceeded to strip it down to make a lightweight trail bike. Weekdays in high school was just dead time to get to the trails on the weekends to ride with my brother and his friends.

The hook came when there was a motocross race held at the local marine base in Kaneohe. A track was carved out of a hillside on base and before the race I was doubtful the riders would even be able to scale the sheer hills and drop offs that was marked as the course. Well, world class riders were in attendance that day and I watched in amazement and was absolutely blown away by the riding talents of motocross legends. Roger Decoster, Joel Robert, Bengt Aberg, Sylvain Geboers, Ake Jonsson and Hawaii's own John "The Flying Hawaiian" DeSoto, to name a few, were there tearing up the course on their factory prepped Husqvarnas, Maicos, CZs, Suzukis and doing unimaginable riding on such impossible terrrain at speeds that were downright terrifying to me at the time. I don't know how they got those riders to come to Hawaii for that event as there was never anything like that ever again in the islands.

I was hooked and hooked for good.

All this mushie stuff and not a mention about Malcom. Shame on you.

[tjkamper]

Originally Posted by smcbride11

House. Yes, as in House M.D...

...And embarassingly, House did play a part... "But House, there's snow on the ground." "So what? The roads are clear." So f*?%king cool.

House Rocks!!!, but allass I cannot blame my personal rebelion on a TV show.

When I was a kid, my folks were overbearing as all parents are, and they forbade me from even going to places where they knew there would be dirt bikes or even four wheelers around.

As all adolecents do, I found a way to do just what my parents gaurded me against. I grabed a few rides as a pasanger on my friends duo sport at the age of 14 and soon found my self riding four wheelers and dirt bikes every other weekend or so, without my parents knowing. It was so invigorating I loved it.

One day in highschool after just getting his license a friend of mine showed up in a POS honda scooter that looked like a box of cherrios with wheels on it. The damn thing only went about 30 miles per hour, and I had to take it for a spin. I rode it down to the Shell station and got me some grub and came back.

Then that faithful day when I showed up at home on a trail 90. My folks flipped and I didn't back down. Soon afterwards I "Borrowed" on a long term basis one of my friends bikes, SV650.

Since then my folks had loosened up and I even took them on a vacation at my friends house in Idaho to ride snow mobiles, another Motorcyclesc vehicle that was forbiden from me as a child.

I then took a long time off and didn't ride for a few years and didn't have a bike to call my own. I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Venezuela. Soon after the mission I took a job teaching English in Venezuela and went down. I got married down then and borrowed my wife's cousins' bikes to get around. We moved back to the states in 2005 and make frequent visits to Venezuela where I still would borrow bikes from my wife's cousins. (In Venezuela motorcycles are a form of transportation not a hobby. The funniest thing I ever saw was a family of six on a little 125 cc bike. Dad was driving with a little girl over the tank. Mom was in the pasanger spot, with two kids one stratleing each of her legs and she was pregnant. count them...SIX.)

Well... This year I bought my wife a new 2009 jeep liberty and sacrificed my 2001 Trans Am WS6. (A sad day in history). so in less than a month I bot the ninjette.

So to sum it up. I started riding because it was forbidden, and now I continue to ride, because it is transportation and is fun.

[Cali619]

Got the 250 cause of gas prices so high a year ago, now im hooked on riding a motorcycle like a crack ho is to crack..

[CC Cowboy]

I'm not sure about the stats but I have never seen a "crack ho" on a motorcycle. Do they ride diffently than the rest of us?

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

I'm not sure about the stats but I have never seen a "crack ho" on a motorcycle. Do they ride diffently than the rest of us?

Well they usually don't use full face helmets as their teeth are already missing.

[Cali619]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

I'm not sure about the stats but I have never seen a "crack ho" on a motorcycle. Do they ride diffently than the rest of us?

edited for more clarification

[kkim]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

All this mushie stuff and not a mention about Malcom. Shame on you.

Ah yes, Malcolm Smith. Truth is, at the time, that's really the only reason I went to see that movie. Even before seeing the movie, Malcolm was my hero. The other people in the movie really didn't matter. He was my inspiration for getting so involved with trail riding and I would constantly dream of riding an ISDT someday. He showed me that going fast was not all about top speed and that by keeping your speed up through corners, your max speed didn't need to be as high and your average speed would not suffer (very much like riding the ninjette). I decided MX wasn't for me... I was an enduro/woods junkie.

It wasn't till later that I realized what a great movie "On Any Sunday" really was. Not only as a documentary on motorcycles, but how it was able to capture the essence of what riding a motorcycle is all about. Bruce Brown (Endless Summer) did a terrific job on it.

Like I said, if you love motorcycles and you've never seen it before, you owe it to yourself to get a copy and watch it.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Malcom is all over that movie. In the woods 1 minute, blasting throught the desert later in the movie. Just read that he held a protest at his shop where he sold 3 mini bikes to kids to protest the ban on lead product sales to children. As the young kids shirt said "I don't want to eat it, I just want to ride it.

Got my Honda Elsinsore MR50 at age 10 and never looked back (even after losing a spleen on that thing). From age 10 anything on 2 wheels with an engine interested me. I subscribed to Cycle magazine back in jr high and read cover to cover about everything bikes. First issue I got had Yam XS Eleven on it (remember it to this day). Remember when the original Ninja came out on the cover. Kawasaki's stealth warrior. Didn't need some idiot wheelying by me to make me want a bike.

[IlBLisSlI]

when i was a kid a movie came out called "cool as ice" and when i saw vanilla ice with his badass hair and pimp'n pants basically stalk this girl into submission and use smooth lines like "Drop that zero and get with the hero!" and "I'm gonna go across the street and, uh, schling a schlong."
needless to say after seeing that i was sold. i knew that anyone who ride a bike and did wheelies/stoppies was pretty much the coolest freaking person on the planet. I wanted to be that cool.
so i hunkered down and saved my money for 17 years after seeing that film and finally had enough to buy myself a used pregen 250. Now I feel the power. Now i know what it feels like to be as "cool as ice"

[Elfling]

No real reason. Always liked engines, always been a bit of a gearhead wrt cars. I *wanted* to ride bikes for the longest time and was too chicken to do it alone. Finally had the chance with encouraging my fiance to get back into it this year

[Sound Wave]

what got me attracted to motorcycles as a kid? SUPER EASY!!!! kiku tv channel 13
i know these might look really dumb by today's standards, but growing up as a young kid in the 70's, this was the best!!!! so many superheroes rode bikes. hell, even their enemies rode bikes.

took me a long time to overcome my fears and realize a childhood dream, but i am making up for lost time now.

Link to original page on YouTube.

Link to original page on YouTube.

Link to original page on YouTube.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Elfling]

Originally Posted by smcbride11

House. Yes, as in House M.D.

I'm a recent convert - growing up in SoCal, I always thought that those "murdercycles" were loaded with folks that were either 1%ers or had a death wish.

But House, man, he looked so damn cool!

Seriously, it was mostly the fault of a few friends that convinced me that riding was a really good time and not as dangerous as I had always been told (I haven't died yet, 9 months later. I had always been taught that you had to die as soon as the engine started.), so I bought the 'jette at the tender age of 30. And embarassingly, House did play a part... "But House, there's snow on the ground." "So what? The roads are clear." So f*?%king cool.

I missed this on my first read- we're huge House fans here. I was *this* close to getting a 600rr painted like a Repsol and putting "HOUSEMD" plates on it.

[G250RSC]

I got hooked when I was young watching Jim Ellis and Bob Hannah in Supercross. Guess I am showing my age naming these guys. My parents got me a yamaha dirt bike when I was 6 and grew up riding dirt on the farm. But like most parents, HELL NO to a street bike till I moved out. So when I moved out and went to college I bought my first street bike and been hooked ever since.

[CodE-E]

I only very recently started getting attracted to bikes, at the age of 25. I love cars, but the cheap piece-of-junk cars I've had in the past were so unreliable and frustrating that I decided to "screw 'em". I currently don't really have the money to spend on a new or near-new sporty-feeling car that's fun to drive, and I'm not somebody who takes credits or loans. I commuted to work by train for about half a year last winter, but it was a pain in the a** because it takes ages and I needed to walk down a very ugly, depressing road for about 30 minutes each day.

A colleague of mine's who I chat with quite a lot is a motorcycle nut, and he told me how much of a kick motorcycling is. He already told me exciting stories about motorcycling a year ago, but back then when I still had a car I never consider getting one. But when it finally broke down and I sold the piece of junk, and after a few months of being fed up of not having my own vehicle, I started considering them. I also remember a cool Suzuki ad on TV which made me check out all the Suzuki bikes on their webpage early this year. I didn't know anything about motorcycles, so I browsed around on the Web, found a raving review of the Kawasaki Ninja 250R on motorcycle.com, and so eventually I went ahead with getting my motorcycle license and getting my own 250R.

So for me, I think it was mainly the fact that motorcycles have a much better speed-cost ratio than cars that made me get one.

[addy126]

Had a dirtbike on the farm as a kid. Great source of enterainment for me and looped it into workin around the farm with it. Great for herding the cows back to the barn, searching for stray calves, running to get to the back 40 and drive tractor... ohhhh yah! Loved it all. Hated winter cuz I had to put it up. Now free wheelin in the south, a bike with some spunk and easy on the pocket book its a blast in the south were riding is 12 months a year...... now thats the life!

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by G250RSC

I got hooked when I was young watching Jim Ellis and Bob Hannah in Supercross. Guess I am showing my age naming these guys. My parents got me a yamaha dirt bike when I was 6 and grew up riding dirt on the farm. But like most parents, HELL NO to a street bike till I moved out. So when I moved out and went to college I bought my first street bike and been hooked ever since.

I age myself all the time with my 70s and 80s references. Jimmy Ellis on the CanAm, right from next door in Connecticut. Hurricane Hannah still coolest to me. I rode amateur class at Florida AMA Winternationals in '86. There was Hannah at the rider meeting. After meeting he got on a RM250 (no more works bikes in '86), and wheelied back to the Team Suzuki box van. Crispest MX engine I ever heard, think the engine was more works than production.

[krazygluon]

Well, I'm a nerd so the answer is...fuel efficiency, with a healthy dose of Maverick's Honda interceptor from Top Gun.

I grew up under a "do more with less / use what you've got to solve your problems" mentality and seeing these 2 wheeled things that got the same mileage as a Prius with carburetor technology led me to think twice about them.

Otherwise I just kinda brushed motorcycles off as another thing on the road: half were owned by badass rednecks, the other half by spoiled college kids with deathwishes.

Kinda glad I got into it, just to clear up that little set of preconceived ideas, not mention how much dang fun they are.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Mav rode a Ninja - the original 900cc one.