Your first motorbikes

[rossr]

Hey small , I saw you make reference to a Honda CL90 in Anthony's post about 1960's watch posters. I had a CL90 as my first bike - got it when I was 12 years old. It was identical to this - red, rather than blue.


I bought it for $75 and used it to ride around the farm - basically as a trail bike - and it took some punishment. I remember getting to a top speed of just over 50mph on a straight section of gravel along a levee bank. My father, who was usually pretty relaxed about this sort of thing wasn't terribly impressed - no helmet, shorts, t-shirt and sandals. The biggest problem I had was that I continually burnt my right calf on the exposed exhaust.

A few years later I traded up to a 1975 Honda CR125M Elsinore, which is still in a shed at my folks' place.


My brother had a YZ80F - the last in the air-cooled YZ series, and a great bike in its own right. He sold it on to a cousin, and it got stolen.


My sister also still has her 1974 grey XR75!

It seems that my family are hoarders of classic machinery! They would be true barn finds for collectors.

I don't ride anymore, though one day I'd like to restore the CR.

Ross

[pip]

My brother had a YZ80 as I recall. I had a fizzie (Yamaha fs1e I think) and then an RXS80 and a few more that I don’t remember, then a couple of Ducati’s before I gave them up as I saw too many flattened motorcyclists.

[Deleted]

My first...

I got it when I lived in Singapore and brought it back to Canada where I had it for about 6 year. It was stolen and stripped but I got what was left(the thieves took the wheels and rear shocks). The police said the crooks were interrupted and that's why it didn't completely disappear.

[stevenjohn]

I was on them pretty early.  That's me climbing on my dad's bike.  My first one was a red 1971 Honda SL175.

[small]

Great looking bikes. I rode a coworkers on the pavement and I think I was lucky to do 50. 

I took a guess at the model based on color. I don't think the "S-90" came in blue. The speedo/headlamp is the give away to Honda at that time.  IIRC the difference between the two is High Exhaust for the "CL" vs Low on the "S". I picked up a several non-runners and was assembling parts for sometime. The idea was to build up a cafe racer for my son, but he never really got interested and the project stalled. Plan was to change sprockets to get him some more low end quicker and keep him from going too fast on the other... I'm now sitting on several frames and boxes of spares, including some NOS. Every now and then I think its time to pass them on through eBay, Craig's list or OfferUp but can't seem to get it done, thinking I'll need a "summer hobby" in the garage one day. Seems like there is always something else popping up though...  

[Mr.Jones]

SR500 with that great big headlamp and spoke wheels. Something like this:

(not my actual bike)

It's still in the family - my brother has "customized" it, however.

[philsinclair]

Hi. Triumph T110 first up, no pictures left. Had a Honda 305 similar to that Honda of yours Pete. Had dozens of bikes since and still have a Suzuki TL 1000 super bike which I still ride occasionally (it’s a pig to ride - shakes it’s head halfway through corners and wheel stands coming out of corners if you put the power on too early). Daily ride is a Harley vrod muscle with worked motor 162hp at rear wheel 216kmp at end of the quarter, lots of fun. Over 50 years of riding the bikes I have had would make a great snapshot of bike technology. Looking at getting another one soon but don’t know what, maybe just a makeover of the vrod. Cheers Phil

[leffemonster]

I’ve never owned one personally but have ridden a few. Started off on a CZ110 around the fields at a mate’s farm before moving onto the Yamaha DT125 and 175. When we were teenagers we’d tie a sledge onto the back of the 175 when it snowed and tear around the fields. Great fun! Biggest one I got on was a Honda CBX which my mate’s brother had on loan while his CB900F2B was being serviced - an absolute beast. It wasn’t until I saw one up on a ramp some 30-odd years later that I realised just how big the CBX was! The last bike I rode was a Maico 440 when I was about 15. Coming up a bank through a water splash, the throttle stuck open until gravity eventually took hold. I landed on the only manhole cover in the field and buggered up my ankle, after which my parents said ‘no more’. 

Nowadays I’m just content with watching the world’s best riders out on track from the comfort of my living room (or down at Phillip Island every few years).

[69ChevelleSS]

First one was a Rupp mini-bike but the first REAL one is a 1986 Harley Wide Glide.  One in the pic is not mine but mine is almost identical.  Bought it new in '86.  I was told that each dealer only got one copy of the version with the flamed paint (yes, that's factory paint).  Other paint scheme was black with the "wing and ball" design on the tanks.

[philsinclair]

Hey. Not only were the flames factory done but also hand done so each one is actually unique. Cheers Phil