First Bikes

[Yikes]

My first bike was a new '71 Yamaha 125 Enduro that I bought with my paper route money.  It had an upswept pipe and knobby tires, but also turn signals etc. to make it street legal.  Besides it being one of the only things I could afford, I liked the idea of having a machine that I could ride on the road, off the road and well - anywhere.  It was a good climber and a great jumper.  (It really didn't seem so crazy at the time.)  I had a great time with it, but after a few months I got tired of the job of trying to keep it clean.  Since the bike was new and the investment that comprised my entire net worth, I felt obligated to keep it in like-new condition.  At the same time I was discovering that I enjoyed powering down a smooth open road more than bouncing around in the dirt.  So after about a year the still-new-looking Enduro was traded in on a used but sweet Yamaha 350 street bike - downswept pipes and two cylinders of two-stroke power.  Ying! Ying!

[DavidPorter]

1972 toaster tank R60/5, bought in 1977 or 8.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

1975 Honda CL360.

It was a CB360 that caught my eye on the street in 1976, but it was a leftover CL that the salesman sold me.

I didn't care, it was a good first bike.



I rode it two years before buying a new Yamaha XS750SE in 1978.
That was the bike I bought because I couln't afford the BMW I wanted.

[scottyintex]

This is my first cycle..............which I bought in 2002 ............ was my retirement present to myself. A 1964 BMW R27. It was a great starter bike, light, nimble.............was made to cruise at the old 55 speed limit.......

[not-so-fast-ed]

Beautiful, Scotty!  Know just what you mean.
Ed

[nhmaf]

Very nice, Scotty !!!

I want you to know that I've "stolen" your picture to use on my desktop for a few days !
I hope that you still have this bike !

[scottyintex]

No, .......don’t have it any more...........needed the $$$ to help pay for bike number two. It was pretty shot when I bought it........sat in a barn for years........looked like chit..no title, no papers. I thought it was a 1962 when I bought it, the year I graduated from high school but the serial number proved it to be a 1964. I bought it for $3,000.....spent $3,500 having it rebuilt..sold it for $7,500......... 3 years....8000 miles later. Then moved up to my R65.....which some one in my family will inherit......cause I am not selling it....below is bike #2

[SCJJR65]

Wow, Scotty, that R27 is a perfect example of the perfect anitque Airhead that I would kill for to have in my garage, and take out for a spin on a warm Sunday afternoon!   I hope you keep that bike forever, but if you do ever decide to sell it, how about letting me know, OK?  

[nhmaf]

Sorry that you don't still have that R27, Scotty, but I am sure that it is making someone very happy !

you are right - if I had that R65/hack rig looking the way you have it,  I would never sell it either, unless it came down to
starving to death or something.. it is one of the classiest rigs I have seen anywhere !

 

[tagordon]

Riding a R65 is very similar to this one. Except the Suzi didn't corner as well.