That's a bunch, I've owned 36 bikes since age 14 and always wished I'd owned more (or still had some of them).
My most missed bike, really either one of them
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
What Was Your First Street Bike?
- Thread starter cabanza
- Start date
My most missed bike, really either one of them
I have seen that a lot of your posts reference the Tampa Bay area back in the day and I lived in T&C and went to Leto high school. I spent a lot of time at Suzuki of Tampa back then, it was a great place to hang out and looking back, it was a great time for motorcycles since every year brought new and exciting bikes.Very cool, and I remember that dealership well, passed it hundreds of times growing up and living in Tampa (well, Lutz but there was really nothing in Lutz at the time). Remember that Tampa had 3 Honda franchises all doing well at the same time? Honda of Tampa was the oldest one, then Barney's Outboard Marine and Honda motorcycles (not to be confused with Barney's Yamaha across the bay and yeah, they originally sold Mercury outboards and boats) and Honda Village in North Tampa. I worked at all 3 of them, Honda Village twice, then later at Suncoast Honda which was started by the former service manager from Barney's in '75.
I started on a beat up, $50 CA102 in the summer of '68
After my TS was stolen I bought a 72 Honda CL350 on the cheap from a neighbor and finished out my high school years with it. In the spring of 1980 (my graduation year) I bought a lightly used 1977 Suzuki GS550 and I thought that it was the greatest bike ever. Powerful, smooth, 6 speeds with digital gear indicator, and only 1800 miles for $1200. I was in heaven.
Then my girlfriend and her family moved to St. Louis and I was heartbroken. So I did what any other love stricken 18 year old would do, I loaded up my bike and rode my GS550 to Missouri to see her.
Then I rode home and never saw her again.
Ah, the trials of youth.
Last edited:
laurient
country memba
CB360T did over 100 mph just , 15.9 at 99 mph , DNFed out of an enduro , rode through tank badge deep water , bent the forks back so the wheel wouldn't turn then just straightened them out .
over two years of abuse still started easy every day .
Old army jacket , work boots and a full face with no visor . Was a fun time .
over two years of abuse still started easy every day .
Old army jacket , work boots and a full face with no visor . Was a fun time .
Ugh, sad story but it may have been for the best (or at least that's what they always say). Yes, youth and the adult adventures we embarked on with little to no adult-level experience. My parents, sister and I moved to Lutz from the Detroit area in February of '61 and it was like total culture shock moving from a residential neighborhood with friends very nearby in Roseville to the sticks 12 miles or so north of Tampa. When I was about 12 a local kid got killed on a Yamaha 100 twin, a DUI driver hit him from behind at about 80 mph. My mother took that one hard because my father had ridden Harleys prior to them getting married and she wanted nothing to do with them after that event. I'd already had a very well-built go-kart at age 9 so I had some experience with piloting a vehicle well before I was big enough to drive or ride, and after a couple years things cooled and my Dad bought that CA102 from a co-worker, brought it home and let me try it out. It was during the summer so I rode it as often as I was allowed, and unbeknownst to me he planned to give it to me for Christmas. I had zero idea he intended to do that and when it happened my motorcycling life began even before I was old enough to get my restricted license. A year later he bought a CT70 for my mother to learn to ride on and the 3 of us went camping often, dirt riding all weekend (ironically just west of where I live now in Citrus County).I have seen that a lot of your posts reference the Tampa Bay area back in the day and I lived in T&C and went to Leto high school. I spent a lot of time at Suzuki of Tampa back then, it was a great place to hang out and looking back, it was a great time for motorcycles since every year brought new and exciting bikes.
After my TS was stolen I bought a 72 Honda CL350 on the cheap from a neighbor and finished out my high school years with it. In the spring of 1980 (my graduation year) I bought a lightly used 1977 Suzuki GS550 and I thought that it was the greatest bike ever. Powerful, smooth, 6 speeds with digital gear indicator, and only 1800 miles for $1200. I was in heaven.
Then my girlfriend and her family moved to St. Louis and I was heartbroken. So I did what any other love stricken 18 year old would do, I loaded up my bike and rode my GS550 to Missouri to see her.
Ah, the trials of youth.
My cousin grew up in Tampa and went to Leto but much earlier (he graduated in '69) and I went to Chamberlain, graduated in '72. As an aside, I'm sure you remember House Kawasaki Cycle World on Dale Mabry. During that period (late '60s, early '70s) there was Cahill's Yamaha on Armenia just south of Busch Blvd, Suzuki of Tampa, the 3 Honda dealers and Joe Finan's House Kawasaki, so all the Japanese bikes were represented well. Then Joe Finan crashed at Daytona in the early '70s while road racing, apparently suffered some brain damage and was never the same. He eventually lost the Kawasaki franchise and a few years later Kirby Kawasaki showed up on Dale Mabry right down the street from what was then called House Cycle World. It finally closed in the last few months and the building torn down, so 2 institutions right next door to each other are now gone - House Cycle World and Lovengreen's Salvage. My first job was working for John Lovengreen on Saturdays, parting out bikes and hanging stuff up from the ceiling. And going down the street to the Tennesean restaurant to get John's lunch on my CA72.
I bought a 78 KE175 back in the early 80s. It was my third bike. Back then the national speed limit was 55MPH and the KE would do 70 so I rode it on the interstate without any issues.
Simmons1
Well-known member
1975 RD 350. After porting, chambers, and big carbs, it was quicker to 100 than my buddies GS1000 was and I had less than 1000 bucks in it including price of the bike.
whisperquiet
Well-known member
I owned a 1981 gray CBX with the factory fairing and saddle bags👍 Nothing sounded better to me than a CBX.That's a bunch, I've owned 36 bikes since age 14 and always wished I'd owned more (or still had some of them).
My most missed bike, really either one of them
I wish I had kept my 1984 RZ350 with the Toomey kit installed but other motorcycles needed to be purchased🏍
I had a good deal for 15 years…..worked four years at a Honda dealer while in school + it was like family to me and could purchase any new Honda right. I even got to set them up right from the crate.
Captain Jim
Shiftless
My first bike was a moderately ratty Honda 150 Dream when I was 14. My Mother said, "If you buy a motorcycle, you can't live in this house..." I called her bluff. The bike and I got to stay. She came around... she co-signed the loan for the used 350 Honda I bought a year later. Ah, the good ol' days.
Yes, the sound of a CBX is something you remember well. Water-faucet power from the bottom up, smooth and so much fun to ride.
Having the inside track working for a Honda dealer back then was great, I got many bikes at dealer cost plus 10% as well. When I worked for my second Honda shop my father and I both bought 450s. I had a CL450 and he had a CB and we took them home one at a time in the crate in my Dad's pickup. Put them together in our garage, the first person to touch it after it was built. Doesn't get any better than that.
spanky
Well-known member
I started out on a Kawasaki 120cc street/trail bike and rode it primarily on dirt trails because I was too young to have a driver's license. I then got a slightly larger Suzuki 250 street/trail bike then sold it when I got my first car. Missing MC riding, I snagged one of these from the local Cadillac dealer who took it in as a partial trade on a Caddy. I paid $550 for it in 1975. Damn thing was a wheelie machine and it's a wonder I didn't kill myself riding it. The frame flexed in the corners and the pipes dragged way too easy.
Not mine, a pic from the interwebs, a '72 H1 Mach III
Not mine, a pic from the interwebs, a '72 H1 Mach III
DesmoDog
Well-known member
I was bitten by the Ducati bug early on. I put money down on this based on a description and a faxed picture. Waited months before I could pick it up, but here it is on the second day of ownership (it was raining the first day when I picked it up)
Alan F.
Well-known member
I'll find another someday.
RebelGearsRider
Member
Yamaha SR500. Man did that thing vibrate. It put my hands to sleep in just a few minutes.
They were a wheelie machine even when you didn't really want to wheelie, LOL. Fast as hell, below average handling as you mentioned. That's a clean example of one there, beautiful.I started out on a Kawasaki 120cc street/trail bike and rode it primarily on dirt trails because I was too young to have a driver's license. I then got a slightly larger Suzuki 250 street/trail bike then sold it when I got my first car. Missing MC riding, I snagged one of these from the local Cadillac dealer who took it in as a partial trade on a Caddy. I paid $550 for it in 1975. Damn thing was a wheelie machine and it's a wonder I didn't kill myself riding it. The frame flexed in the corners and the pipes dragged way too easy.
Not mine, a pic from the interwebs, a '72 H1 Mach III
4PawsHacienda
Member
1968 Honda CL350 purchased for $375 in July 1971, the summer before my senior year in high school, technically still at age 16, just shy of 17.Had just moved to Sanford NC from Pittsburgh. What an adventure! Haven’t stopped riding yet.
Bearcat
Well-known member
My first street legal bike was a 1976 Yamaha DT125 . I bought it in '79 at age 15 from the owner of a small local hardware store who had it sitting on the store floor. I drooled over that bike for months! That was my first legal mode of transportation when I obtained my driver's license a year later. This pic is not mine but an accurate view of what it looked like.
psykown
Well-known member
A silver 07 ninja 250, with red flames for extra power 
got good enough jetting it that it would out run all the "cooler" next gen ninjas at the college lol
got good enough jetting it that it would out run all the "cooler" next gen ninjas at the college lol
Expat47
Well-known member
In 1964 I bought a used 196? Honda Dream 150cc
Tripped1
Well-known member
GPz900 with 250 stickers on it to get past the Statie at the DMV giving the test.
....at 14.
....at 14.
About 1969ish I inherited my older brothers Norton Dominator after he sent it and himself down the road on a treacherous set of "S" bends that some nitwit thought should also have a train track through the middle of it. The white line paint back then was of course something that had to be avoided at all costs when wet. Needles to say he either slid on the white paint of the slippery train track one rainy night whilst coming home from Uni. Pride only hurt plus bad leg bruising.
I did the rebuild at the ripe old age of 16 with my mate and the friendly Triumph / Yamaha / Norton agent.
First new bike owned was an Yamaha RD200. Bloody girl-friend at the time went and bought a RD250 which meant I couldn't keep the RD200 and save face so it didn't stay long in my possession before moving on to a Suzuki GT750.
I should have kept that girlfriend!!
I did the rebuild at the ripe old age of 16 with my mate and the friendly Triumph / Yamaha / Norton agent.
First new bike owned was an Yamaha RD200. Bloody girl-friend at the time went and bought a RD250 which meant I couldn't keep the RD200 and save face so it didn't stay long in my possession before moving on to a Suzuki GT750.
I should have kept that girlfriend!!