im 36 now, and have just bought my first big bike. I passed my driving test at 25, and wasnt interested in riding at all until i was about 30. Its a slghtly strange route that tipped my interest, and that was talking to gay bikers. Over the years of talking to them, I started wanting to be a part of it all. Just over 2 years ago, i had some sort of illness that saw me off work for several months, and when I was getting better, I was speaking to someone about the things that bother me and one was the fact that I wanted to ride motorbikes but never thought I'd be able to do it. She talked through it with me, and said that basically, I had decided I wasnt entitled to do it, it was something other people did. So. I decided to do my CBT, I remember telling my bf about it, took him to the pub (he was always very anti-motorbike) and it felt like i was coming out again, but he just said ok, so it wasnt so bad after all. CBT came, it wasnt as easy as I was expecting, but I think i had a bad teacher (more of that later) I came off the bike during the CBT and cut all my knee and leg, but ended up with the cert. Bought a 125, fell off it, then my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, so I had other things to worry about. The bike stayed parked up for months and months, and it got to the point where I was frightened to get back on it. My dad passed away in February this year and I was (still am) having difficulties mentally about lots of things, so I decided I'd fix the bike one. My bf took me out in his van to start riding again and, I have to say, it came pretty naturally, kind of like I didnt know what i was worrying about. I started riding every weekend, in summer up to eight hours a day, I really felt the limitations of the 125, especially with 18 stone on it. The dream was always a fireblade, but it seemed so hard to get this far, it still seemed a long way off. Then, on facebook, an advert came up for a rider training place locally, that wasnt the same one that did the cbt, so I messaged them, had a brief chat and ended up going to visit one day, before I knew it, I had signed up for a DAS course. Passed it on the 11th December, and got my Fireblade on the 18th! I know facebook gets all the criticism, but the advert, and the fact that the guy that runs the DAS would take the time to message me in the evening, and just chat really made me calm down enough to do it. it's probably my greatest achievement, not just for learning to do it, but the difficulties I have had just to be able to try and learn. I know im not a particularly good rider, and probably wont be anytime soon, but I wont be riding like a dickhead, im going to do some more training when the weather is better I love the attention this bike brings, not that I expected it, but total strangers comment on it, makes me wonder if they have the same dream I was having just a few years ago. oh, the family wont discuss it at all, but the bf says he worries about me, but is ok about it now. I think he might realise how important it is to me
For me it was a natural progression from bicycles. Started with CB175 in 1970 and like @blink did a major upgrade to CB750 the following year. A lot of initial opposition from parents, but they did eventually accept it with dad going guarantor for finance on the 750. A far cry from the bikes of today, but certainly a memorable period of my life. Today, bikes simply dominate me!
Biking itself a meditation for many of us. Some find this passion inside at early age and some develops interest in it later. Don't think too much just do it with your full. Good luck
I absolutely love it when im riding, and it has the extra part that I feel such a sense of achievement. I suppose I thought a lot might have started on bikes as their main form of transport for work etc, rather than for fun
Certainly true in the 50s and 60s when cars were out of reach financially. That's why sidecars were so popular then. I'd like to have an early BSA or Norton outfit, as would many of us I suppose. Not necessarily as a keeper, but simply for the experience. (Not sure about the kick-starting malarkey though!)
i guess that puts a generation aspect into it all. At work, there are 3 or 4 bikes, and only one uses it as his regular commute beacuse he doesnt have a car, the rest just have them for fun. I have to say, there isnt much appeal to classic bikes for me (yet) but i said the same about harley davidsons, until i saw one in the dealer that i liked the look of. Id really like an enduro addition, but I dont want to spend a lot on one, like under a grand
1996 whilst stationed over in Germany, a group of lads on the Squadron had Motorbikes. They went out for regular rides and looked like they were having fun. The rules on the bike test were about to change so I went to Bristol Motorcycle training centre and got my bike test done in a week. It was the time one could pass on a 125 then go straight out and get a Blade. I got my first bike a CBR 600 FT. I was never off that bike. If I wasn’t riding it, I was cleaning it or thinking about it. That started my love affair with Honda Motorcycles. I’ve had that many Honda sports bikes, I think I have paid quite a few Honda employees pensions.
I started on a Honda Spree (scooter) that I bought for $50 and hid in my wood shed so my parents wouldn't find out. I was 16 at the time. I then bought a CBR 600, my first proper bike, at 17. I brought it home and promptly got told either the bike goes, or I do. My cousin Paul had recently suffered a crash on his bike in Rutherglen and was left paralysed. My family saw it as a bad idea. I didn't. Shortly after my 18th birthday, I began working for my Uncle Sam and wound up going all over the world for a long time. No matter where I was, I found ways to ride during down time. Whether it be buying a crap bike and leaving it where it died or renting something. I always had a bike back home that got plenty of use when I was able. When I got home and was stationed around the USA, my bike came with me. I lived in Florida for 12 years, of those years I didn't even own a car for 7 of them. Now, I have a few bikes (Repsol and a Harley) and I teach people to ride motorcycles. I am an MSF instructor. I ride all year round and can never see myself not owning a bike or two. Best advice I can give would be to never stop learning. The day you think you know it all, burn your bike to the ground and never get on one again. After 30 years of riding, I still learn new things and find ways to improve. It's a lifelong commitment, not a passing fancy. Ride safe!
its nice to meet an instructor on here. I have to say the instructor that did my DAS with me was pretty good, and i trusted him
I started when I was 8 years old, before motorbikes I was always on my BMX daily doing jumps and tricks. Then one day myself, my brother and parents were out in the car and we spotted this PUCH Magnum 50cc motocross bike in a local bike shop window, myself and brother were like wwwoooaahhhh! Remember, this was Eddie Kidd era and I was doing anything to try and emulate that guy! A few weeks later my Dad came home with that very motocross bike!!! I couldn't believe it, we were lucky enough to also have a huge back yard and even a bit of rough land which we turned into a mini moto cross track with a big log in the middle of it that we used to jump over. Many crashes and injuries followed, but my parents always let us ride whenever we wanted. On days out we even took the bike in a trailer in case we spotted somewhere that looked good to ride! It was always about the fun side of bikes for me, I have had spells of commuting but only when I never had kids. It doesn't matter how early or late you start with bikes, as long as you're enjoying it.......that's what it's all about
Yeah I was like that, bicycle to moped while at school, at 17 got a yam rd200 and passed my test on that, also my car test the same year, patents didn't like bikes but still managed to get dad to help on loans, 200, 250, 550, 750, 850, 1000 was my progression and after all these years I still love bikes
Started 9yrs ago age 39 Went to work for Honda UK and a collegue said “what u work for Honda and dont ride a bike”. Never really trusted myself on a bike because i was bad enough in a car Mid life crisis commence did my DAS after a wet CBT in Nov with water running down my neck and me sat thinking not sure this is me, couldnt get to grips with what my hands and feet should be doing and then one day it just all clicked. I couldnt believe after riding how much my car driving improved, especially road awareness Now on my 6th blade, 2 VFR8’s and a VFR12, CBF600, 4 x CBR600RR’s and a CB1R over last 8yrs. Now i do 1000 miles a week in car but cant wait to jump on a bike.
That's what 'm talkin' about!! Others take note: it is 'normal' to have a few bikes! Who cares if all mine are at the same time
Ive had 5 in last 12mths .. Started Jan 18 with a Ducati Monster 1200R and a Hannspree 600RR, sold the 600 for a CBR954, then sold that for the Repsol i have now and then sold the Monster for the Superduke 1290R I have promised the wife no sales this year
i have to say, i still want to get an enduro of some sort not sure i want to spend another fortune on insurance yet though
Wanting one when i was 12 years old ( Due to the fact my Farther had a few ) he bought me a Kawasaki KE100.. we stripped it down painted the frame put it all back together then sat me on it put it in first and let me go (To which i fell over 50 meters down the road) . ive been hooked and falling off since
