What got you into riding?

So, what got everybody into riding?

Was it a matter of your father or older brother was into bikes?

Was it through your peers? 

Or did you just decide, "me wanna bike... must have... mmmmm..fun?

I got into bikes rather late, 22 years of age, to be precise.
I had ridden a couple of dirt bikes from childhood school friends, but that was it.

 I came about motorcycles, of all things, from cycling, of which I took very seriously as a sport, and always loved going fast, so wanted to extend that feeling into a motorised version on two wheels.   In some ways, I`m glad I got into them a little later, as I`m sure I would have killed myself through over confidence, as most young people are. 
  I was a big car nut, as a youngster, and as stated, as many young people, to over confident, subsequently, had a couple of dings, which of cause , in a car, your protected, and not on a bike, as we all know. 
  At 21, I decide to do a series of advanced driving courses, and found myself always at Lakeside race way, doing laps, which at least some of that knowledge, finally sunk in, on proper braking and cornering, and that`s when I got into bikes.

So that's how I got into bikes, from "cycling", 26yrs ago.

How about you??

I started when Santa delivered a CT90 one Christmas morning.  It might have been a bike bought to round up the cows but it did everything my mates did on their YZ/RM/KZ 80's

There's been many bikes since some good some ordinary and some great.

When I was 15 I bought my first "bike". I say that a little tongue in cheek, as it was an awesomely powerful 90cc Kawasaki G2 , I had my drivers licence, ( as we could in NZ at the age of 15 ) but had rare use of my folks car. So it was time to get some wheels of my own.
Getting into riding bikes wasn't from my very first experience of bikes tho, as my older bro plonked me on the seat in front of him on his RD 350, & said "you control the power & steering". That didn't end up going very well at all, as we ended up crashing into the rose covered fence between us & the neighbours place bugger, big bro wasn't to happy with me.
About 6 years later I was lucky enough to be at a farm another bro worked on, & somehow he convinced me to have a ride on his bosses RV 90. I loved it. He used to get on the regular (not sure what it was) trail bike, & I'd ride the RV. That thing was a blast on the beach!
In the end I convinced the folks that the few hundred $ I'd saved was good to be spent on the old G2.

I grew up in country SA, a lot of my mates grew up on farms, one of my best mates in primary school had a Honda Elsinore 50, that was the 1st bike I rode and from that day on I was hooked (much to my old man's digust, he had a brother who was nothing short of crazy on 2 wheels  )
At 14 Dad finally gave in and bought me a Honda GL 175 ag bike for $40 from a farmers clearing sale where he was the auctioneer, about 18 months later  I'd saved enough to buy a 12 month old Kawasaki KLX250, the rest is history, since I was 14 I've had a total of about 15 months where I didn't own at least one motor bike, 24 years ago I bought my first road bike, I kept that for 21 years and have now had the Bandit for nearly  3years.

I suppose you could say this is how I got into riding, but the following is more about how I got my first bike licence.

Back in the day (38 odd years ago), I was in the Army stationed at Ingleburn and we had a pair of the very few trail motorbikes used in the military outside of the MPs.  From memory they were Yamaha XT500's or something similar and were used out bush to deliver messages (much like today's posties), SDS -Signals Dispatch Service Riders as they were called. 

Anyway back then you needed a military licence to ride/drive any military vehicle.  This involved anything from driving round the transport yard to a 4 week course winching 6wd trucks out of rivers in the dead of winter.  Having done my CL/B2/B4 (civilian 2wd type vehicles), B3 (Land Rover) and B5 (Truck) courses I got to know the Transport Sergeant pretty well.  He was the one that handed out the licences after he was satisfied you were competent not to kill yourself or fellow diggers.

One day between bush exercises when things were quiet he asked if anyone wanted to get their bike licence (B1 I think was the code) as the normal SDS riders were going to be away for a couple of weeks and the Regiment could not be fully functional without them.  A couple of laps round the Transport yard, dodge the odd 44 gallon drum of oil and I had an endorsed B1. 

Now one quirk of the military licence system in those days, they were recognised by the States.  So next time I was getting my NSW licence renewed, I showed the motor registry my military licence, they took it away and look up the codes, comes back and I'm handed a licence endorsed for car, rigid heavy truck, and open bike.  No P's, no LAMS restrictions, don't think you could get away with it these days.

My elder brother had bought a Honda CB360 about 12 months earlier so I got influenced by that.  And another friend had a DT175.  I saved my hay-carting money and had enough at the end of 1975 to buy a second-hand Yamaha AT2E (125cc trail bike with electric start!).  Great for rounding up the cows at milking time and giving me some independence, including the option to ride to school instead of catching the bus (that was in 1976, my final year at secondary school).  I eventually sold it to a wrecker in 1985 but I still have the workshop manual, which has been hiding in the shed since 1976! 

The mighty AT2E was followed by a CB350four, XL500 trail bike and then an XS750 shaft drive triple.

Those were the days! 

I`m seeing a theme in the farm life here!!

I was always a computer nut, but one day my Dad came home with a Honda XL70 that he bought for a carton of beer. It still had light and indicators. I rode that bike heaps until my brother blew up his dt400. He then proceeded to thrash my bike until the countershaft snapped. I don't think the bike ever got an oil change, it certainly never got new tyres.  

The road bike was my wife's idea. At 27 she said let's get a road bike. Picked up a pristine 6 year old Kawasaki gpx250 with 1600kms on the odo. We did 24000kms on it in a little over 12 months and then I bought the Bandit in 07. The rest is history.

We live 2 doors away from farm land and bush. I have a drz400, a Honda crf230 for the wife and an xr50 for my 5 year old son. I can't wait until we can all go riding together. I'm thinking of buying 3 headsets so we can all chat. It'd be great for teaching my son how to ride his xr50

A mate in primary school had some little ratty 80cc dirt bike. I was invited to his parents vineyard for the day, which we spent shooting air rifles and riding the 80. I remember the first time, pillion, no helmets, the noise, the wind n dirt in my face, the smell of 2 stroke, the sheer exhilaration!! Then my turn to master this "beast", with a "one down three up" thing! I was hooked big time. It wasn't until mid high school I was able to buy my first bike. A hardly used Yamaha 100 from a relative who was waaaay too big for this little bike. My parents had some property at that time, so that's where this little yammie was ridden into the ground. No oil changes, no new tyres, no new sprockets (we just turned them around  !!)....it was just used n used until it died. Completely worn out......it was dismantled (to see how it worked), then taken down to the tip. A RM250 soon replaced it.....but that's another story.

Summer holiday - I was 12.  Childhood mates in my mum's home town had scooters.  Various sorts - many home engineered.  I fell in love with a loaner and ended up with it in the boot for the trip home. - a little contraption with a 1 hp B&S, no brakes of any kind on it and belt drive that I had paid $25 for - a real horror of a thing. I rode it into the ground, broke a con-rod, replaced  it with simple tools - a couple of screwdrivers, a vice grip, a shifter and pliers.  Along the way, an Auntie said to me that she couldn't understand why I hadn't just saved up my money and bought a proper motorbike, which I did, later.  

You could get a motorcycle licence a full year before you could get a car licence, so at the age of 15, I had a NEW motorbike and a licence. (different time and place) Freedom. That was the only motorbike I ever bought new.  There were a lot of youngsters at that time and place which did the same thing.  It opened up a whole new world of mobility, independence and access to good hunting spots. No need to walk the miles, I could now go anywhere.  Nobody ever knew where I was, but I always managed to come back. Food and a bed is a very powerful incentive.    

When I got a car licence, at 16, I still rode the bike - it was so much cheaper to operate, I already owned it, and the family car was not really a day to day proposition.  I used a car more and more and but a break from both during the Uni days - I couldn't afford to operate either.  My younger brother used the bike while I was away.  I never rode it again. 

Earning again, I bought first a car, then, very soon after,  a bike, and have simply had bikes all along since - about the same number of bikes as cars over the years. A couple of brief breaks (4 years each) during the parenthood days, but more or less continuous for what might seem a long time.  

It's just been pretty much a lifelong thing for me - a very viable and often preferable mode of transport. It's been 51 years since I bought that scooter.  So glad I did.

The freedom of a divorce

Its a whole lot more fun than driving  

Im a  bit of a late starter.
I was at the height of physical fitness, healthy and happy to ride pillion on husband's 2004 Triumph Tiger.
Then came the day when he told me he had to work in Adelaide, for who knows how long. I whined "But when will you be home so we can go for a ride?"
He then said he would teach me on the ol' Honda ag bike. He took me out to a back block, over the river, ran alongside me to tell me how to change gears lol
When we got home, he suggested I call the local licencer and so i did. I went in the very next day and got my licence. Two weeks later, hubby came home and we bought my first bike... a Honda cbf250.
I was 43.
Since then, I have had the cbf, a cb400, currently own the Bandit and the Triple, and have ridden over 35,000kms collectively.
Wish I had taken it up earlier

Late 30s, mid-life crisis, curiosity.
I did the Stay Upright course, nearly wet myself in terror, dropped their battered CB250, loved every minute of it! Never wanted to get off the bike.

Home made minibike when I was 12, then my 1st real bike, an RM250 for trails. Kids came along so 4 wheels until 3yrs ago. Now a handful of Suzuki's '86 VS800, '90 VX800, '09 Bandit.

My story is almost exactly the same as mtbeerwah's. I to was very much into cycle racing & cars and had no interest in motorbikes until I was about 22, when my brother, who had been into them for years, one warm summers night took me for a ride on the back of his Honda 750 up Beach road in Melbourne.
After that I started thinking that I wouldn't mind having a bike & doing a bit of touring. The styling of bikes in the late 70's also started to appeal to me and from then on I've never stopped riding and owning a bike.

I also agree with his comment about obtaining a licence a little latter than 18. After having been driving for 4 years I think I had a better appreciation of what happens when you do something stupid on the roads!

A mates Honda xr 75 when I was about 8/9 yrs old, nothing for years (moved) then watching Wayne Gardner/ Kevin Schwartz, Doohan, (this list could get much longer but these are the main ones) on TV back in the late eighties sliding all over the place in the wet, and dry, and then seeing the first rgv's in the bike shop window slowed down my hedonistic weekend pursuits to in order to save diligently and get my first bike (that I could afford (a used dt175)
Took me some years before I could afford a used rgv, had three in my time now, and still doing the never ending resto on one right now
After the dt175 I've had xr 250, 1st rgv250, rz350, cbx250, another rgv250, gpz750, klr600, husky wr360, in current possession a Gsxr750 1991 , yet another rgv250, and of course the bandit 
20 + yrs on bikes sure does go by fast when u look back at it, I think I've missed a couple too!
But what got me into it really was the xr75 first ride after rudimentary instructions on how to change gears and I can remember thinking, fuck me I'm really doing this and it feels so awesome to not have to pedal, I'm getting one of these as soon as I can get a job, because I knew I was never going to get one under the Christmas tree if you know what I mean.

my wife, really....
we moved out of the city as part of a lifestyle change but still worked at the same place so had a commute we never had before. She was going part time and we were going to be travelling together maybe one day a week. She suggested I think about a bike. At 43 I was due a mid life crisis.
I did the handling course we have to get a learners licence as a test if I would enjoy it. All those years watching road racing back in Northern Ireland and now I know I missed out on something awesome! So a couple of 650 singles while on the LAMS scheme and now I have my awesome FA. Next thing is persuading my wife to jump on the back with me :-)

Ulsterkiwi wrote:my wife, really....
we moved out of the city as part of a lifestyle change but still worked at the same place so had a commute we never had before. She was going part time and we were going to be travelling together maybe one day a week. She suggested I think about a bike. At 43 I was due a mid life crisis.
I did the handling course we have to get a learners licence as a test if I would enjoy it. All those years watching road racing back in Northern Ireland and now I know I missed out on something awesome! So a couple of 650 singles while on the LAMS scheme and now I have my awesome FA. Next thing is persuading my wife to jump on the back with me :-)

Book the missus in for the learners course as a Chrissy present.  
Trust me you will have far more fun riding together on two bikes rather than one.

My mum threatened to kick me out of home if I ever came home with a tattoo or a motorbike.  
So I joined the Navy at 18yo and got both.  

Bosco15 wrote:My mum threatened to kick me out of home if I ever came home with a tattoo or a motorbike.  
So I joined the Navy at 18yo and got both.  

So you kicked yourself out of home then

My passion for bikes occurred when I was about 2 years old and a bike overtook us on the frreway between Wollongong and Sydney. I remember thinking it looked so much easier to travel on a bike cause you could go faster than cars.
I substituted with BMX and Mountain Bikes until I could get my licence in my first year of Uni.
Buying a $1000 Kwak GPX 250 belt drive was one of the best days of my life, it was beaten up, had a hole in the exhaust and filthy wheels, but I loved it.
Since that day in '97 I have always owned a bike.
After the Kwak I went for more power, a RD350LC - until it seized going down the freeway at 100kph, I didn't go down but was put off from owning old oil dripping machines.
I wanted reliability and to push a button to start the engine.
I got a GPX250, great machine, fun to ride and totally reliable.
Then my eye caught a RF600 for sale at the bike shop. Low kays, good price and it was mine. The power of the 600cc felt like I could be the quickest man in the street. I was and lost licence for 3 months!
This was fantastic and I had many great rides and adventures on it, especially a a mate had bought one exactly the same, riding two RF600's in a pack was special.
The time had come for something bigger and I wanted the most bullet proof engine on the market. I'd become a fan of Suzuki and the only bike to fit those requirements was the Bandit
So in 2005 I bought one brand new. In the first few rides I gave it a squirt here and there, feeling like it was about to rip my arms from my shoulders. I lost my licence for 3 months due to one of these indiscretions.
After 115 000 kms and countless trips to the Island for GPs, Superbikes and Island Classics, it was time to upgrade. I considered a BMW k1300r, Hayabusa, ZX14 and a few others but when a 2010 Bandit caught my eye in all black frame/engine and wheels, it was the one to get. The price even better, I mean I could have got two for the price of one BMW!
After the addition of the Yoshi pipe, braided brakes and a few other additions I've put 22000km on it on 2 years and look forward to a few more years ahead before the next machine might be required.

I always feel naked when I don't have the bike atleast in the garage when it is being serviced at the mechanics. 
Spending a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday arvo cleaning and polishing with 3 beers and either the cricket or rugby league on the radio is the best therapy around.
I envisage my future owning a motorcycle at all times.
I'm not planning on getting married or having kids, that doesn't interest me. I only want a job to pay the rent and put tyres and fuel in the bike.
I keep things pretty simple and living and riding bikes is one of the most simplest things I like to think of doing.