Is Riding Bikes In Your DNA?

[badlieutenant]

as far as i know im the only one apart from my dad who stopped after the first jap bike he owned got taken out by a truck with him on it, crushed wrist that still looks funny. and i also suspect he was a one of those people who rode for the image.
Im not sure its genetic to ride bikes but more likely theres a gene marked for taking risks.
Maybe if we look around our families to see who did all the risky stuff, sky diving, climbing, flying etc.

[Yamahamaman]

Maybe if we look around our families to see who did all the risky stuff, sky diving, climbing, flying etc.

Hmm, I must be an adoptee. The family I know are all boring farts. I scuba dive, I ride motorcycles, and oh, the scariest thing is, I reside in Auckland.

[Deano]

Most of my uncle's had fast cars back in their day, and one uncle and my dad were into bikes.

My nana says that Malcolm Campbell (Bluebird ) was her great uncle or something or other, so speed is perhaps in the blood. Although I think it is more likely the risk taking gene or adrenalin junkie syndrome taking effect, as it is not only speed that fuels my fire.

[et al]

Good and Interesting Topic. Three of my sons ride bikes so guess you could say it is in the DNA although none of my parents or siblings have ever rode. I think exposure to bikes could be the biggest factor in deciding whether anyone is going to give it a go because my sons grew up with me always having a bike - they would come pillion often to sport/school etc so just became a natural thing for them. I am not sure what lead me towards bikes however I can remember from a very young age being fascinated by the sounds coming (lived a couple blocks away) from the Cemetry Circuit once a year.

[Yamahamaman]

Oh and my best friend's nephew is the chief mechanic for Valentino Rossi. Now, he shares the same surname of my (supposedly) great grandmother.

Yes, more trivia.

Gotta get those posts up

[badlieutenant]

is it just kiwis that make the world smaller ?

[Motu]

My father rode a moped,I remember he stripped them down and painted the frames hanging from the carport roof.He rode a moped because it was too expensive to use a car everyday.My uncle kept an Aerial 500,most likely the Red Hunter,under our house for years,I just loved to sit down on the dirt floor and look at it - black and chrome and red and big and levers and cables and smells and the big noise when they started it,like looking at a caged tiger - scary,but I so wanted to touch it.

Just reading the story of her early life that my mother left us - she says her father had a BSA,her older brother also had a bike and he would take her on the back...then she exclaims ''my grandkids ride their own bikes! so the love of bikes has gone down the generations''...that's her words.That's 4 generations...

Guess you're right Ruth...

[Marknz]

im a black sheep to but do it pretty well,Riding bikes that is!

Pretty Well!?! Ladies & Gentlemen... there's an understatement if you ever read one :sneaky2:

[Bob]

My father rode bikes, both as a civilian and in the Army (he was in the Royal Transports Corps in WWII). My brother also rode a bike for a short time.

My wife (who also rides) has biking in her family as well. Her late uncle rode - it was his memory I understand that was a big factor in her learning to ride. Her father, I'm led to believe, rode a scooter at some stage (though I really cannot visualise him on one!)

[SPman]

My grandfather had bikes in the 20's - mainly Harleys and a BSA.
Dad rode and raced iup to WW2 - Had an Ariel Red Hunter - 104mph timed on Foxton beach, 3 up standing on the bike down Johnsonville main street and Wellington - New Plymouth in 4 hours flat! not bad for 1939! - gravel roads - Ngaraunga gorge and all. Guess thats where the hoon factor comes from!.

[parsley]

I remember the excitement of riding on the back of my Dad's Honda when I was a nipper. Great days...

My mother's family all seem to ride horses (they're from farming country). I wonder if it's the same gene? Personally I've never felt comfortable around horses after seeing a man get his stomach kicked open by a New Forest pony when I was 5, but the rest of the family keep telling me how dangerous bikes are. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard of a bike injuring someone when the rider walked behind it...

[dhunt]

Both my grandfathers rode bikes at various stages, My Mum and Dad both have licenses and have riden bikes, and I've got 1/2 dozen uncles with bikes and plenty of cousins into bikes so I guess there isn't much hope for me is there!

[pete376403]

My dad had road bikes (Indian Super Chief among others) and he also rode speedway at the Kilbirnie track, on a bike built by Len Southward (Harley peashooter frame, Indian single made from a V twin with the back cylinder removed and the magneto mounted on a plate over the hole). I recall him telling me how he would ride this bike to the track from his home in Wadestown, and ride it home again after the meetings. Things were different in those days. His uncle, who was much the same age as him, also had numerous bikes. The last one, which we inherited, was a 350 Douglas, complete and rideable. That bike is now at (or should be) on permanant loan to MOTAT.
Anyway, back to family, my mother didn't ride and absolutley hated the idea of me having a bike. So any genetic disposition to riding is very one-sided.

[ben444]

Nope. Had to learn everything the hard way(got bruises to prove it). My family wasn't into bikes, they said I could get one when I left home..., so I left home. I think they've gotten soft now though. My younger bro has a CBR thou (rides like an idiot), and they are thinkin of getting a bike for my other bro cos it's a cheaper mode of transport. Damn, being the oldest...

[Dodgyiti]

I like to think my motorcycle interest is the perfection of 3 generations of mechanics and engineers
Grandfather- marine, diesels
Father- mechanic pertol/ diesel
Me- hoon