The age you started biking and why...

**CookMySock** · 14th February 2008, 09:06

scooter at 12 coz it was cool, big at scooter 13 coz we found it under a hedge, dirt bike at 14 coz my mate had one, everything else at 15 coz my dad worked for a contracting company, big dirt bike at 17 coz my little brother had an XR500 and my mate (my gf's brother) had an XR250, road bike 19 coz my mate had one, aaaand a long break and at 42 years a SoHung GT650R coz I have lost a lot of weight and sorted my depression out, and I have a life again.

So my mate is still my mate, and I'm still hooked up with his sister after 20 something years, and now we return full circle. It's been tough, but it's feeling good now.

Steve

**RidingHard** · 14th February 2008, 09:15

21. Had 12 cars by that age and decided to get into biking

**-df-** · 14th February 2008, 09:38

road: 18 when I got my first bike
off road: shit...to long ago...I remember it was a rm50, must have been around 7...first go I went straight off a cliff...ahh, the good old days.

On and off since then.

**surfer** · 14th February 2008, 10:35

Late 20's.

Had a small car that I parked outside my house on road. Some arseholes on way back from pub picked it up and moved it into middle of road. It was towed away by police during the night as a hazard. I went looking for it in the morning as I thought it was stolen and was told by police that they had it and why. They sent me to towing company who wanted me to pay for towing it round the corner to their yard. I had a huge row with them which got a bit nasty. They wouldn't give it back and stuck it on top of a tow truck. Then I had a row with the police who threatened a 'cooling off' in the cells.

I was so mad, I told them to get fucked, left the car and bought a bike on the way home.

**90s** · 14th February 2008, 12:53

15 - legal age to take test for small bikes where I grew up. Had a few scooters & mopeds, some dirt bikes etc. (you needed to know the road code for bikes front to back to pass - something scooters should do here not just on car licences ... )

Why?
1st wanted transport.
2nd its was damn cool.
3rd you could give people lifts and this was very social. There was no driving to 18, but you could carry a pillion at 15 with no crazy 10pm rules as in NZ now.

**Shaz** · 14th February 2008, 13:03

My first ride ever on a bike lol, thought i'd take my brothers brand new 250 prolink for a spin

lol went strait into dads car....

would've helped if i could touch the ground as well

lol!!!
>>>>>>

<<<<<< my brother and I hahaha he eventually taught me how to ride

Got my own BLADE now lol all growed up

**enigma51** · 14th February 2008, 13:13

I was 4 when i got my first bike before that i use to sit on the tank and steer (on the farm though)

Al · 14th February 2008, 14:01

3 yrs old on a "monkey-bike", never been without a bike since then... (all of 41yrs this year!)

Al

**Gman71** · 14th February 2008, 20:37

a few months ago aged 36. early on-set midlife crisis. catching up on the stuff i didn't do cos I had kids young. it's gonna be a good one!

**Lucy** · 14th February 2008, 21:38

Growing up there was always an old Scooter in the yard. Mum and Dad used to have it as their transport when they only had two kids...by the time I came along it was a shrub, but every few years someone would get it going (Puch) and we'd have a go at riding it. Then in Auckland I got a 50cc scooter for cheap transport when my van died, then we moved out to the coast and 50cc couldnt handle the distance to town. Always meant to get a licence so could get a bigger scooter, but never got around to it until I turned 40 and the doctor prescribed 'doing something fun'. Did my basic handling test and decided 'screw scooters - I'm getting a bike'. Lack of money meant getting a GN though harr harr.

**karla** · 14th February 2008, 22:09

I must be the oldest newcomer here, I started riding bikes at 43. My father had always forbid me going on motorbikes ... I was allowed to drink, do drugs, date and drive ("c'mon chick, you can go faster than that!"), but not ride.

Came to me in one of those quiet moments, after he died, that now was the time to learn. I had an idea that if I didn't start now it wouldn't be long before I'd be too old ... although I see here there are bikers still riding at 70+ so just maybe I'll be around for a while.

**Chad** · 21st February 2008, 21:23

Originally Posted by ThumperNut

Started at 16 or so with a Jawa 50 - the ugliest scooter you could find last century. I had to have two spark plugs for it - one for starting and warming up in the morning, and another for actually riding somewhere.

Just to put the record straight Chad, the "Yamaha 350" was a Yamaha XS650, subsequently replaced by the SR500. Also, it wasn't a crisis but a collectibles investment program!

Ahh, true. Not sure why I thought it was a 350. Was a nice bike though. Weathers not lookin super for weekend up to auckland. Think it'll hold for Sat evening when riding to taupo, but raining pretty much everywhere on Sunday I think

**Skyryder** · 21st February 2008, 21:27

Sixteen.

Skyryder

**Livvy** · 22nd February 2008, 06:26

Interested in bikes all my life but my nervous wreck of a mother meant I could never mention them... Though my next door neighbour would sometimes take me pillion around the farm road up near our house (helmetless, naturally!) and I loved it.

Bought my motorbike last year, aged 16, but as I was in a relationship with a guy who already had his licence and we were living with each other and went everywhere together I never bothered to get my licence. Learnt to ride, but didn't get the licence. Dumped the guy in January, at about the same time the bike decided to die, so now I'm waiting for the Ninja to be fixed so I can finally get my licence on her.