What was your first bike?

**Motu** · 8th January 2005, 22:03

Originally Posted by Paul in NZ

1954 AJS 500cc single bought as a running wreck and reprayed, recover the seat, rings etc and find all the bits. Loved that bike! Wonder where 855YR ended up?

I just loved the DA chain guard on those old Matchy and AJs.That's about all,I still remember that damn G9.

I got my 1st bike in 1970 when I was 16 - a BSA Bantam Major,with a chook on the tank.That was 150cc,the D3,swing arm model.The chook had a fish tail,but I lost it and made my own out of an oil filter.It cost 50cents to fill it - the fuel cap had an extention that you filled with engine oil and poured into the tank,then filled it up and shook the bike to mix it all up.

**Motu** · 9th January 2005, 16:24

Originally Posted by vifferman

What's that? Sounds vaguely familiar, but even though I used to be able to tell what almost every bike was in the 70s, just by ear, and was a veritable walking encyclopedia of useless bike trivia, I dunno anymore. Bout nuttin...

:spudwhat:

One of these,this one belongs to Eric Bone who still races the triples.

**PhilBilly** · 10th January 2005, 06:49

Loads of fun on that thing till the engine blew lol. Outside porirua as well so i couldnt leave it there over night.

**toads** · 10th January 2005, 07:38

a honda mb 100, went all over the north island on it, had it from new and loved it soooooo much

**JohnBoy** · 10th January 2005, 15:15

my first and second bike was a 1980 CB250RS...
i brought one to only crash it into a culvert then i brought another one from a guy in levin for 50$ and built a bike from the good parts.
best week of study leave ever!!

**pete376403** · 10th January 2005, 20:20

Originally Posted by Motu

I just loved the DA chain guard on those old Matchy and AJs.That's about all,I still remember that damn G9.

Then you must also remember Matchie megas, jampots, and that shithouse 3 bearing crankshaft with roller outer and plain inner mains. Mine was the same year as the one pictured, but never in a million years would it have been as pretty. Mine was a POS, and kept running long enough for me to sell it and buy a new 1972 Kawasaki F9 (which was also a POS, but thats another story)

**Motu** · 10th January 2005, 21:07

Yep,that's the exact same model as my G9,but I think mine had an earlier gearbox,and never,in the life of the universe would it look that good.I ditched those monstrous guards,those tool boxes and that headlamp nacelle,just threw them out like...I also found those beautiful megas cut what horsepower it had,so they went too.Painted that chrome tank primer grey...um,how do you reckon they would look with apehangers? Yeah right,it looked bloody stupid so I cut them down into big pullbacks.I could write pages about the problems that horrible bike gave to me,I bought it off an unemployed nuclear physicist,maybe I needed his brain - but let's look at the positives...

I thought the motor was an engineering masterpiece,three bearing crank aside - if you want to do something better than the opposistion to show them up,atleast make a success of it.The breather through the center of the crank (filling my chaincase with oil) Roller? and finger cam followers,seperate barrels and heads,wire wound pistons,big meaty seperate oil pumps,and the best part of all - eccentric rockers for tappet adjustment,such a great idea,but seldom done.The easiest motor ever I've set the valves on.Still the worst bike I ever owned,even after my ''improvements''.

**Redstar** · 10th January 2005, 21:31

Honda SS50

It had Pedals and an upswept exhaust and was mustard yellow and was 1.5hp and could do 70klm/hr and was four stroke with a speedo only kick start and the pedals were for decor only and locked down to form foot pegs it has a very good seat and back pegs for pillions and bridgestone nylon tyres that never wore out and it had a governer on the throttle slides to prevent me from going to fast. and I four speed box and I thought I was shit hot and the only Bike to surpass it was the Yamaha FS1E or FIZZY as it was known but other choices were the PUCH 50 stepthrough just as quick but looked like shit or a Gillera 50 not they could Mambo twas 1974 and ABBA won the eurovision song contest with Waterloo and I had Stax shoes not good for gear changes but made me 6 foot 3 and I must have looked a right pillock
but the Girls thought not, I think bugger I had the spots and we were the lesser spotted 50cc gang and it was the best time of my life, how sad!

**bear** · 11th January 2005, 07:14

Honda GB250 (1985), into a wind had to cange down to 5th to stay at 100km/h. Loved it, good learn to ride bike, be hard to go back to now though.

**Madmax** · 11th January 2005, 20:59

Originally Posted by Motu

One of these,this one belongs to Eric Bone who still races the triples.

know eric
and another eric as well
eric sheppard
used to run an H2 pro stock bike
bloody A7 split a fuel line one day
filled my doc with fuel
(removed all the skin off my foot)
Damn thing would be worth some money now

**bevsta** · 11th January 2005, 21:24

Suzuki GN 250, it was born in 1983, I was born in 1985, we came together in 2004 and we're still going strong!

**NecroNom** · 12th January 2005, 21:34

First bike 2000 KR150 then just brought a rooted gsf 250.....dnt know why. The KR handled better, was faster....only thing it lacks is torque. But good to get used to weight of the bigger 4 cylnder. Big things on the horizon.

**Lou Girardin** · 13th January 2005, 07:04

'57 T'Bird with no WOF, no front brake and the patented Triumph self-disassembly option.
We didn't have to wear helmets either!

**Mooch** · 13th January 2005, 13:08

An 88 Kawa Kr1 , Advise at the time was get a "GN250" as the two strokes are to powerful.... Learnt to ride on it and kept for 13 years !.

**Jonty** · 13th January 2005, 13:22

198ish XL 185, complete with blue smoke, knobbly on the rear, road tire on the front, and even a trailer!! I can say that learning to ride as a 10 year old with a trailer stuck on the back makes for some interesting cornering.

Mind you the upgrade to an electric start Auto AG200 after the blue smoke turned to red flame didn't improve the situation greatly!