Motorcycle Alabama

1965 Honda S-65   ;D

My Father actually bought this one for me. After being told many times I would never own a motorcycle while under his roof. Stories of his friend in high school with pins in his knees. I didn't care at the time as I thought motorcycles were for dentists, etc that needed something to do on the weekends. THEN, I rode one. O-M-G!  8) So Dad picked this up from a former neighbor. It was the wife's bike, the husband had a 250 dream. The engine was run low on oil and needed a rebuild. The work was done by a Honda shop in west end. I vaguely remember the shop. So after she had been brought to Bham from Hsv and rebuilt, Dad presented the bike to one happy kid.  :)

1985 Kawasaki KD-80M
(Photo borrowed from the Interwebs, not actual bike)



I rode the hell out of this bike!  I even got broad sided by a pickup truck on it. After I got out of the hospital, I rebuilt the bike and rode it for 2 more years afterwards, LMBO!

79 KZ750 twin.

2000 Honda Shadow 600 VLX ... I was a late bloomer

My first bike, purchased new in 1998, was a leftover,  still in the crate,  1995 Yamaha Virago 250.

My first bike was a 1973 Honda SL70. My dad bought it for me in the summer of 1976 from Smith Bros. at Eastwood Mall.

My parents said I could only get a motorcycle, if I was responsible enough to save the money, and pay for it myself.

So, at the ripe old age of 13, I went to the guy down the street who owned a landscaping business, and asked for a job. Saved a lot of money that summer. As soon as I turned 14, I went and got my license, and spent my savings on a pristine 1982 Suzuki GS450, just like this one.



Rode the wheels off of it. The only middle schooler, driving myself to school  8)

Eventually crashed it. Lots of good memories.

A hand-me-down 1973 Honda XR75.



Boy, I WISH it had looked anywhere near that good when I got it.

1976 Honda XL125

1972 Ducati 350 Scrambler



Keep looking for another, but don't want to spend 5 times what I paid for my first one in 1974  :-X

My Dad bought me a used '82 Kawasaki KZ750 Spectre in 1987 when I turned 16.

Some weird Italian thing. A bucket list item for a Birthday Present to me.

In 1992 I was given a 1988 Kawasaki Enduro.  This little 100 was a ton of fun for me, I took in the trails out by Hurricane Creek in Cottondale.  Rode it daily all year when weather permitted.  Then I got a car and the 16 year old me was more worried about girls than bikes.

Mime was a 1974 Triumph 750 Tiger.

I had the idea my first street bike didn't need to be small because I'm a big/tall guy.

So, my idea of a first bike in my late 20's:



Stupid I know, should have picked up a cheap DS.

Took it down mostly dirt roads for a while, had never been on pavement with a bike before. It was too much bike even though I was 300 pounds and tall, took me a couple months to get halfway comfy. Ended up getting a DR650 a few months later and finally started to learn faster. Kept both bikes for years, the 950A was my very first real bike, and it was expensive with all the farkles. I had a good job at the time. Then I would ride the DR650 mainly when I moved to Charlotte and save my KTM tires for trips. I learned to ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway mostly after my night shift in Morganton, NC. I would ride up 181 which I lived off of, and watch the sunrise around Little Switzerland / Spruce Pine.

I had a great time once I got a month of daily riding under my belt. Took me about 3 months to reach the 55 mph speed limit on 181, after  4 months of riding daily I went cross country and road home to GA/AL a few times. Got addicted to bikes at that point. Rode probably 15,000 miles my first year, bought 3 bikes in the first two years...