your first bike?

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RaWarrior

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So what did you all start out riding? Show some pics if you've got any handy, this should be interesting.

I bought this gem of a bike for $900 when I was 16. It's a 1982 Suzuki GS450A, with the A designating it had the "suzukimatic" 2-speed transmission. It worked like a 4wheeler's, you shifted with the foot but there was no clutch in a N-L-D pattern (low and drive). It put out 22 horsepower and topped out at about 85mph. Was great for my road test since you couldn't stall it. It would maintain 70 for highways without too much trouble, but WOT was needed for some grades. It also had shaft drive, though burnouts/wheelies were obviously out of the question.

Yep, those are oil drips underneath it. It had this nagging habit of randomly hemorraging oil. It had been crashed at some point and the side of the oil pan was sorta smashed.
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DOHC and shaft drive...high technology for an entry level bike then.
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Tough to see, but the speedometer tops out at 85. It would just barely reach that. Note the omission of a tach for the N-L-D indicators, and side-stand idiot light/buzzer. The blinker indicator worked when it felt like it.
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That last picture was taken the night before I sold it. I had replaced the rusted out stock exhaust with a MAC megaphone, which had a slightly goofy sound, like a deeper, louder weedeater. I sold it for what I paid for it, I believe I totaled about 3500 miles on it, in two months. I bought the Magna shortly afterward, which I still have.

I learned to ride on it, and often pretended like I was riding something that possessed something resembling performance, leaning waaay into corners and flooring it a lot. I realized shortly before I sold it I had been riding on 15 year old tires that whole time(when I first heard about date codes on tires). I figured they weren't cracked or dry rotted and didn't give it another thought as I was going WOT down the biggest hills I could find, hoping for 100mph(that never happened).
 
My first one is my one and only '85 Vmax. It's all tore apart right now though. Doing Venture 1300 swap and powder coating everything. Bunch of other stuff too. It's going to be like a whole different bike to ride when it's done.
 
My first bike is a 1997 Vmax :eusa_dance:

This is what she looked like when I brought her home.

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And this is what she looks like now!

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first bike sept 08 was a 1983 750 honda magna, sold december 08

november 08 i had a 1998 750 honda magna, sold october 09

october 09 i got my max. no regrets

i later on rode a v twin for the first time and hated it!!! reminded me of my utility four wheeler, you only shift to change speed, the power is linear, and the faster you go the weaker they get.

rode an inline 4 sport bike, loved the top end power, hated the down low power though, and the seating position sucked. no attitude either.

i started on a V4 and spoiled myself :( once you go V4 you never go back.
 

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My first bike was a 75 Honda CB 200T - looked a lot like this one

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It was bulletproof...no matter what I did to it it kept running. I never changed the oil and crashed it a couple of times. Still kept going.
 
My first bike was a honda Z50, I got it the summer of my 4th birthday. here is what one looks like.
 

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Mine was a Barnett, somewhat similar to this one, but maybe a little uglier. It was in several dust covered boxes but I did manage to get it back together and running, much to the disappointment of my parents!
 

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My first bike was a Yamaha DT250, it was my first vehicle actually. I bought it as a left over from the previous year for around $480 that I earned from my summer job pumping gas. Here are some pictures of one, but it's not mine.
 

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1st bike was a 78 yammi sr500 thumper

then..............................

82 yammi seca 750
87 honda 500 shadow
87 honda 700 super magna
85 v65 magna
87 yammi 700 maxim -x
2000 kawasaki zrx 1100
2007 vmax
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gorgeous rex man, def one of those that i'd get if i could have another legit bike to ride.

my first? an '05 yzf600. learned on it. then my shoulders hated it so got a '94 vmax, now a '03 max.

all my pics are my bikes.
 

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My first bike was a Suzuki SV 650S. A very very nice bike I kinda miss it :)
 

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My first bike was '79 Suzuki TS100. Saved up my paper route money for a year.Who would have known I'd still be riding 30 years later?

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later I got a KTM MC125 when a learned how to go faster
Then:
1966 Suzuki M31 55cc that I rebuilt after taking out of a barn - first police encounter too!
1980 Suzuki RM125
1981 Suzuki PE250
1982 Kawasaki KX420
1982 Suzuki GS550 MZ
1982 Suzuki GS1100E (purchased used two years after the 550)
1985 Yamaha V-Max
1988 Kawasaki ZX600R (For club road racing)
1989 Yamaha FZR1000
1981 Husqvarna 250XC
1986 Kawasaki zx900 Ninja (rebuildable crashed bike for drag racing use)
1982 Suzuki GS750 - also for drag racing
1997 Buell M2 Cyclone
1973 Kawasaki Z1 - dragbike
2002 Suzuki GSXR1000
2008 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa

I've spent WAY too much money on motorcycles.
 
1972 Yamaha 125 Enduro. This color too.
 

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First bike was a 1966 Yamaha YL-1, bought in 1969, which looked like the first pic below, but was red like the cafe racer in the 3rd pic. My first new bike was a '73 Yamaha TX500, like the 2nd pic but a rust color. Rode that one from San Diego to New York in the spring of '74. Very reliable machine.
 

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I was told I was a kamikaze of sorts. Instead of starting on a small bike, like most, I started on the complete other end of the spectrum. My first bike is my '99 Royal Star Venture. Eight hundred seventy pound hulking beast of a bike, but it's comfortable as hell. Not exactly a "starter bike" by any means, but at the time I was lucky the old lady was gonna let me get a bike at all due to her distrust of San Antonio drivers, so I made it count.:biglaugh: Plus, I couldn't pass up the deal...got it on a consignment deal, $7k out the door (Bike, TT&L, plus safety gear) with only 18k miles on her.

Will admit though, after learning on her, it makes jumping on any other bike a piece of cake...hehehe:biglaugh:

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Me and the wife about to take a ride around Lake Texoma last Memorial Day
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only had them both for about a week. got a great deal on the '03 which i could only buy if i sold the '94. it was meant to be. happened all within like 48 hours.
 
I started on a Rupp Roadster. 5 HP minibike. Later:

Honda 50
Honda 90
Hodaka 125
71 CB750
79 Honda CBX
Yamaha yz 465
Kawasaki 250 Tecate 3 wheeler
GS1000S Wes Cooley with ATP turbo
1986 GSXR750R Limited Edition also with 1109cc and 1452cc engines.
GS1100 raked and extended 1327cc car tire drag bike.
CR500
Trac Dynamics Pro Stock chassie 1500cc Suzuki, still have
1988, 1990 and 2002 Yamaha Vmaxes, Still have
1988 Suzuki GSXR 1209cc, USD forks, Busa calipers, PM rims, ported flatslides, Falicon crank and rods. Still have.
 
My dad bought a new 1983 Honda Ascot for $999. Yes, BRAND NEW. 500 single-cylinder. I rode it through high school, then he sold it. I was pretty spoiled... and kind of still am.

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