Confession..When I was a kid...

[zman]

When I was a kid(8-10 maybe) I was offered a chance to ride a mini bike. I did and I twisted the throttle wide open and ran it right into a river never leeting go of the throttle from the back yard of this home to the left with the red/white and blue decorations on the porch.
I have been using Google to re trace my child hood, It doesnt work so good in my western memories but growing up in the east not much has changed.
I`m thinking of laying roots back in my old town, so many great memories in Canton Ohio.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&l ... CCwQxB0wAA

 

[C5Performance]

I used to go help my neighbor milk cows, and in return he let me ride the family Honda Trail 70. My mom just thought i was being helpful.
She hated motorcycles

 

[zman]

C5Performance » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:25 pm[/url]":ey8bpc8p]
I used to go help my neighbor milk cows, and in return he let me ride the family Honda Trail 70. My mom just thought i was being helpful.
She hated motorcycles

I know what you`re saying..I would have milked cows all morning for a chance at a motorbike, later in my youth my dad bought a Hodaka dealership and the next motorcycle I rode was a Dirt Sqirt, or a Toad..I really cant remember but I kept up with him and my uncle on our first outing.
Here`s the school I went to all boarded up now but exacly as I remember it, A feed stor is now where there used to be a merry go round and a few see saws in the back. The store where I used to get a nickel for soda pop bottles is still there with extra add on outside as well as a few gas pumps.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&l ... CCwQxB0wAA

 

[C5Performance]

the closest i've come to owning a Hodaka is a fueltank. It's orange but not sure what it's from. I bought it to use on a future bike project...I must have eaten lots of lead based paint as a child.

 

[zman]

C5Performance » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:45 pm[/url]":2i10ad4l]
the closest i've come to owning a Hodaka is a fueltank. It's orange but not sure what it's from. I bought it to use on a future bike project...I must have eaten lots of lead based paint as a child.

They had excellent little tanks for projects. My dad sold Hodaka,Moto Guzzi,Ossa and Bultaco`s, none of which seem to be very available today.
Dang!...It wasnt that long ago..40 years or so...We need not change that fast.

 

[Omega Man]

The first bike I rode was a Honda something enduro, I was 12 and my best friends parents made my mom sign a waver. :smilie_happy:

~O~

 

[C5Performance]

We just introduced an ignition kit for the dual point and Motoplat equipped Guzzi's. I love that older stuff. We had a Powerdyne street bike on the farm (as our dirt bike). We crashed all the time riding it on alfalfa fields with street tires LOL

 

[C5Performance]

Omega Man » Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:10 pm[/url]":136rcq44]
The first bike I rode was a Honda something enduro, I was 12 and my best friends parents made my mom sign a waver. :smilie_happy:

~O~

now you would need to call your family lawyer for a contract!

 

[Omega Man]

ayup!

~O~

 

[zman]

So much has changed in motorbike manufacturing. It wasnt so long ago a fella like Burt Munro could have started his own motorcycle line and no one would have stepped on his feet doing so.
Times have changed and competions is fierce and production expensive to do right.
I feel sometimes like I have been here too long.. This must be what my grandfather and father was trying to say.
Strange how one generation never listens to the other then finds out later that they were saying something worth listening to.

 

[Steve83]

At 12 years old, my first bike was a Benelli, probably 70cc or so. Given to me by an uncle, Mom wasn't happy at all! Loud little 2-stroke, but I learned the clutch and shifting on it. A neighbor wrecked it - he jumped off and was OK, but the bike went straight into a rock wall. Trashed front end and a bent frame, so I took it apart. Been wrenchin' ever since.

 

[dan filipi]

I don't even know the name of my first bike.
It was more for my brother and me, one of those step thru's. Light blue I think. I was 10-12 years old.

It had a cracked glass float bowl among other things.
We had it running just a few times I guess. I rode it once solo.

We had various dirt bikes after that. I'm amazed our Dad did even that much for us.

Later on I got a Honda 360T and ditched school to go riding.
Mom found out and reminded me they got it for me because I agreed I'd go to school Lol.

Fun stuff.
A lot I don't miss though.
I absolutely HATED school.
Sure glad when I could go to work.
Work and raising 3 kids is tough, but I wouldn't trade one moment with them and my wife for anything.

 

[joedrum]

what a great feeling to have ... :clapping: :builder: :mrgreen:

 

[zman]

dan filipi » Sat Oct 19, 2013 5:40 am[/url]":1tt3sgeg]
.
A lot I don't miss though.
I absolutely HATED school.
Sure glad when I could go to work.
Work and raising 3 kids is tough, but I wouldn't trade one moment with them and my wife for anything.

Sounds just like me. I left Ohio at the top of my class and spiraled down when I came to Ca. schools. Teachers were less involved, kids were different, Gangs..Never heard of them before and why would you want to beat up others anyways..People into themselves and not working for the greater good. It was a forign land this L.A...Still is in some ways.
I left HS in the 10`th grade and went to work at Dusty`s motorcycle shop on Valley Blv in the City of industry, never looked back..

 

[dan filipi]

I hear ya zman.

I'm not sure how "public" schools are now.
By public I mean the school your kids go to that's in your area.

My kids have always gone to the charter schools and haven't experienced any of the crap I had to deal with.
My son is real thin like I was, my youngest girl is over weight.
In my day both got ripped real bad for either.

Glad too. I'll do whatever it takes for them to have it better than I did.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

my mom and dad divorced by the time i was eight years old so i talked dad into getting me a honda minitrail 50 then a minitrail 70. after selling the ct 70 he gave me the money and i had to save up to get the hodaka. the ones in the pic were not mine just the same color

 

[brianinpa]

The first bike I rode was an Indian 50 complete with training wheels. The neighborhood had a Kawasaki & Artic Cat dealer and the dealers son was my age. As he grew up, so did the toys that we played with

 

[C5Performance]

Here is my sons Christmas gift two years ago. I found it under a pile of hay near our cabin. I bought it for $25, and yes, it runs. He has since repaired or replaced many items.
I dont have pictures of our first few mini bikes but here is another picture showing our Honda XR650R's. I have a bad habit of buying everything three at a time so i can ride with my sons.

Z50 before

• C5Performance
• Oct 19, 2013

Alex's Christmas present. I found this under a pile of hay in Northern Wisconsin.

porterfield 3 Crowes

• C5Performance
• Oct 19, 2013

Screwing off at Porterfield Lake in Upper Michigan with (left to right) Alex, Jeremy, Paul.

 

[backyardtrouble]

i remember when i was 10, and my cousin had a trail 70 honda, they lived in mo. and we lived in arkansas about 120 miles apart. when they arrived, it was all we could do to get the bike out of they back of truck and go for a ride. We had 3000 acres to run around on...nothing to stop us. So, asking dad for a bike, he agreed, as long as i cleand out the hog pens and feed and water them. ( he didn't say for two years) but that's how long it took. Stinky ole pigs. :cheeky: . My mother made me wash off with the water hose even before i could enter the house.. :whip: ..i finally got my first one..a 1972 cl100 scambler...I used to sneak out at night and ride it..after that i was hooked...to the bone... :moped:

 

[C5Performance]

backyardtrouble » Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:54 pm[/url]":2bzsdzaa]
i remember when i was 10, and my cousin had a trail 70 honda, they lived in mo. and we lived in arkansas about 120 miles apart. when they arrived, it was all we could do to get the bike out of they back of truck and go for a ride. We had 3000 acres to run around on...nothing to stop us. So, asking dad for a bike, he agreed, as long as i cleand out the hog pens and feed and water them. ( he didn't say for two years) but that's how long it took. Stinky ole pigs. :cheeky: . My mother made me wash off with the water hose even before i could enter the house.. :whip: ..i finally got my first one..a 1972 cl100 scambler...I used to sneak out at night and ride it..after that i was hooked...to the bone... :moped:

3,000 acres? I bow down to you....lol. We had 600 acres and though we had it made. Does your family still own the land?
Here is a picture of my CT70 last March. It was -20 when we left Wisconsin and mid 70s in Beeville Texas just a 30 hour drive later. I thought you'd enjoy these pics.