First NEW bike!

[trikebldr]

OK, so what was your first NEW bike? All through high school I rode a Lambretta 175cc scooter. It was faster than anything else at school except for my buddy's 650 Triumph. I even took the stock rear tire off and put a garden tractor tire on it, then stripped off a lot of the body panels down to the single backbone frame to do some hill climbing. Craziest looking hill climber ever, but so much fun!
Then, I was sent over to Hawaii for two years in the Coast Guard and bought my first new bike, a Yamaha RD-350, for $650 cash! They wanted $275 just to do the 600 mile checkup required, so I started collecting all my own tools to do my own work from then on. Heck, it would be cheaper to buy a whole new bike rather than have three checkups done!
I really loved this bike and spent countless hours polishing it. Those little glints of sunshine you see in the pic aren't trick photography! Now I wish I still had this bike, but I sold it to a friend and bought a Yamaha XS-650.
What was your first brand NEW bike? Any pics?

[Mr Jensee]

I loved that RD-350! I have pictures I got off Ebay of that exact model that was for sale a few years ago and it looked like it came out of a showroom. I was riding a Yamaha YCS1C back in 68-69 and I loved all the chrome the Yamahas had. It was quality chrome too. It didn't rust easily and didn't require a lot of work to shine like a jewel. Also my bike was in candy apple red and the paint looked like you could get lost in it. I wish bikes today had the same commitment to quality and beauty that those early years Yamahas had. Thank you for posting and reminding an old man of how wonderful those years were. For those unaware I included a link to a picture of what was for a 15 year old boy's first love....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelnation1/13295904875

[broksonic]

Well, dont have any pictures of me or my first bike.. but it looked like this..



It was a 1972 Honda SL70 purchased new in 1974. I beat the heck out of that bike being i was only 12yrs old. Used if for everything from hill climbing to jumping bales of hay. It only lasted about 1.5yrs before i declared it dead.

After that i got this bike..



Kawasaki KE100 dual sport.. great hill climber.. had alot of fun with this ride.. it lasted about 3yrs before it died.. what can i say.. i was HARD on equipment when i was younger.

[Avidrider62]

I'm a tad younger, in the Navy, I bought a 82 Kawasaki LTD550 I rode this alot

[trikebldr]

Oh, Michael, you also bring back sweet memories to this older guy than you! Of course a SCOOTER just wasn't a "BOSS" bike, even though faster than most at school. My close buddy had a Hodaka 90, then sold it for a Yamaha Twin 100. Oh, baby, he was the king of our school until that 650 Triumph showed up. I was so in love with those Yamaha twins, but your 180 was way more than I could have ever hoped for. I loved their sound.

Oh, so many cool old bikes out there and so little time and money. I think Bill Gates and all those filthy rich guys are being criminally negligent not buying and preserving all the old bikes!

[Lucasind]

Had a slew of new Honda's starting in 1970 from the 50,70 90,125 and still had some of them up until recently ! Seeing Broksonic's pictures there reminded me of 1980,seeing that KE 100 ! While working at Kawasaki of toledo,I used to drive the company truck up to Kawasaki Midwest in Grand Rapids MI . to bring back truckloads of new Kawasaki's to be assembled,shined, and put on the show room floor. My boss sent me up there to get a whole truckload of those KE 100's cause they were on sale that year new for $599. That year the KAWASAKI black and silver LTD 1000 was on sale for $2999. It was a great 10 year period of my life back then,to be submerged in new (and used) Kawasaki's ! I too loved those old Yamaha's !



Here is a nearly 40 year old picture of Pam and I . We rode the wheels off of that ol TX 500 back in the day ! The Yammy is long gone ,but I still have Pam !
We tended to sell our "current bike" to get a "newer bike"having no money,allowing very
few of us to still own all of those great bikes from our past ! It is fun to "take a walk down memory lane" and think about all those great ol bikes,and we still have our memories that no one can take .



We may be getting older,but we still ride ! and can create new memories ! Take your camera with you when you go out riding and use it ! I have a whole wall covered in my home with bike memory pics ! Ride safe everyone !......................Tony

[trikebldr]

Tony,

Once again you inspire me! (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know! The inspiration is free!)
Seeing the old pic, then the new pic, both with the same lady, and both of you still riding together, just makes me want to go out there and hit the road, even in the cold rain. I have lots of pics of my bikes with chicks on/in them (sidecars!!), but I admit that there are far more different chicks in them than there are different bikes! LOL! Below are three pics with three different chicks, but just two different bikes.
The guy I bought my new sidecar from collects just Yamaha 250 dirt bikes from the late '60's to mid '70's. He has a very large storage room where he has maybe 30-40 of them lined up waiting their turn to be restored. About half of them are already. You sort of remind me of this guy with all of your bikes!

Seeing all of these pics of old bikes still in super condition is a lot of fun!

[Tonyvdb]

This was my first bike that I owned. It was a 1981 Kawasaki GPZ-550



Bought it used in 1987 and rode it for 9 years. Boy that thing had some serious pep, The guy who serviced it told me once that it was faster than any of the 650cc bikes he had in stock. My understanding is it was the first in what was later changed to "Ninga" that Kawasaki made.

[trikebldr]

This was my first bike that I owned. It was a 1981 Kawasaki GPZ-550



Bought it used in 1987 and rode it for 9 years. Boy that thing had some serious pep, The guy who serviced it told me once that it was faster than any of the 650cc bikes he had in stock. My understanding is it was the first in what was later changed to "Ninga" that Kawasaki made.

I rode a friend's bike in it's class back then, and was so shocked at how much acceleration they had for their engine size. I would love to have a bike that size today for around town work. Love that styling, too!

[Tonyvdb]

I rode a friend's bike in it's class back then, and was so shocked at how much acceleration they had for their engine size. I would love to have a bike that size today for around town work. Love that styling, too!

Yup, I had the front wheel off the ground more than once taking off from a stop (Im not as crazy on a bike now as I was back then LOL)
Back then my dream bike was to own the bigger brother of that one the GPZ 750 but they were very hard to find.


To this day I still love the style and lines of that 750

Now that I have "grown up" my Voyager has given me the joy of smooth long distance riding along with the power of a sport bike

[trikebldr]

Tonyvdb,

It's amazing what we accept as we get older, isn't it? When I bought that Gold wing back in 1976 I SWORE I would never add anything to it. Then, I took one trip on it and decided a fairing was mandatory from then on. But, I swore it would never be a full dresser, but look what I own now! TWO Voyager 1300's, and one has a sidecar! Can't wait to see what I settle for in a coffin!

[Lucasind]

...Love the GPZ 550 ! I had two of them at one time ....back in the day ! When I was a high school shop teacher , I sold the both of them to my favorite student.....perhaps to stop him from asking me ,yet one more time ! I never had the
750 GPZ but loved those bikes very much ! .....I did own one fuel injected GPZ 1100 that a customer "shop acquaintance" died on..... when I handled the insurance details thru our shop.....I bought the "totalled" bike, and refused to ever wash my friends blood off of the bike.......A bit morbid it may seem ...BUT .... when you work at the same shop for ten years , you get really close with your customers ! I fixed the bike and road it proudly for many years, till one of his family members contacted me...and I went ahead and gave them back the bike, I told them why I wouldn't wash the bike....and they said they would never wash the bike either ! many decades have now past ...and I often wonder ,what ever became of those bikes ? Who knows ...I might see them advertised ...and re-buy them again ! one can only hope I scan the craigslist dailey just to see what may present itself !..................ride safe every day guys ! ......Tony

[Ozymandias]

My first NEW bike was a 1975 Goldwing GL1000 with Vetter fairing. It was the first year that Honda made Goldwings. The reviews showed 0-60 mph in 4.0 sec flat. It would do nearly 60 in 1st gear (very tall gearing). Shortly after production began apparently Honda detuned the bikes and they would not do the roughly 140 mph top speed any more. My wife and I rode from NE down through TX, over to CA, up the coast to WA, back through Yellowstone, and then home to NE. WOW, what a trip. That bike was with me for 35 years. I finally found a good home for it, got a used Nomad (2003) in 2011 and then traded for the (nearly new) 2010 Voyager that I have now. Good times.

[Mr Jensee]

Before we get away from the post about Yamahas, I thought I would throw in some trivia. Did you guys know that the 1966 Batcycle used in the Batman movie and later in the series a couple times was actually a Yamaha 250 under all that bat covering? And Batgirl rode a white Yamaha Bonanza 180 YCS1.

[trikebldr]

Words to live by.

[Lucasind]

.....All right there trike !........I don't think that is what the advertiser had in mind !......but I like YOUR rendition much better ! ..................Tony

[trikebldr]

.....All right there trike !........I don't think that is what the advertiser had in mind !......but I like YOUR rendition much better ! ..................Tony

Tony, I figure you have spoken this mantra many times over the years!

[Lucasind]

.......... So TRUE ! I have really "thinned out" the stable big time this year,as to where I will have to "edit my profile" ...It will no longer state "too many others to list" !
I am considering acquiring a 1700 Voyager ..to have "one of each"
Not saying it will happen soon ....but when the right deal presents itself....I'm "on it" !
I'm thinking 4 more bikes to sell (total of 9) ...and I will have a couple of bucks to "throw around" ....................................Tony

[duckman]

Well as a teen my first bike was a Honda 360 but it was not new. (sorry no pic) Barbers has one on the shelf inside the front door. Around age 20 I purchased a new shiny silver 1977 Yamaha dirt bike (a 400 I think) No photo evidence that it existed and it was stolen while I was on the island of Guam. Yep- it vanished...

After a long hiatus and a couple of other cycles, the next new cycle was/is my current 2005 Concours I got in 2007. Which new one is next? That's a enjoyable debate between a C14 or a Triumph Trophy. As long as the Voyager runs like a top it may be awhile!!

Maybe I should take Trikes advice and just buy it!

[krasmu]

I've never owned a new bike, in fact I've only ever bought one new car in my life. I prefer to let someone else take the depreciation hit. My first bike was an early 70's Suzuki 125 enduro. I was 15 and bought it off my older brother who bought it new. Seems I had both wheels off the ground more than on. Sent it to the graveyard one summer day when I was jumping over the family van. Didn't touch the van but the landing was not kind. I bought my 2nd bike from a good friend the day I got back from my honeymoon in Sept 1981. It was 78 Kawasaki KZ650. I modified it with a Windjammer, stereo, saddlebags and custom King/queen seat. Peg and I rode that bike all over the Midwest. Sold it when my daughter was born to by something with doors and a roof. I was away from bikes for nearly 25 years after that, but never lost my dream of owning a touring machine. 4 years ago I bought an 83 Honda Magna V45 750 to get back on two wheels. Went to the dealer last September (on my wedding anniversary) to buy a new headlight and came home with my current 90 Voyager xii. Been a journey but I have finally arrived at my dream.