Reminiscing about previous owned motorcycles

During a GRM downtime the other day I started poking around other websites and went to a classic motorcycle site. Digging through the site I ran across the exact same year and model of my first motorcycle. 1956 Mustang Pony.
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Mine wasn't as nice as this one but had fun with it anyway. Remember one Saturday morning after getting my learners permit, dad said lets go look at a 1956 Mustang. I told him the 1st Mustangs were 1964, don't you mean 65? He said no, 56 and it's a motorcycle/scooter. I rode it home after paying $40 for it. Came with an extra set of wheels. The kick starter was missing the gear so the only ignition lock was the rope in my pocket to start it. Street legal and faster than it looks. Mom & Dad kinda freaked when they found out how I judged speed. Jacket would puff up at 25 mph, jacket would flutter at 35 mph and eyes would start to water at 45, tears streaming and hard to see at speeds faster than 45. Now mind you, this was 1973 so safety gear wasn't like today. Parents insisted on helmet and jacket so I wore an open face K-mart special helmet and a nylon jacket which later was swapped to a denim jacket. When parents found out my speedometer system, the next thing I knew dad brought home a 2 year old Suzuki TS185 enduro with tach and speedometer. That's when I got the denim jacket and a face shield for my helmet. Dad made me sell the Mustang and sis and I pitched in and bought him a 1968 Yamaha 350 twin 2-stroke and traded dad for the 185 which got handed down through both of my younger sisters. Dad & I would take afternoon rides together through the countryside, canyon roads in the coast of central California were a lot of fun.

This is where I found the pic and some history on the bike.
Amazing Mustangs
Another Mustang link

Learned a lot on that bike. Rebuilding the centrifugal clutch. Rebuilding the Amal "drip" carb after the chain broke and tore it up. Carb was 2 piece, float was separate from the venturi part with a U-shaped tube connecting them. I wasn't allowed to keep it in the garage, had to keep it outside because the carb would drip fuel. No fuel shutoff. Never found a 10-tooth gear to get the kick starter working so always had to start it with a pull rope, had a pulley bolted where the gear would go. Mine had a Honda seat on it for 2-up riding. The old man we bought it off of used it with his RV to get around campgrounds. I ended up selling it for the same price I bought it and later found out why the guy bought it from me. He was someone I knew from school, he never really rode the bike. Just stored it in a shed. His uncle was a biker and knew about the bike and told him to get it and just keep it. A few years later when I was in the army was telling a guy a worked with that was a dedicated biker offered me $100 for the name and contact info of the guy I sold it too as the bike is collectable and kinda valuable. Went back home and tried to buy it back, guy wouldn't sell it as he knew the value and was betting on it rising some.

Yeah, ugly as sin but having your own legal transportation at 15 was all it took to accept it. Makes me want to restore the 1980 Yamaha XS650 Special II that is in the corner of my garage. It was fun and has a story behind it too.

What's yours.

Wish I still had my XS750 Standard...

RD350

This is precisely why I can never get rid of the Murdercycle. Never, ever sell your first bike. You'll spend the rest if your life trying to replace it.

I do miss my 82 Kawi KZ750 twin, not super fast and you could only lean in so far before the pipes would drag but alot of run for around town. All it needed was a better looking seat.

Appleseed wrote: This is precisely why I can never get rid of the Murdercycle. Never, ever sell your first bike. You'll spend the rest if your life trying to replace it.

I confess that if I had all the storage space I wanted, it'd be nifty to have my RZ350 back. That said, I'm going to miss the Aprilia way more than the RZ... But... priorities and stuff. At least it's more "Priorities: Racecar" than "Priorities: Adulting" :)

My first bike was an 82 Honda 450 custom. I do not want it back.

fasted58 wrote: RD350

Me too. Not my first, but the most fun per cc by a mile.

HappyAndy wrote:

fasted58 wrote: RD350

Me too. Not my first, but the most fun per cc by a mile.

yessir

My first bike was a 1975 cb200t. I drove it everywhere. Really.

The one I miss now, and didn't appreciate then, is my CB 550. She was a good girl and never let me down.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: My first bike was an 82 Honda 450 custom. I do not want it back.

My first bike was an 82 Yamahahaha 650 Special. I do not want it back, either.

Had a couple CX500s and a GL1100.

They were good, reliable bikes. I don't miss them a bit.

Selling them funded my spiral into Italian bike ownership madness.

Now there's 4 bikes in the garage that are the "Never gonna sell it, EVER" kind.

I -might- part with one of the Ducati bevels so that I can have a Benelli Sei but that's the only reason.

RealMiniParker wrote:

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: My first bike was an 82 Honda 450 custom. I do not want it back.

My first bike was an 82 Yamahahaha 650 Special. I do not want it back, either.

I have an 80 Yamaha 650 Special II in the corner of my garage. Been 20 years since I've ridden it.

First street bike was a 70 CB 350 with full fairing & windshield I bought in 74. Favorite bike was a Suzuki GS 1000L.

Hello all! New to the forum, and noticed reminiscing. When I was 13 I bought a 1965 Honda 90, POS, but it was mine. First new bike was a 1975 Honda CB750. Plenty fast and handled very well for the day. Kind of dating myself, but the love affair continued for many years after.

A lot of us would still love to have that 750.

I had a 1983 Honda XR200 that was well used when I got it. I put a ton of miles on it riding the trails at my parents cottage. It wasn't my first bike or my best bike but man do I miss that thing. It's probably still running around somewhere.

I miss my Monza. But it is in a better place now. It was too small for me, anyway.