Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
23 years for me.
I'll never forget how excited I was, as a fresh faced 11 year old, when my Dad took me into the garage and showed me the wrecked Italjet sat on a milk crate.
We rebuilt it and I rode it as often as I could.
I've ridden loads of bikes since but whenever I get a wiff of 2 stroke it brings back some awsome memories of both riding and watching my Dad race.
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Well said Jon. [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Passed my test in 1979 and like you have ridden too many bikes to mention. Gt 185 twin suzuki 2 stroker has got to be my fav.
I was an apprentice on a low wage and worked on local resident's gardens for a year to save up. Picked it up on my 17th birthday in 1976. Like WB, every time I smell the exhaust fumes from a 2 stroke I take a trip down memory lane. :)
They say, "You never forget that first kiss" or in this case, first ride. ;D
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Got my first bike August 1st 1978 - brand new CB250N Superdream and rode it out the showroom having never sat on a bike before with the mechanic on the pillion seat telling me what to do ;D ;D. Passed my test the following May, 3 weeks before riding down through France and Spain to Minorca for a two week holiday with a bunch of college mates. Great times. :) Must do the Pyrenees again on the GS someday - great ride.
Well done JonW for reaching the decade.
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Most of you know my story!! ;D ;D
I rode my first "bike",a 3 speed NSU Quickly, to work on my 16th birthday, February 1976. I've owned and ridden a huge series of small capacity bikes to work ever since, when I was 17, I bought a TS250 Suzuki trailie, Which I loved, but had to sell it when the restriction for riding on "L" plates was reduced to 125cc. :(
I can't explain why it took 35 years to pass my test :o :o, I guess it was because I used my bike as a tool to get to work, never really wanted to ride anything bigger.......until..
April 4th 2010, when I joined Wiltshire Bikers, I went to some meets, made some new friends, joined you all on a few rideouts, and realised how much I needed some more horesepower!! ::) ::) ;D
So in March this year, after 35 years on "L" Plates, :-[ I passed my bike test , bought Jordan, and am having the time of my life, I wish I'd passed the test years ago!.
I'm loving the extra power and more importantly the friendship of everyone in Wiltshire Bikers. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
You passed your test about three months before I did Sue - not had many bikes since then though have you? Star got through about that many in just over a year.... ::)
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Passed mine back in Sept 1981 on my Yamaha XS250 Special 8-)
Back in the days when the examiner walked around and you just rode off :D
Before I was 16 I had
Kawasaki 90
Honda SS50
Gilera 50
FS1E
then when I was 16
Yamaha DT50
Yamaha FS1E
Yamaha XS250 Special
Honda XL250S
Honda CX500 Custom
20 year break
Kawasaki Zephyr
Honda CBF600
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Congratulations Jon! It's great to read a story like yours, especially as I was there at the beginning. How time flies. It's been coming up 14 years since I started 'Able Motorcycle Training', and 17 1/2 years since I started instructing. I wonder how many people's lives have changed in that time??? 8-)
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
Well done Jon, here's to the next 10 years. 8-)
29 years so far for me, I was a late starter :D
BB
Re: 10 Years on 2 wheels....
When I passed my test, the red flag rule was still in force, the hottest/dryest summer in living memory was just about to start, gay meant happy and this was number one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bKAPVpA46o
You are al soooooo young......