What made you want to be a motorcyclist?

[russell664]

Genuinely curious about this,

For me it was because my grandad, and dad have always been keen bikers. The first bike I ever ridden was a Kawasaki KT250, even though a trails bike - it was an awesome experience. Ridden pillion since the age of 9, but oddly didn't get my license until April this year - but is the best thing I have done!

The way I see it, riding a bike can't be compared to driving a car, the experience doesn't even come close and I drive too so know both sides!

How about you lot, what got you into biking?

 

[IC3]

Both my granddads use to own loads of bikes, but as soon as their first child was born they sold them. I think its in the genes, my dad wanted a motorcycle but my granddad said no... According to my granddad when I was younger (I don't remember it that well) I use to ran towards bikes, I had a bad taste in Harleys back then...

Then my uncle got bike from the 80's that he rebuilt and that 2T engine was noisy, I don't know what bike it was as it was made into a scrambler. I was scared at first due to the noise, but in the evening I was on it with him operating the throttle going round the block.

To put it short, I always had big interest in cars and motorcycles. But as I was getting older when I started to realise I won't be able to afford a nice car for a long time. I started looking at motorcycles and from then it went downhill.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Cheap, efficient transport to work. Which was really an excuse to justify it to family

I've always been car person, had lots of classic minis, and other 'warm' cars, was never into bikes - but I watched Tron legacy and the black Ducati sport classic in that film was the first bike I've ever wanted.

 

[russell664]

Families play a massive influence on stuff though - IC3 seems that our interest stemmed from the same place!

My dream bike - after seeing one all those years ago is a Ducati 999, when I get my A licence, I'm getting one.

 

[CGrieves]

My flatmate, Mike at Uni was into bikes- we didn't know each other before being allocated together in rented digs, but became best mates. He had a really nicely restored 350LC (2 stroke). So my first regular experience was as a pillion, often on one wheel, along Aberdeen's seafront. I was pretty much bitten after the first foray into the powerband.

He had a stack of early Performance Bikes mags and I started reading, honestly it was probably Mark Forsyth, John Robinson and Trevor Franklin's writing about their escapades that really persuaded me that I wanted... no, needed a bike, and I got into the idea of a Jap 400.

Sadly Mike died a few days after the end of our second term, ended up under a truck on an Aberdeen back road. Went out on a ride and didn't come back. Obviously I lost the immediate desire for a bike, but the seed was there. The PBs went in a box which I kept away from all his stuff- we didn't want his mum to see them.

Fast forward a few years, my first job in London, working with my mates and all of us commuting from London, and one of the girls at the office did her test and was commuting daily on a bike. We started talking about it, I pulled out the box of PBs and the flame was reignited- we'd all bought big bikes in advance of passing our tests- my mate Paul and I bought CBR600s and Julian a TDM850. They were my riding buddies for many years. Trying to persuade them to buy bikes again now

In a ways I'm glad I missed out on the testosterone-fuelled teenage bike phase, several mates didn't make it though that.

I still have the original stack of PBs somewhere, bolstered by many more recent issues.

 

[IC3]

Yeah, but my family even now try to talk me out of riding, next week I'm going to Poland. My granddad who at some point had 5 bikes in his shed, will give me a talk about how his mates had deadly crashes etc...

If money was no object, I would probably get Ducati 1198 in White or MV Augusta F4 RC

I wouldn't mind a RSV4 though, with the right full system it sounds like a MotoGP bike.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Dad was always into his bikes.

I always knew I was going to get my licence at SOME point but the tipping point was living in Thailand. Rode a 125 Twist and Go for 6 months on car licence (Thailand woo...) When I got home I needed to continue!

 

[Participant]

Hired a 50cc scooter in Thailand back in 2003 and loved the feeling of freedom. Only in 2014 did I get the spare time and money to do my A licence and buy a bike.

It's fantastic for commuting. Knowing how long it'll take you to get to work traffic be damned is worth a great deal to me.

 

[The_Abyss]

I just enjoy riding, plus most riding for me these days also results in an overseas boys trip - double bonus.

 

[Minibiker]

My old man had bikes when i was growing up, He always took me to BSB race meetings and local bike dealers, So always been around bikes... Got my CBT on my 16th Birthday then passed my restricted license when i was 18 and lived every second of biking since....

 

[andicole0]

Back in my day you could get a bike license a year before a car license, great news for a spotty school kid.
Andi.

 

[Rilot]

Took a ride on a small twist-and-go field bike when I was 5 or 6 years old. Had an epiphany and realised that all I wanted to do in life was ride bikes.

 

[Clum]

First got interested whilst doing a big cycle tour down to Italy. While I was slogging my guts out getting across the Alps, I couldn't help but look on enviously at all the guys on motorbikes blasting up and down all day long. They looked like they were having the best time!

I forgot about it for a few years until I was on holiday in Bali and rented a scooter for the week. I got completely carried away, and a trip to the beach became a near 20 hour jaunt round the entire island. I got completely lost on mountain back roads at night during a full on monsoon, ran out of petrol twice in places where nobody spoke english, and fell off at least once. Most people would have described it as a nightmare, but I was hooked!

 

[Junglist]

Going on the back of my uncles old ZX9R down the road when I was a kid made me realize I wanted to ride.

Never got around to it but then when my mate started riding I thought why not? I was going to get a new car but then thought no matter what car I get it wont be able to put a grin on my face unless it was some exotic car.

 

[tom_e]

Always enjoyed going as fast as possible on my mountain bike as a kid so it seemed like a sensible step alongside that there was a guy who lived on the street I grew up on that owned the classic bright green Ninja which I loved.

The final straw came just over 18 months ago when I was sat on a bus on the way home from work on a scorching hot day sweating my life away and there were bikes popping in and out of the traffic and I thought sod spending my life on a bus so I got home that night booked my CBT and the rest is history.

 

[MowyTone]

3 uncles on one side of the family, my dad and his dad all rode bikes. I rode a push bike round for everything between 13 -19.

Then a friend of mine as selling his 2 stroke 125 and I thought why not! Was riding 125s for about 5 years and then got a car. Then coming up 2 years ago I went and got my full A license and haven't looked back

 

[Junglist]

Must admit, I think the main turning point was one day being stuck in traffic for a hour when the journey usually takes 15 minutes.

I've hardly used my bicycle since getting my motorcycle though and that makes me a bit sad

 

[wazza300]

Smelling the sweet aroma of burnt two stroke oil

 

[Nomisf]

I have been a car nut for years, most recently with Japanese cars running 400+ BHP - So there has always been a "need for speed".

My granddad, dad and uncle all owned bikes when they were younger, but my uncle had a lifechanging (see ruining) accident - so bikes were always off limits.

When I moved out, went to London - I realised I could speed up my Putney to Victoria commute on a bike by an hour, so I went for it - and have not looked back since. Its just as addictive as fast cars!

 

[Diddums]

Smelling the sweet aroma of burnt two stroke oil

Although I'm not currently a biker, pretty much this. When I moved to Holland at the prime age of 15, all the kids were scooting around on scooters and peds like they never had a care in the world. That was the deciding factor for me and as soon as I hit 16 I had my first scooter (Puch NRG) and that was that. Biggest bike I've ever owned was a 600 though, so I'm hardly a hardcore motorcyclist.

I'm going for my CBT soon and getting a bike again, I miss not having one. Probably get a Honda Forza for commuting in London. An old school 125 two stroke for screaming the nuts off of and fiddling with, and a nice big tourer for sunday rides out / weekends away / road trips.


(you can tell I've been stewing on this for a while can't you? )