What made you start riding bikes?

Scythe

Scythe

Scythe

Soldato
Joined
23 Jun 2005
Posts
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Just out of interest, what made people here start to ride?

Mine was a long history of mountain biking and just love the feeling of being 'free' when out of the bike exploring so it was just natural progression as I got older. Another point was the performance of the bikes and low cost compared to a car.
 
I started riding bikes purely coz for the money they were quicker than a car. 0-60 in about 3s and 180mph+ for about £9k (at the time new...) ;)

It went downhill after then.... lol....

9 points and a ban after 6 months of road riding and a smashed up bike (twice...) lead to me going racing. there i got ok at riding.... few wins and a couple of championships etc. then i went back on road and after another 6months i nearly killed myself...lol....

i don't think i'm meant to ride a bike on the road.... even if they are £ for £ far quicker than a car. :D i think this side of £50k would struggle to keep with a superbike!
 
Couple of my uncles had a Z1000 and a Z750 when i was young, this of course got me well and truly hooked, i loved the sound and smell.

Had my first bike at eight years old and then my first rally at 14, first road bike at 16 and the rest is history :)
 
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My dad bought a Suzuki B100P for me when I was ~10. It was a basic, pressed frame commuter bike that had been converted to a field bike with raised suspension, knobbly tyres etc. and I used to spend hours riding it around the land my grand parents owned in Cornwall. I wasn't allowed a moped - thank god, but passed my bike test a month after I was 17.
 
cant really remember, first started riding about age 5-6? it's a good move for freedom, if ya cant or dont drive a car and hate public transport lol
 
Pretty much in my blood :p Nearly all the males of the family my mums side rode bikes, my dad rode bikes since he was 16 and loved to watch the racing so I have always been around them, didnt fancy a scoother so they got me a 125 when I was 17 and helped me out get a sv650 when I passed my test :)

And the cost of it at 17 kicks the **** out of having a car!
 
Going pillion on my mates Bandit 600 when I was 19 and he was 17, loved it from then onwards. I just never got any help from my family, and had to wait until I was 21 to be able to afford it for myself, and fortunately, be able to afford a DAS as well.

And since my CBT, I knew biking was for me.
 
All from father, he was a total bike nut and has always owned them.... Bikes I remember from my childhood he had like cb400 super dream, cbx550f (onboard vented disks lol), vf750f which exploded. ....loved going on back of them all
 
Flukester said:
All from father, he was a total bike nut and has always owned them.... Bikes I remember from my childhood he had like cb400 super dream, cbx550f (onboard vented disks lol), vf750f which exploded. ....loved going on back of them all
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Similar here, my old man used to ride an Ariel Huntmaster, a Beezer of some kind and various others I can't remember, and competed in trials. Funnily enough I didn't have any real intention of riding until my dad gave me a Guzzi V50 that'd he's restored having sat in a shed for 25 years (the bike, that is), and having just turned 21 I did my Direct Access and jumped right on.
 
To be honest, my Dad’s side of the family have always been into bikes, Dad included, so I think I’ve always had it in my blood. Used to watch motocross a lot as kids, we were always going all over the country as a family to watch it, but I was always ‘in to’ my cars more.

I was seeing a girl at work a few years back now and one conversation she mentioned that she was planning on doing her bike test and getting a GSXR600, now, I’ve always had a soft spot for the 1997 GSXR after seeing one, one summer during school/college years; and I think she started the seed off in me really…. got me thinking “why don’t I do that?”.

After that, a mate passed an got an SV650 and I loved the look of it, so it was just more ammo to get on with it, and I just went from there really :)
 
Late 80's I was only 16 and was riding a 50cc at the time. Which i only really bought cos i was too young to get a car.. Early evening one night, a guy I sorta knew came over one day and he had a brand new Kawaski KR1 (yup a long long time ago) He took me for a ride and nailed it through some bends.. I've never been so scared and so excited at the same time.. Refused to get back on for the way home since we'd been down the pub and since another pal rode my 50cc following behind, i took that option for my return.. Though I refused to get on for the way home, I knew from that moments onwards all i wanted was a fast bike.. As soon as i was 17, i had grabbed a TZR125 and flipped the YPVS upside down.. and the rest is history. Always been a car and bike person and always will, ever since that fateful evening !
 
At 16 I wanted the freedom to take myself to work so got a 50cc moped to allow me not to require a taxi or parents for a lift.

This thing was poor, great on the flat nice and nippy and did 40 no worries which was fine for the trip to work but any other distance where speed limits were more I was holding traffic up, plus it did a dizzy 18mph up hills!

So, 17th birthday saw me get a geared 125, Honda CBR. This is when it became a bit "fun", 6 months later I did my test and I was driving a CBR 600 at 17, 33bhp of course but still good for proper riding and getting it leaned over.

Its the sheer pain of missing the feeling thats leading me to selling my perfectly adequate car, getting something with a smaller engine and getting myself back out on 2 wheels again :)

So, in answer to the OP, it was a gradual thing that soon became a part of who I am!
 
The penny dropped that commuting on a bike would be rather cheaper and more interesting than dropping £120 a month on a packed, smelly, unreliable tube. Not looked back :)
 
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