How old are we??

[XJOK2PLAY]

Oh, btw... For the record-

I'll be 52 in May.
Still a spring chicken, I guess!

Got my first Sears minibike when I was 9.
Soon after, a Honda QA50, then a Trail 70.
Next was a Yamaha XS750.
Then, a Honda Hurricane 600.

Got out of them for 20 years due to the kids.
Cody got me back into them when I went through a divorce.
Been riding ever since... '82 Maxim, '79 F, now a 2011 C14 ABS.

Bikes are good........!

[Rasputin]

I am 56 yrs old. Some days feel younger and some days older but still love bikes. Bought my first street bike when I was 12 (brand new 90cc twin Yamaha) and had 6600 miles on the odometer the day I tested for my license.
We were able to ride legally on the street at 14 yrs old back then.

[Brent]

I am 60 & still like to ride.

[Jonesy]

51, 52 in august 14
got my first XS, a silver and grey(rather like me) standard in 83
toured Oz for 2 years and had that one for 14 years, had a yammie TRX 850.for the last 16 years. did you guys call them that? parallel twin in trellis frame (poor mans Ducati)
and now got my 2nd and 3rd XS's 3years ago both runners.
But short answer to the original question, I'm a 1962 model

[tcoop]

52 as of this month.
Always wanted a dirt bike as a kid but my dad would not allow us to get one. He had an accident on a bike when he was in his early 20's. So at 19 I bought a Honda XT175 and rode that around town without a MC endorsement. Renewed my license and they asked me if I wanted a MC endorsement and I said sure. Only had to take the written test and they put the endorsement on and I never let it expire even though I didn't own a bike (or ride) from the age of 20 to 45.

I got a bike again after my wife suggested I get one to save on gas. I had a new to me Basket case 82 XJ750 the next week and had it running and registered the very next week.

[MarkD]

Tcoop, I also had a TS-125. It was knobbied up for dirt, and was a great bike. I, too, rode around town without a MC endorsement, seeing that I was only 15 at the time. I painted an old cycle plate Michigan's colors ( dark blue with white numbers), put it on, and rode for a summer on my 125 Rapido. Probably would have hampered getting a license if I'd gotten caught. At 16, I got my license and MC endorsement, and IIRC, there was no real test to earn it. Oh the good old 70's!

[dug mare]

Served in the USN during the Viet Nam era. Stationed in Japan part of the time where I raced MX with the locals. Shipped my race bike (1971 DT1E Yamaha) home to Southern Illinois as well as a 1971 CB750. After 3 yrs, 11 months and 27 days in the Navy I returned home. Started college and needed income so I started working in the local Yamaha shop until I completed my schooling. Eleven years later I was still working in the shop, but by this time full time of course. During this time I learned to flat track. After eleven years I decided I need to stop having fun in the Yamaha shop and get a job with a potential future. Decades go by and I retired 2 years ago. Now I get to mess with old motorcycles all I want. I did buy a new XS11 in 1978. Cost me $2850. It helped by working in the Yamaha shop. In 1977 we attended the Yamaha dealer shop in Las Vegas (I think). The main show stopper there was the XS1000. Yes XS1000. I am sure that it was an 1100 with 1000 badges. The other UJM manufactures came out with 1000cc motorcycles but Yamaha got the jump on them with the 1100. 33000 miles later I sold my Excess11. Wish I had it now

[James England]

55 in August ........... Seems unbelievable. Don't know where the years have gone

[MPittma100]

How Young Do you Feel

I bought my first XS1100 brand new in 1978 - the only one my dealer got for the whole year? My next birthday is later this month. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Mike

[MindWebs]

this winter has just worn on me...

feel older then i am.. (not that old)

i started riding when i was 17, i about got killed by my dad for buying a bike
he was dead set against bikes. i bought a 1975 kawasaki S1 250 2-stroke
triple. i spent lots of hours out in the woodshed working on that bike
fixing it up and getting it running and tuning when he wasn't home.

Wow, that was a quik bike. i found out later it had been helped ported and polished and such. at 115mph hands and feet are numb within 5 seconds.

i road the wheels off that bike, over 40, 000 miles i figure.
castrol full synthetic 2-T oil is good stuff.

then a short stint on a worn out 72 honda CB450 (80/90 in the crankcase)
then on to a 78 yamaha xt500 loved that ankel killer (kick only) never did figure out how to use the comperession release properly.

traded the xt for an xs11, and so it began... it's been a long strange trip..

but i'm a much better mecanic for it!

still have the S1.. someday i'll fire it up again..

i figured i was due for getting caught speeding or some such nonsence, so at
27 i finaly went in and got my "M" class lisence on the 250 ninja. the next
week i got pulled over... speeding....


oh.. yeah.. i'll be 33 this summer.

[ExcessiveBiker]

Old Yammer Man

I started out in 67 on a Yam Twin Jet 100, neat bike, eat up any of the popular small Hondas. Moved up to the 180, which trumped most of the 250's out there. Kaw Mach 111, 500 crazy bike. Go fast in a straight line, but wobbely corners. Once rode it for 20 some miles with the throttle full to stop. Time warp. Then on to 4 strokes with a 71 XS650. Nice bike, but not fast, and had a rubber frame, good cruiser. Bumped up to a Yam TX750 twin. Good drag racer and cruiser. Working in an EX Harley shop, selling Yamahas, I ordered an XS750 Triple before they were released. Rode it until around 2006, and still have it. Through the 70s I MOTO Xed Yam SC500, 250 and 125. Kept me in great shape. Now I own SX11s 81SH, 81H, 80 MNS. Getting about 11,000 per year since riding the 1100s. Owned a couple of Hodakas. Built a hill climber for brother in law with an Enduro frame and a Arctic Cat snowmobile 440 race engine and snowmobile clutch/belt transmission. Tuned it to beat my brother's RD350 in a drag race. It won everything he entered it in, and the AMA said not to bring it back for the next season, BANNED.
By the way, I'm 68 and a half.
Never quit riding, you'll just get irritable.
ExcessiveBiker

p.s. Thanks to all the guys who sold me parts at good prices, when I needed them.

[madmax-im]

Oh, btw... For the record-

I'll be 52 in May.
Still a spring chicken, I guess!

young whippersnapper...still wet behind the ears...

[Prothec]

Close enough to 31 here. My father in law gave me his XJ11 as a rolling chasis and boxes of parts to someday rebuild, which is now my daily rider. I rode beat up '70s dirt bikes usually with mostly flat tires on a friend's property for a while, then bought my XJ650 as my first bike while I was rebuilding the XJ11.
Now I have 3 Yamahas and recently bought a Honda 550 to rebuild to hopefully help get my wife riding. I've been considering buying a new house solely to make room for more bikes

[MarkD]

Love reading about riders' experiences early in their careers. Keep 'em coming! I'll add some here. My '67 Suzuki X-6 Hustler was used, bought in around '70 or '71. Got it from the Yamaha shop in Traverse City. The guy wouldn't let me test ride it. Well, bought it anyway, because I was young and stupid and trusting. Got it home, and 2nd and 3rd gear were gone. Took it to the Suzuki dealer (didn't take it back, should have, though) and it was $125 to fix, around the same cost to buy the bike. Anyway, it was a screamer (to me then), and looked cool, too.

[IanDMacDonald]

I grew-up on dirt bikes and quads. Had a Honda moped when I was 12. That changed to a 1965 Honda Cub 50 when a neighbor gave it to me for mowing their lawn. After that it was a 1971 Honda CB350, another couple 350/360's, 400F Super Sport, and a metric-load following that.