I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle since I was a little kid. I remember sitting in the car and watching the motorcycles zoom by us. Zoom pop pop pop. I wanted to have my own make that pop pop pop noise.
In my early high school years, one of my friends had a PUCH moped, I rode it now and then, it was a blast. Shortly thereafter, I learned to ride a real motorcycle while vacationing in the Philippines, one of my uncles taught me. The motorcycle was an orange Suzuki, not sure of the model but it was under 200cc, I was 13 and there were no helmet laws.
A couple of years pass and I got my driver’s license, my parents refused my request to purchase a Honda MB50, I was crushed but still held onto the dream. One day my friend Scott says he wants to buy a motorcycle from a guy but is short a few bucks, it was a Honda CB 125. I made him a deal and that was to share the bike every other day. The deal was done and we shook on it, after all, a deal is a deal and a handshake seals it.
Scott’s father was cool with the whole thing, his father couldn’t have cared less. His mom was more aware and told us to be careful. I remember her mashed potatoes, they were awesome.
Scott grew tired of the whole motor biking thing, it lasted three years and it was a fun three years. I didn’t want to give it up but I had no choice. We sold the bike and split the money. Scott was good like that even though other people said he wasn’t, he actually was.
A few years pass and I’m in my early twenties and I still want my own bike. I eventually struck up a deal with a guy at the college I went to. He had a Kawasaki GPz305. He wasn’t using it as much and didn’t want that much for it b/c it needed some work. I didn’t care, I just wanted to ride. It took me four months to pay for it, I paid it in installments and took the motorcycle to a friend’s place for storage, it was November. This gave me all winter to think about riding, it was painful.
Winter was long and spring was wetter than wet with the motorcycle sitting in my friend’s garage. I figured I’d take it out once I got the chance and that eventually came along but the carburetors were gummed up and stuck. It took a bit more time to get it going. It frustrated me but it was the way I learned the art of motorcycle maintenance, I’m an expert now, sort of.
I think the hardest part of the whole experience was keeping the motorcycle thing a secret from my parents. I would drive to my friends place and then take the motorcycle from there. A couple of times I had accidentally brought the motorcycle helmet back to the house but then rushed back and put into my car, those were close calls. I think maybe my parents knew and never told me or maybe they didn’t know, I couldn’t tell. A few years pass and the finances start to become a little tight and had to give up the motorcycle, it was a hard thing to do, I get attached to my things, especially if there are good memories attached to them. Memories, it’s a funny thing.
That part of my life has long passed but my passion for motorcycling is as strong as the first day I first experienced it, perhaps even more so. I think two wheel travel is great, you experience things differently and look at the world around you with a new perspective. Yes, I can go there by car but I prefer to go by motorcycle instead.
Present day: I currently have a 2002 Triumph Speed Triple and a Yamaha YX600 (aka Radian). The Radian is undergoing a massive transformation and hoping that by next year at least 50 to 75 percent of the mods will be done, the reality maybe a bit different.
