I had a variety of dirt bikes as I was growing up, but I bought my first road bike a couple of months after getting my first paying job. I was 16 years old, so that would make it 1980. I was too young for a Victorian bike license, so I stayed with my elder brother in South Australia (where the age requirement was 16) for a while and obtained a learners permit there.
The bike was a 1957 AJS 600 twin, similar to the pic below. It handled like a truck, had no real power to speak of, leaked oil, the Lucas electrics were crap, but man I loved that bike.
I kept it for a couple of years, then 'upgraded' to a Ducati 860GT.
Mark
