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My first time operating a powered 2-wheeler was when I was 13 or 14, 1959 or 60. It was called a Blazer, I think; it was like a Tote Gote, if anyone remembers those - small tractor-type tires, rope-pull-start Briggs & Stratton. This was on a ranch. In 1963, after graduating from high school and getting a job, I got a '54 Allstate (Vespa). I rode that off-road too, and the first time I ever had the front wheel come off the ground cresting a small rise was a revelation. In '64 I got a Yamaha 80. After a while I got a big sprocket, knobbies, and a spark arrestor and used it for trail riding and hillclimbing, and learned to jump with it. The next year, fresh out of tech school in the Air Force, I was home on leave and bought a brand new Honda CB160. Man, was I in heaven! I rode that from San Jose to Tucson to my first assignment; sold it when I got orders to Viet Nam. After I got back from there, I bought a new Super Hawk (305cc roadster). Then came a CB350, later a Yamaha 250 4-stroke single road bike for commuting (I got knocked off that and stopped riding for about 15 years). Then I got a Honda CX500 for a while, and stopped again for a few years. In 1997 I decided to ride again and got a Magna, in spite of my disdain for the shallow-fork-angle look and handling, because I fell in love with the engine. After a year I traded it for a BMW ("Bring Money With", "Bleed My Wallet") 1100 Roadster. In 2002 I became a multi-bike guy by buying an SV650, which is so good I still have it and will never voluntarily part with it. Which brings me to 2005 and the purchase of a T100, which has now had many many mods and is almost finalized. There are a lot of bikes that are good and are great to ride, but only a British twin is a British twin!
Hope I didn't bore anyone!
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James Dean drove fast. Albert Camus drove fast. Mario Andretti didn't drive fast enough.
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