Ah, first bike. Well, I'd have to say I started on a Honda 50. It wasn't really my bike though. A friend of mine was trying to hide the purchase from his parents. I agreed to "store" the bike provided I could ride it when ever it was available. It was always available (as he lived in fear of parental discovery) and I rode the heck out of it. I lived on the fringes of suburbia with sprawling farms to the west and increasing urban density, such as it was back then, to the east, toward Chicago. We lived on two acres of land and we laid out a "sort of" flat track in the dirt. We would race each other and friends on the same bike for times. I remember them always being discouraged at my way better times. But, then, I had the most practise on track and bike as well. I also used the thing for basic transportation, too. While better than nothing, I suppose. It was pretty scary, even with youthfull stupidity, on those long two lane roads where all the big iron moved at 70 plus and got highly anoyed that this little thing and this stupid kid in "their" lane. The thing topped out at 45 mph (ten miles on hour faster than a moped's 35 which earned it a motorcycle classification from the government authorities). But, if you crouched down, had a bit of tailwind and a bit of downhill, the speedometer would actually point at 50! Uphill and headwinds, you'd be lucky to see 40 on the dial (even if you looked at it from two inches beyond your nose). But, I learned a lot from that bike about where and how to find the edge of the riding envelope, where mistakes didn't cost more than a bit of skin, bruises, and perhaps some clothing. I think I only had to buy two shift levers that couldn't be bent back without breaking. It's a good thing brake and clutch levers were cheap.
The first bike I bought was a used (1 month old) 67 Honda 305 SuperHawk. Wonderful bike. Reliable, tough and plenty of thrill after the Honda 50! Of course, I took out the muffler diffusers. And, as a chronic tinkerer, I even re-tuned the carbs so it would run better with them removed. I rode that bike all spring, summer, and well into fall when I finally traded it for a 61 Ford convertible due to the weather. Probably a combination of skill and lots of luck that I survived without being maimed. I remember racing my buddy on his CB160 (he would always egg me on and keep challenging me) on two lane roads to and from Oswego dragway in Wisconsin. Cars never passed us. If they got in our way we'd pass them on the centerline despite oncoming traffic. Emboldened by the acheivement, we'd then pass on curves as well. It's a good thing his 160 was speed limited compared to my 305. He would go wide open and I would go just fast enough to stay ahead of him. I can't imagine being able to write this today if we had both had 305s. Helmets weren't required, and we had no concept of safety. Besides, we had no money for frills like that. My first SOHC4 was in 1974. I open the shared two car garage of the duplex we were renting in California and there on the neighbors side was a CB550. It looked quite forlorn, though. It had been driven off the side of the road in the foothills on the way to Tahoe and had tumbled end over end. It was being stored for the owner, who was in the hospital, recovering. I looked at it frequently for the next few weeks and determined that I could make it run again. When the owner limped by one day, we struck a deal. After a month of metal bending and parts shopping it was ready for riding. What a wonderful bike. It's parked in my garage and still runs well to this day. But, then there was a period where more SOHC4s found me. Each has their own story, but none of those can ever be called my first bike. Cheers, Lloyd SOHC4 #11 72 500, 74 550, 75 550K, 75 550F, 76 550F, 77 550F X2, 78 550K, 77 750F, 78 750F
