Had my first bike (James 200) when I was 14, used to ride it to work.
It had a valve lifter on the head for easy starting and it came loose while on a back road, let out a hell of a bang and stopped, right where this bloke in a ute was collecting firewood.
He came over and told me he was the local policeman and asked me how old I was, I told him I was 21 (ha ha) he told me that was BS who I was and where I lived, made me push my motorbike home after giving me a lecture, didn't hear anymore about it though
My Dad had a similar story. The local copper asked Dad how long he'd been driving. When Dad told him, he said, 'well you'd better come in and get a licence.'
Vic said
04:21 PM Dec 1, 2011
jonathan wrote:
Vic, my first bike was an old German moped that I found at a tip at Lae in PNG when I was just 11 years old. I never did get the motor to work, but I do remember how important I felt. I'd come down the road peddling furiously and as soon as I saw another kid I knew, I would stop peddling and make like I was riding the bike. From a distance it looked affective ..
then .. I got into rebuilding those good old Pommie Arial Sq 4's and Matchless bikes. Later, the Honda Dream sort of introduced me to the Japanese bikes and the novelty of electric start etc ..
Lotsa memories Vic ..
Jon
In PNG I had a mate with a bantam beaser (BSA 150cc) who was giving me a ride home to Moem Peninsula from Wewak on a dirt road, we came to a T junction and unbeknown to me he had fallen asleep (we had been on a night out) and we rode at full speed straight into a huge limestone rock on the other side of the T junction, the bike was a write off, but somehow we were both thrown over the rock and landed on a mud patch on the other side, knocking the wind out of us but no injuries, how lucky we were.
My next bike in Oz after the James 200 was a BSA Golden Flash, and after that rode Harley's in the Army, had a few "episodes" which I won't go into here, suffice to say I nearly lost my manhood in one of them, lol
Joe said
10:30 AM Dec 2, 2011
My first ride was a Vespa 90 - to a 14 year old kid in 1970 it was a great thing. I rode it home (illegally of course) and I was concentrating so hard at correct braking and gearchanging technique (all learned from a book) that at one point I simply forgot to put my feet down when I stopped.
Embarrassing!
Since then I have lost count of the number of bikes, but I pretty much went from that scooter to Brit bikes of various types and then on to Jap bikes. I still have a Suzuki GSX1100 in the garage.
My Dad had a similar story. The local copper asked Dad how long he'd been driving. When Dad told him, he said, 'well you'd better come in and get a licence.'
In PNG I had a mate with a bantam beaser (BSA 150cc) who was giving me a ride home to Moem Peninsula from Wewak on a dirt road, we came to a T junction and unbeknown to me he had fallen asleep (we had been on a night out) and we rode at full speed straight into a huge limestone rock on the other side of the T junction, the bike was a write off, but somehow we were both thrown over the rock and landed on a mud patch on the other side, knocking the wind out of us but no injuries, how lucky we were.
My next bike in Oz after the James 200 was a BSA Golden Flash, and after that rode Harley's in the Army, had a few "episodes" which I won't go into here, suffice to say I nearly lost my manhood in one of them, lol
Embarrassing!
Since then I have lost count of the number of bikes, but I pretty much went from that scooter to Brit bikes of various types and then on to Jap bikes. I still have a Suzuki GSX1100 in the garage.