When did you get "THE BUG"?

quickchick · Post by **quickchick** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:21 pm

I grew up in a family where motorbikes were a BIG no, no. We couldn't even mention the words let alone get on one or get our license. Mum and dad said they were just too dangerous.

My dad used to race MG's in his young days and he was always a mad keen fan of the V8's. As a little girl I would always sit on his lap and watch the V8's with him while he would drink his one beer.

I thank my dad for the "I must go fast" blood. I always liked bikes but as I got older I always thought to myself, one day I'm going to get my licence and a bike.

It took me a long time but I got there. Getting my bike licence and my 636 is one of the best things I have ever done. I have never looked back and even now, I just can't wait for the times when I can ride.

PS. When I do track days, my dad comes along and watches me and I know deep down he is really proud of me. Guess it reminds him of his car racing days.

Cheers, :twisted:

hoffy · Post by **hoffy** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:34 pm

For me it was my youger brother getting an xr100, he was 9 I was 14, I said hey dad can I have one....he bought me a KLR250.

I love my dad.

HemiDuty · Post by **HemiDuty** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:36 pm

About 12 months ago for me. A few mates and in particular both of my little brothers had bought bikes, and the more I thought about it the closer I got to actually getting one. Once I bought one and rode it for a bit I knew I wanted to get more into bikes. Then when Ponti first taught me how to get off the bike and shit the bug really sunk it's teeth in, and bit even harder at my first trackday. The final straw was my first race. Now I spend every spare minute daydreaming about bikes and racing.... I may need help....

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:46 am

When I was 9 we moved to N.Z. and lived on a farm for a while.... I learnt how to ride a farmbike a few month later..... I spent the rest of my 10th year doing chores sothat I could take it for rides...

mick_dundee · Post by **mick_dundee** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:09 am

Had "The Bug" for a while zI guess, first started riding when I was about 14 or so, mates Suzi 100cc road bike was the first I rode and we used on the dirt, then the throttle grip broke one day so we hooked the cable up to the front brake lever and carried on from there

Have owned several bikes, suzi TS100 Ag bike, Yammie YZ 80, Honda CB100, couple of scooters/step thorughs and the latest being the ZZR 600.

Got "The Bug" back after my flatmate and a couple of other mates had bikes and thought, fuck it, might as well start riding again, not looking back now

varden · Post by **varden** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:34 am

When i was fifteen i got a ride of a mates B120 (honda??suzuki??) and when i was 17 i rode another mates MB50, 70kph flat out down the road in shorts and tee shirt... :twisted:

Told my folks i wanted a bike, and got the "not while you live under this roof." speech from dad. :evil:

I moved out within a year and still took another 3 years to get one, but i went straight to a 600....and lived.

Parents were not happy, but by then they were too pleased to have me visit to be too critical.

Glen · Post by **Glen** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:57 am

I got a Kawasaki 75 when I was about 11. We lived in Guildford and I went to school with a kid called Mark Pace who's older brother (can't remember his name) raced a Kwaka in the 70's so they always had bikes around.

My old man also rode as did my Grandfather so I guess it's genetic as well.

Since then I've never not had a bike

Nanna10r · Post by **Nanna10r** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:45 am

My father HATED bikes with a passion. He was always having to drive out to some road & bike my uncle up from the side off the road witha a bent BSA or Norton. Then when my uncle died in his sleep aged 36 :shock:

from a faulty valve in his heart. My father relinquished & went Guaranteur for my first bike when i got my apprenticeship.
So i was 17 Brand new bike gsx250e, No licence(doubled home on it by the store owner) and dangerous. I read the manual to learn how to corner. Needless to say it didnt last long before i center punched a XA Falcon. Had 9 bikes since mostly to commmute on. There's no going back imho. I got my father on the back of a gzx550ef in 1994 got photo's of me doubling him around the block. May he RIP.
Cheers Brett

John H · Post by **John H** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:52 am

My dad had a CB400 back in the late 70s and that was my first bike ride (pillion around the back yard.)

I had no interest in bikes at all until I started uni in 1990. The bikers were cool. The bikers were the only people other than the vice chancellor and deans who got all-day parking in the middle of the campus. The bikers seemed to have at least twenty bonus points of chick-magnetism. The bikers hung out together, despite having absolutely nothing in common other than an interest in bikes. I wanted in on it!

Unfortunately as a poor uni student without a job I didn't have the money to join this exclusive little club. And my parents also did the "while you're under this roof..." speech. When I moved out I got my Ls, realised how much fun bikes were, but I never managed to scrounge up the dollars to get the bike before my Ls ran out. Finally bit the bullet at the start of 2003 when I bought the ZZR250.

So it took me 13 years, but I got there in the end!

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:55 am

My first ride was offered to me as a pillion on a big kwakka or honda (looked big to me at the time) something big cc or other when I was 5 (1971) by our neighbour Charlie who was doing some fence work on our sheep farm at Dergholm western Vic, I was too scared to take up the offer more so by our neighbour than the bike, he was one dirty hairy scary big ass lookin' dude and lived in a tin shed making fence posts. (we didn't get a lot of visitors out there so they were a a big occasion when we did get them)
Eventually he got me on it and then they couldn't get me off it I loved it so much, I was always asking dad when Charlie was coming next and would spend hours just looking for his bike coming up our road :lol:

so I suppose it was then the bug got me. From then on a long succession of all types of bikes have followed, much to the annoyance of my father more so since I have taken up road riding (he should have not encouraged me to get on Charlies bike)

photomike666 · Post by **photomike666** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:11 pm

I lived close to the country for most of my life. We were riding pushbikes in the woods from 6, motorbikes was a natural progression.

My first ride was on a DT50 with an 80 kit. I was about 12. Then rode an XL250, then a KE175. Got my first bike, Yam RS125 shortly after which was converted for off road, complete with a home made exhaust.

I rode motocross until I was 19, when I had a slight off and damaged my right knee (the CR500 was a write off too). I've ridden off road a couple of times since, but nothing serious. A couple of years without a bike was enough to drive me mad, and a few mates had road bikes (600 bandit and ZZR1100). I took my test in Dec '96 (just before UK brought in restrictions) and 1 week later I had an FZX750.

The longest I've been without a road bike since is 4 months, and it drove me nuts.

Shifty · Post by **Shifty** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:13 pm

It seems an eternity but it bit properly about 4 years ago and then it was just a matter of money!

hoffy · Post by **hoffy** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:45 pm

Shifty wrote:It seems an eternity but it bit properly about 4 years ago and then it was just a matter of money!

Tis true, money and all, it just goes,

Then come therapy, aahhhhh :twisted:

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:48 pm

my first bike...

i was a bit slower than most... not having a bike as a kid due to twin younger brothers putting financial strain on the olds..

i did buy an old heap of shit honda 250 harley look a like.. i rode this without a license for like 2 years.

i then decided i was ready for a real bike, and bought a 2001 softail deuce in 2001

I only recently (6 months ago) bought the ZX10R

Sounds a bit abrupt, but i feel that i'm one of those lucky ones with just a knack of handling anything with a motor... if you know what i mean

PeteZX12 · Post by **PeteZX12** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:21 pm

When I was about 16 my family started to get into bikes. My Dad bought a new XS750, my brother an XS500 and my sister a CB500. I did a lot of pillioning but also use to 'knick' the 500's for a fang around the block when I got the chance. I got my licence on my Dad's 750 and then all he would let me get was a used Jawa 350! What a banger! :roll:

Anyway, eventually got an XS750 of my own - and rode it around Australia - twice. Literally 'wore that bike out' then got a GPZ550, GT550, ZRX1100 and now the ZX12-R. As I get older I'm getting more hooked!

PeteZX12