Who here is, or even, was, into bikes? And I mean the mechanized kind. Motorcycles.
I started out on what we called mini bikes. My first at age 14 was a Honda SL70 that I worked a morning paper round to pay for. SL70s were the best mini bikes of the era and with a few neighbourhood friends we would ride at a local field where, somehow, we created a track for ourselves and had impromptu races. No hovering parents, no imposing safety, no rules, just fun. Lots of stacks and naive ambition. I can still remember the urgent desire for riding after school.
Moved on to club motocross. More stacks and regraded skills. As a kid you're able to land hard but still get up and briefly check yourself. The main thing was - is the bike okay?
Once I had a licence I moved up to road bikes and joined a road racing club based out of the old Surfers Paradise Raceway. A whole new speed experience graduating to a 750cc modified road bike from a 125 motocrosser. There was a corner at that track that was the fastest corner on any circuit in Australia; a real test of courage. Wore down foot pegs to where I was chamfering crankcase bolts - the absolute limit of the bike's cornering angle. Wore through boots at the outside toes down to my socks. I must have curled my toes in because my socks were worn but my toes were unscathed. Never won a single race but I didn't care because no one could out corner me.
Lots of road bikes. Lost my licence twice. As an old fart the last bike I had was a BMW R1200S. Not the sportiest machine but very friendly to ride with enough power and heated grips for those early winter morning rides.
I stopped riding when fear of consequences over-rode fun.
I now have a museum piece Honda RC30 as my only motorcycle legacy.
And the precious memories.
I started out on what we called mini bikes. My first at age 14 was a Honda SL70 that I worked a morning paper round to pay for. SL70s were the best mini bikes of the era and with a few neighbourhood friends we would ride at a local field where, somehow, we created a track for ourselves and had impromptu races. No hovering parents, no imposing safety, no rules, just fun. Lots of stacks and naive ambition. I can still remember the urgent desire for riding after school.
Moved on to club motocross. More stacks and regraded skills. As a kid you're able to land hard but still get up and briefly check yourself. The main thing was - is the bike okay?
Once I had a licence I moved up to road bikes and joined a road racing club based out of the old Surfers Paradise Raceway. A whole new speed experience graduating to a 750cc modified road bike from a 125 motocrosser. There was a corner at that track that was the fastest corner on any circuit in Australia; a real test of courage. Wore down foot pegs to where I was chamfering crankcase bolts - the absolute limit of the bike's cornering angle. Wore through boots at the outside toes down to my socks. I must have curled my toes in because my socks were worn but my toes were unscathed. Never won a single race but I didn't care because no one could out corner me.
Lots of road bikes. Lost my licence twice. As an old fart the last bike I had was a BMW R1200S. Not the sportiest machine but very friendly to ride with enough power and heated grips for those early winter morning rides.
I stopped riding when fear of consequences over-rode fun.
I now have a museum piece Honda RC30 as my only motorcycle legacy.
And the precious memories.
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