For me, motorcycles are mechanical, and magical.... and go like stink.

     My first ride that I can remember was on the back of a Vespa scooter when I was around 5 years old.  By that time I had already been riding the lawn mower converted into a yard scooter for some time; and having brouthers 4 and 5 years older than me left me tagging along much of my youth.... when they got into motors and motorcycles, I was right there with them.

     We all started out riding off road, in the early 1970's... by the time I was 10 or 11, I was riding 65-100cc trail bikes and thrashing the heck out of them.  The deal got more serious when the older brothers started buying higher HP dirt bikes... me being lighter by 30 lbs or so always meant I could go faster than them. :)  Got hooked on the speed. 

I lived in an area where there were lots of trails to ride. My neighbors had mini bikes. I talked my parents into going to look at some motorcycles, we ended up at a Honda dealer. I ended up with a 1971 CT-70 or also known as Trail 70. I rode that bike almost everyday on the trails. We would even race against the big Huskies and Maico's and CZ's. My friends and I had a blast riding. Soon I had outgrown the bike and I started wanting something with more power and more suited to off road riding. My next bike was a 1972 Yamaha 125 MX, not my favorite bike by any means. It would break down all the time. My next bike was a 1973 Honda 125 Elsinore, the first year they brought them out. I started racing it and my very first race on it, I finished third, not to bad since I was racing against the guys. It did not take long and I started winning. I was having a blast! I ended up with a new bike each year for 1974 and 1975, both were the newer version of the Elsinore, I was having a blast and winning some. I loved racing. In 1975 I also got a Honda TL 125, the trials bike, it was the first year they brought them out and mine was setup by the guy who developed the TL 250 for Honda. I was having a blast and riding almost everyday and racing almost every weekend. But on one race in late 1975 I went down in the first corner after I fit the back tire of the guy in 1st place, I went down in front of 50 motorcycles. I was in the A class, but there was no where for women to go then. So I decided to quit and sell all of my motorcycles.

But in 2004, I bought a new race bike, a YZ250F and went racing again. I was having a blast. But racing is very expensive. In 2005 I bought my first street bike, a 2005 Yamaha FZ1. It was a great bike to ride. But you all know what happened four months ago with that. I still love riding and will have some more bikes, there is no doubt about that.

Kristi.... you'll always be a rider; you're just in between bikes at the moment.  :)

 

I was always enthralled with physical freedom.  As a child of 4 I frightened everyone to death by climbing onto the 3 meter board at the swimming pool.  They had given up on teaching me to swim, I could swim as good as the instructor.  They went to the middle of the pool and tried to talk me into jumping.  I dived.

Then I found that diving off of railroad trestles was neat and so was the trampoline.  The longer I could stay in the air, unencumbered, the better I liked it.

Riding my bicycle was a thrill.  I loved to tear myself apart on sand roads and cross stuff that nobody else could cross.

Mom dated a crop duster for a long time.  He handed me the "stick" to his steerman one day and I immediately pushed it forward and we went into a heck of a dive that I then pulled us out of.  It was like second nature. "What were you trying to do?" he asked.  "Go down", said I.

then I was told that I couldn't have a motorcycle. They were bad.

So, the first thing I did when I got away from home was get a motorcycle.  Riding on the road was fun, but riding off of the road was a lot more fun. So, I started racing TT Scrambles and entering enduros and just riding in the woods with my friends.

When I got to where I could afford a big bike, I would forget to come home, and still found myself looking for the back roads on it.

I like fast, but I'm not necessarily hooked on speed as much as I am overcoming an obstacle.  Hill climbs would be fun.  I don't care for knee dragging on pavement, but sideways on dirt is a real thrill.

I was hooked bad and must have gotten gut-hooked because I can't get over it.  Even my dreams at night are on two wheels.

My car gave up the ghost. Sister in law was selling her mother's scooter, because she could'nt ride. I needed a vehicle. I got hooked on traveling.