Riding a Motorcycle

There are few things in life that have brought me the instant gratification of riding a motorcycle by myself, or even with a passenger like a girlfriend or wife.

Since, early on I saw the aftermath of many many motorcycle fatalities often with the girlfriend or wife cradling her boyfriends head(without a helmet) in the 1950s on a freeway in the Los Angeles area, I wasn't really ever interested in riding in traffic, on the freeway etc. because this just always seemed like potential suicide to me.

However, around age 10 or 12 I bought(with my Dad's permission) a 2 1/2 horsepower Wren by Bird. It was only 2 1/2 feet to 3 feet tall, was painted metallic blue and had a red 2 1/2 horsepower Tecumseh engine on it with a centrifugal clutch. Since I started riding bicycles at age 5, had a newspaper route at age 10, I was (in my mind) more than ready for a motorized vehicle. Though I had never had to go to the vice Principal's office before I had to in my sophomore year for riding my mini-bike(mini-motorcycle) doing jumps over the pitcher's mound at my high school in the rain. He remarked he had never seen me before. I said I don't get into trouble and am a good student. He said, "Why did you do it?" I said, "I didn't think it would hurt the pitcher's mound or the baseball diamond!" I was 15. What did I know?

I remember running flat out at about 30 mph(my top speed on it) and having the hand throttle stick wide open. Since the brakes didn't always work on it by then(I stopped by dragging my tennis shoes if necessary) I was headed for a chain link fence in the student parking lot one weekend at 30 mph and no brakes. Since I knew this would put me in the hospital or kill me I thought of a quick plan. At the last moment I would slam my feet down to bring the mini- motorcyle up vertical so the seat cushion could cushion my chest and so I wouldn't maybe have to go to the hospital or die. It worked!
Though it knocked the wind out of me and my neck hurt for a week from whiplash the seat cushioned hitting the chain link fence at 30 enough so I didn't die or have to go to the hospital. I was still in pain but I could live with it. At 15 I healed up from almost anything within a week.

Later I owned a Matchless 600 Thumper Hillclimber motorcycle
It looked a lot like a 1958 one I found at Google images without fenders, a huge rear sprocket and a really wide read tire for hillclimbing off road. It also had a straight exhaust pipe that blew blue fire at night in the desert. It could only go 45 mph because it was geared so low. And it was so powerful in lower gears that you might want to start in second or third gear so the bike didn't just come over on top of you from all the power in lower gears. If I wanted I could do wheelies in the first 3 or 4 gears. Wheelies in older jargon means the front tire comes off the road or sometimes the whole bike lands on top of you from the torque.

Later I got a World War II Army Surplus Motocycle used in North Africa during World War II. It was a BSA 500. It had a thick metal plate on the bottom for bottoming out on rocks and such going overland off road. It was the single most reliable kick starting motocycle I ever owned. (back then everything kick started even if it had an electric starter too.(Neither the British Matchless or the BSA had an electric starter). So I spent a lot of time kicking them over or running and popping the clutch in 2nd or 3rd gear.

However, my favorite Motorcycle of all the ones I've owned so far in life was my Honda 1974 Honda 250XL. It was a licensed bike with headlights turn indicators etc. I found it the perfect combination of the right amount of power for me for off roading and yet I could still drive about 70 or 75 on a freeway with it for short distances(under 50 miles at a time). Most of the time I used it in the desert or exploring San Diego County on back roads(when there still were back roads(in 1975 and 1976). Later I took the motorcycle to Mt. Shasta where I met my next wife and built and A-Frame. One time (we were so remote)(10 miles from a really small town on dirt roads) so I took my whole family from our house up to 9000 feet on dirt roads on it when the kids were young( the dog rode on the handle bars when it got tired of running alongside at about 20 mph. (We lived at 4000 feet elevation).

Though I hadn't ridden a motorcyle(only a 400 cc Sand riding Quad at Pismo Beach) until last Saturday when I rode a Suzuki 250 Shadow. I found it a nice bike to ride the 5 hours we all rode together. It had been about 20 years since I had ridden a motorcycle but it's like riding a bike, it all comes right back. It made me feel alive again like I felt when I was young.