My metallic blue wren Mini Bike

 There are usually interesting stories of people who rode these things. 

Here are some of mine at the time likely 1960 on up. I owned this thing likely until at least 1985 when my father passed away. I kept it at his and my Mom's house in the desert on 2 1/2 acres of land most of this time because it was easier to ride something like that out in the boonies like where he lived then down mostly dirt sandy roads or dry washes then.

The most interesting stories for me regarding this mini bike were in Glendale where I rode it at Glendale High School on a rainy day. I was doing jumps off the baseball pitcher's mound and wasn't thinking about the consequences of this at the time. Later, I was hauled into the Vice Principal's office for the very first time wondering why he wanted to see me. I learned that doing jumps off the main pitcher's mound had not been good for the baseball diamond so I did what I could to rectify all this.

Another time I was riding across a Glendale high parking lot when the throttle stuck wide open at 30 mph. I was scared because I didn't know what to do and was heading for a chain link fence of a tennis court this time. So, at the last moment I tried to slow down some using my feet which didn't really work and then I pulled up on the handle bars so I could hit the fence with the wheels of the mini bike and cushion my blow with the cushioned seat on my chest rather than hit the fence at 30 mph with my face.

So, even though it hurt my neck and back doing this at least I didn't have to go to the hospital or die. So, though this mini bike was a whole lot of fun for a teenage boy it was also dangerous at times too.

These are two of the many stories that could be told about riding a mini bike at the old Glendale High School that John Wayne also went to before they built the new one. This would have been around 1963 when I was 15.

within 2 years of when I was 15 in 1963 one of my class mates burned down a lot of the High School so even the parts left had smoke damage for the next few years.