When did you realise you were made for two wheels?

[dizzyblonde]

I always wanted a purple Harley when i was a kid. Glad my taste changed, my parents could never understand the fascination I had with bikes. It seems its rubbed off on my 20 month old nephew, he ain't too bothered with car spotting like most kids usually are, he goes mad when he sees a bike, and shouts my name and points at it as they go past...
I'm going to make sure he thinks cars are rubbish as he grows up...lol

[rictus01]

no realisation as such, just always prosumed, if I had to put a date on it, it'd be 1965 when I first rode a PTW, not been without at least one ever since.

Cheers Mark.

[Skip]

I can put a date on it - January 2005 - had a Mitsubishi Evo at the time and was facing yet another £1100 insurance bill - I had one mate who rode bikes and thought it was something I would like to try one day. I happened to mention it to another mate that I might do my CBT to see what I thought of it and he said that he had been thinking of it too. CBT was booked and just that one Saturday morning was enough to get me hooked - I have never looked back!

What drew me to an SV? I knew NOTHING about bikes at all and went to a local dealer for a wander - he had a "clean blue naked bike" - had a sit on it and it felt comfy with the nice upright bars - looked at the badge "Suzuki SV650" - whats one of those like I wondered!?! Started it up and loved the noise - got home and Googled it - found the 'Org and the rest is history

Since my first job after leaving school one of the guy's who worked there did racing and kept the massive wagon in the warehouse next door. Bright Orange it was. They had a little Honda scooter that they used in the pits and they left it out in the warehouse. The guy said that if I got some petrol for it I could ride it around. Sure enough I got some petrol and on my lunch breaks the warehouses and car park became a death zone due to me flying around without a care and no helmet for that matter!

Since then I have had a Honda Joker/Shadow 50cc, Aprilia Atlantic 125cc, Honda NSR 125, Suzuki Bandit 600 and now my SV650s.

been a petrolhead all my life, but all the family hated bikes, so i had to supress that side of things despite being in awe at the superbikes racing past our car on journeys.
my wife hired me a caterham 7 for my birthday in june this year. so after tearing round surrey all day (+falling in love with ranmore common!) i knew that there was no way i could carry on my life without at least as much performance (300 bhp per tonne in t'caterham) had some fast cars before but need more! so i steamrollered my wife into allowing me to get a bike, told my mum halfway through the training.
got me sv, can't stop riding it! (untill my wrist goes numb, like now)

I have always loved cars but did my DAS as a means to an end, as using the car was getting beyond a joke. Still didn't really like bikes and then I sat on my SV, drove it 200m and fell in love with it, loved it til the day I sold it................there is no way I would go back to using a car.

I expect is was my Grandads fault, taking me pillion on his C90. Along with my Dad and his horror stories of coming off his Norton and having the gravel scrubbed out of his knee. Sometimes he was nice enough to show me the bits he still had stuck in there.

[startrek.steve]

40 years ago!
I was 11 years old and used to go straight from school to the local bike shop to drool over the kawasaki 500's! AND they still sold REAL nortons and Triumphs then!

Steve

When I used to run out to my dad, when I could hear him riding home from work on his loud cb750; I'd stand outside for about 2 minutes until he came into view My earliest recolection of that friggin awesome bike was when I was about 4 years old.

Here's a good representation of the bike that i spent hours sitting on in the garage asking dad "whats that? how does this work? how fast do you go? whats the word you've covered up on the number plate?" (in small letters at the bottom of the plate was f****ng quick...dad had to cover it up so we didnt learn naughty words. I learnt the word when I was 5 after my older brother peeled the masking tape back while mum and dad where out back doing the garden):

[Dave20046]

I don't think I am, I can't stay on the things
But at the same time I can;t keep off 'em