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I just found this photo on-line.
[url=http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/lester9/media/_1_zps1rajdlwi.jpg.html] ![[Image: d73786a83ce7ccbdbea0c0a392b8e781.jpg]](https://cb1100forum.net/forum/uploads/imp/201609/d73786a83ce7ccbdbea0c0a392b8e781.jpg)
It's a photo of the first motorcycle I bought. It is a 1968 Kawasaki, 175, Bushwacker. It was a 2 stroke and I loved it! The tank pads remind me of some I've seen here, mounted on the Cb1100. I still love the look.
It was my main transportation while going to college in Phoenix. It went everywhere, including long rides out into the desert. No roads, no trails, and no fences. Loved it.
Check out the grips! I just ordered a set for my CB, thanks to this forum for making me aware of their availability.
Anyone else have a first bike they'd like to share? Love to hear about them.
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You know, I'm sure we've had a thread about this once before, but I'm blowed if I can find it.
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I borrowed a Cushman Eagle but the 1st bike I owned was a Yamaguchi 50 , the company became Hodaka. soon afterwards I got a used Harley Davidson 175 Scat . both were 2 stroke and you can see the [ Italian Harley ] had no rear shocks but two coil springs under the bottom of the engine [ you can see the rust in this picture on one of them ] one snapped into so I road with only one . If it would have also snapped the bike would have folded up going down the road but I was 13 YO , weighed about 90 Lbs and had no brain so as long as it ran I rode it. also poured motor oil in the gas which was my idea of premix !
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Cormanus, we had this thread back in 2013. NOt first, but previous motorcycles
http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....motorcycle
This was my first street bike. Bought new in 1965. It was a 50cc Italian Aermachhi badged Harley Davidson called an M50. 2 stroke, 3 speed (shifted in the left hand grip, called a Cascade shift). I had turned 15 and gotten a job but with both mom and dad working no way to get to work. My dad said he started riding at 15 so agreed to let me get a motorcycle. I wanted a Honda C110 (50cc sport) like a buddy had gotten, but dad being a WW2 vet hated the Japanese and said no. Although he started out riding Indians, by 1965 Indian had gone out of business and dad was riding Harleys, so off to the Harley shop we went to see what they had. This was it. Cost was $318 new iirc and I could afford to pay for it with earnings from my $1 an hour job. I couldn't complain since I was 15 and not legally allowed to ride yet. It was faster than my buddy's Honda but fouled plugs with regularity (I used to carry a bag of them). The gas cap had an oil measuring tube on it and you'd pull into a gas station, fill it with gas at 30 cents a gallon, guess how much 2 stroke oil was supposed to go in according to how much gas it took to fill it, pour the oil in the cup up to the right line, and then pour it in the gas. Then hold the front brake and pump the forks to mix the gas/oil. It would run an indicated 55 mph and I rode it like that all the time. Funny now I ride 1100 and 1300 cc motorcycles and find myself running 55 mph most of the time. Some things never change lol. BTW I saw this one for sale at a shop a couple of years ago. Asking price $3400.00
[url=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theferret111/media/2006_11110018.jpg.html] ![[Image: fcf8096e70e68f056fea22cb8ed832a0.jpg]](https://cb1100forum.net/forum/uploads/imp/201609/fcf8096e70e68f056fea22cb8ed832a0.jpg)
BTW dad finally came around and bought a few Hondas and Yamahas as he got older.
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(09-02-2016, 11:52 AM)Retsel_imp Wrote: I just found this photo on-line.
[url=http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/lester9/media/_1_zps1rajdlwi.jpg.html]
It's a photo of the first motorcycle I bought. It is a 1968 Kawasaki, 175, Bushwacker. It was a 2 stroke and I loved it! The tank pads remind me of some I've seen here, mounted on the Cb1100. I still love the look.
It was my main transportation while going to college in Phoenix. It went everywhere, including long rides out into the desert. No roads, no trails, and no fences. Loved it.
Check out the grips! I just ordered a set for my CB, thanks to this forum for making me aware of their availability.
Anyone else have a first bike they'd like to share? Love to hear about them.
Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk
Your post brought back good memories for me too. The Kawasaki 175 Bushwacker was also my first bike that I purchased used in 1971. Do you remember that it had two rear sprockets mounted, allowing you to change the drive ratios for highway riding by taking out a few links of chain and moving the smaller sprocket into place while still on the back wheel?
Pretty inventive for a small displacement motorcycle back then. But I still managed to burn a hole in the piston expecting too much of that little engine! Good thing they were easy to work on.
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Nice little bikes you guys had and we were probably so much more excited back then to own one. Florida had restricted Drivers License back then at age 14 which allowed you to ride any bike with 5 BHP or less so I worked my $1 an hour job on the farm and bought a used black CB160 , man o man that was one fine ride .
love going down memory lane and always went to Sears to see the Allstates , Montgomery Wards to see the Riversides [ both good bikes ] and Western Auto to see their small bikes.
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(09-02-2016, 10:45 PM)Ron in MO_imp Wrote: (09-02-2016, 11:52 AM)Retsel_imp Wrote: I just found this photo on-line.
[url=http://s1168.photobucket.com/user/lester9/media/_1_zps1rajdlwi.jpg.html]
It's a photo of the first motorcycle I bought. It is a 1968 Kawasaki, 175, Bushwacker. It was a 2 stroke and I loved it! The tank pads remind me of some I've seen here, mounted on the Cb1100. I still love the look.
It was my main transportation while going to college in Phoenix. It went everywhere, including long rides out into the desert. No roads, no trails, and no fences. Loved it.
Check out the grips! I just ordered a set for my CB, thanks to this forum for making me aware of their availability.
Anyone else have a first bike they'd like to share? Love to hear about them.
Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk
Your post brought back good memories for me too. The Kawasaki 175 Bushwacker was also my first bike that I purchased used in 1971. Do you remember that it had two rear sprockets mounted, allowing you to change the drive ratios for highway riding by taking out a few links of chain and moving the smaller sprocket into place while still on the back wheel?
Pretty inventive for a small displacement motorcycle back then. But I still managed to burn a hole in the piston expecting too much of that little engine! Good thing they were easy to work on.
Your post brought back good memories for me too. The Kawasaki 175 Bushwacker was also my first bike that I purchased used in 1971. Do you remember that it had two rear sprockets mounted, allowing you to change the drive ratios for highway riding by taking out a few links of chain and moving the smaller sprocket into place while still on the back wheel?
Pretty inventive for a small displacement motorcycle back then. But I still managed to burn a hole in the piston expecting too much of that little engine! Good thing they were easy to work on. Ron, if I remember right the top speed, with that smaller sprocket, was about 25mph. It would climb any hill I came across.
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