I don't know if this has been asked before but I got to thinking about the first ride I ever had on a Harley.

Mine is something like this:

Many, many years ago when I was around 8 or 9, I told you that this story was many years ago, my neighbors 18 year old kid, Ron, bought a Harley of some kind. I don't know what model I just remember the Harley. Well anyhow, my bedroom was in the front of the house with a window facing the road and another facing my neighbors driveway. During the summer evenings I would be laying in bed when I could hear Ron come around the corner two blocks down. I could hear him shifting that big Harley as he accelerated towards home. He would speed up quite fast and when he was about a block away he would turn off the bike and coast the remaining block to his driveway. He didn't want to **** off my dad, who was a city cop, so he always did his best to not make any noise and wake my parents.

The second year he had the bike I asked my dad to ask Ron if he would take me for a ride around the block. Mind you now, Ron had greased back hair, an Elvis haircut and huge sideburns. He wore skin tight blue jeans, white t-shirts with his cigarettes rolled up in one sleeve and black combat boots with chains. He was a real hipster so for him to lower himself to give a punk kid a ride on his Harley was a treat I could only hope for. I was standing around the corner of our house as my dad walked up to Ron who was polishing his bike before going out for the night. I could hear my dad strike up a conversation with Ron about things like the weather and sports when he mentioned that his son would sure like a ride on that beautiful Harley. Ron stopped what he was doing and without a thought told my dad to go get me and he be glad to take me for a ride. I about jumped out of my pants when I head that. Before my dad could turn I was running full blast out from the house and heading towards them. Both my dad and Ron got a good laugh about my enthusiasm.

Ron gave me a tour of his beautiful blue and white Harley. He showed me where I would sit and where to put my feet. He told me that once we started moving I was to hold onto the chrome rail that runs around the back of the seat. He also mentioned that when we went around a corner that I should lean with him.

He then turned the key, pulled the choke out and stared jumping on the kick start pedal. After a couple primes, he got it running and got on. He then helped me onto the bike where I then settled in. My heart pounding a mile a minute as he pulled that huge bike out of the drive and onto the road. He shift the gears and make the bike roar as we headed out. He made a point to driving past all my buddies houses so they could get green with envy. I loved it. After what was way to little time he pulled back into his driveway. I didn't want to get off or for it to stop but I did and it did.

I was hooked from that day forward.

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Wow, my story is much, much less interesting. My dad bought his first bike when was college-aged. He's owned a few bikes. The only bikes he owned when I was little were two dirtbikes and his 1970s BMW. He sold all of them when I turned 3, having only ridden on the front of his BMW a few times. Now I'm teenaged and have been interesting in motorcycling for quite a few years (responsible motorcycling that is). So, I bought a little dual purpose bike to learn on at the age of 18 (almost 19) which was actually this May. I rode that for about a month before my dad bought our family's first HD ever, the 1200R. He let me ride it for about the length of a street after we had quite a few many rides with me on the XT and him on the Sportster. I had a grin from ear to ear the whole half minute I was on that bike. So much more power than my 223cc dual purpose. Thus concludes my story. [He now owns an Electra Glide Classic, so he gave me the Sportster to ride, but he still technically owns it haha]

 

Back around 1955, when I was 8 years old, my Uncle Billy had a beautiful Harley 74 with a big spring-loaded seat with chrome handles, windshield--it was a monster to a little guy. My dad put me on the seat behind him and said to hang on. We went roaring down Highway 84 in Santa Rosa County, Florida. I contracted a bug that dayfrom whichI have never recovered. The roar of the pipes, the wind, the shaking, the sheer terror--that experience was one I never forgot! Fifty years later I finally have one of my own.

 

Wow, that's a long time to wait for your Harley but I'm glad you finally got it.
It's kind of like a wish comin through ain't it...???

I have always had blue bikes cause of Ron's Harley. To me that ride on that huge BLUE Harley
set my color choice for life...

 

When I think back to my first ever Harley ride which happened to be my first motorcycle ride it brings back strong emotions. The year was 1968 and I was 9 years old and knew that someday I would own a motorcycle. My neighbor, Larry McGhee which I believe was 19 years old just brought home a brand new Red Harley with a white seat on it and he took me for a ride.

Larry was shipped off to Vietnam about 6 weeks after that and never came home. I have no idea what happened to that bike but I sure would love to find it and restore it new condition. Larry loved that motorcycle and was telling me how he was going to ride across the country when he got back. Too bad he never got a chance to ride her again.

The worst part is he had 3 days left on his tour when he was KIA. I get a tear in my eye thinking about it.

 

1st Harley ride...about 1958/59. I was a little over one year old and my brother had a 1950's panhead.
I was placed in front of my brother for the ride.
After the ride, my Dad took me off the bike where-in I got dizzy....probably hyper ventalated
and I recall stumbling into a door jam of the house, receiving a bloody nose.
Not the best Harley ride.....but was the first.
See picture below. I am the short one on the bike.......(The bike may be considered
a 'chick bike' now-a-days)

Chuck

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The year was 2007 ... mid May, a month before my 52nd birthday. I had ridden a Suzuki Intruder 800 for my first 2 riding seasons. Wasn't even expecting to trade ... actually went to see about hubby doing a trade. (He did). I ended up riding out of the dealer on a brand new 2007 XL883 Low. And the whole 30 miles home kept saying. 'OMG, I HATE this bike" !!!! Well, I did end up loving it, but it took about a week.Although 3 months later I traded it in for a 2008 XL1200N Nighster model and am now TOTALLY in love with it.

Hubby road out that day in May on his first Harley ... he's a seasoned rider of many years, and owned many different models of bikes - Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Triumph and figured he would break down and try a Harley which he FINALLY admitted deep down he wanted ... bought a 2007 Night Train and says it's the best handling, best looking bike he's ever owned.

 

I had saved up $700 in pay while serving in the Seabees in Okinawa. When I mustered out, needing transportation, I bought a 50cc Honda to get around on. Six months later, in 1962, my fiance and I were riding that little Honda up a grade near Rainbow,CA (before there was an I-15) when we attempted to pass an even slower semi. Pulling out to pass, we went down on some oil the truck was leaking. I remember thinking, if we'd been riding a more powerful and heavier bike, we wouldn't have gone down.

Soon after, I was in the Honda dealer's showroom and he had a 1956 HD HydraGlide (used) for sale for $795. I bought it, and the sales guy taught mehow to start it, and how to shift etc, and I rode it to my fiancee's mother's house where it sat for two weeks, while we got married and went on our honeymoon. Back at work, I spent nearly every free hour riding that m/c, being impressed with its size and power. It had a great sound too. A neighbor of my then wife's had a '59 Duo Glide and he taught me about riding Harley's. It took me about 4 months to get up the nerve to take my wife for her first ride on it.

I joined a club, chromed the fenders and tanks, and got into showing the bike and ourselves at poker runs and we took a lot of trophies. Those were really fun interesting days. Now about 44 years ago. Oh me![sm=confused06.gif]

 

When I was about 9 yrs old, my Dad bought Pan Head Electra Glide.The spark advancewas the L/h handlecar grip.He rode me all over the place and I loved it. I owned many import bikes but planted deep was the memory of that Harley. My first few Harleys were high maintenance and were junk by todays standards. But they stillhad soul and was fun to ride. It is amazing howmuch betterHarleys have gotten.

 

What a bunch of great stories. Thanks for sharing.

I guess it all boils down to once a Harley nut, always a Harley nut...