I am passionate about motorcycling and have a deep-rooted history with them that started when I was eleven. Life for me changed and got "very tough" when I was ten years old. The years were 1968 and 1969 when my Mom died, my Dad retired from the Army, remarried, and had moved us to a farm in the middle of almost "nowhere". The nearest paved road was almost 1/2 mile away. The nearest country store was two miles further, and the nearest Post Office a full 14 miles away from that country store. As a ten year old, the farm was a desolate island of endless work, chores, animals to feed, crops to tend, and for me, misery. What I hated most was the isolation. Sure, I had my Dad, my new Mom, and new step-brothers, but only Dad had any love or use for the farm. One thing that farm life did bring to all of us is we had to grow up fast. There was no such thing as "too young" to work or operate equipment. All of us were expected to drive the tractor, cut, weld, adjust, and make things work. If something broke, we fixed it. That "farm life" taught us boys that we had to make things happen.
I got my first real motorcycle in 1969, a 1966 Honda Super 90 (S90). I was eleven and shared ownership with my 14 year-old step-brother, but he quickly lost interest and I was able to buy his part and take full ownership. $100 was the total price of my "Freedom Machine". That S90 would and did take me to places where my best friends were. When I drove up on my Red Honda, I was free, I was socially equal, and I was the envy of all my friends for those few moments. I could now "escape" and live a few minutes/hours like my friends did every day. This freedom was easily my greatest experience/treasure and for the next seven years; motorcycling would be my only transportation. Motorcycles would be my gateway to meet/have girlfriends, attend ball games, go camping, go to the beach, and be something close to "normal." It was these important years of growing up that I remember passionately. While those were hard years, the motorcycles that gave me freedom have always been very special and have a place in my heart. I own a copy of every one of them today. They were the first bikes that I collected and are among that collection you see above.
