My life in cars: Motorbikes

I bought my first motorbike in late 1972 to get to high school rather than ride my bike. Trouble with sore knees was the excuse. I went through them in pretty quick succession until a high-speed accident quickly convinced me to buy a car.

Yamaha 100 Trail

My first bike in late 1972, licence at 17 in NSW vs friends in Victoria at 18, was a secondhand early 1970s Yamaha 100 two-stroke. It had been a farm bike and had knobbly tyres; not good for riding on the street.

A good little bike but a bit small as I was 185 cm and 95 kg at the time. I used to ride out to my friend's dairy farms about 20 km from Moama. I burnt the rings while riding home one night at speed. I fixed it with a new piston and rings but upgraded the bike in 1973.

Honda CB250

The next bike was a secondhand early 1970s Honda CB250 twin four-stroke in late 1973 my last year at high school. Nice bike. Good for touring. No baffles in the muffler so a bit noisy on a long trip. I used it to get to university in Melbourne, a 200 km trip. So cold in winter. The bike was metallic green. I replaced a noisy camshaft chain.

We did quite a few trips around Victoria with my mates who all had bikes. Good fun.

BMW R60-2 1966

I don't remember why I sold the Honda and bought a 1966 BMW R-60-2 bike in late 1973 while in 1st year at university. It was cheap, $600 from a wrecker, as it had a leak from the fuel tank and the seat was damaged. With help from my mates, we braised the tank.

Great bike. Surprisingly light and a very torquey motor, lifting the front wheel when dropping the clutch in second gear. It had an Earles link front suspension rather than the more common telescopic forks. It could attach to a sidecar and they were popular with the police before the big Japanese bikes arrived.

Better for riding in wet weather as the cylinders kept my boots dry. Although I do remember skidding sideways on a wet day in Melbourne with a friend on the back.

One problem was that the needed a steering damper, otherwise, the front wheel would wobble chaotically. Something I discovered the hard way, coming off at 110 km/hr. I didn't hit anything other than the road and only had scrapes.

Not long after, I sold the bike and bought a car with my savings from working in my parents' butcher shop for 5 years when in high school. I had bought the motorbikes with the money I earned contract carting hay on the dairy farms for 3 summers.

CZ 175

The BMW was not quite my last bike. I was living with friends in 1977 in Reservoir in Melbourne and was having trouble commuting to Melbourne University in my car in 4th year, so I thought I would get a cheap bike.

I went to a bike wrecker to see what complete bikes they had cheap, a CZ or a Kawasaki for $100. The CZ seemed the better and I bought it on the proviso I could fix it there and then. I got my toolbox from my Escort van and set to work. The CZ was leaking fuel from the carby, so I pulled it to bits; the float was detached. Borrowed a soldering iron to fix it, gave the wrecker his money and put the bike in the back of the van and was off.

Great little bike for commuting, with parking on campus. Didn't need to do anything else to it. Very good for riding along Beach Road around Port Phillip Bay with a friend on the back.