Where were you when....???

[ironchop]

True Story:

So...I was like 13 or so

my parents were sick of looking at my report card and I had wanted an ATC for a few years by then

So they tell me they would buy one if I were to get straight A`s on my last three report cards that year...and I begin smelling knobby floaters and new plastic in my sleep and proceed to bust my ass in school

so the first six week report card arrives and my parents were floored to read numerous A`s and A minuses all down the columns...I think they had secretly plotted to get me to shut up about a new three-wheeler by setting a goal so high that my Slacker-Ass could not possibly achieve thus putting to bed all those days of whining for a three-wheeler and numerous annual christmas lists I submitted which simply read: "A new three-wheeler" (I got a new Redline bicycle one year that way)

being proud parents of an aspiring professional Slacker, they were so taken aback that they drove me down to Greenwood Honda to look over the inventory
(because my step-father had actually wanted a new Big Red for the farm and he wasn`t above using me and my hard work to talk my mom into it)

So I strolled into the Honda dealership full of hope and wonderment....and then I saw IT....a brand new Honda 350X...in all it`s red white and blue ass-kickin GLORY

Like the American Flag, that beauty paused me in my tracks as it occurred to me what a wonder world this planet really was...just ripe for tearing up the farm with 350ccs of rooster tail spewing knobbies...my freinds were gonna hate my guts...and I smiled thinking about it

so my stepdad gets hawk-eyed by the salesman looking at those gawd awful rack- bedecked utilitarian Big Reds complete with a whole slew of add-on goodies like a snowplow, a trailer hitch, and I think if I remember correctly several other available hunks of accessories that were bound to weigh me down and prevent me from throwing rooster tails (keep in mind I was hitting puberty about this time and "utility" was the farthest thing from my mind not to mention a waste of a good three-wheeler...and besides "utility" is foreign for "my stepdad is gonna hog this thing all the time wanting to tow little gay wagons loaded with firewood and lava rocks for mom`s flower beds and whatnot"

I was not interested.....and Walter was laying it on THICK..."did you hear that, honey? I comes with a cupholder and a snowplow attachment so I can push snow while drunk!"....."Did you hear that? He said we can buy a posthole digger so I can put up fenceposts!"...Walter wouldn`t know a fencepost if it hit him in the face...but my mom was BUYING this load of hooey!...She was talking about how he could help her landscape the yard and such!

I was friggin livid....but that All-American colored Jap trike was calling my name over and over....SO I decided to intervene...and how

I calmly but firmly interrupted that Sales Shark to inform my evil Step-nemesis that it was MY grades that were gonna get the trike and that he make his own good grades if he wanted that Big Red...Mom reminded me that she could still whip my ass right there on the showroom floor for being rude (back then parents could and would whip yer ass in the aisle at K-Mart for acting a fool...witnesses and all...hell other parents would offer to whip yer ass at K-Mart if yer mom was too shy to do it!)

So I fumed for a minute and said calmly "Excuse me, mom...but you said I could get a trike I wanted if I got my grades up and I want THAT one"....pointing with much enthusiasm at yon 350X...with pride

Sales Shark had smelled money on my stepdad for the Red, a lengthy service contract, and every Hondaline accesory in the whole darn catalog...he replies "Son, I think that might be a bit big for you" followed by "This Big Red has plenty of power and it`s much easier to ride"

friggin Sales Shark...ruined my LIFE! (I was going thru puberty so everyone was ruining my life back then)

more words were exchanged between Evil Stepdad the Schemer and the slaes person...he took home 48 or so Big Red associated pamphlets

I grabbed one for the 350X.......and the 200X (which was obviously just as sporty and mean looking but with a smaller engine (so the Sales Shark couldn`t say it was "too much for me"

and when we got home, without a word, I went nextdoor to Grandmas house

Grandma was my secret weapon...she loved me dearly and frequently stuck up for me with the parental units....and she ALWAYS won

So I break it down to Grandma and she puts me in the car and marches me right back home for The Great War....to keep this story from dragging out any further I`ll skip the details and just say....WE WON

two more report cards pass and I still got A`s....so I plead my case to my parents and when the argument of "He said it was too big a machine for you" came up, I whipped out my fancy 200X pamphlets (Honda had the coolest pamphlets with an action photo of the featured machine on front and a spec sheet and wicked-cool photos of it sitting still begging to be flogged inside the pamphlet) (and I wore that pamphlet out like a four year-old copy of Playboy)...so they relent and congratulate me and inform me the X was worth two Xmas gifts and that I deserved to have it....I was friggin STOKED...they were gonna wait till a check came in from Walt`s work to go purchase the X...and Walt was still trying to get a Big Red "while we are there"

a week or so later I`m lying in bed reading my pamphlet....again....when I overheard the TV in Mom and Walt`s room

It was like 60 Minutes or some crap and the soundbyte said something about kids getting hurt or killed on three-wheeled all terrain cycles....my heart sank like a rock...maybe they wouldn`t hear it...I shut my bedroom door and knelt down and prayed to Jesus for a 200X (I really did....cuz I thought Jesus would grant me a 200x for being a good kid)

I fell asleep confident that Jesus was gonna get me a three-wheeler

the next morning at breakfast I decide to bring the subject up

Mom told me about the show and told me I might as well ask for something else because grades or not, TV said they were dangerous and I wasn`t getting one....PERIOD

for a few weeks I was mad....Jesus must have been busy that night and my mom was being the meanest MOM ever

a couple months later I asked for a new CR80R...and Mom said "No, those are more dangerous than three-wheelers"

so I went to Grandma`s....and came home with a CR80R

fast forward to the Now:

I have a couple 200X`s an S and some 110s...I never got over the three-wheelers like they had hoped

the only difference is I would like to have that Big Red now...with every darn accesory Hondaline offered back then

Some things change and some stay the same

Nowadays local news here in KY is filled with reports of people getting killed on Quads and it won`t be long until the same media pressure is applied to them

I lost a good friend and coworker to a quad wreck a few months ago...no helmet,WFO, and on a paved road



So.....if you remember that show or what it was like back then for us kids, post up something...thanks for letting me tell the story

[SWIGIN]

i seen that show but your timeline seems off since a red 350x is a 85 and crap didnt realy hit the fan till 86.

[Dammit!]

I begged and pleaded for about two or three years. I originally wanted a 110 like the one my best friend had and what I learned how to ride on. Then i saw a 185 and wanted that. Then I saw a 200s and it was the coolest thing ever. Then I saw the 200x and that was it. My begging went into overdrive. My mother was always 100% against it though. Never gave an inch.

Then one day, completely out of the blue, my father tracks me down and says "lets go to the Honda shop" which about threw me for five loops because my Dad and I have never been all that close. It was rare he asked me to do anything. Let alone my favorite thing (I went to the Honda shop a lot just to sit on the bikes and daydream). So we went. I didn't want to ask why. Kinda figured it was just one of those moments where the men needed to be out of the house for a little while.

So we get there and he asks me which one I was always begging for. I went and hopped on a 1985 200x with a couple Hondaline pieces on it (headlight and brake guards and I think a cooler rack). I pretty much went to my happy place immediately and didn't really take notice of my dad and the sales guy going over to have a seat at his desk. A little while later they come back and that's when I find out he just bought me a brand new 1985 200x (although not the one I was sitting on but I couldn't care less. I was getting a 200x!). My brother shows up in his 1978 Blazer to pick the bike up. We get it home and now it's well after dark but I had to ride the thing.

Understand now that I was only 11 years old and the only motorized vehicles I had ever ridden was my friends 110 and a lawn mower engine powered mini bike. I didn't know how to use a clutch and had no idea that a 200x would rev a lot higher than a 110. My brother tells me to let the clutch out real slow while I give it some gas but not to shift out of first gear. No problem.

You're probably thinking I stalled it or got thrown off the back. Nope. I wish actually. But no, my dumb arse takes the brand new 200x across the park WIDE FREAKIN OPEN IN FIRST GEAR! Imagine it for a second. That poor machine that isn't even broken in yet is being held completely pegged in it's lowest gear all the way across a good sized field and all the way back. My brother is freaking out thinking I just ruined the motor, I'm all embarassed and I don't get to ride it again until the next day.

Luckily, the motor was actually fine and the next day I figured out how to shift it properly. By the end of the day I was riding it like I'd been using a clutch for months but, just thinking about that first time still embarasses me. What a doofus I was.

Here's some "back in the day" pics of that machine. I think I was about 12 years old in the the earliest pics I have (the following spring, wearing a blue jacket).

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/s...ghlight=school

[tri-Z ripper]

AWESOME PICS wow i remember when my neighbor had a little automatic yamaha breeze we would ride around on i was about 6 or 7so 86 or 87 i loved it but then one day i heard this loud pinging like a dirtbike my father always had dirtbikes so that is what i expected to see! well i almost wet myself when i saw that 250R come ripping out of the garage and ripping around on there dirt driveway! i waited anxiously for him to come back and the first thing i asked was can i ride it he laughed his arse off for a minute then took me for a ride! we got back from going up and down the driveway a few times and went back into the garage and there was the second suprise a brand new!! {i think anyway} 350X man when that thing rumbled i really got excited! so i jumped on and went for another ride! the neighbor took me home which was only next door but a good walk. when we pulled up to the house and my mother saw that 3 wheeler she gave my neighbor an earfull!! i never want my son on that thing ever again!! etc etc.... well to see the least he was very sceptical about ever taking me for rides again but i still got the occasional rip on the 350X but never the 250R again! i always tried to get a 3 wheeler with no luck from mom or dad {divorced} always could ride a dirt bike but never a 3 wheeler. Boy i wish i took a picture of my mothers face the first time she saw my Tri-Z PRICELESSS!

[SYKO]

my neighbors had kx's and raced motorcross... I remember many times getting ridden on the small three wheelers and never really getting into them... one day I was in my fort chillin being all captin crunch.. and BBBRAAAAPPPP BRAAP BRAPPP! a lime green monster flew by!! I was like wait that wasnt a dirt bike! then they came back threw it was my first reall memory of a sic three wheeler a 1985 Kawasaki Tecate! why I know what it was? You can never mistake a radiator on the forks!! I was floored!!
Being like 6 at the time... riding one of those wasnt an option... my dad being the coolest cat on the block... made me a three wheeler!! (till this day I think no pics where ever taken) he spent about 2 weeks working on it when done (it started life as a mini bike) I had a 8hp BS motor!! and he made some atc70 fenders work on it, and I was rippin!!! that thing must have been geared for 70!! lol!! (hey 25 when 6 is haulin!) I destroyed that thing for about 3 years untill it was stollen!! (basdards!!) and we never got any thing else..
Untill I moved to GA... then it was back on trikes! 200es for a while... sold that for what? a freakin quadzilla!! yea im 12 on a 500!! I was king!! well I went through a whole bunch of four wheelers untill I made my way back to trikes.... But I will never forget the memories of tecates roosting by me!

[ironchop]

i seen that show but your timeline seems off since a red 350x is a 85 and crap didnt realy hit the fan till 86.

not at all...back in those days machines that didn`t sell when the next model yr. hit still sat on the floor for sale...they were new, however, they were the previous yr. models

that CR I got was purchased new in 86 (I know as that was the year my grandad died) however, it was an 85` model

Greenwood was a small town back then and the masses weren`t beating down their doors to empty the stock

the same held true for streetbikes...my friend owned a Kaw shop here in KY and told me about new machines sitting for sometimes two years before they were sold back then

[saturnthegiant]

When I was a kid, most of the Honda trikes were new, the early 80's, y'know, but we were just too poor for my parents to afford anyting like that. So as much as i beged and pleaded, it did no good, and a few years later i understood my parents were doing the best they could. Sometimes i feel ashamed remembering how much they listed as yearly income, compared to what i make now myself! But anyway, i just used to sit and watch my friends and cousins zoom by on their Honda 185's and Yamaha 225dx's, and occasionally they'd let me hop on the back. All through my youth, it was the same. Heck i was lucky to finally get a car when i was in senior high, a 1980 Pontiac LeMans! My dad paid $700 for it i think. I just never got interested in quads or anything in my 20's, i was married to a slobby ****** who wouldn't work so once again i never had the money for any toys, until I divorced her. So the 125m i bought a couple of weeks ago is the first running trike or toy i've ever had. Here i was in my 30's learning to ride a trike the first time on a little 125!!! I think i've come a long way in the two weeks i've owned it. I'm well on my way to a lifetime addiction! Besides,i have to relive my childhood somehow!

[Eric250R]

I got lucky, had never even asked for one, then in 1980, my dad brought me home a brand new ATC70 ......sweet

[ATC-Eric]

That truely is a sad story Ironchop. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time hopping you were gonna get your bike.

Anyways I was way to young, so theres no way I would remember. Just wanted to comment on your story.

[Andrew_250R]

I would have been one or maybe two years old. Not sure if I knew what a 3 wheeler was LOL. Would have been great to have lived through the trike years.

[fabiodriven]

Holy crap, guys, thems some good stories.

My first real dirt bike was an 82? Kawi KD 80. It was cool, but I never really got the feel for it. Then my brother got me an ATC 110 and I was off! I loved that thing, but it was obvious what i needed- a 350X. Somewhere in between there was an 81 IT 175, but that's neither here nor there. I ended up scoring a banged-up, smokey 85 350X that I could barely start. Unfortunately, I bought it on borrowed money and when the deadline came to pay up, I had to surrender the trike . After that I got another 110, a 125M, and an 85 200x. When I had the 200X I was living in an apartment building and had nowhere to keep it so I made a bracket that welded to the bed of my truck and the trike lived there. It went with me everywhere I went, which was kinda cool because if I showed up somewhere and saw someplace to ride, I'd just fire it up! Then I scored my first Tecate. It was like being reborn. I love anything with an odd number of wheels, but now my blood truly flows green.

[WaimakRydah]

Since I was about 11 I had wanted a quad or something with an engine in it that I could ride. When I turned 13 I was at my dads for the night. I was on the computer and I heard a loud engine rumbling from the garage I actually thought it was the washer or something so I went out and it was a homebuilt off road gokart powered by a honda CT125 with no suspension or brakes and it had wheel burrow tyres up front. The clutch took 2 hands to pull (I think the cable was kinda ceased) so I only used it to take off and just shifted without it.I got good enough use out of it then eventually it stopped starting we got it to start up but it kept throwing problems and I was not mechanically minded I probably could have fixed it if it happened now though. I remember it had a tiny fuel tank and cost about $2 to fill up. So I sold it to a friend of a friends for $100 and we pushed it from my house to his.

My next bike was awesome. When I turned 14 my dad sent me a pxt (aka a photo message to my phone) of a 1987 YZ80 which had pretty much been restored it was blue and white originally they are red and white it had also been powder coated and it had some real nice metallic blue handlebars (I think they were thor handlebars as it had thor bar pads). I text him back and im like "is that mine" and hes like "if you behave it is" so i text one of my mates who owned an XR100 at the time and when i told him id got it he was like "that would probably be to quick for you" I rode around on it and it was awesome. I also had always had a fascination about burnouts so when I stopped I would always floor brake pedal and slide. that was the story of my first bike (then eventually it blew up but thats another story)

When I was 15 I bought my first atv which is my 200S which I found on trademe I knew it was destined to be mine before this point I never thought much of trikes I never really liked them mainly because everytime I spoke to dad about them he always said they were real dangerous.I bought it in may of this year we dont have a ute dad does but he was away when I purchased it so the people delivered it free of charge from the next town north. I am now 16 and it is a blast to ride when it goes. All my mates rekon its quite unreliable due to small problems its been having and me drowning it and what not but no matter what I do to it or what happens to it it always ends up starting up at the end of it.

attatched are photos of my YZ80 which came I saved off trademe after my dad bought it

[WaimakRydah]

200es for a while... sold that for what? a freakin quadzilla!! yea im 12 on a 500!! I was king!!

I wouldnt have minded seeing a 12 year old on a 500cc 2 stroke could you handle it?

[Twilight]

When I was little I biked to school and always saw a 86 big Red in this guys yard, finally one day the house was for sale, and the big red stayed until the new owners came. Well after a week it was out front with a free sign, so i pushed it the whole 3 miles home. I got it running after getting a spark plug and gas and what happens... mom and dad sell it. I didnt get any of the money, and they did this when I was at school. It was for BEER money, UGH!

Few years later i was 14, and my dad got my grandpas honda pilto. I found a long travel kit in the barn and installed that with my dad and did some other upgrades to the cage and rear suspension with him for about a year. Did three races and always came in 2nd or 3rd, one time first at the last one. Then it was stolen (made a thread about that in the open forum)

Well, now I have 2 Pilot's, a 350 Odyssey, 2 250 odysseys and a 86 200x. Also a CR500. Mom and dad did repay me for the Big Red and bought me the CR500... got a few good drunken laughs watching me learning to kick start and ride..hehe

[Mosh]

Great stories!
I remember the TV clip,and at the time,I was about 12.
At that time,my family was DIRT poor.I remember mom driving me to school in a rotted out 74 Monte with the rear floorboards rusted thru to the point you, could see the road whipping by below your feet.
Some nites all we had to eat was bread and gravy or fried bologna sandwiches.
I had always wanted a dirtbike,3wheeler,mini bike,trike,ANYTHING with a engine,but we just never had the money.
I remember seeing the 60 minutes clip,and becuase I had no means to ride,it did not really hit home with me at the time.I just remeber watching it,and wishing I had the chance to ride one.
In those days,my most excitement I had was the Dukes of Hazard,and BJ and the Bear to watch on Friday nites.Thank goodness they were on Broadcast airwaves.
Those were very sucky times,and looking back,As much as I would have loved to live nicer,I think growing up in that way made me more responsible,and DETERMINED not to have to live like that.So from the time I was 14 I got my first paper route,and I have worked my ass off ever since to avoid that poor way of life.I aint rich,but my kids have solid cars to ride in and food to eat.
2 years later,we went to My cousin's in Georgia for a week.They had a 110,125,and 185 s.
They had tons of wooded land to ride on.They put me on the 125 and a helmet,filled the tank,and I rode that thing from morning till nite everyday we were there.Sadly It would be another 8 years till I acquired my very own trike.
Still dirt poor at the age of 20,I found a 84 225dx in the trash,with the rear axle bent 90 degrees.My friend lent me the money on his charge card for a new axle and battery.We fixed it and I was finally on a ATV.The rest is history.