First Motorbike Ride (About 1965 ?)
I have always been ready and willing to try almost anything, so when Bob got his first motorbike, I had to try and ride it.
Bob was home from college in summer and got a job working at the Paper Mill in Rothschild where his dad worked. Since they both had to work shifts, and they never seemed to work the same, there was no way for Bob to get to work, as they had only one car. Bob worked on the "hog" at the paper mill and he saved his money to buy a motorbike, so he could get back and forth to work.
He really enjoyed his motorbike, and used it also when he wasn't working. So one Sunday afternoon, I decided to try riding it. My instructions took all of two minutes. I was told to turn something on the handle clockwise when I wanted it to accelerate, and turn it counter-clockwise to stop. So I took off across the long back yard, at the end of which was a chain link fence, which divided the yard from the Pine Grove Cemetery. By the time I reached the fence, I had forgotten which way I had to turn the handle. Instead of stopping, I accelerated and ran right into the fence. As a result I fell off and the motorbike stopped by itself. It was heavy and tipped on top of me. I wasn't hurt otherwise, but on my leg was a neat little sign that said Honda. It had been burned right into my leg. So until that healed, everyone could see that I had been riding a Honda motorbike.
But that experience didn't cure me either yet. Sometime later that summer, we were in Marathon Park for a picnic. Gene was there with his motorcycle. It seemed like motorcycles were all the rage in our family at that time. So I had to try that out too. Here I had a longer distance to ride, and I had no cemetery fence to run in to. I had no trouble here except to avoid the trees. I didn't ride it long enough to become adept at it. I never really enjoyed it that much but I had to give it a try. I never rode again after that. I was, however, a passenger on the back of one several times, but never liked it, as I always had the feeling that I didn't have enough to hang onto and was afraid of falling off.
I do admire Harley riders today who with their wives travel long distances to go on vacation, etc. I think it takes a special breed!