BA CK IN TH E D A Y
Where the photos are blurry but the memories are clear!
he photo on the left is my brother on his 1968 Triumph Trophy 500. He was five years older than me and was killed in Vietnam less than a year after this photo was taken. It was him taking me for rides on his first bike, a 1965 Honda 305 scrambler, that got me hooked on motorcycles. My first bike was a purple Taco minibike I bought in the summer of 1968 with the help of my brother.The Taco was followed by an all-white street legal 1969 Honda Cub 90. The second photo is me with my 1983 VT500 Ascot and my two kids. This bike was used to commute to work in SoCal for 13 years. Sure wish all states had legal lane splitting like California! The Ascot photo was taken in 1988. Each of my kids born in the mid ’80s took a ride around our cul-de-sac in my Ascot top box when they were less than a year old…unbeknownst to their mom. Like many in the day, my first “cycle” was a Schwinn Sting Ray — metallic gold with white tuck and roll seat. Jay Antognini
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This is me at 17 years old in 1972 on my 1971 Yamaha CT1-C 175 Enduro, somewhere near Ringwood, N.J. It was my first bike…the one that started me on my journey. I have numbers 11, 12, 13 and 14 in my garage now. Of course, I am now an ATGATT rider…but obviously I wasn’t back then. Young and foolish? Weren’t we all? Gene Heil
This photo was taken at the local Honda dealer in 1976 or ’77. This day we were testing a CR125. The dealer ended up sponsoring me on a CR250. Loved motorcycles, loved racing and loved working at this dealership. How much better could it get? I was in heaven. (Yes, the pants are leather and, yes, I still have the pants and jersey!) Barry Hesson
I learned to ride in 1966 while assigned by the Air Force to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. My classroom was a clapped-out Ducati 125. The picture is me in ’89 on my ’88 Kawasaki Ninja 750R. Hiding behind me under the cover is my ’87 Toyota MR2. Bill Smith
Submit your Back in the Day photos and stories to submissions@ama-cycle.org. Feel free to expound! Hi-rez images are preferred!
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