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below are some pics of the motorcycles i had as a teenager up to where i took a hiatus from motorcycles. The first bike i ever rode was a 1977 honda ct70 minitrail. from that first ride, i was hooked, and proceeded to drive my father nuts, because i wanted a bike. The following year, at the beginning of summer, Dad bought me a 1981 Kawasaki kd80. I remember the night we went to get it, I was to ride it home, but I had no idea what a clutch was, or how to shift, so I rode it home in first gear!!!! Surprisingly, it didn't blow up. I was too big for the bike, and it wasn't long before the rear wheel needed to be re-spoked. Dad and I, having no idea what we were doing, completed the job....and added a few new words of profanity to the english language in the process.
 It wasn't long before I would need a bigger bike. At the time a 175cc was the popular size, and as it turns out, was also the perfect size for cross country use. I began scouring the local paper, "The Evening Times Globe", for another bike, and found a listing for a 1982 Kawasaki ke-175. We went up for a look, and I went for a short test ride, and it was mine. The bike had hardly been used, and still had the original dual purpose tires on it, (which i quickly replaced with knobbies). I had saved some money, and was about to sell the KD 80, so Dad kicked in the rest, until i could pay him back. Of all the bikes i have had, this one was the best. It was driven all year around, and pretty much went everywhere with me. if it ever turns up i'm going to buy it back!! This photo was taken at Dexters pit.
 Shortly after I got the KE , the father of a friend, had an old Yamaha GT 80, which was free for the taking, so it ended up coming home with me. It was missing a lot of parts like the seat, rear wheel, gas tank, front fender, kick start lever, chain tensioners, ect. This would be the first bike I would rebuild , and it was a learning experience. The missing parts came from various other bikes. We didn't have the internet then, so basically, I scrounged what I could, and made it work. The seat came from a mid 70's kawasaki dirt bike, the gas tank and front fender from a Chaperall st80, rear wheel from a 77 suzuki rm80,the chain tensioners and kick starter from a honda z50 ,the air box and filter from a briggs and stratton tiller, and finally the number plate....custom built from some sheet metal. Dad provided all the paint as these colours were popular on what ever construction project he was working on at the time, and in the end, we had another bike. It looked good, but ran terribly. the engine was worn out, and at this point I didn't understand all the ins and outs of rebuilding them, but a lot was learned with this bike.
 Around this time my brother decided he wanted a dirt bike, so he could go riding with the rest of us. Our shop teacher, a motorcycle nut himself, just happened to have an old 1977 suzuki ts 185 kicking around his place. Apparently it sat under a tree for nine years before Sean bought it for the pricely sum of $100.00. that winter I rebuilt it in the basement of our house. I was totally stripped, repainted, and since the engine was blown up, it got a fresh top end. Quite frankly, it had the power of a 250cc or larger when wound up, and made my 175 seem slow. i can remember one occasion at Dexters' pit when we were testing the bike. It wasn't quite finished and still had the bald rear trials tire, and no front fender. Another individual showed up on a Yamaha IT 400 and began making fun of the 185, and it's rider. We were sitting in front of a big hill known as sandy, to which i rarely made it to the top of. Anyway, Sean eventually got tired of the insults coming from the guy on the 400 and said something along the lines of, " oh yeah...i'll show ya what it will f*ckin do"...he starts it up, and without taking a run, revs it up and drops the clutch in second gear........and clears the top bald tire and all. The guy hurling the insults quickly started his bike and promptly left the pit. This picture was taken the day we brought it home.
 There were many, many other bikes than ended up at our place including a Kawasaki g5-100, g4-tr, s2- 350, s3- 400, kh-100, kx-250, kdx-80, h1- 500, h2- 750, Suzuki t-500, gt-380, gs-750, rm-80, rm-100, rm-125, pe-175, ts-185, ts-250, ts-400, sp-370, sp-500, Yamaha dt-100, r5-350, rd-350, jt-1, xs-750, Honda qa- 50, xl-100, xr-200, CAN-AM t'nt 125, 175, 250, mx1- 250, qualifier 175, Jawa Californian 350......you get the idea..the list is as long as a roll of toilet paper!!
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