What event started you down the Sport-Touring road?

[FJRmgm]

I wuz born...therefore I am.

[RTFZ1]

For my riding it started in 64 with the “You meet the nicest people” Honda campaign and a little Honda 50 then a CA95 Benley TOURING  

Both bikes looked totally harmless to my parents, they refused to let me get a CB160 (looked like a motorcycle) Only “tour” on the Benley was to OKC, around 70 total miles.

No bike in college. At graduation I got a used Yamaha XS650 and took it on a one way 800 mile trip to Nashville to pursue my dreams in the music business. I always have felt that I would not have set out without the motorcycle adventure being part of that.

First year there I traveled on a 73 Z1 to Ames Iowa to visit old room mate in grad school there.  I bought the Z1 new, before I bought a car in Nashville   The next year  I tripped on the Z1 to Austin TX to see another roomy in grad school.

In 81 a friend in Nashville left his Gold Wing with his ex wife in Denver. I flew out and rode it back to Nashville by way of Yellowstone. I knew that kind of bike was not for some one my size and got a Yamaha FJ1100 as a Sport-Tourer that fit me perfect. The term Sport-Touring really came later, magazine reviews called the FJ1100 a “Superbike”  
In the 80's a FJ1200, Venture Royale and Suzuki GS1000 took me to all the National Parks out West, Seattle, PCH, Banff, Jasper and Vancouver.
Light weight  handling was what I liked the most,  add all day comfort and I’m a happy camper.
2008 FZ1 fills my needs now.

[mcgillicuty]

When I was 15 months old I freaked out the Mall Santa by clearly asking for a "Kawasaki Motorcycle".




Some years passed.  




Twenty five minutes after getting my endorsement I had a duffel bungeed to the seat of my '83 CB550SC and was on my way out of town.

Oddly enough, in half a dozen bikes and half a million miles I've never had a Kawasaki.

[chomy]

My memory is hazy, but it was either '72 or 73'.

The Kawasakis were the ones with green gas tanks with yellow striping. I believe those were the second year Z1 paint jobs.

Hopefully, I paid it forward years later when I was riding thru Colorado on my FJ-1100. I came upon a car with a kid filling the rear window, waving a bike magazine at me with the FJ on the cover. I gave him a friendly wave before roaring past.

I wonder if I made a biker out of him  

Yep that would have been the Young brothers, if memory serves me correctly they were the only two with matching bikes on the island at the time.

[Orson]

Yep that would have been the Young brothers, if memory serves me correctly they were the only two with matching bikes on the island at the time.

Cool beans  

Tell them I said "Thanks"!  

[DavidLSI]

I have told this before but it never hurts to give credit where credit is due....

It was TonyT who pointed me towards this site and the riders of the R4 region.

I had my bike less than 6 mounths, I was at work, lunch time and shining the metal.  When this guy (TonyT) walks up for some bike chat, he worked accross the alley where they make counter tops.

When the talk tuned to riding I metioned that I wanted to go riding with others but did not know anybody else.  My "Ride" experience to that point was a Bike Blessing and one charity run.   While I enjoyed them I had no idea what else there was out there.

He handed me an oval sticker that was black and red.  He said go to this web forum, and do not be afraid to post up.

That next weekend I went to my 1st coffee meet, met my first riders.  When they said we are going to ride down to Oregeon IL want to come along.  I looked at the GPS saw it was only 40 or so miles away and said sure.

Along with myself and son, several others followed Vivid1 along the Rock River, had lunch at a mom/pop diner.  I went farther from home than I planned.  I heard tales about riding out west at incredible speed from the mouths of those who did it. 

I was hooked from that day. 

Me before ST.N


Me with the ST.N influence and inspiration

[ol Rocket]

I'd rather ride dirt bikes, but you get dirty and stuff.  And I fall down a lot.

So I sold the Enduro and bought a GT550.  It would go farther.  And I didn't seem to fall down as much.

[pmax]

I had a bunch of smaller bikes from 13 to 16 years old.  When I got my license I sold off my last bike ('73 CL 350) to buy my first car ('70 GTO).    I started vacationing on Martha's Vinyard and Nantucket.  Cars are useless on the island so I bought a beater Yamaha 650 Special.  Motorcycles are first on and first off the ferries and no reservations were needed.  I upgraded to a Vulcan 750 then to the V-Max.  When my good friend from the Vinyard learned that I had the V-Max he planted the idea of a long ride.  Soon we were off to Robbinsville.  We were geared up for camping but never did.  Thank god because we experienced plenty of rain.  From that point, a couple of other long rides before purchasing the ZZR.

[stevent]

I was riding Harleys when I got out of the Navy and used to go touring on an FLH, on a visit to my inlaws in Blaine Wa in '84 I saw two Canadians on the all new K100 series BMW's. I thought they looked so cool i sold my FLH and bought a brand new '85 K100RS with bags and went from touring to sport touring....After a number of different bikes I finally sold my Bandit 1200 last year and bought another FLH. When my Trophy 1200 got clipped in '05 I had a change in perspective and decided to slow down a little and smell the roses. I've got a real jones for a Norge` I'm going to have to do something about though.

 

[15dollar]

A few years ago some friends decided to take a motorcycle trip as a vacation.  I had not been on a bike since I was 12.  Another friend had even less experience.  I took the MSF class with a friend and two weeks later was at the bike rental place ready for an adventure.  I rented a Sportster (I'm short) while my friends were on Road Kings.  I had a backpack and sleeping bag strapped to the back seat while they had filled their saddlebags with their stuff.      

We took off from Houston and rode to Big Bend.  It was an awesome trip and I was hooked.  The stretches on the highway, though, convinced me that I needed a bike with some wind protection and better highway manners.

That next summer I found my VFR.  For Christmas I got some saddlebags.  Our next trip saw us traveling to Northern Arkansas.  This trip sealed my fate as a sport tourer.  Smooth and fast on the highway, fun in the twisties with good fuel range to boot.  

I'm really looking forward to this year's trip.  Maybe headed East this time?

[pmax]

15,

How many Harley breakdowns on that first trip?

[Scoop]

Riding around town got boring very fast.  

[Tar Snake]

Like others said it wasn't one event for me:

1. My family always camped ~ one weekend a month and one long summer trip. Car and trailer, but it planted the travel bug.
2. As a young kid I was (am?) uncoordinated and afraid of my own shadow so my 1st motorcycle ride scared the crap out of me, I hated it. However when I was 11 or 12 my Aunt and Uncle came to visit on their BMW and my uncle gave us rides on the back, 1st corner and was hooked, not afraid at all anymore.
3. My older brother started doing illustrations for Cycle World, and got free copies when he and his wife lived across the street from us. By this time I had bicycles I'd find in the trash by combing the alleys of my neighborhood in various states of disrepair in the garage. Something with a motor in it was next logical step.
4. By the time I was college age I was living in Phoenix and took my first multiday trip when I rode home to So Cal for Easter on my CB550K.

[RangerG]

September 1981.  I got laid off from my job and I had a new '81 Yamaha 550 Seca.  I hopped on and made a three province, seven state tour.  Seventeen days without a drop of rain.  I was hooked.  I made a one province, three state tour on the same bike this past summer!

[con_ndrm]

...Bump...  (mostly so I don't forget to add my .02 at some point)