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My first motorcycle was a 1963 650cc BSA. I just turned 17 years old and was working at Noble’s Auto Parts in Signal Hill. I bought it from a sailor and paid him $60 a week until I hit the $600 total. It took me 10 weeks because I only made $65 a week take home.
That would be like buying a GSXR1000 today because it was one of the most powerful bikes made back then.
I seldom wore a helmet and my protective gear consisted of some garden gloves, a Levi jacket and steel toed biker boots. It was my only transportation, so rain or cold I was riding! No rain suit, so I remember many times being soaked to the bone at the end of my ride.
All of this didn’t dampen my passion and lust for motorcycles and riding. I loved every minute I was on that bike! Even when the gas tank split and poured gas all over my hot engine while at a stop light or the numerous times it took 100 kicks to get it started.
That BSA started me on my lifetime journey in motorcycling, and I just cannot imagine life without them. It thrills me every time I see a new rider leave the dealership on their first bike because I know the wonderful life they have ahead!
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 could be the ultimate budget city bike
Royal Enfield have unveiled their new Meteor 350 – a small capacity city cruiser that could be make a perfect post-Covid commuter.
Powering this little machine is a brand new 349cc SOHC air and oil cooled single. It’s a much more modern design than the 500cc unit that Enfield have recently retired after a long service in their Bullet and Classic ranges.
Externally it’s visually similar to the 650cc parallel twins Royal Enfield launched a couple of years back, so it wouldn’t surprise us if they share some parts as well as a common design.
Peak power is 20.2bhp at 6100rpm, while it produces a decent 19.9lb.ft of torque. Neither are going to set the world on fire but it’s more than enough for nipping around town. Paired with this is a five-speed gearbox, which again should be fine at sensible speeds, as well as a 15 litre petrol tank. There isn’t an MPG figure yet but we’d imagine the little single will sip at the fuel, so the range is likely to be in excess of 200 miles.
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