This is like the first one my friend owned, that I use to ride before I was a teen. Had a two-speed shifter on the side. 1946 Indian Chief Veteran. The first I owned as a teenager was a 1968 Triumph.
I rode one in the late 70s until one day I went down on black ice and hit a mail box supported by a steel post.
I had quite a few wrecks on them too. But after I healed, I always started riding again. Went off the road on that Triumph, couldn't make the curve because I was going wide open showing a couple of my school friends how fast it was. It tore my clothes off once I hit the ground rolling, broke my left leg, and beat me up so badly, that I couldn't move for two weeks. Went to the doctor after I could move, and that's when I found out about my left leg. Tore my Triumph to pieces. My next one was a 750 Honda all chromed up and fast. I was riding it when I married Marie.
In 1967 while at the missile base I loaned my car to another guy and he let me ride his little Sears European 2 cycle bike that was I believe an Allstate sold by sears for like 250 dollars. We were out in farming country and very little traffic of any kind. I came out the back way of the base and went 4 miles to highway 67 and turned into a service station to gas up. It was a country gas station and had that small gravel for a drive and I locked the brakes on the front of the bike and came in sideways to the pumps. I just got up and brushed all the gravel off my leg and said fill it up. I was pretty concerned about being run over by someone driving a hundred miles an hour like everyone did in 1967. Now the first two wheeler I rode was in Oklahoma City and my school buddy owned one of those sissy Cushman Bikes with the floor board and big seat. It didn't have any brakes and weighed a ton if you let it fall over. We would ride that Cushman to the two amusement parks in Oklahoma City without brakes. We would just stick our feet out and slow it down. Wore out a couple pair of shoes doing that.
I had 3 brothers, all of whom owned bikes: -Triumph Bonneville 650 -Harley 1100 XLCH -Honda of one model or another I never have owned a motorcycle. I don't think I've ever driven one, although I had a Little Indian minibike (my friends all had Rupps.) I have my moments of inattentiveness, so a motorcycle is not a good idea. It sucks because I live in the perfect area for a bike. It's very rural, lots of winding roads, minimal traffic. If I went in that direction, I'd get another sports car (I had an Austin Healey), but nothing with 2 wheels...or even 3.
I had 5 bikes between 1970 and 2015. First was a Honda 750. Crashed twice in '72, drunk both times, bruised kidney first time, second time just scabs. Then I bought a new '74 Kawasaki, then an '84 Honda V65, then a (used) '79 Sportster, then a new '88 Harley Softail. Bought a Corvette in 2014 and sold the Harley the next year. I had the Kaw flat out one night in the late '70s, 135 mph, not sober. I'm still here for some reason. I only have pix of the '88 HD. I had major neck surgery in 2011, and the last time I rode the bike was in May 2012. I finally realized how fragile our bods are and completely lost interest in it after that.
Nice bikes your brother's had and you would've done great with a three-wheeler, probably, they're some really nice one that is made now. How are you doing now? Better I hope, and still moving forward. Did you ever have any luck with getting the nurse you wanted to help you? They're almost like a car.
I've read some articles claiming that the three wheelers aren't all that stable around corners. I don't know if incidents are due to design flaw or to user error. My other stuff is going up & down. I've not posted about it because I'm tired of hearing myself whine. I don't need that other nurse now because I'm not gonna "self-catheterize"...I got a tube sticking out of me.
I've had three and all three were my only transportation at the time. First one, I believe was a Honda 50. Never went on the freeway with it, but it made good transportation for when I needed transportation. Second one, I believe was a 550cc Suzuki. Solo accident that banged up bike beyond repair and an ankle surgery for me. Third one, a 650cc Kawaski. Bought raingear, nice flip-down shield helmet and cover for it during rain. Actually, rode it a number of times in the rain. After meeting my wife, decided to sell it. Didn't renew my motorcycle license, so that was the end of my motorcycle riding days. All three were old/older bikes with round headlights. The 650 was the heaviest and, one time I lost balance at a light and it laid down on me. Luckily was able to get it back up without any damage done.
You either overwrote the closing bracket on QUOTE or your cursor was in the middle of the message you were quoting when you started to type, making your words look like part of the quote. It's easy to do. When I quote, I often find I have to use the mouse to put the cursor outside of the quoted message so I can start typing a reply. Go back and edit your post by putting the right bracket ] at the end of the word Quote. That will fix it.