My first motorcycle, a Honda CB100 exactly like this one.
The Honda CB100, the bike of my dreams in 1973. I was a 13-year-old Indianapolis Star paperboy and my dad said if I could save the money I could buy a motorcycle. I’d been riding friend’s bikes for a couple of years, starting out with a Rupp minibike when I was about 10, so I was more than ready to have my own ride. Of course when you make 15 bucks a week getting up a four in the morning and delivering papers, the 375 dollar purchase price seemed like a daunting task and I’m sure my dad didn’t think I’d do it. But when you’re 13 and you want a motorcycle nothing will stand in your way.
I worked like crazy, taking on extra paper routes (primarily the Indianapolis News, which was an afternoon paper) when my buddies were on vacation. I cut grass, did any little side job I could find and I didn’t spend a penny. I even managed to save some of my lunch money, by eating nothing but a peanut butter-chocolate bar and a carton of milk to wash it down for a couple of months, saving over half of my lunch money.
In a surprisingly short amount of time I’d saved the money and my dad, as promised, took me out and we bought a beautiful, slightly used, blue Honda CB100.
Being just 13 I wasn’t allowed to ride the roads and I stuck with that for at least a few months. I swear I could go just about anywhere in Indianapolis via railroad right of ways, creek beds, alleys and other “non-roads”. The Honda got beat to death enduring hundreds of hours of off-road abuse, something it wasn’t built for, yet it never let me down. I handed the bike down to my little brother when I stepped up to a Suzuki TS185 a few years later. He too rode the heck out of the bike before selling it to a friend.
One of the hairiest moments of my early motorcycling life was venturing out on I-465 on the little Honda. In a full tuck the thing would go maybe 55 mph and that was if the road was perfectly level. I vividly remember a semi pulling up behind me and hitting his air horn. I nearly jumped out of my seat and wisely decided to take the next exit. It was a great bike and perfect first motorcycle for a 13-year-old motorcycle nut.
