Reminiscing...

[ruSTynutz]

Got some memories (good or bad) that you'd like to share?

Feel free to knock yourself out posting them here... 

I'll kick things off with how my love of motorcycles began and some other ramblings...

It all began back in (I think) 1970 when my brother got a job at a motorcycle shop...Eddie Lee Motorcycles in Dandenong, Victoria.
My brother was only 17 at the time so didn't have a licence let alone a motorcycle.
One weekend Eddie invited our family to go trail riding with him up in the Beenak State Forest.
He had a couple of Kawasaki 100cc Trail Bosses, which were a fantastic little bike. If they could get traction they could climb just about any hill as they had a dual range 10 speed gearbox.

Anyhow, I spent a fair bit of time being a pillion behind Eddie and loved it.

Not long after my brother bought his own "Trail Boss".
Of course then dad had to take us all to "Beenak" to ride.

One day my brother offered to teach me how to ride...woohoo! I was hooked!!! 

It wasn't too long after that weekend that dad took me into the bike shop to check out some bikes.
I was thinking I wouldn't mind a little Kawasaki Parnelli Jones minibike or perhaps even one of the new Taiwanese made Gemini's...

Dad & Eddie thought I'd grow out of a minibike too quickly so steered me over to the Suzuki TS90 sitting in the showroom.
Eddie laid the bike over on it's side and directed me to pick it up. After managing to do that he got me to sit on it. I could barely reach the ground, being on tippy toe with both feet.
Anyhow, dad bought it and for a while we shared it on our Sunday jaunts to "Beenak".
Dad eventually got sick of sharing and decided another bike was in order. I scored the 90 while he upgraded to a Suzuki TS125.

Dad was late to motorcycles, he'd never ridden one until he was in his 40's.
I still remember him wearing his daggy overalls while riding...

Of course all good things must come to an end...
Fast forward to 1973, bureaucracy & red tape was making it harder & harder to ride in the bush without licences & recreational rego on the bikes.
Dad decided it just wasn't worth the risk so the decision was made to trade in the 2 trail bikes on a road bike.
Dad was thinking about going for a Suzuki "Water Bottle" but eventually went for a Suzuki 500 Titan.
By this time my brother had bought a secondhand Titan himself so I think dad was swayed by that.
I still remember us picking up the new "Titan" from Peter Stevens in Ringwood.
It was a lovely bike...very underrated, in my opinion...

Anyhow, dad only had the bike for 2 weeks when he passed away from a massive heart attack...He was just 46... 

On a happier note, I reckon he would've loved an ST1300... 

[Jdbiker]

Thanks for sharing some great memories ruSTnutz 

[ruSTynutz]

#BUMP....

C'mon guys, there must be someone that has a "tale" they'd like to share from the good ol' days!!! 

[Jdbiker]

I can share a pic of my hair days, but don’t have any tales to tell

[ruSTynutz]

Too X-rated, hey??? 

[Jdbiker]

 

[Kev Murphy]

Here's a giggle ... early 70's when I sold my taxis, and started touring Oz, before returning to the Army.

(Check out the heels!) And yes, I even had hair! 

[ruSTynutz]

Very suave and sophisticated, Kev...

Shame it's all spoilt by the Foulcan... 

I remember those boots too, I'm sure I had some just like them... 

[Williamson]

Here's a giggle ... early 70's when I sold my taxis, and started touring Oz, before returning to the Army.

(Check out the heels!) And yes, I even had hair! 

The XB Falcon, in '77 or '78 took a State Government sedan - 250ci, 3 speed, skinny cross-ply tyres, down the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay for the day, slidng, ploughing through corners, powering out of corners (Geez, that 250ci had some torque), it was about as much fun I'd had in a car in those days - well, apart for at the Drive-In.

In the early 70's, the guy I worked for had an XT sedan and an XT wagon, he then upgraded those to XA sedans with 200ci donks, they were slugs, although much better than the Cortinas I owned.  On the odd opportunity I had to take one home overnight, I was King Dick when picking up my girlfriend to go to the Drive-In.

In those days, the Ford v Holden rivalry was strong, I was in the Ford camps - Dad had owned a series of Zephyrs and Falcons, older brother Cortinas, me Cortinas.  I broke to mould when in '73 I bought and HQ PV (pretty good at the Drive-In) with a 202 Trimatic, side windows, disc brakes.  List price was around $2,750, with the extras, just short of $3,000 - all-up with on-the-road and insurance cost, around $3,300 - just short of a year's salary.  Today, I could driveaway in three of four on a year's salary.  Cars are cheap now.

A couple of former work colleagues and I were reminiscing only a week or two ago about cars and we exchanged lists of cars and motorcycles Helen or I’ve owned, pretty much in chronological order:
1.   1966 Cortina Mk1 220 - reg.  KLG 019
2.   1969 Cortina Mk2 440 – KKP 554
3.   1973 Holden HQ Belmont Panel Van – LMA 946
4.   1973 Suzuki TS185 motorcycle
5.   1975 Cortina TC 2000
6.   1974 Holden HQ Kingswood sedan – LUE 773
7.   1975 Honda CB400 SS motorcycle
8.   1976 Datsun 180B (Helen) – INR 530
9.   1976 Dodge (Valiant) Ute
10.   1980 Datsun 200B Sedan (Helen)
11.   1973 Falcon XA wagon
12.   1976 Datsun 260C
13.   1981 Nissan Bluebird sedan (Helen)
14.   1978 Datsun 180B sedan
15.   1975 Fairlane ZG
16.   1986 Falcon XF wagon (Helen) – CSS 986
17.   1984 Nissan Bluebird wagon
18.   1978 Falcon XC wagon
19.   1988 Falcon XF wagon – CYW 698
20.   1980 Ford Meteor sedan
21.   1979 Honda CX500 motorcycle
22.   1987 Falcon XF ute
23.   1998 Falcon EL wagon (Helen)
24.   1986 Nissan Skyline wagon
25.   2007 Mazda6 hatchback (Helen) – current car, with 160K on the clock probably due for a new one, have been putting that off until we returned from UK & EUR, so probably later this year.
26.   1985 Suzuki Intruder 750 motorcycle
27.   2005 Honda CB1300 motorcycle
28.   2005 Kawasaki 250 motorcycle
29.   2008 Piaggio 250 motorscooter
30.   2005 Honda CT110 postie motorcycle
31.   2011 Honda ST1300 motorcycle
32.   2005 Toyota RAV4
33.   2005 Honda Civic sedan

[Jdbiker]

That’s a lot of cars Sir Michael 

[Bodø]

If I bought a car every day for a month you'd still have had more than me.

[ruSTynutz]

Looks like you changed your cars as often as I changed my underwear, Michael! 

My list of cars is much shorter...

1966 VW Beetle
1971 HQ Holden Premier
1966 Mk1 Ford Cortina
1983 Holden Commodore
1990 Holden Barina
1993 EB Ford Falcon
2010 Hyundai i30 Diesel.

[Williamson]

That’s a lot of cars Sir Michael.

That’s a lot of cars Sir Michael 

Well, where's you lists, sans wheel barrows??
 

Looks like you changed your cars as often as I changed my underwear, Michael!

My list of cars is much shorter...

1966 VW Beetle
1971 HQ Holden Premier
1966 Mk1 Ford Cortina
1983 Holden Commodore
1990 Holden Barina
1993 EB Ford Falcon
2010 Hyundai i30 Diesel.

Good stuff Russell, looks like a long time between drinks in that list, family and finanical constraints I guess, as it was with most of Helen's (the good, family) cars.  Most of mine were shyte boxes, costing around $500 to $1,000 and just stop gap measure whilst company vehicles were not provided.

Mmmm, company vehicles - XF sedan, EA sedan EA wagon, Camira wagon, AU ute, BA ute, BF ute, Ranger XL, Ranger XL.

I mentioned Drive-Ins, I suppose that could be another thread, I'm not sure if I wanna hear Kev's stories on that subject though.

[ruSTynutz]

Good stuff Russell, looks like a long time between drinks in that list, family and finanical constraints I guess, as it was with most of Helen's (the good, family) cars.  Most of mine were shyte boxes, costing around $500 to $1,000 and just stop gap measure whilst company vehicles were not provided.

Cheers Michael!
You're right, it was a long time between some of them.

I think I had the HQ for around 9 -10 years, the Barina close to 19 years & the i30? 10 years so far...
The VW, which was my first car, I had for just over a year, I traded that in on the HQ.
The Cortina I had for a couple of years & the Commode I had for perhaps 5 years before I parted ways with the first wife. She scored the Commodore while I kept the Barina. The Foulcan was a 2 year fill-in until I bought the i30...

Best car, believe it or not was the Barina...followed by the i30.
The Barina (which was a Suzuki with Holden badges) had 420,000k's on it when I sold it. Other than the first 12 months, (while under warranty), the little car never saw a dealer. I did all the servicing, in fact I did every oil change from new...even those while under warranty. Other than normal consumables the only other thing I had to replace was a waterpump. It was still on the original clutch too!
Certainly made me more of a fan of Suzuki than I already was... 

[Kev Murphy]

Regarding drive ins ... 1966.

Had a free car pass, we took out the back seat and passenger seat from my Cooper 'S', loaded it with my friends, and went to the movies. Guy at the ticket box looked at the car, and said "Aww hell mate... its only a 4 seater, but I will let you go for 6 on the free pass ... how many you got in there anyway?
"Nine!" I replied.
He said "OK, just pay for the extra three, and its all good."

So we paid for three tickets, and went in.

There were 9 of us inside the car, and an extra two jammed in the boot... Must have been some sort of record at the time.

[ruSTynutz]

Hope the movie was worth it, Kev...

Geez, I reckon ground clearance would have been pretty much non existent, how'd you go driving over the "humps"?

[Williamson]

Where's you car list Kev?

Probably around 1956, a Disney movie at the Tullamarine Drive In, kids under 10 free, Dad & Mum in front seat, sister and me in back seat, Jeff older brother (11 yo) under a rug in the foot well.

Dad pays at ticket box, man asks, "How many kids?".  "Two!", from Dad.   Man says, "Kids U10 free, and a free bag of lollies for the kids". 

"Aye, what about mine?", Jeff yells out.  Mum, a God fearing, church going, righteous individual was so embarassed, she would let Dad move on until he paid for Jeff.

Hope the movie was worth it, Kev...

Geez, I reckon ground clearance would have been pretty much non existent, how'd you go driving over the "humps"?

Speaking of humps ....

Skip to the mid 70's three sometimes four PV's back into the car spots, rear tail gates opened, sometimes we even watched a movie.  After one Drive In night we went back to Vinnie's folks for a pizza, beers.  Vinnie's folks were watching Deadly Earnest on the TV.  Vinnie's Mum was sharp, and asked, "How come Vinnie is wearing his girlfriend's jeans?" and vice a versa. 

Skip to the mid 90's, three families took their kids to see the then latest from Disney to the Triple Drive In in Newlands Road Coburg (and I think it's still going).  Three families head to the G rated film and settle in for the evening.  Wasn't too long into the feature when one of the neices in our car said, whilst looking at the R rated screen, "Uncle Michael, what's that man doing to that lady?"

And I can't tell you on this Forum.

[ruSTynutz]

My first date with the ex wife was to the Grantville Drive-in...

I remember it well, it was a Sunday Night and unbeknownst to both of us (and Trudy's parents, thankfully) Sunday night was porno movie night...

Screening was "Italian Stallion" starring Sylvester Stallone and some John Holmes movie...   

Needless to say I was feeling very "inadequate" by the time we got back home... 

[Kev Murphy]

We only loaded the Mini a block away from the drive in, and yes, the suspension was well down.
Forget what the movie was, but it was a new release at the time. We sat in the canteen to watch it.

[Brock]

Dont talk about cars...

My Dad traded his 55 chev ( with the straight 6) for a Marina TC.. Bunch of crap that car was.
Never let him forget my displeasure..

[Jdbiker]

Dont talk about cars...

My Dad traded his 55 chev ( with the straight 6) for a Marina TC.. Bunch of crap that car was.
Never let him forget my displeasure..

First car in Australia was a Marina Coupe, bought it for $500. In the height of The Depression We had have it was all I could afford. Had it for three years then sold it to a young Englishman for $500. Never had problem with it apart from a blown head gasket which was my fault for neglecting a minor leak from the radiator. A $35 head gasket and a Sunday afternoon and all was good 👍

[Williamson]

Missed this one earlier ...

First car in Australia was a Marina Coupe, bought it for $500. In the height of The Depression We had have it was all I could afford. Had it for three years then sold it to a young Englishman for $500. Never had problem with it apart from a blown head gasket which was my fault for neglecting a minor leak from the radiator. A $35 head gasket and a Sunday afternoon and all was good 👍

Back in Paul Keating's good ole days, interest rates in the high teens, but that suited us at the time, we had sold our first house, building our second (current) house, proceeds from the sale were earning a handsome interest.

Time to update the vehicle list.

1.   1966 Cortina Mk1 220 - reg.  KLG 019
2.   1969 Cortina Mk2 440 – KKP 554
3.   1973 Holden HQ Belmont Panel Van – LMA 946
4.   1973 Suzuki TS185 motorcycle
5.   1975 Cortina TC 2000
6.   1974 Holden HQ Kingswood sedan – LUE 773
7.   1975 Honda CB400 SS motorcycle
8.   1976 Datsun 180B (Helen) – INR 530
9.   1976 Dodge (Valiant) Ute
10.   1980 Datsun 200B Sedan (Helen)
11.   1973 Falcon XA wagon
12.   1976 Datsun 260C
13.   1981 Nissan Bluebird sedan (Helen)
14.   1978 Datsun 180B sedan
15.   1975 Fairlane ZG
16.   1986 Falcon XF wagon (Helen) – CSS 986
17.   1984 Nissan Bluebird wagon
18.   1978 Falcon XC wagon
19.   1988 Falcon XF wagon – CYW 698
20.   1980 Ford Meteor sedan
21.   1979 Honda CX500 motorcycle
22.   1987 Falcon XF ute
23.   1998 Falcon EL wagon (Helen)
24.   1986 Nissan Skyline wagon
25.   2007 Mazda6 hatchback (Helen) – current car, with 160K on the clock probably due for a new one, have been putting that off until we returned from UK & EUR, so probably later this year.  This probably won't happen now with the purchase of the new Pajero.
26.   1985 Suzuki Intruder 750 motorcycle
27.   2005 Honda CB1300 motorcycle
28.   2005 Kawasaki 250 motorcycle
29.   2008 Piaggio 250 motorscooter
30.   2005 Honda CT110 postie motorcycle
31.   2011 Honda ST1300 motorcycle
32.   2005 Toyota RAV4
33.   2005 Honda Civic sedan
34.   2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sports

Reckon there'll be a couple more before licences will be handed back to VicRoads, which I'm hoping will be 20 to 25 year away - I have some longevity with drivers on my side of the family.