First Vehicle - The Sporting Goods Store mini-bike

I am going to do a series of posts about the various motor vehicles I have owned.  I'll also try to remember everything I liked/disliked about each one.

The first motorized vehicle I ever owned was a mini-bike that was powered by a 3 HP Briggs & Stratton engine.  It was a pretty blue color with white wheels.  It always started up.  It did give me a REALLY bad habit though.  Because the brake lever was on the left handlebar, I of course got in the habit of thinking of the left lever as the brake.  On actual motorcycles with gearboxes, the left lever is the clutch, which does *nothing* to slow you down - even when you panic and pull it really hard.  You might even find yourself crashing into a rose bush due to some ingrained mini-bike habits...  just sayin'.

The only operating issue I ever had with that mini-bike was getting flats due to driving over goat-heads.  Mini-bikes aren't street-legal so you have to stay on dirt trails that contain goat-head seeds.

Below is the motorcycle I managed to ride into a rose bush - a 1973 Yamaha 175 Enduro.  A neighbor allowed me to ride it around in his yard.  Brake lever is on the RIGHT side.