My first ride was around the block on the back of a neighbor's Harley when I was about 8, give or take. Don't remember anything about the ride, but I probably loved it. I was a bit of a dare-devil as a boy, and when I was a tween I somehow talked my parents into a mini-bike. Probably because it was broken most of the time, and posed no danger unless you tripped over it in the garage, well except for my younger brother who inherited it and had one last harrowing ride when it had no brakes and the throttle stuck wide open going down a long street until he had to ditch it or ride into a busy intersection... He survived, lol, but didn't get any smarter, and many years later, was hit by a car hotdogging a dirt bike on the street... Again, he survived, much the worse for wear however. That didn't diminish my love for motorcycles though, As I became an older teen, and before I could drive, I was friends with a hard working kid who had a hardship drivers license at 15 and delivered papers on a 125 or 175 XL like bike. I rode on the back of it helping deliver papers and he would let me ride around on it. I bought my first motorcycle at 18 while I was stationed at Fort Benning. It was a new '82 Yamaha XT200 dual purpose. It was around $1250 if I remember correctly. I really fell in love with motorcycling on that bike. Wish I still had it.