Christmas 1969,... my dad was on tour in Vietnam... he sent his Air-force buddy money to get me a bike...
My friends all had lawnmower type mini-bikes, but I just had my pedal bike...
It was beautiful... 60cc 2-stroke Yamaha Mini-trail... much like the little Honda 50, but with a 4-spd and a clutch... and a good bit faster...
Never expected it,.. we weren't rich, not even middle class...
Fortunately,... it fit through the front door... because, I was so excited, I slept next to it that night, on the floor... the gas/oil smell mixing in my nostrils as I slept...
...
Problem was,.. no dad to teach me to ride... and I had no idea what a clutch was...
I spent the first 2 weeks, revving it to high heaven, and slamming it into 1st... ride an abrupt wheelie for a bit... then go...
... I got the shifting figured out pretty quick... in an hour or so...
The nuance of clutching to take off, was a slower process of trial and error ...
Luckily,... the gas station attendant knew it was 2-stroke, and explained the oil/gas mix to me... (in those days, they had a squirt pump next to the gas pump... 1 squirt equalled 20/1 mix per gallon)...
Then,.. I broke my right arm in 2 places that January... (not from ridin'... from playin' soccer),... I was down for 2 months...
First day the cast was off... back on the bike...
Long story short... by the time dad came home,.. I was able to give him a power slidin', wheelie poppin', doughnut digging, stunt show...
That was my best present ever...
My dad died a young man, when I was barely out of high school,.. but I did get to buy him a bike,...a little Honda 360,... his first since he was a young man in the 1950's...