When I turned 17, I learned to ride on a 150 Honda Dream which was one of the coolest looking bikes ever. Swept fenders, just the right amount of paint vs. chrome, and a kick starter. My only regert was giving her away to a relative for his wife to learn upon, only to completely rip the clutch out and drop it several times breaking turn signals and damaging the flawless paint. Stupid me...And you're right, todays 'crotch rockets' are a pain to ride- especially if you are burdoned with a less than atractive 'beer belly' or the the moderately obeased. And to own a Harley- it used to an elete crowd to have one. I've had over a half dozen co-workers buy themselves an H-D as a first bike, complete with the leathers and other items to make themselves feel like a "real biker". HA! I want my Dream back...

Spring of '65, I got my first m/c, a '62 150 Dream. For a 16 year old, fun for riding to school & back, but not great for dates exept in the summer. Since then, I've had 7 motorcycles, the last and current one a Honda 750 Shadow Aero. The Aero is as close to a Dream as I want as the 150 had a nasty habit of burning out the crankshaft bearings every 5000 miles or so. They were not designed for American roads of that erea, or since. The guys riding the 190 Sports and 350 Super Hawks loved their bikes, for good reason. On or off road, a pleasure to drive at low speeds. Easy on gas, and just plain fun. Today, go for a modern Touring Bike if you want something similar. The "crotch rockets" described above are a pain, not only on your back, but on you privates.