...on a steel horse I ride...dead or alive.....

I like motorcycles.  I like looking at them.  I like smiling at them when they go by me on the road and I'm in my car. But, most of all, I like riding them.  I never get tired of hearing the engine, whether it's a straight sound or one that's been after factory enhanced.  I'm a motorcycle junkie!

My first venture into riding was on a Go Kart in 1958 when I was 13.  My dad lived in Moses Lake and out behind his restaurant just a few blocks away, was a Kart track.  We had a couple of Karts and man, did I love going fast around the track. The track was dirt, mostly cleared of rocks, but an occasional rock would fly up and hit my let, arm or face. That wasn't fun but it wasn't enough of an inconvenience to stop this thrill junkie. We never competed in sanctioned races because we worked at dad's restaurant and didn't have the time. But, when we could get dad to haul me out to the track - it's all I wanted to do: Go Fast!

I cut my mechanics teeth working on the engine to get it to go faster and was very disappointed when I couldn't coax anymore speed out of the little engine.

A few years later, I got a Dune Buggy in 1965.  Not one that actually ran up and down sand dunes or raced. I drove it around town, out of town in the rain without a top.  It was absolutely horrible to ride in..I felt every bump and jiggle...but she was quick and fun to drive....but I needed a "real" car.

There seems to be this yellow color thingy going on...

So, for my 21st birthday in 1966, I ordered my first fast car:  1966 289 High Performance Mustang.  The color was called Emberglow and it was the Pony edition.  The interior leather seats had wild Mustangs embroidered on them and the side panels. And...she was FAST! 4 on the floor, nimble around the curves, and she just purred..or maybe she whinnied...

This is the car that took me to the Puyallup drag strip, ran from the Tacoma Police for dragging illegally on Pacific Avenue and garnered the attention of good looking guys!  But....she wasn't quite fast enough. I was winning the quarter mile (in those days...I was the only "girl" dragging and that boosted my ego!). Wanting to go faster - quicker, I began, with the help of my friend, Mike, to modify the car. We added a different clutch, shifting components and ran her on an alcohol blend. Gas mileage (what??) went totally the way of the Dodo bird...but she was FAST!  I had to run the drags in a different division, but she and I were a pair to be reckoned with and continued our winning streaks.

Me and my pony gained quite the "bad-girl" reputation around Tacoma for terrorizing the streets until one late afternoon, the rain was steady and I popped the clutch coming away from a green light - the car hydroplaned throwing us into a telephone pole. The result was a total wreck of a car and a somewhat injured  pride. The next day, I bought a Datsun with 4 doors and thought maybe I should reinvestigate going fast!

Isn't she a beaut? I loved that car.  I've owned a lot of cars, but this one spoke to my need for speed!

It was in 1967, while driving my Datsun when a little black 1962 Corvette caught my eye.  The next day, I drove her home. I kept the Datsun and drove it back and forth to school and work and took the Vette out on sunny days and some weekends. My garage was full of mechanics tools, Christmas decorations, one black Corvette - but there was a spot that was just itching for a motorcycle.

I don't think I really liked the Vette any better than my Mustang...maybe it was because the Mustang was my first car...dunno, but the Vette was a fun drive...and she was pretty.

I bought the first of many motorcycles with this Honda CB350 in 1968....I used to ride it around in a bright red one piece snowmobile suit that I called my bunny suit.  Heck, it kept me warm.  I later had Langlitz Leathers made which made me look much more like a biker - chick!

This bike has the distinction of the only bike I've ever laid down.  I was riding two-up and my passenger was the daughter of friends, she was 12 and had ridden with me for awhile.  On the freeway, a lady cut us off...she just moved into my lane. Fortunately, I saw it coming and headed for the grass median, but we were going freeway speed ...about 60....and when I got the bike into the grass, she was hard to hold up and at about 24mph, we went down.  No one injured a just a few minor scrapes on my bike. The lady never stopped...I think she was oblivious.  A truck with two guys stopped, helped right the bike and we went on our way. We were very lucky.

In 1972 I added a two-stroke 250cc Kawasaki to my shrinking garage.

I rode the heck out of this bike...no windshield...drag bars...practically laying flat on the bike - I'd wind her up, pop the clutch and let her fly!  If you've ever heard a two-stroke motorcycle...well, you know how annoyingly noisy they are.  Eventually both of these bikes were sold and I took a break from fast vehicles while I raised my kids. Really?  Who was I kidding??? Stay tuned....