I don't remember much about my first bike, other than it being s/h and metallic purple. Also, my mum's annoyance that I liked to show off by locking the brakes on that gravelly bit you sometimes get down the centre of country lanes.
The first bike I asked for, and was fortunate to receive, was one of these:
http://www.thomazb.com/raleigh-burner.html
My grandparents bought it me for Christmas. I was ever so slightly disappointed it wasn't the one with Skyways, but still cock-a-hoop overall
. I lost count of the number times I destroyed my b@lls trying to jump over ramps and whatnot. When I was a kid, any discarded piece of wood was instantly turned into a ramp
. Sadly, most of it came from MFI wardrobes, and broke on the first jump (see previous comment regarding undercarriage)
.
Regards
EDIT: Learning from the modern BMXers, I think a QR seatpost clamp would have helped a lot in those days!