My first motorized bike. I turned 16 in 1972 and for some reason had to have a bike. The British licensing laws only allowed 16 year olds to have mopeds so that's what I got, it was my misfortune to turn 16 four months after that law came into being, or perhaps it was my good fortune. I had never been particularly interested in motorcycles to that point as far as I know, my Uncle Jack had one when I was young and a man in the street I grew up on had one but I don't remember any special interest in them. Probably what made me decide was another kid in my school class, Adrian Hack, he got a Suzuki 250 when he turned 16 (earlier than me obviously) and one day he let me ride it round the block, even then I didn't have an epiphany of any sort.
I rode the Puch all over the countryside in my 16th summer and fell off it quite often too, a wrist injury from one of those falls occasionally troubles me to this day. The model I had was the 3 speed with a motorcycle style seat and a heady top speed of 34mph, the freedom was intoxicating and I was hooked on bikes.
Steven Hunt, Michael Stent drop me a line if you see this.
References: WikiPedia article