Growing up in Kuwait during the 1970s, Anwer Khan clearly remembers street vendors visiting his neighborhood aboard Honda CB350 motorcycles. With a rear rack and basket tied down with rope or bungee cords, peddlers would ride in on the machines and sell candies or other treats to the local children. It’s a memory Anwer holds close to his heart.
“It reminds me of my dad, it reminds me of my neighborhood and my childhood,” he explains. “There are very few things in life that attach you to a certain timeframe, and a Honda CB350, every time I saw one, it took me back to Kuwait and I remembered my childhood days in the hot sun, no shoes and no worries.”
Anwer’s motorcycling adventures started when he was 10 or 11 years old. His older brother had a Honda XL185, and his group of friends all rode. Wanting to be included in the fun, Anwer harassed his father for a machine. He laughs, “My father finally broke down and got me a little Honda Z50. My brother and I were always around people with bikes, and my passion for motorcycles really grew from there, including getting on the XL185.”
In 1988, the Khan family emigrated to the U.S., landing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anwer was 17 years old and by the time he was 21 he’d graduated from college. And he wanted another motorcycle. However, his father was adamant his sons wouldn’t ridefather knowing. I was riding it home, freaking out about how I was going to show this to my father.”
