We rolled our own rocker motors, and some bombs besides. Shooting an arrow straight up will immediately give you a small increment in IQ for next time.
When I was 11 or 12, I remember piling into a car with my friends and one of their older brothers, who was the driver as he was 16.
We took his Father’s rifles and shotguns to a big empty lot/forest on the edge of town, and proceeded to blast away at cans, bottles, etc...
A cop from our town, who probably heard the shooting, drove by. I remember him looking us over, and asking, Who owns the guns? We replied: “Sammy’s Dad, Officer.”
He simply said “OK boys, be safe.” and he left.
We made tree house forts. Waaay up. You nail boards to the tree for your ladder, pass wood up to the top guy to nail level, then everybody sits in it. We lived. We rode mini bikes at 30 MPH without helmets. We lived. We made bombs with our chemistry sets. We lived. We jumped off of 20 foot high cliffs into a lake. We lived. I rode up the steps and thru the school on my friends motorcycle without helmets. My Dad, an Army DI, sent me to military academy. I still lived.
That was (counting fingers and toes ....) 35 years ago now.
And I nice little scar. :-)