Motos

Hi. My name is Bart. A while ago, a friend and very bad influence convinced me to go get a motorcycle license. I gave in, thinking that it would be kinda fun and perhaps later we could rent a bike in the States and do some cruisin' around.

Motorcycle classes weren't kinda fun. They were exhilerating!

After the first class, I knew: I had to get a bike as soon as possible. My first plan was to get an old, scuffed-up bike for very little money, so I wouldn't mind too much if I dropped it. Then, I rode a CBR 600 F4, and I threw away my plans to get an old bike. I wanted a CBR 600 !

And then, I came across a CBR 600 RR ...

I got full gear, and an Arai helmet, and I was the proudest motorcycle owner in the universe. The bike was easy to handle, but it became a monster as soon as I flicked the throttle wide open. And the sound! A threatening rumble in the low rpm's, a fierce, high-pitched scream in the 10000's !

And then it got stolen. Don't ask me about it.

Hurts.

So I decided to wait for two years before I could afford another decent bike. Of course, after less than a month, I bought this bike:

And I actually got to do a trip to the Ardennes with it. As would quickly become tradition with our trips to the Ardennes, the next day it poured so hard that my tankbag was filled to the brim with water.

Why does the top of the tankbag allow water to pass, and why is the bottom of the tankbag waterproof ?!

After our first try, we decided to aim a little higher, and we planned a trip to Italy. As is tradition with all our trips, we started at a McDonalds

The second day of our trip, it was raining. Very hard. On slippery concrete.

But all's well that is going well (I don't dare use the word 'ends' in this context). I did my first trackday with this beautiful bike, and it performed wonderfully! On the picture, you see my friend and colleague Peter, who rides the black 1000RR. He had some lame excuses for why I was faster than him in the corners, but I think it was just the rider.

So anyway. I soiled my pants quite a few times that day, but I removed most of my chicken strips, I scraped my footpegs, I was able to overtake some 1000cc bikers, and for the first time in my life I yanked the throttle all the way open, and I still wished it would go faster!

I got to practice cornering, all day long. I'm still not sure I have the correct form, because my footpegs scraped the asphalt long before I was able to put my knee down. But even then, I had never expected to go that far on my first track day. So needless to say, I was very proud of my accomplishments that day.

Big disappointment: there were no pictures at all from me on my bike that day on Francorchamps. The photographer apparently had some technical difficulties (what? He forgot to plug in his USB stick?!), and most of the pictures were lost.

Anywho, I had as much fun as you can have with your pants on, as they say. I wouldn't know, I always keep my pants on when riding a motorcycle ...

And now I did my thing in front of a camera. Antwerp port has this roundabout that is quickly becoming (in)famous for the motorcycle enthusiasts displaying their mad kneedown skillz and wheelie capabilities.

While the images weren't that spectacular, they confirmed what I felt was wrong: my knee didn't stick out, and my hands had a death-grip on the handle bars.

However, it was great fun to feel like a super star, with all my leathers in this blistering heat and three fotographers following my every movement. Some of my follow bikers that day also had their picture taken.

As for me, I would have to wait until the next track day for my knee to do a touchdown!

In the next episode, me and a friend took a trip through England. There's pictures and a Dutch report of our mis-adventures on this website. In short: both me and the bike survived!

And now finally, I've bought myself another RR. It is every bit as beautiful as I remembered, but it's a lot tougher to handle than I remember!