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17th of September 2005: the one and only Hokfeest, organised by bikebuilders group Hok 14. | |||
Familiar components: live music, BBQ, beer and good mood. | ||||
Special guests this year were ... reclining bicycles. | ||||
And there were some big V8 Americans; done useful lobbying for my next project. | ||||
Like with this guy, Marco K. He ain't got much hair on his skull, but a lot of V8-madness inside it. | ||||
My favorite bike at the party was this nicely modified Suzuki GS750. Patrick 'Mr.7/11' Fonck, like always at the party, took this picture. The owner agreed that his bike wasn't ready yet. And I'm not talking about the flat front tyre ... |
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... because I was more concerned about the unsupported length of the outgoing axle. | ||||
They put up a tent so I didn't have to drag too much luggage this weekend: a nice gesture. The bitter cold night didn't last very long: 07.45h the trip continued from Oldenzaal to Utrecht, some 140 km. | ||||
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The only serious Dutch sreetfighterevent: Street or Track. Because I was part of the jury, I had to be there so early. | |||
As the wheater was great, the parking lot soon was flooded with bikes. | ||||
Some bikes had potential to join the show. | ||||
Some bikes told the story of longlasting abuse, like this Bandit 1200. | ||||
Streetfighter Day, as the event was called this year, was not a large-scale event with a large-scale atmosphere. | ||||
Many stands promoted their parts. | ||||
A lot of special bicycles on show here, like at the Hokfeest. Is it a conspiracy...? | ||||
I put the CBX on the Street or Track stand. And like always visitors were unable to use only their eyes. | ||||
RTV Utrecht came with a nice interviewer who didn't know sh*t from bikes. But you know the statement: "Any publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right". | ||||
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In a hall next to the show the traditional 'No Bullshit Competition' took place, as always organised by Mr.7/11 (kneeling here). A turbo GXR1100 pressed 311 bhp at the roll. | |||
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This angular bike looked slightly like my CBX. I didn't like the bumpy tank and seat; the swingarm was nice though. | |||
Klaus Sarembe's racer posed in front of the stand from the (slightly hungover) Fighters Magazin team. | ||||
Antoinne Collignon, the famous French bike cartoonist, worked concentrated on a new drawing. | ||||
Organizer Jon Tober interviewed builders on stage. Here you see Antoinne with his modified TL1000. | ||||
The streetfightershow had many familiar face, like this CBX. | ||||
We gave this Z1300 an award two years ago. | ||||
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The jury for the streetfighter streetfighter contest this year were designer Seroj de Graaf, journalist Jeroen 'Spike' van der Veen, German journalist Sabine 'Bine' Welte, and me. | |||
And we took our work very serious. Here you see Sabine and Seroj studying a very special RGV250 powered by a DR800 onecylinder engine. The thought 'I sure would like to ride this bike' is always a big plus. We rewarded it with the 'René Tober Award'. | ||||
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We chose this Suzuki as winner. Nice line, clean finishing, sober but still an eyecatcher. | |||
Its 916 rear nicely matched the self built seatpipes; details do matter. | ||||
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My favourite though was this Bandit 1200: no nonsense, non-shiny black, brutal. A pure streetfighter. | |||
Nice line, stretched swingarm, monoseat: just great. But well, I wasn't the only judge. | ||||
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And another Suzuki: this time for best paintjob, by G.L.Paints. The paintjob added to the form of the components. A pity I don't have a more detailed picture. After the prize giving ceremony we concluded that all prize winners were Suzuki's this year; the three preceding years it were only FireBlades. Is it a coincidence that Mr.7/11 is no part of the jury anymore ;-) | |||
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The jury agreed not to reward the 'German styled' bikes, known for their kicked-up asses. | |||
This bike really puzzled us: is it a streetfighter, or just a joke? But: nice frame! | ||||
The third place was for this GSXR1100: the sloppy finishing kept it away from a higher ranking. The Streetfighter Day was a quality event that deserves continuation! |