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10th and 11th of June I went to a ratbike meeting organized by the 'Dutch Hardly Rideables'. Though my bike isn't a rat and it isn't hardly rideable ... it's definitely Dutch and Hard to Ride. | ![]() |
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It took place nearby the village IJsselstein on a site called 'Highlands'. | |||
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I made the trip with photographer and journalist Sabine Welte. She came with a testbike even less rat than mine: a brand new yellow Kawa ER-6n. We might not exactly fit in the profile... | |||
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We were very welcome though. They just want to throw een nice party and everyone is invited. As at all meetings (streetfighters, Harley's, self-built, mixed) much time is spent mainly looking and talking bikes. And enjoying the weather with some cans of beer. |
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Now and then a rat started smoking... | ||
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... and smoking ... and smoking. | |||
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It's a small world; NitroMax came by with his slick VMax. | ||
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How to discribe the phenomenon 'ratbike'? Well, it's mostly Japanese origined and one might think it's a bunch of worn-out crap. Just buy yourself (or better: find yourself) a seventies Japanes bike, take a crowbar to get rid of all the plastic, and cover it with some cans of black paint. | |||
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'Hardly Rideable'? Very obvious. | |||
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But a ratbike is far more than that: a lowbudget but very individually styled piece of art. | ||
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The personal look of each bike makes you walk around and around many times; every ratbike tells a different story. | |||
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On the picture you my favorite Z750 turbo (called 'NOSfearatu'), built by Mick Hüby: a beautiful streetfighter used for dragracing. Aim your pointer at the picture to see a rat-style Z750 turbo; a very different approach. Both bikes share the same engine, and both are very worth looking at. |
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Black rats arrived from Holland, Germany and England. In the evening an exuberant procession from France roared in. I got many offers to get my bike sprayed black for free; I maneged to turn them down though... |
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Totally unexpected I won my thirteenth (!) award: 'Best Fighter'. A nice gesture to make me feel at home I suppose ;-) | ||||
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Like always, between drinking and talking, I spent a lot of time taking pictures. And I was not the only one: on the picture you see Sabine Welte (smallest, with biggest camera), Floris (bigger, with smaller camera) and a German bloke (biggest, with smallest camera). | ||||
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Floris is one of the organizers of the event. He writes for the Englisch magazine '100% biker' and made a photoshoot of my bike. | ||||
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We argued about a rather important question: should or shouldn't there be green on a bike's picture? Decide for yourself: aim your pointer at the picture ... |
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Floris' bike is called 'Gonzo' and is a classic example of a good ratbike. This is one of very few bikes-with-trailer that doesn't disgust me: Mad Max would agree. | |||
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I'll summerize the rest of the evening and night: BBQ, talking, drinking, burning wood and rubber, and finally sleeping. | |||
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Next morning the Dutch Automobile Association (called 'ANWB') arrived, which didn''t surprise me a bit: DHR has got a reputation to uphold. | ||
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Made a nice trip homewards with the award cable tied on my luggage. It was a nice event and it certainly won't be the last rat-meeting I'll visit! | |||
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German biker mag 'Biker Szene' published a report on the Dutch Hardly Rideables meeting in their August 2006 issue. Click the picture to read the article. (written in German language) |