September 15th 2007: the annual Hokfeest ('Hok party') by bikebuilder group Hok 14. But before going there I visited Bert Vonderman, owner of Sixcenter Motoren (site: see tank). He's the Dutch Kawasaki Z1300, CBX 1000 en Benelli Sei monopolist regarding spare parts. Last summer he went to the CBX Eurotreffen in Sweden, which explains the paintjob on his CBX.

His bike looks like it might fall apart any moment. But appearances are deceptive: the engine runs so smooth a coin will stand on its side while it's running, even when it's revved up. Not even starting the bike will make it drop. That's finetuning!
Very familiar, posing next to a donor.
 

Then my trip continued to Oldenzaal. The first time I visited the 'Hokfeest' was in 2000 when I won the prize 'No. 1 self-builder'. Since then I went there almost every year because it's small and enjoyable. They're not very fanatic bike builers but they sure know how to build a good party.
   
Like every year big American cars are present as well, like this impressive Oldsmobile (by the way: 'Chevy Inside').
The band was ... surprising. I was afraid it might be a S&M act as they came on stage wearing rubber masks.
 
A good thing normal guys were behind the masks.
 
Did I say 'normal'? Whatever, the Killer Bananazz was a great rockband who made a good contribution to the party's atmosphere.
 
Marco was present as well: talking about 'not very normal' ;-)
  It was nice and crowdy. On the left you see John Bakker; he provided the engine for my V8-project from the States.
  Outside one could tastefully carbonize a sausage while enjoying a nice beer.
 

Next morning at the Hofsté Residence I witnessed a familiar ritual: the jigsaw puzzle called Ducati.
  Luckily the clutch did what it's meant for: clutching. At 13.00h. we arrived at the Streetfighter Day in sun-drenched Utrecht.
   
  I parked the CBX between the other bikes. Strange: at a normal bikeshow my numberplate is folded at the end of the day by non-attentive visitors. Here it kept its form.
   

An alien creature between mostly sport bikes: it's ratbike 'Gonzo', built by Floris Velthuis.

Floris is starting a career as photographer and journalist; no wonder he was busy all day behind his camera.
 

Friend and photographer Sabine Welte came all the way from Germany to Utrecht. Here she's talking to Josu Urresti from J&J Streetfighters.
  J&J built a brutal V-Max.
  It was quite crowded in the hall. Good to see there's enough zest for this kind of event.
  Patrick Fonck (oldskoolsuzuki.info) had a very modest stand this year showing just Frank 'knarf' Nederhoed's Yoshimura GS1000. Knarf died last year and Patrick and his crew finished his bike project with combined forces. A nice initiative producing a beautiful retro bike.
The streetfightershow offered about fifty bikes; some of them entered for the second time.
  Niels' V-Max entered for the third time in a row, and again: no award. But there was a lot of progress since last year: nice turbo and good symmetry in handlebars and exhaust. Grant it a nice finish and dito paintjob, a black (!) Samco hose and next year: bingo!
 

My absolute favorite was this GSX1100 by Gerard Kramer. Nice self-built frame, good finish and clean design.

 
  Yeah, great.
  The 'Geman Style' was present as well. This one looks at first glance a bit like the GSX1100 but is out of balance in every aspect. Certainly not my taste.
  This XJR 1200 by Jeroen van den Belt doesn't look too special at first glance. But the fat turbo at the front looked familiar to me: it once was mine but turned out not to be the right one for my V8 project. Jeroen claims to squeeze 575 bhp out of this bike.
   
  At the prize giving ceremony it was a complete mistery for the audience which bike won what prize. After some investigation I was pleased to see my favorites were awarded. The GSX1100 won 'Best Streetfighter'; well deserved.
   
  At the parking lot I found a little note at the handle bars. Translated: "Owner, if you leave please call 06-xxxxxx. Thank you". So I did and demonstrated the bike to a group of friends.
   
  After the show Sabine wanted to do photoshoots of some bikes. She was baffled when she found out the organisation kept the showbikes hostage: only their photographer was allowed to make pictures! An evil game which bike builders should not accept. Or, as they say in Germany: "So ein Mist!". I hope next year this won't happen again.