Saturday May 31 2014: another edition of ´Koning Zelfbouw Dag´ (King Bikebuilding Day). An initiative of Goos Bos, owner of Motoport Hengelo, for the third year in a row. Last year I was on the jury of the bikeshow, and this year I was asked again to perform this task. The Netherlands hardly has a stage for private bikemechanics and -designers so of course I agreed.

Without any luggage on the handle bars it was nice to speed up a little once a while.

The evening before I visited Erwin, in the picturesque village of Vasse.
Vasse had an upcoming event as well: the Strawberry - Asparagus tour (which does not appeal to me as a very tasteful marmalade ;))

At Hofsté Mansion I was warmly welcomed with a meaty BBQ. Delicious.

Surrounded by sauces there was another familiar ingredient of the evening: beer.

Pim, his two year old son, proved to be a chip off the old block.

That evening his other son, Mees, experienced the unforgettable thrill of riding without training wheels. A skill his daddy almost forgot since he's into sidecars. ;)

It all tasted very good but at two in the morning I called it a day: did not want to be too hung-over the next day at the bike show.

Therefore the awakening was kinda fresh.
Pim took his job as dog walker pretty seriously.

Anyway. It was a nice trip from Vasse to Hengelo. Beautiful weather, which to me is more the exception than the rule.

Although Goos promised the CBX a place inside the show, I decided to park the bike outside. But even there it got some attention. "Obviously, this bike was trailered", according to some bystanders.

Or wasn't it? There ís a number plate...

A large part of the store was dedicated to the bike show.

Even small businesses were given the opportunity to present themselves.

I'll give an impression of the presented bikes; by no means complete.

I'd seen Maarten Poodt's GTS on some pictures but not yet 'live'.

He shows how, in 550 hours (in 1 year!), a meaningless motorcycle - except for the beautiful single-sided front suspension, see picture on the left - transforms into a state of the art sports bike.
It struck me how many visitors passed Maartens bike without taking notice; on his specs sheet he explains why: it looks like a professional factory machine. This is the GTS Yamaha should have made.

Smaller bike but bigger eye catcher because more extreme: this converted XS650 racer by Mario Kruysbergen.

Wonderful detail: turning the cylinder head so that the carburetors are at the front and the exhaust at the back.

Knowing that this project was in this state just a few days before the show.

Picture: chopperstyle.nl

Also a beauty: this minimalist board tracker with a Puch X30-engine from 1976, built by the 17-year-old (!) Haico Heersink. Beautiful curves, and nice how he mounted that tank below the backbone.

Less striking but very pure in style, this cafe racer by Jarno de Vries, based on a CB500. This bike won the visitors award.

The visitors award was a good addition to the bike show: every visitor voted for his/her favorite bike.

Picture: madnessphotography.eu

Special (but unfortunately poorly finished) was this bike, powered by a Sachs Wankel engine.

The aerodynamic former Yamaha XZ550 called 'Pteranodon' is built by Marc Brasse. He has been working on it for ten years; all fairing parts are handmade.

There were also some sidecars present, like this 'kneeler', with 500cc two-stroke Trabant power source.

Special attention for this one: I've never seen such a boorish sidecar. The builder wanted "to build a rideable bike with a minimal budget which attracts attention'. 'Well, I do believe he succeeded.

Photographers Tjeerd Derkink and Mischa Riemersma (Thunder & Lighting) photographed bikes in a '30s setting, including smoke effects. I thought it contrasted good to the CBX, and so did they.

Utmost concentration to combine smoke, lights, strobes and reflector screens. Fun to watch.

The moment of truth: the jury deliberating. Just like last year Henny Kroeze (center), Onno 'berserk' Wieringa (right) and myself. On the left you can see the obviously totally impartial Goos (who occasionally had a hint of opinion though ;)).

I'd prepared a number of assessment criteria to discuss the candidates. Amongst them was first impression, the uniqueness, engineering, workmanship, attention to detail and the paintjob, and no deduction for wear (which I hate).

The criteria made ​​the discussion more formal (less "just a nice bike") but not necessarily easier. Here you see Henny in combat with his choices.

A bit of tension, just before the awards giving ceremony.

Third place went to Maarten Poodt's GTS. It took some persuasion within the jury because the bike, as mentioned earlier, does not attrackt attention at first sight. But the award is more than deserved.

Second place for the Puch board tracker. It's already the second award this seventeen-year-old rookie drag scores.

King Bikebuilding 2014 was Mario Kruysbergen with his beautiful XS650 in steampunk style. He deserved it.

The weekend ended with a sunny trip home. Again next year! Whether or not with the V8...