The main goal of the weekend was the 70 Cycle Run Classic Sprint in Eeklo (B), a dedicated event for seventies bikes; My 1978 CBX(-engine) fits right in.

It was not the first time I visited Eeklo: this event dates from the early nineties, and I was there for several years in a row with my first CBX. And with my friends Jan, Jeroen and, of course, my beloved sister Cécile, for whom it was her first motorcycle event.

'In those days' it was very small-scale, and it was a two days event, with overnight stays in tents and a ride-out. In recent years, it's a sprint event, a 'Run What You Brung': 200m forward as fast as possible.

Almost 25 years after my visit to Eeklo with Cécile, I went there with her son Pim. Since a few months he owns a driving license, and just a little before that (!) he bought a 1989 GSX-R 750 streetfighter. Quite a powerful bike to start your bike career but hey: life is short. And he had no less then 40 (fourty!) kilometers riding experience, so lack of experience was not an issue. ;)

In the middle you see his father Otto; in the past I made many trips with him too. On the spot he tought Pim the Art of Packing. On the right you see Pim's girlfriend Nina, who really enjoyed herself.

And we were having fun with her slippers.

Cool. You have to look cool on a bike. A good thing coolness is one of Pim's strong sides.

On the sun-drenched* Saturday we rode to Eindhoven and visited a terrace in the center. We continued the journey to Antwerp and had lunch in the village of Oelegem. Why there? Just because it's a weird name. They had great filet americain; quite risky stuff on such a hot day.

Thumb up for the ride so far!

* complete contrast to the forecast.

Until we, just past Antwerp, suddenly halted in the village of Kallo. A rather abandoned place, or 'hole', in Dutch.

The GSX-R gave no sign of life anymore.

I took the tools from the CBX, added tools from a very helpful Kallonian (Kallonees?), and systematically searched for the cause. Meanwhile, Pim was busy with Plan B: calling the Belgian breakdown service. His bike insurance at KNMV quickly turned out to be a sham: the bike apparently was not registered (what?!) and "no one is present at the headquarters on weekends". Well, that's great service. Not.

As the main fuse turned out to be OK and the ignition switch seemed alright too, attention was paid to the battery. Lifted the fuel tank and yes, the ground terminal had loosened. The problem was fixed quickly with a bolt and some washers.

After five kilometers we'd to carry out another small fix, with tie-wraps this time, sponsored by the local gas station.

The entire dashboard had snapped from the upper triple tree. But just about everything can be repaired with tie-wraps.

To ride a bike you need some quick fixing skills. Or learn them, in Pim's case.

(and there is the thumb again...)

At about 5 o'clock we arrived at Eeklo, at camp site Malpertuus, beautifully situated in the woods.

The reception ('onthaal') was a cosy shed. Just look at the pretty lion at the bottom right.

It's high time for a refreshment. The first sip is always the best.

Point at Pim to see his reaction.

We scored a pizza in the center of Eeklo, at Pizza Izmir. We liked the food, they liked the bike.

Later we found this picture and message on Facebook.

The captions says: "Self designed CBX in stainless steel". They didn't ask me to make the hashtag #OttoNijs; from now on you'll find a ... a pizzeria. :)

I liked the hashtags #Back2TheFuture and especially #ToniStark.

Family portrait, flanked by bikers.

I also discovered that the son of the house posed ón the bike. Well, I'm not too fond of that. But it's a nice picture.

Back at the camp site we drank beer until closing time.

Next morning it looked like this. Thumb included.

Beautiful September morninglight made us do a short photoshoot.

Nice set.

We scored a small breakfast in a local gas station annex sandwich bar.

They sell weieieird toys. Bizarre and quite worrying.

From worrying to worried: arriving at the sprint site, first I had to sign a form in which no one is to blame but me, if anything happens to me physically and/or mentally.

Sticker on the helmet ...

... and wait in line.

Everyone and everything joined in. All bikes from the seventies, and almost all street legal. Except from some loud exhausts. Except from about all exhausts.

Many visitors, many viewers.

Sprinting is not that easy: it's adrenaline versus concentration. A fast run depends on your response time, error-free operation of the clutch, fast gear change and open throttle to the finish.

The geometry of my CBX is about perfect for drag racing: long swing arm (and thus less chance of wheely), rigid frame, narrow built (compared to a normal CBX), good brakes. Weaknesses are the extremely short stroke of the clutch grip (hence difficult to dose), the bias of the clutch (thus slipping at higher revs), of course my lack of experience (first time) and ... shear guts (realising that I have to get home the same day on that bike), and finally: a very recent and expensive engine overhaul.

I've done three runs, and won two of them. The final run was just under ten seconds. There is still a lot to be improved, but it tastes morish. :)

On the left a video of my third run.

Not all bikes were street legal. This one was spectacularly long and therefore absolutely wheely-free, but suffered from a lot of wheel spin due to the low downward pressure on the rear wheel.

Who cares? The rolling burn-outs were spectacular, as were the Mad Max petrol tanks at the front.

There were many CBX's present. No wonder: the CBX was the most powerful bike of the seventies, and the first to break the 100 HP border. Six-cylinder short-stroke engines that can rev high. On the right you see Bert Vonderman, ready to fight Paul Burroughs, both on a CBX. And behind them: also a CBX.

Bert did many runs, and competed for the awards. He was no less than two seconds faster than me and ended second in the category 600cc+. Beautiful to see, and to hear.

This heavy tuned Kawa finally won, if I'm not mistaken.

The old Ducati two-stroke in the front really was incredably noisy (see the marshall on the left); apparently he had to rev continuously to prevent his engine to stall. You hear it in my video as well.

Pim and I agreed: a Suzuki Katana is a beautiful bike.

And so is this Suzuki GT750 two stroke. What a sound, and what a speed too.

Sidecars ...

... and everything else that had more than 50cc. The environment closed an eye this day. A tear stained eye.

During the afternoon it got very crowded. Great that such an event got such wonderful weather.

A bit tired but satisfied we enjoyed a beer.

About four o'clock we decided to go home. En route we helped a stranded Honda CB750 ...

... and enjoyed the sun in a traffic jam, caused by a 84-year-old ghost rider. Unfortunately, he will not celebrate his next birthday.

It was a nice ride back home: playing a bit on the freeway, making some unnecessary noise in tunnels, you know. Or you don't know.

Doing 500 kilometers in two days with my tough cousin who has survived his bike baptism of fire gloriously.

How else then finishing this report with ... indeed. :)