The CBX lacked a lot of TLC since I had put it in its stable at the end of August 2023. Two reasons: the terrible rainy weather from autumn 2023 to spring 2024, and all the attention and time I spent on presentating and showing the V8.

It was not easy to get the CBX to the street at the end of May 2024: the path was completely overgrown, like in Sleeping Beauty. But eventually, when I opened the petrol taps, my faithful six-cylinder immediately growled on all six; very nice and familiar to hear that again.

I knew the bike needed some maintenance. The M10 footrest was torn and about to break.

Welding would not be safe enough: stainless steel is quite brittle, especially on a weld. It would have been a quick but irresponsible solution.

I milled the axle out...

...and milled shallow slots on both sides, for the future welds.

Instead of stainless steel I chose steel of the quality 10.9: less brittle than stainless steel but less flexible than 'normal' steel 8.8. Just perfect.

The valve cover was leaking oil on the left side. I took it off and saw that it could use some TLC too, after many years of use (and lots of rain...).

And while I was at it: I disassembled all the aluminum parts of the engine ...

... including the exhaust clamps and engine mounts.

I sent them, heavily insured, to JPS Works of Art in Heerde; there I had the parts drum posished. When I picked up the parts, Arjan Joostema, owner of JPS, gave me a proud tour of his polishing shop.

The parts are shaken for 24 hours in a large container with polishing stones: first for a long time with conical ones ...

... and in the final phase with stones as small as sprinkles.

The beauty of this process is that they not only polish but also hammer the surface, which means that the aluminum corrodes less quickly again.

And that's what it looks like. :)

The red arrow points to a camshaft cover plate that I took out of an attic bucket with old CBX parts. Because the drum polishing had knocked away a mounting edge of one of the side covers it was unusable. I polished this old cover 'old school', by hand, as I always did in the past. Then I remembered how incredibly time-consuming it is and how much mess it makes. I say: long live modern techniques! ;)

Put new valve cover rubber on ...

... fresh rubber seals around the bolts ...

... and, while I was at it, installed a new Hella horn (r), which gives a slightly more mature sound.

Last year I found out that every now and then one of the two headlights would spontaneously switch on; not so bad, you might say. But it is bad when you consider that they are halogen lamps; also not so bad, you might say. But it is bad when you consider that my luggage roll is against it during the trips. And halogen burns holes in it, and you really don't want that. So I manufactured a double-pole switch to definitely prevent this during my trips.

Wednesday, August 14: the CBX looked like new.

First stop: the port of Duisburg (D).

My good friend Micky works in the crane repair and maintenance department. Everything there is just a little bit bigger.

A really amazing place to take pictures of my motorcycles, one day.

On my way to Duisburg I discovered a dead bat in the grill of a truck. I had never seen this kind of fatal accident before.

I often visit the relatively unknown Lehmbruck museum in Duisburg. They have a good collection of modern art and always interesting exhibitions of contemporary art, and that is what I am particularly interested in.

Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat showed in 'The Fury' a film about sexual exploitation, oppression and shame.

Her committed themes were so obvious that she left nothing to be guessed about her intentions. Clear, unambiguous but very one-dimensional.

The spatial work of Alicja Kwade consisted of round objects of stainless steel, concrete, granite, marble, patinated copper and bronze. Mirrors were placed between the objects ...

... which, when viewed from the right angle, perfectly connected the reflection to the next spatial object. Fascinating.

Always nice to see and experience: the mobiles of Jean Tinguely. Timelessly enchanting.

Speaking of 'timeless': I felt like I was in a retirement home, that's how high the average age of the visitors was.

A special exhibition with classics from the art movement called Futurism. The tried to capture movement in objects. This work from 1913, by Umberto Boccioni, is an iconic example of this movement.

Lehmbruck is always surprising: this work by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, called 'Sad Waltz and the Dancer Who Couldn't Dance' (2015), features two marionettes. At first glance it seems rather dated ...

... were it not for the fact that they are brought to life by servo motors that are consciously part of the artwork. Old ánd new.

The museum's namesake, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, made rather dull sculptures, in my humble opinion...

...but the museum he left behind is absolutely top notch.

After the museum visit I rode to a campsite south of Düsseldorf (D). There I fixed a small but annoying oil leak.

It was quiet at the campsite. I liked that, because rest is also what this trip is meant for.

The weather was a bit drizzly: perfect to look for bleak situations. Fortunately, they are often abundantly available at campsites.

Like this inviting entrance to the toilet buildings ...

... or this view of a camping street.

A three-axle gray tank called ... 'Elegance'. Hilarious.

'Experiencing free time' in a cigar box on the water.

Time flies when you're having fun, right? ;)

Finally, the icing on the cake: a rainy mini golf course!

I can only take very little luggage with me, still my trusty Trangia spiritus cooking set is always part of it. No hurries, slow-cooking, I prepared a meal with torstelloni, fresh seafood, salad and berries.

Thursday, 15 August: a sunny ride to Bonn (D), to a museum I did not know yet: the LVR-LandesMuseum. I think the building is quite appealing.

To protect the LCD screen from direct sunlight and ticking wedding rings ("is it glass?") ...

... I covered it with the steel plate.

The museum was as beautiful inside as it was outside: spacious, light ...

... and almost completely deserted.

I felt like I was in an Edward Hopper painting, like this one from 1942.

It is a 'Landesmuseum', and thus gives an impression of the history of the region, from 400,000 years ago to the present. Through the hand axe ...

... to the Middle Ages, to the present. Although I realize that all contemporary art rests on the shoulders of its illustrious predecessors, it nevertheless could not charm me.

I rode to Gasthof An der Salm, a relatively new motorcycle hotel in Eisenschmitt, a tiny town of 308 souls.

I let the bike cool down outside first. After that it went in the cosy garage, with friends.

Owner Jan (right) enjoyed a beer with us.

His pride and joy: an impressive smoker, which was operated with great concentration. The smell of olive wood was deliciously absorbed into the meat.

With a few other motorcyclists we had it a nice evening, with entertaining and sometimes strong stories. As it should be.

Friday, August 16: son-in-law Jeff, who has also emigrated from Amsterdam to Eisenschmitt, prepared a professional cappuccino in his man cave.

His passion for coffee was visible. And you could taste it.

It was a very hot day. I found for a lake nearby to go swimming. Nice.

In the afternoon I rode to the motorcycle meeting called 'Bei Atze uff'm Acker', which means 'at Atze in the field'. There it was. Clear.

Upon arrival I was immediately 'captured' by house photographer Arno.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

I had an appointment there with Erwin. Yes, with who else than my loyal biker friend Erwin? :)

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Colorful bikers attended. Most of them sixty years, and up.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Nowadays most of the bikes that cruise the roadsa are BMW GS motorcycles. Here too they were numerous.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

But there was also this great Triumph Rocket III, with a two and a half liter three-cylinder engine.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Not only old bearded guys visited the dusty grounds, also young people came on mopeds.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

And not only the youth came on mopeds. ;)

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Well. Since we're talking about diversity: there were also electric bicycles.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Just like the elderly, the youth also enjoyed a refreshing drink.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V., the organizers of this meeting, showed us German Perfection. Currywurst und Pommes of course were part of this. Served by none other than 'Frau Atze'; yes, Atze's wife.

I just had to photograph this stoic dog.

So this is Arno, the photographer. Besides that he was also the 'Erklär-Bär' ('Explaning Bear') of this meeting: he tirelessly told visitors about the CBX, the camera system, the switches and everything else worth mentioning. That gave me peace to drink beers with Erwin.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Every now and then I gave a little demo ...

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

... of course with 'der Wunder Handschuh' ('the Wonder Glove').

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Yes, indeed, a display for looking backwards.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Without exception nice, approachable people; you make friends quickly uff'm Acker. :)

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

Motorcycles were running back and forth all evening.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

A little chat, a little drink, a DJ, that's all you need.

Saturday, August 17: no motorcycle tour like usual, no discussion forum about world peace like last year, but a real ... walk! That was new to me, very original.

In the oppressive heat (see wet shirt) we walked to a lookout point, dressed as a tree.

In the distance, east of Flörsheim, we saw the impressive skyline of Frankfurt.

And as a cooling snack we were given the 'Äppler', a rather sour local apple wine.

Then have lunch at a local restaurant ...

... with local spreadable specialities such as the Frankfurter Grüne Soße, the ingredients of which were immediately presented.

Speaking of Frankfurt: planes were flying over the grounds day and night. A beautiful sight, and fortunately not so loud that it bothered you.

I met Christian Flach. He is a big CBX fan, category 'off limits'.

Meanwhile, the band Kist was getting ready for their performance that evening. Here you see bassist Mark Kaiser.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

In the meantime, the grounds were filling up nicely.

At the beginning of the performance Mark asked if he could do a burnout with 'that DeLorean CBX'. Up until now I have always done my own burnouts but Mark was a motocross rider and I know they can do that.

And so he did. He dug in the rear wheel in a controlled and expert way.

Then a nice guitar solo, standing on the seat. The audience liked it, and so did I.

© Picture: Arno / Kradfahrer Felzünd e.V.

As 'special guests' Erwin and I got a t-shirt from the meeting. :)

There was some more posing ...

... and occasionally there was some field research with the light of a cell phone.

Not the best photo of the series, but you understand how the evening went.

Sunday, 18 August: always exciting how the rear tire survives a burnout. Luckily the soil was not hard but a buried stone can still cause major damage. Fortunately this was not the case: everything remained nice and intact.

Our paths parted, Erwin left the meeting on his beautiful sidecar.

Christian invited me to come over for a photo and video session. He offered to help him find a better (brighter) screen, which is very nice.

I treated the CBX to 102 octane. He likes it, every now and then.

I took it easy and rode to a campsite near Drolshagen ...

... where I enjoyed two nice and very different books. A perfect contrast with the hustle and bustle of the past few days.

Monday, August 19: bloody hot weather, and traffic jam following traffic jam. That's not always a problem because I ride between the traffic ...

... but this time I really had to stop to prevent the engine from overheating. Because on a single track I'd rather not squeeze between concrete rail and traffic.

I scored a roasted half chicken ...

... put up my tent again ...

... and prepared something healthy, 'Prinzessbohnen' to be precise.

And fried potatoes, and of course the chicken. Which, mysteriously but truly, had almost disappeared while cooking.

The last evening, and this time beautiful weather at the Düsseldorf campsite. Thus camping life really looks different.

That's how life is good.

Traditionally I get bitten by some nasty insect, and traditionally it becomes infected. There was a painfully itchy fluid lump under my upper arm. Fortunately I have medicine ready to prevent worse (read: blood poisoning), as has happened to me on previous motorcycle holidays.

Tuesday, morning, August 20: a view from the tent upwards.

My faithful tent photographed for the last time because the main zipper is broken and the groundsheet is leaking. The tent is not to blame: first taken on tour in 2007 (see this report) ...

... and also endured extraordinary hypothermic conditions, such as here at the Elefantentreffen (D) in 2014.

I rode into the centre of Düsseldorf and looked for a place to have a good breakfast. I ended up at Chez la Belle, who advertises being 'The Upper Level of Healthy Food', and certainly lived up to that; my stomach hadn't seen so much fruit in a week.

Museum K21, a place I visit regularly. There is always a lot going on here in the field of contemporary art, and that actually applies to the entire German Ruhr area.

The building itself is already fantastic ...

... and I could easily store my large amount of luggage.

I came for the retrospective exhibition of the American artist Mike Kelley.

Mike Kelley (1954 - 2012) was a very versatile artist, who worked in both two-dimensional ...

... spatial (three-dimensional) ...

... as a video/performance (the fourth dimension: the time factor), like a fish in water.

In his series of photos called 'Day Is Done' he took photos from high school yearbooks as a basis to recreate them with actors and to bring them to the present. They are identical but not identical, sometimes look creepy, then make you laugh. Fascinating.

Mike Kelley is truly rare: many artists venture into other disciplines during their careers but usually excel in one. His work is incredibly diverse but without exception impressive. A true homo universalis, so to speak.

Was there any other interesting work to see? In my opinion, not at Mike Kelley's level. Yes, there was that obligatory WWII video; seen it, done that.

And on that bright Monday afternoon in August I rode home on my favorite holiday-highway A57 ...

... where I was warmly welcomed by my wife and silly dog. ;)

It was a great week!