Enjoy for next to nothing – column

If you know how the hares run in motorcycle land, it is nice to be surprised after fifty years of motorcycling. So I am now perhaps almost the proud owner of an IZH Planeta 5, a Russian single-cylinder two-stroke, unloved, unwanted and very cheap to purchase.

So that's how I made the circle. Because fifty years ago I bought a Norton 75 for 99 guilders. The fact that there was no rear wheel for that money was not a problem, because that wheel had been kidnapped by the local police because there was no profile on the tire. Luckily my grandmother had two agents for her living. That wheel was exchanged for a cake in consultation with agents Van der Burg and Mulckhuyse. Oh yes, the license plate was missing too. That was the case with a previous owner who had stopped riding motorcycles due to unexpected fatherhood. I came across the surprised dad's address through my grandmother's boarders.

At the time when some friends who were a few years older had just secured financing for a CB750, a T500 and a Laverda respectively, I had an old Norton. With that I had immediately made the best purchase in those fifty years that I just mentioned. Because the local motorcycle magazine seller, Richard Nieuwehuis (BMW R60 with Earles front fork and in complete E-Glass sports kit and equipped with loud Hoske pipes) fell in love with my Brit. He was married to a rich woman and paid 450 guilders for my Norton.

Then came the old Japanese. When I paid 800 guilders for three Black Bombers in parts, that was also seen as a waste of money.

With a few exceptions, I have always been on the margins of motorcycle life. Thus 'old' became 'classic', and classics became valuable. Restoring those classics to originality down to the last detail has never been my thing. Perfection makes you vulnerable. And for me, two-wheelers have always been motorcycles, not motorcycles, with all due respect to the people who restored and cherished our two-wheeled historical heritage.

Urals and Moto Guzzis have been the common thread in my motorcycle life for the past 25 years. And one of those Guzzis left me at 240.000 miles. The Guzzis that I had (and have) were always the ones that had approximately reached their lowest price at that time. And my first ex-Soviet rocking horses cost so little per kilo that just riding a stolen bicycle was cheaper.

And now I have discovered the ex-Eastern Bloc countries and China as a source for the most surprising and cheap classics. With Google Translate you can achieve the most bizarre translations. But the people there are also of good will, and purchasing is just as easy as transporting them here. For example, we provide aid transports to Ukraine with a few people. And now the van can simply take two motorcycles on the way back. These are, for example, Jawas from the 638-640 series that is not (yet) sought after here. Millions of them were made and many of them are still in use in countries within the former sphere of influence of the USSR. Even better: There are thirty-somethings there who restore them for nostalgic reasons. And they do it very nicely!

Dreaming about an Egli Vincent or a 1200 cc Harley side valve is of course a nice pastime. But if you look for happiness in a somewhat clear way, it is easier to find.

And how much will my IZH be worth in forty years? Then I'll be 110 and I'll see what I do with it.