Hidden classics are becoming something. And that this is mainly about classic motorcycles here in the Netherlands? That is just a matter of the available space.
Search out of the box
Reader Wouter from the east of the country has developed as a detective by following paths other than the beaten track. He works outside the Internet. And that has meanwhile brought him so much success that he is considering even looking for third parties. He is already setting up a site for that. A very nice find is the CB 1 K450 equipped with a K5 tank that combines extremely classic looks with a matured block and a good front wheel brake. That machine was found at the back of a sawmill and we went to see it in Dronten, where it was technically checked by classic Honda specialist Lemota. There in Dronten we saw another Honda with the tank that does not belong: a K1 with a huge round-necked Hoske tank, also beautiful!
Two other finds came from another shed. But unfortunately they cannot be saved with cleaning. Ural / Dnepr specialist Richard Busweiler, world-famous in Genemuiden, received two Jawas in a typical former Eastern bloc transaction. Without papers and without chrome.
There must still be plenty of them
From an analytical point of view, many old motorcycles have been hidden for some twenty-ten years and have been forgotten by many senior ex-motorcyclists who, somewhere around their seventieth year of life, have decided, whatever the circumstances, not to get on the bike anymore. Maybe because they liked bungee jumping much more. And because motorcyclists also do not have eternal life, those hidden two-wheelers, in a dusted and often rusty state, often end up with relatives. That Googling then what such a thing is worth. Or they let such an elderly motorbike, together with some real oak furniture, the refrigerator and the collection of books and records, be collected by an evacuation company or the Kringloop.
It is all a matter of time
We know, for example, a Honda CB450 K1. It has been standing for forty years. Because after the birth of the first child, the wife and her family decided that motorcycling was too dangerous for a breadwinner. "I can't ride it anymore, but at least I still have a motorcycle."
The owner of a BMW R50 / 5 had to stop motorcycling when his vision got worse. But his engine is still in a heated garage. In addition to the car in which he was also not allowed to drive despite the fact that every motorcyclist knows that every motorist is completely blind.
But in the meantime, spring is tingling in the air again. So we can stop dreaming again, and make sure that our own classics are ready for a new season. But then act like Wouter. Address people during breaks during the ride. Preferably older people. And then ask if they don't know someone who still has an old motorcycle in a shed.
Who knows what you will encounter. Perhaps a very nice project for the winter of 2019.
