There are a few things you shouldn't lend out. I sometimes forget some of those things. That's why I regularly lose books and tools. But it is clear to my Lief and my motorcycles: they are not loaned out. And sometimes you are immediately proven wonderful again. A comrade of mine we called 'Mr. X', because poor Camiel is already having such a hard time with it, is a fanatical procrastinator.
He has tons of experience and always drives highly up-to-date, very powerful and fast machines. He is one of the few people I know who really grew up with the tsunami of electronic control cousins that nowadays navigate on board every top-end motorcycle.
If possible, he rides on the edge. He makes calculated use of the possibilities that the road and all electronics offer him. And he remains healthy and damage-free. That creates trust. At least, that's what it did with Frank (not his real name. Because he's still in the grieving process, poor Herman). Frank is also a fast pilot, but one from the generation just after the first low handlebars.
He is – or was – the proud owner of a real Japauto Honda four-cylinder from the first half of the seventies. Just an update: Japauto was the company of the French Honda dealer Christian de Vilaseca who made Endurance machines based on the Honda CB 1972 Four from around 750. The French Honda dealer Japauto increased the cylinder capacity in various steps to 920 cc. And used perfectly steering Dresda frames. Booster sets from Japauto were later also used by other tuners, such as Fritz Egli. When Googling Egli and Dresda you can dream away. But the Japanese car stuff could also be purchased separately by private individuals to keep things within budgetary limits.
The two fast men met on a track day and were suitably impressed by each other's beauty. And so they came up with the plan to swap partners. That went faster and faster on the circuit with Mr. X and Frank started to get more and more feeling for their borrowed athletes. That confidence became so great that Mr. At one point, Then he ran into the limitations of the upgraded CB1974.
He made an impressive high sider. After throwing off its rider, the faithful Japauto remained on course and drove into the gravel trap. The external damage to the Japauto was largely limited, but the four open intake chambers were seriously choked with grit and stones. And all that inhaled discomfort did not do any nice things to the engine block.
What many people do not think about is that their insurance states in small but clear letters that nothing will be paid out if the motorcycle is not used on public roads and for competition purposes.
That became an issue in the finalization of the case. And that actual completion could only get underway after Mr. X had been discharged from hospital. He chivalrously took all the blame and said that in his enthusiasm he had trusted his digital guardian angels. Which were off-line at the Japauto. His own motorcycle is now for sale. To pay for the damage to the Japauto. Sad. On the plus side: a new Japauto fairing has already been found. Bee oneofmotorcycles.com. Just in the Netherlands, in Heesch.
The Heller construction kit in the header photo was for sale at Catawiki and was less wrinkled than the machine we were talking about.
So I didn't know Japauto. Egli, on the other hand, does. It's a shame to let such a beautiful Japauto eat pebbles. To avoid problems with my heart, I don't want to think about what such a beautiful four-cylinder engine would have looked like on the inside after having bitten its teeth on that very hard stuff. Just like Michael, I trust my butt and drive without overestimating electronic indulgence and have a respectable number of winter driving years behind me in commuting. Not that they were without scares, because sometimes it seemed as if a defibrillator had been implanted in me. The driving experience certainly did not suffer. Electronic pampering is all well and good, but if that stuff isn't at home, I personally prefer to have my skills kept up to date.
Although – or because – I know my capabilities on a motorcycle pretty well, I wonder which electronics would make me a better or faster rider. Not that I (70) feel any ambition regarding the latter. These gadgets are virtually unknown to me, except ABS (which I don't drive with, not even in winter), but I have to conclude that there is more electronic ingenuity. From the story - a high-sider - I assume that there is a detection of a spinning rear wheel that is then acted upon? Or is there a built-in inclinometer?
For now I rely on my butt and my sense of balance; I suspect and hope that that is also where the information will come from that will make me decide to say goodbye to motorcycling. And not because a short circuit landed me in the hospital.
Probably the missing ABS which did not intervene when the front wheel locked or something...
Nice story and I still have good acquaintances in Heesch, but he works in cars at a high level, they used to work together at Van Veen in Amsterdam.