Old times return: tinkering – column

Considering our ages, we have a lot of history to share. We were very young, had very little money and wanted to ride motorcycles. That started for me as an MTS employee with the purchase of a Norton 88 for 75 guilders. That thing was with an unpaid invoice - although: at Van den Brom nothing went on invoice. He was a municipal official and was structurally covered by the Sickness Benefits Act. So old times.

And day and night he enjoyed All Old Motors from all the young motorcyclists in the area. It was a grumpy, grumpy, somewhat compact man in khaki-colored overalls. And it was one of those smurfs who could give everything a sexual twist. The Real Henk Kenners made thoughtful use of his sexual frustrations. For example, Rutger took his niece Sonja with him when his AJS needed tinkering. Sonja had very long legs and a very short skirt. After she had bent down to pick up a bolt, Henk Rutger offered to give the AJS twin an extensive big turn if Sonja wanted to pick up something again. That was still possible in those old days.

Then he disappeared for five minutes and came back to the garage, sweaty but relieved. Henk's wife always looked a bit angry, by the way. My Norton came without papers. But my grandmother had cops on board and the later detective Jaap van M. (his girlfriend had lived in Canada for a year and therefore only spoke Dutch with a heavy English accent) was kind enough to find out whose name the license plate of the Norton stood. So privacy was already more dead in ancient times than we think now. That's how I ended up in one of the darker neighborhoods of Utrecht where the soon-to-be ex-owner of the Norton was still getting used to the fact that he didn't actually have a motorcycle, but he did have a daughter.

I offered him twenty guilders for the papers of the Norton. His girlfriend said, "That's good." Then you suddenly have an old Norton that you have to tinker with much more than you had to do with your Zündapp. You tinkered with the Zündapp to make it faster. You tinkered with the Norton to keep it running. In the meantime, a driver's license was obtained. The rides got longer. The Norton was sold for no less than 400 guilders.

Other engines came. But the tinkering in those old days remained until a BMW R60 came along. That was a 12V ex-police motorcycle. When it was exchanged for a Triumph T150 V started tinkering again. But in the meantime, many other people started driving Japanese more recently and tinkering became more often something to outsource to professionals. Meanwhile, a somewhat serious BMW dealer charges € 100 ex. for a workshop hour and there are plenty of motorcyclists who only know about their motorcycle what the financing costs them per month. There is nothing wrong with that. They drive carefree. And if their toy breaks, they have a mobility guarantee. Very different from old times.

Around that time the first retro motorcycles arrived and life seemed to become a bit more orderly again. At least motorcycles started to look like motorcycles again, like in olden times. This allowed old-school riders with a worn-out kick-start knee to get back on the road on bikes they didn't feel embarrassed about riding. And younger motorcyclists also picked up on the retro concept. I myself ran into a 125 cc Mash. Built in 2017. With the looks of nineteen 65. And a Suzuki GN125 clone as motorization. The thing didn't work. And in 2017 I think that was mostly down to the scruffy security switches on the jiffy and clutch.

Fortunately, that kind of meddling is easy to bridge. Mash turns out to be a French idea that is put on the wheels in China under French supervision. The brand is not (yet) at an official Japanese level. But it's significantly better than my 750cc side-valve block bastard Ural. In the meantime I discovered that there is an online Mash community. And that is a kind of 'sentimental journey' for me. A new Mash is not expensive. A used Mash is cheap. The dealer network is not yet super fine-meshed and a Mash - also in my own experience - is not yet at the Honda level in terms of quality, which is simply the benchmark for reliability. Usually, the malfunctions of a Mash are clear to experienced motorcyclists. But the Big Tinkering as in ancient times is not yet where all Mash owners are ready. However, the desire - or necessity - to tinker yourself is completely back with Mash drivers m / f. Just like before: out of necessity or curiosity. It looks like 1965.

However, the new generation of new motorcyclists on retro bikes learns quickly. Because nowadays we have internet and youtube. And so it will turn out all right with the involvement of the usually quite young Mash drivers M / V etc. That makes me nostalgically satisfied. Only if I compare my Mash's wiring diagram to my 750 1965cc SV? Then it feels amazing to me again.

What do you think of the idea of ​​paying attention to those retro lookers? The instant classics? The Chinese takeaways? At least most of that stuff is based on XNUMXs Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha engineering. They are not expensive to very cheap. And tinkering can be done again, as in old times.