That was a reflection just after a Christmas in the time that I also worked for a Flemish motorcycle magazine. What a beautiful concept Europe is! In terms of local acceptance, it helped that my brother and his Lief lived in Flemish/Walloon. In that region we had built up a solid circle of acquaintances, including the philosophical Boxer Wisperer, the scholar Ambrosius XT Biermantel and Ghislaine with her bewildering bottle-green eyes. A view from Flanders towards the Netherlands. And the Dutch are not necessarily popular in Belgium. This situation is fueled by the behavior of Dutch Westerners, who are usually seen as blunt, noisy and arrogant in the eyes of Flemings. 'Ollanders have 'thick necks'.
On to our southern neighbours:
Because there is a serious crisis to the north of us, motorcycles and cars are dirt cheap there now. It is a country that we must keep an eye on. If only because there are rumors that Dutch people want to seek asylum en masse in Flanders. Fortunately, we took them from Cadzand-Bad.
Anyway, the motorcycle market there. It is vastly different from ours. A fool would think that the Kingdom of the Netherlands must be one with endless straights, bewilderingly winding mountain tracks and that any form of speed limit is unknown. Because how else would they get all those super fast, ZGAN 150+ hp okkasies? Perhaps that has to do with the unbridled self-confidence that the Dutch have genetically. And their steering talents of course. As we were allowed to experience this summer.…
When the Ardennes are your backyard and you are familiar with your motorcycle, they are wonderfully dynamic. We danced past a couple of supersport 'ollanders just driving away from a stop. They took after us and got frustrated. They had too much power and too little experience to blast past our egos with destruction.
Until a piece of straight road came along. Numbers one and two popped by. Number three had a hard time in the corner. Number four made an error of judgment. If he had completely flattened his bike, he would have made it through the corner. But he froze like a rabbit in the headlights. There was all sorts of Tupperware splattered around. The rider left the buddy with flapping wings. When we stood at the wall he was already downstairs. He did that quickly.
We were curious what such a modern motorcycle suit was really worth with all those protectors. While one was remembering some life-saving actions, the other called 112. The heartbeat of the Icarus figure was regular, but it was also clear to people without much anatomical insight that his model no longer complied with the rules. For example, toes should not point backwards.
The rescuers arrived quickly. We received compliments on our first aid work. Went back to Bastogne. Later at our hotel, we grabbed some whiskey against the adrenaline plus a few glasses of Triple to beat the making time. We ended with cigars and another glass before going to sleep. Then, buzzing and giggling, we dove into our baskets. Triple is fantastic. Wallonia is fantastic. And then tomorrow on to France! Because the weekend lasted three more days! The 'Round of Drunk Rich! A phenomenal find. The next day we had a rest day anyway.
The Icarus motard has ended reasonably well.
Not with his motorcycle.
Good day , I have been driving for almost forty years and have not caused an accident and our car is not constantly in the garage, I always say take your time when you go somewhere and obey the traffic rules, then there will be much less accidents, of course our driving behavior has also changed compared to the past, almost everyone is in a hurry to drive from point A to B, so safety starts with you, have a nice and safe day.
Oh yes, just a question for the experts here: I intend to buy a motorcycle (bicycle) again after decades. Type of 'naked bike', just for fun, bits of touring in not too bad weather (after all, we have a comfortable car with reetrechaud in front of the door). Doesn't have to be super fast, but must of course be able to keep up and not be a slow sjaak. A weekend in the Ardennes would indeed be nice. Is 65 hp enough?
Dear Henk,
I have 110 hp naked, bought new, you then have power "left over". Also drives on average, (and of course inside, the smallest roads), also 1 ;22 ! With 8600 km. watch out, new rear tire and turn. I have bought another one, and also have an HD; 3 is too much for me.
I will hear it
Thanks, but I'm looking for something new. The depreciation on an engine is so small.
Yes Henk, this one is actually new, and already the 5th one I have driven. You get a warranty for free!
What kind of beauty do you have on offer?
Suz GSX S 750 ZA, with Street Xtreme package.
Thanks, but not exactly what I'm looking for.
Flemish or Walloners can find us what they want; IF I see a white plate with red letters;
Go-I-go-there-driving-far-from!! Imbecile driving, bordering on inbreeding. The biggest accidents that happened in my circle of acquaintances; all in Belgium, caused by Belgians, luckily we can tell the story, all total loss !!
( what did you think of ; 300 mtr. driving rear window on hard shoulder; because missed gas pump; experienced 3x; all with the Belse plate ! ), etc.etc.etc.
PS ; Drinking a Jupje with them, that's fine ;)
That's exactly why the Belgians don't like the ollanders that much but they do blunt 😉
The Dutch are just blunt, let's say rude. Also in our own country, but it is not so noticeable there, because hardly anyone behaves a bit normal anymore. No, not normal, but decent; yes, an old, stale word, but actually nothing wrong with it. Examples are countless and not only in traffic, but also in the shopping street, supermarket, hardware store, public transport, etc. So in that respect our neighbors and further neighbors are simply right. But what is also simply an empirically proven fact is that 'the Belgian' cannot drive. I have been coming to that otherwise cool country for over 35 years, but the antics, rudeness (!), crazy and bizarre actions that I have experienced there, I have not seen in any other country. Fun fact is that a driving license in Belgium has only been compulsory since 1968 or so.
Anyway, in terms of food and beer, Belgium is among the best in the world, so that more than compensates.
It is true that on January 1, 1968, the compulsory driving license was reintroduced in Belgium after it had been abolished some time before. With this reintroduction, a declaration on honor was sufficient to obtain the driving license, even up to 3,5 tons….I suspect that this generation has already largely disappeared from the public road…..
Ah yes so. Well, then the youngest of that generation is now something like 74.
What I heard from a police officer is this: You had to drive damage-free for the first six months to get your final driver's license. Not a problem for many, because you parked your car in the garage for six months.
True or False?
I am 65, did my theoretical and then got my provisional driver's license which was exchanged for a permanent one after six months without further hassle. So no, they haven't all disappeared yet 😜. As a naturalized Dutch Belgian, I think the above comments are a pity, there must be good and bad drivers on both sides of the border, right?
Hi Erik, thanks for the additional info. And yes, there are good and bad drivers everywhere, but to be honest, I've never experienced it as colorful as in Belgium. And I already have quite a few kilometers behind the wheels in various countries. I have to say it seems to be getting a little worse. And in other countries worse, unfortunately that is also the case.