The birds have stopped coughing and are already carefully marking their territory, as world leaders do. The better weather also means that we can take our classics out again. Of course, that goes without a hitch for the first ride because this winter we didn't forget to put the battery on the drip. And of course we also put our mopeds away with a liter of alkylate petrol. So starting is no problem. Enough wind in the tires? Go!
But be careful the first few times. There will be little to complain about on the road surface and the salt will have been washed away by rain.
But as a happy motorcyclist it is smart to do something carefully first, so that the tires can get used to the road again and you have your flexibility in the hips and shoulders again. Then you are happy and attentive on the road and that attentiveness is extra important so early in the spring. Because: The Seniors have also come out of their winter sleep and go out on the most beautiful roads in the weekends. And who can blame them.
The tension lies in the fact that we also like those roads so much. And where we are attentive, there are some seniors who are so relaxed or still dreamy after their winter sleep that there is a risk for us.
Beware of older, well-maintained larger middle-class cars and those box-like pastries with a senior-friendly entry. Certainly if there are two people in them and in any case if the driver is wearing his hat in the car. Whether the lady next to him has a blue rinse in her silver-grey hair is a bit harder to see. But two occupants? That is extra risk. Certainly if the driver is well-trained after forty or fifty years of happy marriage. Those kinds of men have the learned tendency to respond immediately to commands from their better half.
It won't be the first time that the driver immediately reacts to the exclamation: "To the left! What a nice little shop!"
A few minutes later you are standing with two upset pensioners filling out claim forms. And if the other party only has a paper copy from 1984, it can be extra confusing for all parties.
Nowadays, there are always people who get in your way to film or photograph the case or to provide you with advice or criticism.
In practice, this support varies between 'motorcyclists always drive too fast' and 'what a waste of that beautiful old motorcycle'.
This message is not meant to be discriminatory. We classic car enthusiasts are usually not thirty anymore. But if we still ride a motorcycle at our age, then we have proven our attentiveness.
But you cannot anticipate a direct command from a determined wife.
Enjoy the spring.
Be careful!
Nice piece again Dolf. Only your description of the starting procedure of the oldtimer does not match mine.
Pressing the start button doesn't help, because there isn't one. For me, only the old-fashioned pedaling on the familiar pedal works.
Indeed; I am approaching 80 years old and I think you are slowly getting closer. Indeed; so watch out
Sudden orders from the wife? These can be prevented; You can let them walk further but yes, you have to go home again. Better is to change some small things on the duo that are not noticeable but do ensure that you can no longer sit on them so well.
Have fun driving everyone.
Was it Shaffy or Van Duin who sang “We will continue!” We do that with a smile
Brilliant article. A pleasure to read over Sunday morning coffee. And in the meantime we are alerted.
The weather was nice and so I had taken my bike off the trickle charger after the winter and kissed it awake with a push of the start button. Then I steered it nicely through the landscape. The tires had to get used to their reunion with the asphalt and the mud that had been driven onto the road by farmers from the fields in many places often made it tricky. But hey, they also have to be able to do their job. It's give and take. Sometimes there were even warning signs. Absolutely great, for which thanks.
The hat and cap drivers with a lot of life experience should often be approached with great caution because before you know it you are leaning against them without being to blame for the incident yourself. However, it must be said that I have also encountered many who simply very neatly manoeuvred their welfare gaze across the road. This time, surprisingly, I was very disappointed by a young lady in a big SUV. She transformed her SUV into a moving roadblock at a jolting trot. Perhaps she was startled by a look in the mirror. Of course, it is not nothing when you see a big BMW boxer looming in your mirror with a driver wearing a light-coloured motorcycle jacket and gloves in a signal colour. The unnecessary confusion with an enforcement officer is then easily made, after which the speed immediately drops to well below the permitted speed. But I also often see how drivers quickly put on their seat belt in fright or even launch their smartphone through the passenger compartment in panic! Incidentally, I sometimes use this confusion when people are driving really dangerously slowly. I then go next to them to semi-professionally beckon them to speed with the signal-colored gloves. That works! If they comply nicely, I greet them nicely with a thumbs-up. Sometimes I even get a relieved wave back. That makes my day. Giving each other space and treating each other nicely is the key to happiness. I hope we will experience many more happy kilometers👍🏼😃
Absolutely great!
It is usually a matter of being careful with our “older youth”, and that is not a criticism; I hope that at their age I can and may drive a car.
So you have people crossing the road nonchalantly, completely oblivious to their immediate moving environment.
Pensioners abruptly pulling out of a parking space at the local supermarket, while you are just standing still…
Today's traffic is also much busier than the time when you sat on the side of the road counting cars on Sundays.
In the spring, as a motorcyclist you are completely outlawed, because almost every motorist has apparently forgotten that there are more participants than four-wheelers…
So adjust your speed, keep smiling... even after yet another near collision... everything will turn out fine in the end
It is not only the “older youth” who behave unexpectedly in traffic. It comes at you from all sides. I think that is the real problem. Survival is not easy for all parties these days. Look at the increased number of traffic victims in recent years and that has increased more among the elderly, but the young people do not really lag behind, it seems according to the statistics.
That's right. The police call wave riders nuthatches, but every w.end there is also a mix of BMW and other youngsters united with a tree. With or without the influence of. Driving must be done with sense, which few seem to have anymore.
Drive into the summer calmly and relaxed, with 2 and 4 wheels😉
It's a jungle out there!
And stay on good terms with your guardian angel