Winter work: The DAF thing

Some mothers are jealous of their daughters. Some men are jealous of their sons. I'm jealous of modern motorcycles. They can drive so well that they have to protect me against themselves.

And no matter how correct that is, I am itching. What does such a machine think? Personally, I am convinced that I cannot manage 200 horsepower. To the tight 100 horses of my 1991'er Triumph I have more than enough trident. But beware: I speak in a personal capacity. I am simply more of an enthusiast than a highly talented motorcyclist. I have learned from my mistakes. And because of me heeeel have many mistakes made  survived I am now an experienced motorcyclist.

All that experience has now been converted into a motorcycle that actually offers me everything that I am looking for in a motorcycle: The DAF thing is a combination of all the spare parts that I had left from another piece of passion: Russian tricycles. When someone came by and asked if I wanted to exchange a DAF 44 engine block for a case of beer and another acquaintance asked if I could do something with the front fork of a BMW R100 while the first autumn storm stormed over the house, I tackle my winter project. And it is amazing what can happen when you don't get your plan out of worry.

Starting something like that does more for someone's social life than spending hours on Facebook. After a while it was just like before. Friends came to watch, help, just talk and have a drink and a cigarette. That was not very conducive to the speed with which The Project developed, but it was fun.

After all, we men are simply at our best when we can get uncomplicated dirt? And by doing things and things and you learn things. Such as the protective cap of an angle grinder that makes the device less manoeuvrable with a frame circumcision. Without a hood, such a thing is much more handy.

It is also surprising how much blood can come out of a fingertip after a 'close encounter' with an unprotected grinding wheel. The welding was done electrically with the last-name from my father's legacy. And for an experienced cigar smoker, welding fumes are a balm for the lungs. Sparks are released during electric welding. When they find a warm home in a pile of cleaning cloths, it becomes foggy. The fire was smothered with a fire extinguisher. The aftermathing mass was swept out.

The fitting of an engine to a gearbox that does not belong to it is a matter of quiet fitting and measuring. To be sure, measuring must always be done twice. Measuring three times indicates uncertainty. The turning of the adapter between block and box and the adapter bush from the Ural cardan to the Suzuki wheel was outsourced according to the drawing, because you simply cannot do everything yourself.

Fitting the block and the frame, that requires a ruler, angle grinder, a donor frame and extra fuses for the house's electricity. A visit to the almost local motorcycle run yielded a Honda CB 900 tank.

And of course there are top companies that can exemplary paint a motorcycle, but such an action costs correspondingly money. And with freelancers, money is just as scarce as honesty in politics. Fortunately there is the Action. There they sell spray cans for a few euros each.

As a logo I chose that of the infamous Japanese motorcycle brand Lilac, a brand that was mainly known for its design flaws. That there was no room for a dynamo in the entire construction was no problem. You can easily get 200km far on a battery. And longer journeys were not planned. The DAF thing made its first ride late in the spring. He drove the way back on an almost regular trailer. The gearbox had died. Fortunately it's already winter again. I have an idea for mounting a dynamo. And I think satisfied: "GS1250 drivers, eat your heart out!".

Whether the DAF thing is classic? Of course not. But he is really old school.