Last February 2002 both my KTM and Montesa were stolen. Within a week the trial came back with hardly any damage but the KTM seems to be lost forever. The mounting of a roadbookreader and ICO tripmaster just was finished... After payment of the insurance company - with only a month extra delay - I went on searching for something new. Because the moments avaliable to ride have shrunk I chose for the more extreme: a GasGas EC 250.
The GasGas really is the toy to play with. Rides like an MX bike with only little weight (about 110 kilos) and has lots of horses inside the engine - following the catalogue about 50. The only thing to get used to is making premix. Without some extra oil the two stroker will soon give up breathing.
Catalans perfectly know how to build bikes! WP USD front suspension, Ölins shock, hydraulic clutch and six gears, chrome plated frame and very nice looking U-shaped rims that don't allow mud to stick on. Riding the GasGas is a lot better than the two stroke KTM I tried. First and second gear are made for difficult trial like sections and for the rest power deliverance is just fine for handling and not as uncivilized as with the KTM. This way I can save my strengths having a nice ride. Soon I will get more on this site about the new mopped...
The game of Getting Fucked - excuse me, I mean the one that empties your wallet without asking - is again very clear thanks to our new euro currency... A brand new EC 250 year 2002 costs in the Netherlands € 7.399 and the very same mopped becomes your own for € 6.597 in France and in Germany you'll obtain one for € 6.390. Same bike, all red, six gear, WP front and Öhlins at the rear. Reducing the Dutch price with the special combustion engine tax leaves the amount of € 6.468. That seems to be more in line with European cross border policy. I guess our government really hates bikers...
March 2001 the annual Dutch motorfair was
organised in Utrecht. This year it was the only bike fair in the
netherlands because the event in Amsterdam was cancelled. The fair in
Utrecht is much more alive and lacks the big stands the manufacturers
take with them. Also the typical suits that try to promote
motorcycling but don't have the idea what it's like misses with them.
What didn't fail was the blonde in a not so bike-like outfit that
promoted the Dakar rallye. When I asked her if I could get one of her
paper KTM models she said I could get one after paying 10 Guilders to
participate in a lottery. A brand new 520 EXC could be won and the
payments would be used to sponsor the guys (and girls?) that want to
participate in the next Dakar. Somewhat stupid idea to me - I already
own an orange machine and riding the Dakar costs nearly 45.000 euro!
I just wanted a cardboard bike...
Finally I got my Dakar trophy. On one of the stands was the winning bike of Fabrizio Meoni and thanks to Marijke we could be photographed together.
Like the year before I was with the stand of the Dutch Association for Safe Motorbiking. Promoting a safe way of riding on two wheels and organizing special courses is still very necessary! It appeared to me that most male riders thought their skills were already on the best imageable level. I heared a lot of times that they didn't need an extra course. Unfortunately they didn't want to improve their skills and technique a bit more...
Something like this I wanted for a long time - an offroader shirt to ride in summer. When anything is printed on it it should be something I feel linked with. In my German offroad magazine EnduoSzene-Online there was an offer for a nice shirt at reasonable costs. A week after the international money transfer my 'Fahrerhemd' dropped into my mailbox. This seems to be the end to nudity - getting dressed and Off-road!
Anyone with orange coloured blood pumping through their veins or expensive Christmas lists KTM brings out a great magazine four times a year. Nice pictures, background stories and useful technical advice may come handy to anyone.
You can subscribe to this magazine through the KTM site. The magazine will be sent by snail mail. The magazine is also avaliable at most KTM resellers.
On a Saturday afternoon I went to the KTM shop nearby, taking Klaartje with me. My little girl wanders through all the brand new dirtbikes in orange. Suddenly she pulls me away from my fuel-and-mud talks - 'Choosing Kathie-Em, Meine come'. Together we walk to the few small quads and mini bikes. First I let her sit on the quad but her eyes really opened when she sat on the smallest KTM there is. That's the one within a few years, she'll has to wait until she can grasp the levers.
Back in the car she only could talk about the bikes. When I asked her if she liked the orange colour Klaartje answered she'd rather have a blue one. I am afraid I will have something to explain to her about possible shades in orange ;-)
In the magazine Enduro Szene Online that bi-monthly is sent to my home I noticed an advertisement of Meine Zweirad, KTM dealer in Soltau (Germany). Nice co-incidence of name and motorcycle brand! After sending a small request a few stickers were sent to put on my LC4. Nochmals vielen Dank!
No dirtnews yet... or? Late September 2000 I bought a Misubishi L200 pickup. This vehicle surrounds me with a lot more steel tah my old Citroën AX and I am able to take my KTM with me on the car. That surely deminishes worn tyres and boring liaisons to and from offroad events. The advantage of such a 'truck' is that it comes with low road tax here in the Netherlands and a diesel engine - not the advantage I had in mind before the huge fuel prices... The hood in the rear I can easily dismount myself.
 | Mitsubishi L200 Club Cab 2.5 D
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