SHORT TRIPS

In the summer of 2008, Marcus Kingma asked Sjaak in an e-mail how he felt about going to the French Alps, to shoot some video footage for his website. 

For turning through curves for a couple of days, Sjaak never needs much of persuading and he immediately replied a “Yes”.
Short before the planned departure date however, Marcus reported that the promised test bike was not timely available and that he unfortunately had to call it off. Immediately it popped up in Sjaak’s mind that he had two R1’s available and his eyes started to twinkle by the thought that this was a very good excuse to take his old world travel R1 out of the shed.

So it happened that while touring towards the Mediterranean, he saw his own bike riding in front of him.
A strange perception.
It did result in beautiful footage!

For this summer 2008 ride along ‘Route des Grandes Alpes’, the following companies need to be mentioned.

Yamaha Motor EU
Because of the two R1’s which were used.

Lookwell Bike Fashion
Because of the leather suit.

Carpointer
Because of the built-in track and trace system which made it possible to watch the route live on the internet.

On his return from the R1 World travel, Sjaak received an invitation from Rob and Dafne de Jong to join their Ride-on MotorTours to the Centennial TT on the Isle of Man.

Where Sjaak writes stories to let interested people share his experiences, or gives presentations for groups, the world travellers Rob and Dafne de Jong have a whole different way to introduce travelling through the wide world to the ones keen on it.

They utilize their experiences to set up motorcycle travels. Some big and far away, others very nearby. Their annual visit to the TT of Man is one of those. And going to Man was already on Sjaak’s bucket-list a very long time! The idea not having to organize anything but only to enjoy, pleased Sjaak as well.
At the end of May 2007 he rode to the port near Rotterdam, where he met other Ride-on Man-companions.

After the North Sea passage they crossed England, after which the riders took the booked ferry to the Isle of Man.

Visiting the TT of Man with a motorcycle is not as easy as one would think, because there are a limited number of ferry trips. For cars there is enough place, but the number of motorcycles that can get a spot, is much smaller than the demand.

A creative R1 owner faced that problem.
He could not get hold of a place aboard for his solo bike, but found THE solution by quickly mounting a third wheel.
He said it didn’t handle at all, but once on the island he immediately got rid of the thing anyway.
Great thinking!

For the MotoPort Magazine Sjaak wrote following about Man:

... luckily I have my breaks. Like that wonderful invitation from Rob and Dafne de Jong to go with their Ride-onMotorTours.com to the TT on the Isle of Man.

"Already for years on my ‘must-do list’, it would again not have happened, though it’s an absolute must for every bike(racing)freak. An experience, unforgettable and incomparable to what I have ever seen in my life. Through picturesque villages or countryside, with dizzying speed, they skim along the roughly 37mi/60km long street circuit. Doing so they take/pass/fly over manhole covers, white lines and bumps or small bridges, often with two wheels of the surface.

Racing inches/decimetres away from the typical stone walls, along kerbs, road signs, electricity pylons and other deadly obstacles looks like, no, it ís pure madness! All of this is for a normal human being already hard to imagine, but what happens to your inner as a spectator, when they pass on reaching distance with roughly 220mi/350km an hour, brings me while writing this still goose-pimples. The engine sound that penetrates your body, the facial tickling air movement, the being THERE! Your not a spectator! You’re part of it! It simply isn’t describable. Only somebody who has felt a TT on Man, will be able to understand.

When there are no races on, we explore with a friendly bunch Ride-on campers the 33mi/53km by 13mi/21km sized island.

Having the kerbstones almost everywhere painted chequered black and white, it actually looks like ONE big public circuit. That idea gets intensified by the lack of a speed limit, something that is possible because the island is autonomous. Therefore the international sign “End of all prohibitions,” does not mean like ours the beginning of 50mi/80km an hour. No, it stands for “Gas on the pistons!” like DJ, a fellow R1 rider describes it so nicely.
When seeing the police, one automatically lets go of that open throttle. That’s something so deep-rooted, that after a hesitation overtaking a police car on a country road with 80mi/130km an hour, the feeling stays of doing something wrong. Spying the mirror for safety’s sake, I see it driving to the roadside, so the rest of our group, that probably feels the same doubt, can pass easier. That roadside driving inviting to overtake, even in blind corners, is also done by the inhabitants, what flatters even more the motorbike friendly disposition of the island.
Finally Man struck off my ‘must-do list’, it entered highly on my ‘redo list.’

Rob and Dafne, many, many thanks for realising this old wish!

Ride-on Motortours

Yamaha Motor EU

Lookwell Bike Fashion