1 A warm hello, from the Netherlands Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:24 pm
GTJos
Silver member
First of all I'd like to say: great forum !
I already noticed members from Australia, the Netherlands, the States (of course..) and even from Russia ?! Wow...
Truly an international community, and all of that thank's to the internet and our beloved K-series !
My first name is Jos, age 58. I'm still working, and as far as I can overlook the facts: will have to stay in that 'mode' for another 9 or so years. (but not really..)
I'm -still happy- married for almost 40 years now; father of 3 sons and grandfather of 1 granddaughter (she's a real joy !)
We live in a small village, called Simpelveld, in the south of the Netherlands.
One of the benefits of this part of our country is the fact that the border to either Belgium or Germany is, at most, about 15 kilometers away. Regions, very suitable for biking, as the Ardennen (Belgium) or Eifel (Germany) ar, as a matter of speaking, in my back-yard...
My bikingdays started way back, in 1973, aged 18.
Since than I always owned and rode a bike, in average about 5-6000 km's a year.
My very first -in 1973- was a Suzuki GT550 twostroke. In 1977 I sold that bike and bought my first (and only...) new machine: also a Suzuki, but a fourstroke: a GS750, B-model (1977).
In '83: sold the GS and switched back to a twostroke, a second-hand Suzuki GT750, J-model (1973). (Still in my garage, never to go away...)
In fact, and to be honest: that brand and type of motor -Suzuki twostroke- has a special place in my hart.
In the past years I collected about 4 GT's 750 (Waterbuffalo's), all in more or less driveable condition, as well as a GT500 (in restoration at this time). Beside those twostrokes: yes: a 1987 BMW K100RT. The beamer is my every-day ride, the 'smokers' are more collector's items, for short trips with twostroke-friends.
The Suzi's all are at least 37 years old and, although I take good care of them: they need more attention during a tour than the K.
The brick has never failed; always starts at first touch and she takes us wherever we like to go. Be it a short trip around the churchtower or a 7-days tour to France with full campinggear mounted on it's back: it has never been a problem.
For comfort I mounted a K1100-windshield and for safety-reasons: the side- and mainstand of that 1100 also. (I find the original round-bended mainstand of the K100 the only weak point of the bike.)
The 'beamer' is in our garage since 1993; I purchased it in Germany from the first owner and imported it to the Netherlands. Since it's intro in 1983 I liked the K's; they already seemed to be kind of iconic from the start.
No self-respecting biker could deny that the K's are the ultimate in reliability, driveability and comfort. Sure: they have their little failures, but in general ? Checking tires, brakes, lights, oil and gas is all it takes to start a 3000 km, no-worries trip to any place you want. Even nowadays; and that is seldom seen with other brands !
Importing my K from Germany just had one reason: money...
In those days even the second-hand K's still were very expensive in the Netherlands, due to all kinds of surrealistic taxes.
In Germany the price of second-hand BMW's was very attractive for us, Dutchy's living near the border. I simply loaded the bike on to my trailer, took her home, filled in a form and took her to a registration-office. There the bike and the documents where inspected, all aproved and within 14 days I had my Dutch registration. Import-taxes ? Peanuts; added up with the purchase-price I made a profit of about $ 3000,- compared to a Dutch bike. :pirat: Never regretted that step !
Yes... well...
I see that -for now- this could be enough information for the community It's getting late (far after midnight over here...) and I'm getting sleepy !
Hope that this gives you a picture of your new member, and even more: I hope to meet some of you 'on the road' in near future !
Stay healthy, enjoy the forum and drive your K's as often as you can !
Greetings...
Jos.
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Ich bin enge Kirchröatsjer jong; adieë wa ?!
1992 K1100LT 6458188
1987 K100LT (RS-fairing) 0170844 + sidecar EML GT2001