Since 2025, I live life on two wheels with an immense amount of love.
Riding motorcycles is my meditation. During the journey, as a rider you merge with this beautiful machine while dancing through the landscape with a fine soundtrack. Sometimes calm and relaxed, sometimes fast and focused, always 100% in the moment.
It offers me so much: real connections, beautiful sights, and an anchor in trying times.
Machines
Current bike: Yamaha YZF-R1 RN12 (“Raven”)
2005 is a popular year for me, because my second motorcycle also saw the light of day that year. I was sold as soon as I hopped on this R1 for a test ride. It felt like the machine and I fit together like two pieces of LEGO. The dimensions are perfect, the sound from the BOS exhausts is exquisite, and the bike is fast but ‘listens’ very well to the rider’s intentions.
This feeling never changed. During the ride, the R1 feels full of life, and I can ride it without any ergonomic complaints for a good 90 minutes straight. Pretty remarkable for a sports bike! And let’s be honest: doesn’t she look amazing in combination with the rest of my gear… I feel very lucky to be able to call her mine.
Photos: icetea_motography
Bike 1: Suzuki Bandit GSF 650 SA (“Snow”)
My first motorcycle! A good friend picked up this ’05 Suzuki together with me in Drenthe in February 2025. Beautiful custom black-and-white paint, a nice complete Mivv exhaust system, and the ‘luxury’ of ABS on a 20-year old machine… quite the package for 3000 euros.
I chose this particular model because I thought it’s a nice cross-section between some sporty looks and the comfort of a touring motorcycle.
I’ve learned so much from this bike, and I enjoyed it a bunch until halfway through summer. I had to part ways with it after a bolt snapped which was responsible for connecting the oil pan to the engine block. Oil started leaking through the bolt hole, which meant it was no longer safe to ride the bike. I sold the Bandit to a motorcycle store which would perform a repair in-house, and then sell the bike on to someone while passing on the note that the bike rides, but that they should view it as a project bike to work on.
Photos: Daan Berg, icetea_motography
