MFN member Peter Boone
At the last club meeting I was asked if I wanted to write an article for the next magazine about myself and how I came to collect stamps with the theme motorcycle. And I wanted to do that.
I was born in 1958 and, based on what I saw at the club meetings, I am a bit at the lower side of the average age of the members.
I am married to Lize. We have 2 children and now also 5 grandchildren. We live in Middelburg.
When I was sixteen I immediately started riding a moped, a Puch MV50. But after a few weeks a car came from the right that I didn't see, and as a result the pressed steel frame was then at an angle of about 90 degrees. In the photo not my own moped, but one with the same high handlebars.
After about 10 weeks in a cast I could buy another moped, and this was a Benelli T 50.
This one was easy to tune, so that was of course done quickly. But that did not always go well. After a speed check, it had to stay at the police station for 3 months for technical research. Eventually a frame with only the bottom of the engine block was returned. Fortunately I still had the original parts.
When I was 18, I went to the police station on a borrowed Triumph T110 to get a practicing permit. I kept the accompanying L-plate in my pocket and of course it was not on the bike, because then you would be checked too often. I was in the exam class of the LTS at the time and went to school on the bike. But this English bike was a real English bike, incredible how much oil the thing lost! The overhead oil lines were leaking and of course also the gaskets of the crankcase. Thus I could not park it in the bike shed, but had to leave it on the public road. So even in the summer with nice weather, I rode with rain pants over my own pants, so as not to ruin too many pants.
From an acquaintance working at a MOB complex (editor: where the army stored reserve material for use during mobilizations) I got oil from jeeps. They were started twice a year after which the oil was changed. A very nice time.
After getting the driver's license, a Kawasaki Mach III came along. This adventure lasted only a few months before the crankshaft got smashed up.
In the meantime I had been accepted into the Royal Military Police, and had to be present in Apeldoorn every Sunday evening. So another motorcycle had to come.
This became a brand new Honda CB 550. But that thing was terribly thirsty. I had to leave on Sunday already at the end of the afternoon to reach an open petrol station on the way in time (the pumps were not yet open 24/7, and we had not yet invented debit cards in those days). After half a year and 20,000 kilometres later, I traded that thing in for a BMW R 75/6. It was more economical and had a larger tank, so the Middelburg - Apeldoorn trip was feasible on 1 tank. That saved a lot of time.
At the military police I first got my car driving license, and after that I was allowed to follow a motorcycle training. At the end of 1978 I ended up at the Terneuzen brigade where there were 3 BMW R 60/5, 1 with a Gläser fairing (for the sergeant) and 2 naked ones for the military police. Yes, that's how it was done in those days. A plastic jacket and real horse-riding pants with matching boots completed the outfit. A jet helmet with a screen that was used before as a fish bowl, and if you tilted your head a little to the side at a bit of speed, your fish bowl would blow off your helmet.
I traded in the private R 75/6 for a BMW R 90/S. In the meantime, I was put to work in Brussels for almost 2 years. Of course, I used this machine to ride back and forth as much as possible. Then came the expansion of the family and, like many others at that time, the motorcycle was sold in favor of a car.
But fortunately I was able to continue riding the motorcycle at work. In the meantime, the 60/5 had been traded in for an R 80. After that, the first bricks (editor's note: nickname for BMWs with horizontal 3- and 4-cylinder blocks) arrived. So my new service motorcycle became a K 75, followed by the BMW K 1100 LT and later a Yamaha FJR 1300.
In the meantime I had also bought again a motorcycle privately, a BMW K 100. My wife had also become enthusiastic and got her driver's license. So I bought another motorcycle and yes, also a K 100.
2 mother-of-pearl BMWs, a beautiful pair
The children also became enthusiastic in the meantime and after their car driving license they got their motorcycle license, thus at a certain moment we could go on the road with 4 motorcycles.
Later a few more BMW K 1100 LTs were purchased, of which I sold the penultimate one with over 220,000 km on the clock (bought with about 40,000).
I currently have a K 1100 LT in High Line version that I use to escort the Zeelandiarun, which I organize every year together with a few enthusiasts.
We also have a private BMW R 1200 RT LC that we often use on holiday.
And now: why motorcycle stamps.
I have been collecting stamps since I was a child. I have the complete Benelux starting from my birth year. Every now and then in recent years I came across stamps with the theme of motorcycles and I have been putting them aside for a while. Eventually I came into contact with the MFN (Dutch Motorcycle Philatelists) via Google. I am also a member of a local stamp association. They know what I collect and I regularly receive stamps from fellow members at the club evenings.
In 2015 I left the military police with FLO (Functional Age Dismissal, an special early retirement arrangement for Dutch service workers). I knew that I would have a lot of free time early, which is why I started selling used motorcycle parts via the web shop www.motoronderdelenshop.nl in 2008. As with many things, something like that quickly gets out of hand. So there is plenty to do after my FLO.
My wish is to meet more fellow members during the club meetings.
With kind regards, Peter Boone
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