Amsterdam


 

  

Amsterdam Classic Riders was founded in February, 2017. The Dutch community is based in the largest city of the country and has an exponentially growing number of members. Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands with a population of 872,680 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Found within the province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", attributed by the large number of canals which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The group meets regularly during weekends for local rides but also early in the morning for the Early Rides
To join the Amsterdam Classic Riders, follow the link to our Facebook group HERE
Follow the Geneva Classic Riders on Instagram HERE
See also the community goodies HERE
 
The ACR community is led by our friends Ron, Sjoerd and Arjan.

Ron Betist

Born in Amsterdam in the middle of summer 1958, Ron naturally has a sunny character too. 

With a father heading the motorbike division of the Amsterdam police force between the sixties and the eighties, Ron grew up with oil in his veins and petrol in his head.

Riding bikes was all he could dream of as a young boy. Illegally riding his father’s BMW at the age of 12, his dad’s colleagues seized him and impounded the bike. A surprised father saw his colleagues wheeling his own bike into the police station while he was on duty.

After joining his dad and legally riding police bikes for nearly seven years, Ron moved on to a commercial life in international entertainment mid-eighties and spent nearly two decades living out of a suitcase. He is now an expert on marketing and sales  and has been specializing in B2B lead generation.

But that’s ‘just’ his profession.

Motorbikes and everything surrounding it are his true passion. Besides riding he loves writing about bikes too. His articles are published on the website: www.bikebrewers.com

He has been riding for over forty years and has had many different set of wheels. He loves the design and technique of Ducati, the classiness of BMW and the bulliness of Indian.

However, Ron has a British heart.

“I am married to Triumph, but Norton is my mistress”, he will answer when asked about his preferences. Ron is much more a rider than a technician. With a sound understanding of the technique he can ‘read’ a bike. Taking it apart is not a problem for him, but putting it back together is. So, don’t leave him alone in you shed with a wrench in his hand…

Riding it is and that’s what he lives for.

Whatever the bike or whatever the conditions he will “Always ride in style”.

As a true connector he did not have to think twice when the opportunity came up to start the Amsterdam Classic Riders community with his buddy Jonathan Rattray Clark (a.k.a. ‘Captain Kiwi’) back in spring 2018.

His wife being a Brazilian diplomat, Jonathan has now moved back to Brasilia and Ron is joined by two co-admins: Arjan Roelofs and Sjoerd Schenk.

These three Musketeers run the Dutch community which now harbours over 200 members. Any friend within the Classic Riders community visiting Amsterdam will be welcomed with open arms by their crew of mad men and wild women!

 

Amsterdam Classic Riders - Ron

 

Sjoerd Schenk

Not your typical nozem ("term used during the 1950s and 1960s to describe self-conscient, rebellious youth, often aggressive and considered problematic by authorities in the Netherlands.") but a very easy going 'local' guy!

He started to ride a pitbike on the age of 6 which triggered the motorcycle virus. His first moped was bought years before the legal age to ride and many 2 wheelers followed. After building a Honda CB650 Scrambler, he went the English way and currently rides a 2013 Thruxton.

Thanks to the Amsterdam Classic Riders, Sjoerd has made a ton of friends in and around Amsterdam and regularly meets with the ACR.

Combining both of his hobbies (motorcycles and photography), Sjoerd will support the team by managing the ACR Instagram page.

 

Sjoerd Schenk - Amsterdam Classic Riders

 

Arjan Roelofs

Growing up in the far north-east of Holland, the peaty grounds that surround the Dutch TT track he called his home. From a young age he was obsessed with motorcycles, Motocross and Choppers at first but later on in life MotoGP and Superbikes gained his attention. as a kid he stood on the bridge when thousands of bikes drove to the Dutch TT and then mimic their moves, riding his bike on the tarmac around his house.

Along the way he got involved in martial arts and the art of skateboarding and Punkrock.

In the 90’s he started ‘singing’ in a band and toured around Europe.

Moved to Amsterdam in ‘98 and it was the city that got him in touch with the love of bikes again.

His first bike was a 1994 Suzuki GSX-R750 and a month later he saw himself at the starting grid of his first trackday at the Zandvoort circuit. Along the way he went through several GSX-R’s from ‘98 to 2001’s and rode many tracks such as Zolder, Spa and the legendary Assen.

With the birth of his daughters, trackdays moved to the background, but the love of riding a bike never faded and in 2017 he had the opportunity to work with Arjan van der Boom on a design of his dream bike, a custom Cafe Racer in the form of a 1980 Honda CX-500. 

Because of the loud pipes and the attention it draw to the police, he decided to get a 2014 Triumph Thruxton as well so he can enjoy longer rides with the Amsterdam Classic Riders.

 

Arjan Roelofs - Amsterdam Classic Riders

 

 

Joint our community !

 



Amsterdam Classic Riders

 


Visit our store to get a cool Tee Shirt and represent the community !
 

 

Amsterdam Classic Riders


Leave a comment


Please note, comments must be approved before they are published