My life in bikes: 'Dutch' Van Someren

‘I’ve always had a thing about removing stuff from my bikes’

‘Bike Shed’ founder talks Maico 600s and riding around the capital

When did you first get into bikes?

I was 16. It was the only way to get round to the pubs and meet girls. I lived in Sussex and if you didn’t have a bike you didn’t have transport so you didn’t go out.

What was your first bike?

The first proper bike I owned was a Suzuki TS125X. I loved that bike so much I’ve owned two. The first was blue and the second yellow. After that I stayed loyal to Suzuki and bought a TS250X, and had two of those as well. 

I used to do quite a lot of off-roading, I had a friend who had a mate who was an excellent motocrosser and we used to go to Bedham quarry. Because it was a working quarry it changed from one weekend to the next so we’d spend time making tracks, runs and jumps. It taught me more about bike control than anything since.

After the TS250X I went a bit crazy and bought a Maico 600, an absolutely f***ing ridiculous thing, a proper man’s bike. This would have been in the late 80s. It was a motocross bike converted into an enduro machine and I loved it.

When did you get into road bikes?

When I moved to London I had a KTM LC4, not the supermoto, a dirt bike on a Q plate with battery lights. There was no sidestand so I had to find a wall to lean it against every time I stopped. 

A guy that lived near me was an old school courier and had a GT550 painted all black and I thought, ‘that looks like a more practical solution’, so we swapped! He crashed the LC4 within a week because he had really short legs. I rode that GT for ages until I sold it to a policeman. 

When did you start hankering after retro-styled machines?

I had a very cool uncle who owned a GPz900R so I ended up getting one of those, the black and silver model and it was such a great machine. It got me into Kawasakis and I went a bit retro buying a Z650, but that was a bit gutless so I ended up with a Z1R. That bike was ridiculously overpowered for the chassis, but I still loved it. 

When did you start modifying?

I’ve always had a thing about removing 

stuff from my bikes. I didn’t see it as modification, more just removing the ugly bits. I’d think to myself, ‘why is that mirror so big when they make smaller mirrors? Or why do I need a giant number plate when I can have a tiny one?’ so that’s how it all started?

What bikes do you own now?

I’ve got a heavily modified Triumph Bonneville T100, a Paul Smart Ducati Sport Classic 1000 that I’ve modified with better brakes, changed the seat unit, lights and switchgear and also taken the fairing off. And a Kawasaki W800 flat-track racer. 

And of the bikes that came to Bike Shed 2016, do you have a favourite?

That’s a horrible question! We’ve curated all 150 bikes at the event so we love them all in some way or other. But if I had to pick one it would be the Harley flat-tracker by Shaws Speed and Custom. It’s not a replica of an XR750 but quite old school with a Roland Sands tank and seat and these big swept bars. It’s the kind of bike where you think ‘if I could only have one bike that would be it’.