Martin Schalkwijk: Muscling a BSA B44 Victor through the FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy

Taking a walk through the FIM Enduro Vintage Trophy (EVT) paddock in Piekoszów, Poland, is like a journey back in time. Filled with pristine, classic Enduro machinery, it oozes history and nostalgia.

No FIM EVT is complete without stumbling across multiple BSA motorcycles – icons of their era in the 1950s and 1960s.
 
From the Netherlands, Martin Schalkwijk is competing on a BSA B44 Victor from 1966. The British-built, 441cc single-cylinder, OHV air-cooled motorcycle was the cutting-edge of technological advancement in its day.
 
Seventy-three-year-old Schalkwijk is racing this year’s FIM EVT in the A3 category and representing the Netherlands in the Vintage Veteran Trophy competition.
 
He is enjoying his time in Poland, though his near-sixty-year-old BSA is quite the handful, he reckons.
 
“It’s a challenge to ride it in this terrain,” says Schalkwijk. “It’s an old-fashioned bike with short suspension, low power and the shifting is on the right-hand side. There is a lot to think about when riding it.”
 
Schalkwijk also says he owns a ‘modern’ 1987 Honda CR 250, but loves to get out on the BSA whenever he can.
 
“I only ride a couple of times per year,” he explains. “Mostly, it is vintage Enduro. This is my third time in the FIM EVT, too.”
 
“We needed an old bike to compete in the A category for the Vintage Veteran Trophy class, so they picked me!” he laughs. For event information and live results stay tuned to ktmnovi.com as well as to the event’s official Instagram account @fim_enduro_vintage for daily event coverage. Sportity Channel Password FIMEVT.