An historic letter from a soldier from Napoleon's army has surfaced in Nijlen (Antwerp Province) where it has been donated to the local council For generations the letter has been in the possession of Mia Nelis and her family a young lad from Nijlen wrote to his brothers about the harsh conditions in Napoleon's army,’ explains alderwoman Charlotte Bats the historical letter about life in the Napoleonic army was passed down in the Nelis Family It was their parish priest who originally handed the letter to the family with the message to preserve it well because of its historical nature 213 years on the letter is being donated to the municipality describes what it is like to be part of Napoleon's army The letter is addressed to his father and brothers including fellow villager Johannes Wijnants Here we live like wolves; there is no money The soldier's letter will be properly preserved It will be stored in acid-free paper so that the document remains in prime condition The municipality will also digitise the letter so the public at large will be able to read it Nijlen municipality now hopes to get hold of more letters ‘We know that two similar Nijlen soldiers‘ letters exist,’ says alderwoman Bats ‘Anyone who owns such a letter is always welcome to donate it to us!’ Gunther Melis has always been an MX and off-road fanatic and he runs his own motorcycle shop Melis Motors in Nijlen (Belgium) for quite some time now Gunther is also working on promoting electric driving with two-wheelers: Super Soco Miku Max and Horwin are just a few brands that are in his shop it was a fellow villager (Thx Wouter !!) who drew my attention to the close presence of this motorcycle shop I was therefore pleasantly surprised with the invitation from Wouter and fellow motorcyclist Pieter-Jan to meet Gunther and at the same time test a Sur-Ron on a private property Melis Motors has a very large private forest where a +/- 1.5 to 2 km single track has been built to optimally test these light electric off-road Sur-Ron’s the already well-known advantages of electric driving Gunther’s first motocross experience came in the eighties with a Beta 50 cc From the period 1989-90 he regularly made some laps on the MX circuit in Lille Then (2000-2010) he discovered the enduro sport He knows the current problems in the motocross world like no other Many MX tracks are faced with a lot of environmental opposition from the neighbourhood and this branch of motorsport is taking a heavy blow an electrical alternative can provide a solution in the near future Gunther: “I always had a preference for Maico Over the years I had a whole collection of these motorbikes It was also always the Maico that I took regularly for a ride these engines were more suitable to look at than to drive But the raw old school sound had a great attraction for me at the time Because I would like to continue to enjoy my off road hobby I discovered the Quantya dirt bike in 2009 I felt they were ahead of their time and that there was finally a brand that came up with a bold solution A trendsetter who tried to secure the future of off-road driving with electrification.” The Sur-Ron “Firefly” was the first model launched by SUR-RON since 2016 combining the simplicity of a mountain bike with the power of an off-road motorcycle The Firefly Street Legal version is also suitable for on the road as a 45 km/h version and is therefore very popular with the youth There is also a Firefly Youth for young people from 8 years old low weight and easy handling and a lot of customisation in engine parts Sur-Ron models are appreciated by intermediate and experienced riders And we have experienced that ourselves: the Sur-Ron offers so much off-road fun is powerful and drives very fast on the sandy single tracks it was Gunther who took off fairly quickly… we hobbled after him But even at our own pace and with little off-road experience we felt like Graham Jarvis in an enduro race And after 2 laps we already felt some resistance from our muscles … Respect for all those extreme enduro riders in comparison our single track was a highway the Sur-Ron Storm Bee enduro model is coming out soon Each Sur-Ron can be fully tailor-made and all adjustments can first be tried out on the test track at Melis Motors in Nijlen 45 or 60 minutes via the Melis Motors website to try out the Sur-Ron these costs of the test drive will be deducted More information and reservation request can be found on their website: Melis Motors and a special “thank you” to Pieter-Jan