Nobody rides a motorbike into the Amsterdam canal ring for the curves. You come because in the early seventeenth century, the city at the height of its Golden Age planned an extension of startling ambition: three main canals, the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, laid out in concentric arcs around the medieval core, lined with tall, narrow merchants' houses with gabled roofs and hoisting beams. Work began in 1613, and the result, a UNESCO site since 2010, is still one of the most admired examples of urban planning in the world.
Walking along the canals, you see the wealth of the period in every detail: the elaborate gables, the stone steps, the large windows that let in the light. The houses were built on wooden piles driven into the soft ground, and many of them lean slightly, which adds to their charm. Behind the facades, gardens and courtyards hide, and some houses are open as museums, like the Museum Van Loon on the Keizersgracht or the Anne Frank House on the Prinsengracht, where the young diarist hid from the Nazis.
As a rider, be prepared for the realities of the city. Bicycles rule the streets here, in their tens of thousands, and their riders have little patience for motor vehicles. The streets along the canals are narrow, often one-way, and shared with pedestrians, delivery vans and trams. Parking is scarce and expensive, though there are designated areas for motorcycles. The best approach is to leave the bike at a secure parking garage on the edge of the centre, or at a park-and-ride, and explore on foot, by bicycle or by boat. A canal cruise is a touristy cliché, but it really is the best way to see the city from the perspective it was designed for.
Fuel stations are rare in the centre, so fill up before entering. The city has endless options for food and drink: brown cafés with old wooden interiors, herring stands, Indonesian rice tables, and modern restaurants. The surrounding countryside offers flat, scenic rides along dikes and polders, especially north to the Zaanse Schans windmills and the old fishing towns of Volendam and Marken, or the Beemster polder, another UNESCO site.