RD street tracker

Built by Alex Arletti from Italia. Check out the front hub. I think he made that backplate from solid.
From the very good 2 stroke Biker Blog. Thanks Giannis. GI

Mule Motorcycles Web Surfer

This is the Web Surfer seen at the Grand National Roadster show in, you know, California somewhere. It was built by Richard At Mule. We have a feature on Mule we're really happy with for issue 3.
It's called the Web Surfer because all parts were made, donated or bought cheap through eBay (web geddit?). The seat is made from Balsa wood with 'stringers' like a surfboard (surfer, geddit?). Frame is a modified Sporty, forks are Ducati 900SS/SP with Mule triple clamps. Wheels are modified Kawasaki with Maxxis tyres. It was built for/in conjunction with US mag Cycle World.

Ramblers Rough Scrambles

The recent mini-rant, about riding what you've got rather than dreaming about having a bike for every occasion, provoked some responses.
One of our heroes (also to be in SB3), Craig Randall sent us these photos of himself competing at the Ramblers track. And this note.

I loved the Ramblers shots and am attaching a couple of shots of me racing at the Richmond Ramblers track (15H). They called it a Rough Scrambles back then, 1966 or so. My dad used to take me there when I was a kid, because we lived in Richmond (S. 13th Street) after he got back from the war. We liked to watch the hillclimbers. I loved it!
Regards,Craig

And Jonny Campbell sent this:
I agree with your blog comment about motorcycling becoming niche Gary, check out this post on helmethairblog.com - a very well shot home movie of a 1930's Californian hillclimb. Everyone is just getting on with it, hat or not.

It's a great clip, despite the innapropriate soundtrack. Thanks fellas, GI

Build your own board tracker

This guy in Kansas is. He started from scratch and is using, I think, a Briggs & Stratton 22 horse V-twin. Respect!
Totally inspirational. GI

Speed Art

I love the paintings Giannis at Speed Junkies does. Hey G, how much to buy one? GI

Chalfont!

A lot of my time is spent working for motorbike magazines. And one thing that's really hit home in the last year or so, even though it's been going on for years, is the specialization of every facet of motorcycling. Niche, niche, niche. If you ride this bike you've got to have the right helmet and boots to go with it and you wouldn't think of riding it if the wind was blowing in that direction or if it was a Thursday in September.
Back when men were men, they had one bike and did everything on it. If they had a DuoGlide and their friends were going trailriding, 'Well what the fuck? I'm going too and that big, old Harley I just bought better be up to it.'
Clubs like the Richmond Ramblers (pictured), of whom Dick Mann was, and may still be, a member, epitomised that attitude. They'd desert race, flat track, hillclimb, road ride and trail ride the BSA or Triumph. They were, on the whole, club racers with no hope or pretensions of being the next Dick Mann. They just wanted to have fun.
In this spirit Anthony Brown (of the DBA blog)and Captain Highside have put their heads together and arranged a class for Thunderbike short trackers at the upcoming Chalfont St Peter hillclimb. And Team Skooter Farm are going en masse. Rules for the class are 600cc and above and dirt track tyres only. We don't really know a lot about the course, but it's no Widowmaker. Still, it'll be a laugh.
It's on April 26. the club running it are a vintage club and have stipulated the bikes must look like a vintage dirt tracker, so no DTX bikes. The Wood Rotax and its ilk are suitable. Leave a comment if you want more info. GI
PS Forgot to add, Anthony has got a bike for every day of the week. And NEVER rides on Thursdays in September.

No Sleep 'till Marseille

Jan-Willem of the Dutch-Brothers racing team doesn't sleep. He's up all night hatching plans to spread the gospel according to flat track to heathens all across Europe. His Billy Graham enthusiasm is astounding. France is his latest target...

"This is Marseille (horse track). How can we make it happen! We need to raise awareness in France (France already host some speedway), I'm sure they would love dirt track too, they are real motorheads! Just imagine having the Coup des Nationes here at the end of the summer with Chris Carr and Co. on the 1250m boulevard. I have a dream!"

Bureaucracy in France is notorious arse ache. Gather around people, we have a lot of praying to do. BP

You think you know someone...

I've been fortunate enough to interview Kevin Schwantz a few times. Saw him race in England too. Even got changed in the same room as him before we went to ride MotoGP bikes, but I never knew he was a dirt tracker. I knew that most US racers had raced on ovals, but it was so rarely mentioned in the Schwantz stories I'd read it had passed me by. Then I found these photos in a dusty corner of his website and they're gold dust. I love the ABC leathers, so I dug about to see why they had Darryl on the front and discovered this on the AMA Hall of Fame website 'He also raced a few amateur dirt track races using motorcycles borrowed from his uncle, AMA Grand National racer Darryl Hurst. Schwantz got his first taste of road racing at an event through the streets of Austin, Texas. Schwantz won the race over a slew of the best road racers in Texas riding his uncle’s Yamaha short-track racer.'
And he's setting the bar high with the outfit in the family photo, but his dad edges it in the style stakes. GI

Sideburn in Roma

Good Guys in Roma, Italy, were our first ever dealer. This is Camilla, half of the Good Guys organisation. Who wouldn't want to shop there?

The Bostroms heart Sideburn

Ping! Goes the email, and it's only Ben and Eric Bostrom modeling Sideburn's Dick Mann T-shirt in their Malibu warehouse. There are warehouses in Malibu, right? Anyway, it is the Bostroms, brought up on the dirt tracks of California, before defecting to road racing.
Eric says this about Sideburn 'I hope '09 is treating you well. I'm still trying to play catch up. Ben and I love our shirts, thanks so much. I got to say, the magazine is such an achievement... Call or email whenever...'
Get a shirt like theirs here
Nice Ducati Scrambler too, fellas. GI