Survivor Customs: Part 2

Another lovely little film made by Drifter Visuals of Mike at Survivor Customs, showing some of the made-do-and-mend skills being used to build his budget DTRA Vintage racer. G

Troy Bayliss to Race in GNC

Road race hero Troy Bayliss, one of the proper good guys in world racing, is going to race a select number of GNC Miles on the Lloyd Brothers Ducati this season.

At the age of 45, the former car sprayer has had a second wind. He is Aussie dirt track and Supermoto champ. He raced at the Superprestigio (but didn't make the final) and hosts his own high profile, star-studded Troy Bayliss Classic flat track race in his hometown of Taree.

The announcement is getting non-FT fans very excited, which has only got to be good for the sport.

Bayliss is one of a handful of riders to win a MotoGP and WSB race (Bayliss didn't just win a WSB race, he won 52 of them and three WSB titles). Bayliss, Hayden, Biaggi, Kocinski, Checa... Who am I missing?

All Bayliss's wins were on Ducati, so the link with Lloyd Brothers make sense.

If Bayliss has a good showing (easier said than done), perhaps it will convince Nicky Hayden to pack in being an also-ran on an uncompetitive bike in MotoGP and go back to his first love.

The Lloyd Brothers Ducati won back in 2010 with Joe Kopp on board. It was Ducati's first and, so far, only GNC win. Two-time GNC champ Jake Johnson rode for Ramspur Winery-Supported Lloyd Brothers team in 2014, and had the choice of XR750, Kawasaki and Ducati (see above, our own snaps from Pomona in October).

Out of the 12 mile or half-mile races, he chose the Ducati four times; XR750 five times and the Kawasaki three times. In a very consistent season he was never lower than sixth,. He scored two seconds on the XR, one second on the Kawasaki, but 'only' three fourths and a fifth on the Italian bike. G

Bayliss in Australian dirt track action. 

On the 1098 Superbike.

And the Desmosedici. It's going to be great to see him on the Miles. He sounds confident and Jared Mees is quoted as saying he's ready (though he's hardly going to say he'll get his ass handed to him). 

Suus, Melbourne

Suus in Melbourne is a brand new shop and our latest stockist. They say...

We are an Australian company and proud of it. We design in house and where possible produce our quality apparel locally. For example, our T-shirts are printed in Collingwood, 10 minutes from our workshop, on high quality fabric from a New Zealand-owned company. The majority of our vintage motorcycle jackets are locally sourced and Australian made by great Australian manufacturers such as Mars, Walden Miller and Stagg.

See our the Sideburn stockist list (that needs updating). If you want your shop, bar, cafe, whatever on the list, please get in touch via dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com for great trade deals. G

Dave and Gene

Super-evocative photo. Photographer unknown.

Dave Aldana, Gene Romero and an unknown (to us) Yamaha XS jockey, lining up for the Peoria TT.
Romero running drum front brake while the privateer has a single disc and Aldana has twin.
Romero keeping faith with a Jet helmet rather than a full-face Star.
Aldana on a Trackmaster Norton (I'm pretty sure).

Thanks to Roger F for forwarding it. G

One-Off Wednesday

UPDATE - SOLD OUT. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ORDERS

On a Thursday...
We have just one Sideburn x ODFU shirt left.
Size L.
Front print plus inside neck print.
£25 plus post.
Sideburn webshop

Jackie Mitchell #32

Every new order we receive, we check if the person has ordered before (against a massive list, we don't have some clever automated system). If they haven't we send them an email asking a couple of questions. Sometimes we get great replies...

I've known about Sideburn for a while. I am a former national number dirt track racer here in the States. I saw someone posted a picture of the XR 750 T-shirt on Facebook. I was a factory Bultaco racer and thought the blueprint of the Astro was really cool, too. Please put me on your mailing list. Thank you, 
Jackie Mitchell #32
Indiana

Mariachi El Bronx

When hardcore punk band, The Bronx, tried their hand at being a Mariachi band, this glorious sound came out.
They're touring the UK at the moment, but it's all sold out. G

CFM - Sleaford

Our friends at CFM have moved into a purpose-built garage on the outskirts of Sleaford.
If you're in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire... and looking for a motorcycle MoT station that understands custom bikes, specials and one-offs, they're the people for you.
They're not going to pass a bike that is dangerous, but they know the MoT book inside out and know what you don't need (front mudguard, lights etc...)
CFM - 01529 304793

Return to Del Mar

Nice video showing the return to Del Mar organised by IV League Flat Track and Roland Sands Designs.
Lots of familiar faces including Sideburn 14 cover star Kayl Kolkman; Mikey Rush; Sideburn regular Roland Sands; Sideburn 20 cover star Drake McElroy; Dimitri Coste and Geoff Co-Built.
Click the icon in the corner of the screen to watch is big screen.

They have another race this weekend. Poster art by Ryan Quickfall. G

DTRA Needs You

From the DTRA. Can you help?

The 2015 season is just around the corner and we need help. We are a club and we run with the support of helpers and volunteers. If you have ever been to one of our race meeting you will know they are fun and friendly events to spend time at. This year we have seven meetings over 6 individual weekends and some practice days. We are looking for volunteers who can attend some or all of our meetings. We can cover the cost of your travel and sometimes we have other small perks of the job but on the whole its more about keeping motorcycle sport alive and kicking in the UK. 

We need the following:

Flag Marshalls No experience required (training given on the day) just turn up on the day, we can cover your fuel and give you some snacks to keep you going.

Pit Marshalls You will help in the staging area to set riders up for the races and learn the ropes with one of our experienced helpers.

Clerk of the course This is a more senior role. DTRA will train you on the job alongside specialist training from the MCF to be an accredited Clerk of the Course. This will involve safety checks and working to help organise racing on the day.

We would need you to turn up early in the morning normally around 9am and require your services until the end of racing usually late afternoon. You don’t need to be able to make every round but it would be great if you could make a few. 

If you think you would like to help with any of these positions please get in touch, without your help we won’t have a series to run.

Email - info@dirttrackriders.co.uk