Redcar race coming soon

After the rain-off earlier this year the Redcar/Middlesbrough round of the UK Short Track season is on for this weekend. Compact banked little oval. That's me (Sideburn's GI) above. i'm not as fast as the fast guys. Please look at this shot and tell me why. Leave comments below.

If you want to attend see www.shorttrackuk.com for more details. It's a day race. Qualifying from 11.30, race programme from 2, I think.

I'm going to start psyching myself up now.
Hard from the start, hard from the start, hard from the start, hard from the start...

Ascot

I am attaching a couple of cool photos/scans They speak for themselves, but a fast Arizona rider is shown, Art Fredenburgh. He ran out of Shell Thuet's camp, don't know exactly how much support he got but I know he had all the good stuff like Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson.

Later, Craig Martin

Bussei reads Sideburn, loves dirt track

Giovanni Bussei is one of the greatest racers. I don't like the word cool too much, but Bussei is cool. Former World Superbike, AMA, BSB racer and World Endurance racer, Bussei doesn't suck on the corporate teat and worry about wearing the right sunglasses. He sleeps in his car in the paddock and showers with an ice cold hosepipe.
He got hold of a copy of Sideburn and rung us this Saturday to say he's desperate to race short track. As he is currently racing in the World Supermoto championship he might go well.
'I did one dirt track race,' he told us. 'I won it.'
We're going to introduce him to his fellow countryman Marco Belli and see what happens.

Look what we found!

Jay on the Blast.
Here's the story. 'In September of 2003, Jay Springsteen visited Japan for a demo ride at the purpose-built
'Field of Dreams' dirttrack event held in the mountains of Nagano.'

Sundance Blast

Now, a standard Buell Blast couldn't pull the cock off a chocolate mouse, but some people make nice flat trackers out of them. Like the legendary Sundance crew from Japan.
It's got Springer's 9 on it, and we know Jay raced Sundance's Daytona Weapon Harley twin road racers at Speed Week. We'd have loved to have seen him on this.
Nice under engine mounts too.

CLICK PIC FOR A BETTER VIEW

Goodspeed 500

Taken from http://hellforleathermagazine.com, thanks Wes and Grant.

Remember Goodspeed500? The gentleman’s parking lot–based urban race series announced itself to much enthusiasm last year but hasn’t yet held a race. It appears that raising the necessary capital to build the race bikes (modern street trackers with classic style), to secure appropriate venues and to find ways to promote itself sufficiently is taking longer than its creators, Dimitri Hettinga and Marcus van den Maagdenberg, initially thought. Now it seems they are fundamentally altering their plans in order to make the series come to fruition.
The biggest change is the addition of American races (Dimitri and Marcus are Dutch). Initially excluded in favor of Europe-only venues, Goodspeed now sees the country as crucial to its success. This has come about, in part, because of a partnership with C&J Racing Frames, which will build the bikes. Developer of the Harley-Davidson XR 750 dirt track racer, C&J is uniquely positioned to construct the racers, bringing its expertise to optimizing Goodspeed’s design.

Dave Pearce of Tigcraft remains on board as a consultant. It’s Goodspeed’s intention to sell the road-legal 450cc bikes to the public. The machines will form a crucial part of the series’ business, think of them as the ultimate piece of merchandise, a bona fide race bike for the road. While they will remain flat track inspired, the bikes will be lighter, more road-ready, use 18” wheels, a saddle-style seat and feature numerous other differences to give them a unique appeal and ability.

Should Goodspeed500 come to fruition, and we think it will, it will herald an entirely new era of motorcycle racing, one that appeals to a young, urban, creative demographic alienated by most motorcycle makers and their lame marketing. By locating its races in the centers of key global cities and making them happening-focused, the traditional barriers to acceptance in this market — travel and broad appeal — are removed. Goodspeed isn’t the first company to try and do this, but unlike Red Bull and its imitators, it realizes exclusivity and a focus on participation are the key to an event like this moving from something that’s recognized into something that’s accepted.

Goodspeed is scheduled to hold its first race early next year. We’ll keep you updated as that date draws nearer, more details emerge and our entry into the series is confirmed.

THE GOODSPEED GUYS ARE OLD FRIENDS OF US AT SIDEBURN. BEN TOOK PART IN THE INAUGURAL GOODSPEED 500 ON HIS CCM SUPERMOTO. WE WISH THEM LUCK. CHECK OUT THE GREAT VIDEOS ON YouTube

The world's biggest bike magazine...

...digs the world's smallest.

Cycle World wrote this about Sideburn and sent lots of lovely Americans in our direction...

Ups and Downs

DOWN. To fate, for landing long-time CW contributor Gary Inman and his cohort Ben Part clearly on the wrong side of the The Pond. How so? Despite being based in England, the duo has a crazed passion for left turns and seem to prefer one of their boot soles made of steel.
Which is why they published Sideburn, and 8.25-by5.25-inch, perfect-bound magazine all about dirt track. They've got it bad for American-style oval racing, and it shows with widely vaired content that includes racing and racers old and new - Springsteen, Hayden, Romero ring a bell? - street-trackers, "speedway geezers" and more, all in a very entertaining rock 'n' roll-meets-ransom-note style.
Tell them CW sent you so we can get some free T-shirts for the office...

Nice eh? They got one T-shirt. They don't grow on trees.

We love getting letters

Oil painting

Dwayne the dirt track dingbat

By www.kardesign.co.uk

T-shirts selling out

The green ones are all gone.
This is the last lot of this design we're going to print. And we only ever did a few of each.
If you would like one, don't hang about.

Remember, we have XXL now.

St. Mert

Cumberland, Maryland. 1969

Respect Pop

The late, great Ernie Pico out at El Mirage. A noted Velo Tuner with the only competitive flat track Velo in the golden era of the 60's. His most famous Velo resides in Dan Riouts museum in Fresno, Ca. Respect Pop. Dig the helmet too.

Elegant handlebars, sir

Vintage speedway bikes at Peterborough, England

No Money? No problem

Want a flat track style street bike, but don't have much dough?
You can pick up a tatty old, unloved nail and transform it.
Like those young knives from Copenhagen, the Wrench Monkees.
This is a CB500T. Work in progress.
Viva Wrench Monkee!
www.wrenchmonkees.com

Born Ready

Two-thirds of Team Skooter Farm

Randy Krummenacher goes sideways!

News from Germany...

The RedBull KTM 125GP rider from Switzerland is training on the flat track to further develop his riding skills!
Since the '80s the question was raised why more and more road race champi-ons were coming from America? The answer was found on the dirt tracks! From a young age American riders were developing their riding and drifting skills on the slippery flat tracks! To name a few, Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Kenny Roberts Jr & Sr, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Eddy Lawson, Bubba Shobert, and many more have emerged from flat track racing! Even current motoGP champion Casey Stoner was racing flat track in Australia!
Now with flat track growing steadily in Europe, ambitious road racers are tak-ing up the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of their heroes and practice on the European dirt tracks!
The list of current European road racers that practice flat track is growing fast and already includes Neil Hodgson (former World Superbike champion), Steve Plater (world Endurance, TT, British superbike), John McGuinness (TT winner), Guy Martin (TT and British Superbike) and now Randy Krummenacher (125 GP).

Shame on you Mr Harley...

This is from Frank's blog... http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com/
What does anyone else think?

In 1970 Dick O’Brien create a mythical motorcycle : the XR750. From this years nobody succeeded to make not even a pale copy of this wonderful machine.
Nobody … until today when H.D decided a couple years ago to do that: ... the XR 1200
Shame on you Mr Harley. How can you put a knife in the back of Mr O’Brien and the original XR 750 by designing and producing this kind of horror.
And worst than that how can you use the image of this legend to promote the sales of this new product.
With all what’s happening in every countries on the motorcycle scene, please help us and yourself by firing your designer or let him free to make real bikes again… I know i’m angry but take time to compare and you’ll see what i’m talking about.

Frank Sider

Ever wondered how they make Danish pastries?

While in Copenhagen recently, to do a story on the Wrench Monkees for SB#2, we stood in their workshop drowned by pint glasses of coffee (no dinky cups, or mugs for these animals) and watched our hosts serve up the national speciality, freshly made on their bench-mounted Bosch CSB500RLE. Delicious.

Dream event

We really wish we could get to this one.

RACE CLASSIFICATIONS
Hand Shift/Harley Davidson & Indians - No Brakes
Kids 50cc
Kids 80cc
Speedway 2 Valve
Speedway 4 Valve
Choppers / Hooligans
Vintage 500cc
Vintage 750cc
Amateur 450cc Modern
Pro 450cc Modern
New Zealand Sidecars
Hot Rod Jalopies

www.vintageoutlawraces.com

Tony says...

Just found your site. At last a brit mag covering the best sport in the world
I live in Louth on the East Coast and run a T140 street tracker.
I just got back from the Isle of Man TT. Pleased I stuck the Bonnie up a couple of sportsbikes
over the Mountain on Mad Sunday.
All the best
Tony Goldsmith

Butch Cochrane

Sideburn met him, back in 2001, at the Skip van Leeuwen Classic at Del Mar. We'll never forget him. The coolest amateur ever. Anyone know him?

Amman Valley

The best race of the year (in Europe) and where am I? Thailand!
Ah, well, someone else was paying so I can't complain. But seeing this shot, of Richard May on the CCM and Jan-Willlem Dutch Bro on his KTM, from Rupert Farnsworth made me want to be there, with my Skooter Farm teammates, even more.

Annoying leatherback turtles

More from road-riding Sideburn schlingers

Well I bought this XR straight off the track in Feb 2004 from a guy called Marcus Link who raced under the name of Skid on number 39.
I picked the bike up around Early May from Felixstowe docks and as soon as I got it back to my workshop we swapped the oils filled the tank with fuel and as can be seen from the photo it took me for a spin.

It still had the track clay caked all over it and in 30 years of riding bikes it’s the first one to scare me, the fact it had no brakes and pulled a wheelie on the bump start had a little to do with it along with it locking my elbows out the moment I gave the throttle a twist.
Well there are bike owners and bike riders, for my sins I dwell in the second group and I simply furbished a front hub and disc brake, got it MOT’d and registered and then hit the road, literary!
Now this bike had been maintained by a farmer and had no frills or any form of maintenance undertaken short of the minimum needed for the track, it was not a pretty thing to behold.
I decided - against strong advice from older and wiser men - to not strip the motor but to just clean up the outside and get rid of the angle brackets and gaffer tape.
I spent the whole of the winter and all my money making it look nice.
The following summer I was ready, however the motor was a little ropey and again all the bearded wise men kept warning me to strip the lump down. But what did they know, the fools?
I would run it gently and not be stupid, but as I said earlier I am a rider not a builder and one beautiful Saturday I was annoying a couple of ‘leather back turtles’ on their Rice rockets through my town. They couldn’t understand why I was pipping them at all the lights. Then I stretched my luck to far.
As we left town we hit a dual-carriageway that starts at the bottom of a hill. I knew they would ‘pants’ me once they got going so my master plan was to floor it up the steep hill (Harleys do not know what hills are) and then by the time they had got into the zone I would have peeled off at the first roundabout leaving them to chase a ghost.
You may well be ahead of me here, they certainly were. I got halfway up the hill and was ringing the bike’s neck when it all went Pete Tong and the bits inside the engine decided to try to escape.
I can still hear the bastards laugh over the sound of their beautifully engineered machines.
All I will say is that £4000 and a couple of years later I now have a motor that runs nicely, though I have not learnt my lesson as I have cooked the painstakingly hand made exhaust system you see on the Castrol set up photo.


I am running on a Supertrapp set at the moment and as I will never learn its touch and go as to where and when it will be out and about.
I want to run it at a drag meet this summer for Cancer Research (I lost a kidney and some of my neck at Christmas, life catching up I spose), I will keep you informed!

Russ C, England

Sheer class

Look at it. So beautiful, in proportion, great colour and well engineered. It’s never going to let him down. And not only that, the ladies love it.
The bike’s not bad either.

Photo: Scottie Rescogs

Delicate ballet of light and stuff

Jackie Bass shoots bikes. She wanted to share this...

"Proving that motorcycle photography can be recognized as fine art even outside of powersports enthusiast circles, Popular Photography and Imaging magazine recently selected Jackie Bass' image "The Final Turn", to serve as the penultimate illustration of masterful panning technique in their current June 2008 "How To" issue.

"Using a difficult photographic technique that involves a delicate ballet of lighting, exposure, spot on timing, and precision tracking, Jackie Bass has distilled the speed and intensity of flat track motorcycle racing into a series of dramatically surreal, hyper-kinetic photos unlike any you have seen before.

"These images are being made available now for purchase on archival art paper, photographic prints, and a variety of casual sundries through my website, http://www.JackieBass.com

Tom Brown from England says...

Sideburn turned up this morning. In a cool sort of way it reminds me of old skateboard magazines from when I was a kid - with these American guys doing all sorts of shit I want to emulate!
I've attached a picture of my imported Californian junior dirt track bike, a Honda SL230. It came with free authentic dirt from the USA! I just need to learn how to do it now.
Tom