Ice Racing 1965 style

From Urban Engstrom. Thanks

HI Gary! found this pictures in an old bike mag; ice racing in Sweden 1965 ..supercool kneeprotection...!!

HWZNBROSS

Wow! That's what I thought when these guys got in touch. We love HWZNBROSS work.
And we've just sorted out Japanese distribution. More info soon


Hello.
I saw your web, It's great!!
viva side burn!!!

hwznbross U-SK's TR-6 !!!!!

Homemade race chassis

Anthony Brown of the DBA blog has been busy making a one-off frame to race in this year's Short Track UK series. It looks great already.

'Things are starting to take shape nicely now. Geoff and his workshop are coming into their own now. We have one last piece of machining outstanding and then the top half of the frame will be tacked together. The front end assy is almost complete with just the yokes to finalise. Swing arm will still need some work. Tank and Seat look really nice (thanks Stuart). More soon I hope..."

Sideburn blog announcement

If I ever put something different (eg, not a bike going sideways or built to go sideways) someone pipes up. This post is to say don't bother. I'm not going to stop occasionally posting about music, art, woolly jumpers or whatever takes my fancy. Neither my or Ben's lives revolve solely around bikes, and they're more interesting for it.
So, as they say, like it or lump.
There are nearly 700 posts on this blog, three yesterday alone, and this is a blog that was only supposed to keep people aware of the Sideburn name inbetween magazines. If you don't like the latest post, go back and look at an old one. Or wait 24 hours and there'll be something else up.
But don't bother complaining, please. GI

Voodoo at the Riflemaker

'The exhibition features those artists, writers and musicians who acknowlegde the need to reach and heightened or 'altered state' to create their work.'
Riflemaker Gallery, Beak Street, London, W!

Trackmaster News

Back in October we put up a post saying new people had taken over the Trackmaster name and rights. Well, Mike got in touch to say

"Hey, we're up and running (well, as far as you can run with just a frame), anyway:
We're taking orders for high quality metal to wrap around your elderly Triumph, BSA or Yamaha twin engine.
Thanks for the mention!"

Click the Trackmaster label below to find a tiny piece of the history behind the famous name.

XR on Ice

Forwarded to us by Boastie. Shot by the excellent James Grant.
National number 42 Bryan Smith on a Harley XR750 on ice. Holy ma and pa.

Amy Whinehouse sorts herself out

We've long had a soft spot for Amy and we're so pleased that Don and Peg at Metro Racing have got her into some sort of wrench rehab. Amy, when Don mentions needles, he means in the Dell'Orto, OK?

Austrian Mile Update

In better weather

From Jan-Willem from Dutch Bros, the hardest of hardcore.

'Unfortunately it snowed over night (when we were travelling) which didn't allow us to ride the big track at speed. The soil was nice and hard so the tractor tried to brush a clean path, but the mix of snow and dirt was too slippery. We did about 10 laps during our first outing and came back in. Mario was travelling pretty sideways along the straight, and with no safety precautions along the barriers I decided to call it a day.
The length of the straight and the corner radius felt just right in proportion and we are very anxious to try again in good conditions. So it will be a long wait until this summer! Our visit allowed us to meet Mr. Franye who is aiming to put together a real big event for us! We hope that every rider will consider the long trip to Vienna this summer. Not only to get a chance to ride a mile, but also to be part of European flat track history!
The plan is to combine the meeting with a race on the short track in Heidenreichstein, about 160km away. Adventure is calling!'

Thought for the day

From Captain Simon

Did you know Isambard Kingdom Brunel was 27 when he built the Great Western Railway, and 31 when he built the Steamship Great Western? If only he had facebook, a skateboard and a fixie then he could have avoided all that grim Victorian Toil and Graft...

From GI
Isambard's a good name for a boy.

Woolly Jumpers

"Hoodies? How frightfully urban!"

Board tracker on UK eBAY

Kinda. It's that Thomas Harvey bike we posted here. Sideburn's friend Fordy emailed to tell us about it, but only 20 mins before the auction ended. But here are the details if you want to ring the owner up. It didn't sell. The rest is all the seller's own words. GI

Harley Sportster Board racer influenced bike
relisted as the highest bidder apparently thought he was buying a fatboy and bid on this bike by mistake... it took him three bids to realize that it wasn't a fatboy and wasn't road legal, I should say it is common sense to read the advert before bidding... there are two telephone numbers listed and you can contact me via ebay to ask any sensible questions. If you are still struggling to understand what is for sale I think it is safe to assume you are an idiot and advise that you steer clear of any motorized transport for your own safety. Thankyou

completely one off
Rigid frame
21" wheels
FRC Sprotor rear brake
copper oil lines
one off pipes
handtooled leather seat by Deb lawson
nickel plated pipes, bars, springs and various parts
absolutely immaculate
show it or it could be made road legal very easily and would be great fun blatting around the countryside
for more info ring 01527575934 or 07913325297

This Saturday in Belfast

Highly recommended. This is our mate Guy Martin, one of the fastest TT riders of all time (and the fella in the Red Torpedo ads in Sideburn).
Check out one of his 129mph laps of the Isle of Man TT here and the second half of the lap here. His laidback commentary is at odds with the slamdance the Fireblade is doing at 190mph.
They're 18-minute laps and he does six in a race. Get yourself a cuppa and enjoy. GI

Rising Sun W650

Don't know who built. He's rocking the 1986 Scooterboy pilot jacket badge thing, though. Nice bike, nice exhaust, nice helmet, nice sunset, nice, nice, nice. Oh, nasty shoes though.
Who are you, mystery fella?
We found these photos at Giannis's place. GI

Is that really national?

We were waiting on a few dates for the AMA GNC calendar to be announced, and now they're all in. I don't know my US geography inside out, but from the list of states I'm pretty sure nothing is going within at least a full day's drive of the West Coast. And that seems insane. But what do I know? If it was easy to organise we'd all be doing it. I guess the people on the West Coast just don't like flat track enough (I'm kidding). What is the reason? No venues?

March 4 Municipal Stadium, Daytona Beach, FL S.T.
March 5 Municipal Stadium, Daytona Beach, FL S.T.
May 23 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL T.T.
May 24 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL Mile
June 20 Bulls Gap Speedway, Bulls Gap, TN Half-mile
June 27 Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, OH Half-mile
July 18 Darke County Fairgrounds, Greenville, OH Half-mile
July 25 Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, MD Half-mile
Aug. 1 MetraPark Raceway, Billings, MT Half-mile
Aug. 16 Beulah Park, Grove City, OH Mile
Aug. 23 Peoria Race Park, Bartonville, IL T.T.
Aug. 29 Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, IN Mile
Sept. 5 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL S.T.
Sept. 6 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL Mile

To check out the dates, regs, rider numbers, rider photos and bios for 2009 click here. GI

Goat Tracking

If you fancy fresh croissant for breakfast followed by 45° goat track inclines, picturesque landscape, rounded off by pool-side local wine, make a holiday out of it with Lot Valley Enduro, in the south of France. Brits Kate & Dave Haines run tours to suit all skill levels on Suzuki DRZ 400's.
Dave let me have a taste of his own frighteningly frisky Aprilia RX V450 that's like a rock-climbing Jack Russell on speed.
Tim Greig made a flat tracker out of one. It raced in Europe and at the Welsh round, but then it blew up. Anybody else experiment with home-made bombs? BP

Magazines are better than blogs

Reckons Sideburn magazine and blog reader, Jeremy Melling:

Sideburn arrived last week and I meant to email sooner. It's just so good, the size of it, feel of the paper, the colours and of course the content. Even my wife, who thought I was wasting our money, had to agree. And though your blog's great there's still something very nice about holding a magazine or book, I do wonder if this is an age thing and if our kids won't even look at mags in the future but read everything online. Do you remember Road Rocket, early 90's bike mag edited by, I think Mark Williams [it was Mark Graham, not Williams. GI]. Very strange and very brilliant. Sideburn reminds me of that.

Your latest blog, I don't think it's a parallel twin but a twin exhaust valve single. Way back, engineers had worked out that multiple exhaust valves would give more power and most manufacturers did it at the time. See the attached pic of Father in Law's early 30's Ariel 350 single, three valve 'triple knocker'.
If you want to use this picture or the BSA that I sent the other day on the blog, no problem.
Jeremy

So, I made ANOTHER mistake, but you could still build a replica with a twin engine. And it would still look great.
What an amazing photo. You don't see many fellas who look like this any more. I won't even hazard a guess at the plane in the background. Looks like the tail of a Spitfire or Hurricane, but I have no real clue. GI

Trailing leg

Found by Troy C at Chico Moto
I really would like a 1920s bike. I never thought I'd say that. Not a clue what that bike is. Though, because it's a parallel twin I'd like to think someone will make a replica using a CB500T motor.
Top goggle action too. GI

Astro, Astro, Astro

On US eBay and in San Pedro. Jason BHBB? Chopper Dave? Anyone? Two-strokes have been outlawed in California for years. What could be more bad-ass that ripping around on this?
He'll ship to the UK too.
Thanks to Apart from Baja California for the link.

UK numbers

DIY.

Great Clunkers follow-up

When we first started the blog we'd look at others, specifically Max Schaaf's 4Q Conditioning, and say 'Wow, he gets a lot of comments and we don't get any.' We even had our patron saint put out this plea. But now we get plenty of comments, and some are amazing. The fastest man on two wheels, Rocky Robinson, left a comment on the post about himself a couple of weeks ago. Then Donald from South Africa commented on Great Clunkers, and emailed this in. Cheers Donald.
The bikes look very similar, and must be the same bike, but the one in Donald's photos is obviously a sprinter, so I still don't understand why the original clunker had knobblies.

"I left a comment on your "clunkers" post regarding the first photo [The comment was 'That first one looks a bit like Burt Munro's Velocette, apart from the knobblies. I've got photos, I'll send them to you. You can see both of Burt's bikes, the Indian and the Velo, at E. Hayes & Sons Hardware in Invercargill, New Zealand].
Here's a couple of photos of what I believe it is. I was in NZ in 07 and travelled a couple of days out of my way to see Burt Munro's hometown, Invercargill. I was disappointed with the museum where I had to pay a $10 entry fee to see a bunch of props from the movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian", and I couldn't even take photos! There was nothing original of Burt's, mostly just random bikes that had no connection to him. Later that day while sitting in a cafe with my girlfriend and perusing a local bike mag, I read that Burt's bikes were at the hardware store down the street from us. E. Hayes & Son's (I hope I got that right) was a Velo and Indian dealer and good friends of Burtg. They had his bikes on display among the lawnmowers and garden tools! We rushed over there and I was allowed to take photos and even twist the throttle on the original record making
Indian! I much prefered the Velocette, I wish that had been featured in the film as well!

Follow the link to my Flickr page
Regards, Donald Hosier, SA Motorcycles, South Africa

Also, Hugo Wilson from Classic Bike emailed to say this about the original Great Clunkers post...
'Bike in the top picture is a fairly dramatically hacked about with Velocette, probably a 350 MAC (I'd have to count the fins on the barrel to check) that is even more bastardised than mine. Second one is, I think a Harley. Third an Indian. Bottom one an Enfield.'

Keep the comments coming.

Totti BSA

From Mick Phillips (who wrote the Cigarette card and speedway hair stories in SB2). Totti is Italy's most prolific special builder. He's tried everything. He usually mixes styles up to create unique, sometimes 'challenging' machines. This is a far straighter build from the bearded maestro. Cheers Mick.

"A tasty BSA found lurking on Totti Motori. Once a 500cc B33, but the motor was brought up to 720 and surely strengthened big time, then slotted into a hardtail frame. Certainly doesn't seem like a B33 rigid, but those shrouded forks look original. Tank is a typical 2 gallon Beesa comp job, such as from a Hornet. Nice alloys, possibly Borrani given that this bike was built in Italy many years back by Roberto Totti, who can't remember much about it except that it's got a close-ratio box."

Brandon at Lima

Brandon Robinson(from Sideburn 1).
I think Tim White shot it. Right, Tim?

Great clunkers

Three from Norm at Motorcycho and one from Captain Simon. Cheers fellas. I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but I have no idea what the top bike is for. It looks like a sprinter with those crazy low bars and Frankenstein pudding basin fairing, but it's on knobblies with trials mudguards. It's from New Zealand if that helps. The others are from Canada, I think. GI (a veritable mine of info, eh?)