Happy Halloween 2

Happy Halloween 1

Celebrate the night of undead, of ghouls, of monsters and of rampant one-eyed commercialism by buying this soon to be sold out forever art print of the Zombie Steve McQueen by Maxwell Paternoster.
It's printed black on recycled brown art stock.
Notice that McQueen/Hilts has accessorised his Triumph with a decapitated Nazi. They're the next big thing.

Every order gets a free sticker plus free a handful of Sideburn posters and flyers from past events.
Get yours in the Sideburn art department.

Remember, if you like Maxwell's work check out the Maxwell Paternoster book we have in stock.

Stag Halloween: This Friday

Sideburn's house band, The Stags, are resurrecting their Halloween bash for this year. In Wigan (where else).
It sounds like it's going to be a belter.
All Sideburn disciples and Dirt Quakers welcome!

Menze Kwint

We have commissioned Menze Kwint to illustrate a story for Sideburn 19, out in early December. 

Have a butcher's at his varied work to pass the time till then. 

Sideburn key fobs

A perfect Christmas present.

Hand-cut, stitched, debossed Sideburn logo on one side and Goodyear/Dunlop tread effect on the other. These are a great quality veg tanned leather which will age real nice and gnarly with use.
The leather measures approx 3" in length, 1" wide and 1/4" thick depending on which part of the hide its cut from. Solid brass, nickel-plated D ring. Comes supplied with a split ring to attach your keys.

Made in England.

£15 plus post from the Sideburn webshop.

Circle Rut

Best moto GIF ever? From Death Spray Custom. And just in case you thought it was just natty Photoshop, check Shane Watts showing you how to DIY on his KTM. BP

Salem Indoor Flat Track

This weekend.
Just $30 to race.
See See are putting their shoulder behind it. G

Just like Guy's...

Guy Martin wore his Sideburn wooly hat during his new series of Speed on UK national TV on Sunday night.

If you want one exactly the same, they're just £15 plus post from the Sideburn shop.

Remember, if you order anything from us in the month of October you'll be entered into a draw to win a Sideburn 18 signed by Guy. G

You Should Have Gone to Specsavers

Completely off-message, but lots of non-Brits won't have seen this genius advert for a chain of high street opticians that have made the phrase 'You should have gone to Specsavers' an often-repeated phrase in UK. G

Radical Ducati

Random web find. No info. Early 70s 750SS? The engine has been inclined forward - to lower the centre of gravity? And the lower casing has the side of it's 'chin' shaved flat for extra clearance in the corners. BP

Dead end

Another skull spotted in a church here in Rome, this one with full-on crossed femurs. It's in the portico of the 5th century church of Santa Cecilia in the restaurant-heavy Trastevere district. Eternity? Life's brevity? Or a warning not to have the shellfish on a Monday? MP

Cocksure

We sometimes get 'foreigners' leaving blog post comments here, that they don't understand our peculiar use of the English language - or even getting thrown (confused) buy* just single words that have ambiguous meaning. Google Translate probably has a lot to answer for (is to blame for international miscommunication). Now I have a foreign wife and I'm teaching my young kids to read and write, I'm even more aware of the bizarre irregularities in the English language. The use/meaning of words changes with time and cultural/social climate too. When I was at school the word 'spunk' meant bravado - I can remember our Latin teacher using it. Today it means something else and Latin is no longer taught in schools (is there a connection there?).
Today's word in question is 'cocksure'. I'm not sure of its origin - male fighting chickens? My Collins Gem English Dictionary (printed in 2004) lists it as: '(adjective) overconfident, arrogant'. To me there has to me some male swagger in there - I wouldn't say overconfident, but definitely large balls (testicles) clanging - like Marco Melandri here.... BP *UPDATE:
Beste Adriaan,
I really didn't get your 'buy, bye, or by?' comment, and was too busy to scratch my head over it for any length of time. Now my editor has pointed out more specifically that it was a typo. Like my Dutch wife, you are evidently better at spelling English than me. BP

Kenny and Skip

Researching the Skip Aksland archive for Sideburn #18, as well as going through his own old album snaps, I came across this one online (on a German website I think), but I couldn't find the source, and so sadly no hires that we could reprint. Left to right: Fred Moberg, Kenny Roberts, Bud Aksland (Skip's older brother who worked as his mechanic for many years), Skip Aksland, Terry Sage (tuner), after winning an Astro Dome short track race 1970. Below, the opening page to the SB#18 story.
Skip also battled with our Barry on the road racing circuit.
Skip shadowed Kenny like a good Jedi, replicating his every move. BP

(Left bottom) Yamaha TZ750, San Jose Mile, 1975 "My rookie year. Me, Kenny, Randy Cleek, Stevie Baker and Rick Hocking rode these monsters at three mile races: Indy, Syracuse and San Jose. I made the main event at all three races. Kenny made the bike famous when he won on it at Indy by chasing down Jay Springsteen and Corky Keener on the last lap."

UPDATE:
I just asked Skip:
"How did you hook up with Kenny in the first place?
- you look really young in this [top] photo!
How come Kenny took you under his wing?"

"Ben, my bother Bud owned a Suzuki shop in Manteca Ca. In the late '60 and sponsored Kenny in his amateur years. We rode together just about everyday at my Dads ranch. When Kenny turned professional he hired Bud to be his mechanic. I'm 13 or 14 years old in this photo. Terry Sage (far right) would later become my mechanic - my best years as a professional. This photo was taken by my mother driving home from Houston, somewhere in Texas or New Mexico. Kenny had just won the Junior Shorttrack National.
Skip"

Icon Old Ghost GPz900R

This is one of the latest builds by Icon in Portland. It's a 1984 GPz900R, they've called the Old Ghost.

Icon say, 'Modified fairings and dry-break tank gave the Ninja the sophistication of a monocled endurance racer. A Wiseco big bore kit, K and N filters, ducted Earls oil-cooler, and Racefit pipe increased her mechanized punch. The oversized Roaring Toyz swingarm, equipped with Ohlins TTX race shock, kept things properly stanced in the rear. And while the English origin of both the Avon tyres and EBC rotors was well known, the suspicious domestic origin of the bespoke billet wheels could be neither confirmed nor denied.'

Doug's Triumph

Desert sled style, built by CFM, Lincolnshire. G

One-Off Wednesday

UPDATE: SOLD
The last Umlaut hooded sweat.
Black with Red print.
XXL only.
£30

Go here to get it.

We have the original Sideburn logo hooded sweats, but the charcoal grey is running out fast.

Archie Bronson Trio by Stevie Gee

Stevie Gee, the Tequila Mockingbird himself, has been showing his wares at Strong Adolfo's in Cornwall and Wheels and Waves in Biarritz, since the Slacker Show last year (for which Sideburn built Stevie a Kawasaki Z200, that you can read all about in Sideburn 15).

And then he releases this on the world, the full animated video for his friends The Archie Bronson Trio.  It squeezes 10 days of fun into 210 seconds of flashing imagery. It's good, but don't watch it if you're on medication, are pregnant or have a bad back. You have been warned. G

Newbold's Motorbike Shop

I had the opportunity to visit racer, friend and poet, Travis Newbold and his motorcycle shop in Wheat Ridge, Denver last week. This is what I found...

That's Travis and his junkyard XS650 that he is going to ride off-road from LA to Barstow next Spring. He has monoshocked it with an old YZ back end. I think the front end is YZ too. Seat and plastics are Kawasaki (from a junk yard, like the YZ bits).

 Tools and stickers...

Helmets and trophies.

 More stickers

A Monkey.

 About 10% of Travis's trophy haul.

 A few more trophies.

 Travis's favourite trophies in a glass case - from Pikes Peak and his Dirt Quake II number board.

 His first race gloves.

 Hondasaki project.

This is how Travis and his dog Baja travel the few miles to work most days. Baja has ridden with Travis since she was a pup. A woman in a car pulled up next to Travis and started threatening to ring the police and report him for animal cruelty. Travis explained that the dog had more sense than him and her put together and if she didn't want to get on the bike she wouldn't. That shut her up.

Newbold's Motorbike Shop stocks Sideburn.

For Sale: Harley XR750 from SB18

This outstanding 2007 C&J XR750, in (kind of) street trim, is on sale on US eBay.
It raced at Dirt Quake USA and it's featured in Sideburn 18 if you want to read all about it.
Buy it at Harley XR750 street tracker. G

Pitch Drop, Italy

We mentioned Pitch Drop a few weeks ago when they had a Zaeta event. The shop, in the small town of Piove di Sacco, betweenVenice and Padova/Padua sent us these photos so we could introduce them as a stockist.

If your shop wants to stock Sideburn get in touch and we'll make it very easy for you. G

Guy Martin Signed Sideburn

I meant to mention this ages ago.
Anyone who orders anything from Sideburn in the month of October will be entered into a draw to win a copy of Sideburn 18 signed by the cover star, Guy Martin.

One winner, no alternative prizes.
Any order directly from us is valid, from anywhere in the world.

Go to the Sideburn shop to order.

Good luck. G

Anglo-American

I inherited some tools over the summer, all sorts, but these two go well together, a Transatlantic brutal twosome, damaging in the wrong hands. Pre-Irwin Vise Grip, made by Petersen in DeWitt, Nebraska (patented in 1924, the British Mole version didn't appear until more than 30 years later). King Dick adjustable made in Birmingham, England. King Dick (settle down at the back) started off as The Abingdon Works Co. in the mid-19th century and over the years built various single and V-twin motorcycles and engines under the Abingdon and King Dick names until the early 1930s. MP

Sammy Halbert Night: TONIGHT

If you're in the UK, you really want to make the DTRA x Sideburn Sammy Halbert Night tonight. A very rare opportunity to ask a top GNC flat track race winner your own questions.

Pay on the door. Saturday 18th October 6.30 - 10.30 with a licenced bar

VENUE The Benn Hall , Newbold Road, Rugby CV21 2LN

Dritek Hanger: In Stock

I know this isn't solving world poverty or finding a cure for ebola, but it is going to make your already extremely cushy, 21st century, middle class, Western life that little bit better.

I was sent a sample of this Dritek Hanger and knew, within 30 seconds, I wanted to start selling them. Yes, yes, it's a clothes hanger, but it's the only one I've found that can hold full leathers without bending or breaking. And it's guaranteed to do it for TEN YEARS!

The makers say it can deal with 30kg (66lbs or 4.7 stone). They explain...

The Dritek Hanger is an innovative combination of 3 main elements: (1) a high load carabiner, (2) a flexible and adjustable strap and (3) a unique, super-sized hanger, specifically designed to be tough while being gentle to fabrics.

They're £15 plus post from the Sideburn shop. G

Jean-Michel Bayle Honda 750NS El Mirage

Dimitri Coste made some great photos of Jean-Michele Bayle riding a Honda 750NS at El Mirage for Cafe Racer magazine - also run in Riders magazine. This is a short video clip he made at the same time. BP

You can read about the development of this bike into the 750RS in the Bubba Shobert article in SB#9