Riders Garage, Malaysia

We are happy to announce Riders Garage as our first stockist in Malaysia.

If you'd like to stock Sideburn, email us at dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com and we'll make it very easy for you.

Sideburn 4 - NOS

We found half a box of these in Italy when we were out there for the Verona show.
This is a long sold out issue.
We haven't put a premium on them, just £4.50 plus post like they were when we made it back in 2009.
One per order ONLY!
Please don't buy them to try make a quick buck on eBay, it's cooler to leave them for enthusiasts who have been after one for a while.
Go to the Sideburn shop.

We are sold out of:
1
2
3
4 (except these handful)
5
6
12
13
15 (cover 2)

So perhaps get a few of the other back issues still available before they're gone. G

UPDATE - This small stock of issue 4 is now sold out.

Wonderland

From Dan Bouchard down a rabbit hole...

When Alice turned around and cast her eyes on a couple of bad ass street trackers. She rode in to a wonderland beyond imagination. 

Deep Space Deviants

INCOMING TRANSMISSION:
As we speak, Dirt Quake anchor-man DAVROS, is travelling across the galaxy from the planet Skaro for a rare visit to our puny planet Earth. Ably assisted by his backing band THE DEEP-SPACE DEVIANTS he is plotting audio terror strikes on the unsuspecting people of London and Liverpool.
Unimpressed with what passes for ‘entertainment’ here on earth...the leader of the Daleks is threatening to destroy our culture and show us how it should be done...ENJOY IT OR BE EXTERMINATED!!!
Any willing Davros disciples should present themselves on Sat 31st Jan at WEIRDSVILLE, The Fiddlers Elbow, 1 Malden Rd, London NW5 3HS Doors open 8pm and tickets are £5.50 in advance HERE or £7 on the door.
There will be a second strike 7 days later on Sat 7th Feb at THE GOGO CAGE, the Cabin Club, Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DH Doors open 9.30pm. £3 entry
Dave Skooter Farm

Survivor Customs Exhaust

Nice short film showing Mike of Survivor Customs making an exhaust for a DTRA Vintage Class Triumph.
Mike is based up in the North East (Newcastle, Middlesbrough way) and is converting a lot of Rotax and Honda single road bikes into DTRA racers.
He's also a ace hot rod builder, BMX jump king and a favourite to win this year's 2015 DTRA Rookie Championship (unless you know better). G

Braaap and Sparky back in stock

Don't hang around. These sell out quickly.
Sideburn webshop.

OEM Lightning Video

We shared the photos of Old Empire's latest custom build, the OEM Lightning, named after the Cold War jet of the same name, now there's this fun little film.

In the video Alec and Rafe, the two chaps behind Old Empire Motorcycles remind me the band Public Service Broadcasting, another Great British duo. G

Hammered

Photography exhibition of ace Sideburn contributor Grant Robinson. Saturday, January 31st, 7pm @ Motovida, 1254 Ellis St, Kelowna, B.C.

Quartic

So I'm Goggle'ing, trying to find out if a rectangle with rounded off corners (like photos from the 1970s) have a specific geometric name? I thought Lozenge, but that sounds like something you suck. The only thing that can be ascertained with 100% certainty, is that the steering wheel of an Austin Allegro is Quartic shaped. BP

Meccano treasure trove

Meccano Magazine was started in 1916 by Frank Hornby, inventor of the Meccano hobby engineering sets (and later Hornby model railways and Dinky toys, some hat-trick) that did a brilliant job of keeping the minds of millions of teenage boys off their own nuts, for a while at least.

A bunch of insanely dedicate people have scanned and made available pretty much every copy of the magazine, which ran until 1981. There's even a searchable index. If you go in there, don't expect to emerge in less than an hour. The bikes, by the way, are from August and October 1929. Many thanks to Brownhills Bob for the tip-off. MP

Shebam! Pow! Blop! Whizz!

Brigitte Bardot in a catsuit? How does that Gainsbourg bloke do it? This is from 1968, and BB will have been 33 or 34. Blop indeed. Rumours that the video will be re-enacted in its entirety on the Sideburn stand at the Verona Motor Bike Expo are still unconfirmed (and dependent on Gary getting hold of a flesh-tone catsuit). MP

Tenerè Tracker

Enzo's cracking '84 Yamaha XT600. Champion seat, '74 Yamaha DT250 tank and Pirelli MT43 trial tyres. Photos Raffaele Paolucci. BP

Motor Bike Expo - thirsty work

The packing for Verona took less time than I'd anticipated. See you at the Motor Bike Expo at the weekend. We'll be on Mr Martini's stand. MP

SIDEBURN Blueprint T

Blink and you'll miss our latest T, the blueprint XR750. Taken from our ongoing series of technical drawings by Mick Ofield. All of our Ts are printed in limited numbers. Here today, gone tomorrow.
This animation shows 30 of some 40 we've rustled up over the past seven years. Thanks to all our contributing artists including Kar Lee, Chris Watson, James Ball, Stevie Gee, Maxwell Paternoster, Cooper, Ryan Quickfall, Carby Tuckwell, Adi Gilbert, Antonio Merinero, Lenny Schuurmans, Death Spray Custom, ODFU, and me! BP

CR500 Tracker for Sale - Be Quick

Just found out about this, thanks Greg.

The CR500 tracker that won the 2013 DTRA Championship with Tim Neave on board is up for sale on eBay Honda CR500 flat tracker.

This bike was featured in Sideburn 14. G

Photo: Tom Whiting

Brandon becomes Art

When I saw the illustration above, by Stayano, I instantly recognised it.  Brandon P sent us the photo below as pre-approval for last year's Dirt Quake USA. It is a striking photo so we put it on the blog.

When I saw the illustration, it was so recognisable that I didn't even click the image had been reversed till I dug out the original shot. G

Old Empire Lightning

Old Empire Motorcycles sent us photos and info on their latest build, the Lightning. We don't feature a lot of cafe racers on this website, despite the fact all the staff have built, have owned or still own cafe racers, because so many others do, but Old Empire are good friends and this is a tidy bike.  This is what they say...

Built around a 1979 Yamaha SR500, our first thought was how to create something different, yet not too radical as budget was limited. After looking at the framework underneath the usual toot we figured a monoshock would fit perfectly in the end of the top tube (and oil tank) so we went about building a subframe onto the original swingarm suitable to mount a custom Hagon monoshock based on a Kawasaki SXR400 spec shock.

The tank although looking like it was unmodified has been retunneled and moved to sit lower and further forward to keep the lines of the bike true. The original rear section was promptly cut off and replaced with a far nicer flowing unit suitably braced with a second top tube that the rear of the tank now sits on. Custom LED rear lights house in the tail section complete the look.

Photos: Ian Jubb

Slaves - The Hunter

My favourite new record (though not my new favourite record). Kent (the place not the record label) two-piece, Slaves. G

Mule Sportster

There are few people who can make a Sportster look as good as Mule Motorcycles can. G

Dirt Quake IV!

Save the date, we’re doing another one. Some things are the same, some things are changing.

WHERE: Norfolk Arena, King’s Lynn, PE34 3AG, UK
WHEN: 17-18 July, 2015
WHAT: DTRA flat track on Friday night. Dirt Quake mayhem and entertainment Saturday.

CHANGES
There is no camping this year. If you want to stay overnight look into local hotels and campsites. We’ll have some details of local accommodation on the website in the future.


SPECTATORS (one ticket for both days): Adults: £15. Under-16s and OAPs: £7.50. Under 10s (with an adult): Free.

SPONSORS There are sponsor packages available from just £250 (plus VAT). Email us for details. 

HOW TO ENTER 

IMPORTANT – We aren’t taking ANY entries yet, so don’t send photos until April. Now read-on 

Dirt Quake is for road bikes. If you have a dirt bike we can point you to the DTRA Rookie class. We vet all bikes before we accept entries. If you haven’t had your bike approved, you cannot enter. If you don’t follow these simple instructions your entry might be missed. We want to encourage Dirt Quake novices, so riders who have never raced at any of our previous events or in the DTRA can pre-enter two weeks earlier.

1. Send a snap of your bike to dirt@sideburnmagazine.com with the subject title: DIRT QUAKE IV PRE-ENTRY.

2. Choose your class and tell us which one you plan to enter when you send your photo in.

• Inappropriate Road Bike
• Street Tracker/Street Scrambler
• Chopper
• Female

PLEASE NOTE: DIRT QUAKE IS FOR ROAD BIKES. If you have an off-road competition bike you might be able to race in the DTRA Rookie class.

3. Dirt Quake Novice pre-entry (for bike approval) opens on April 1.
General pre-entry opens on April 15.

4. If your bike is accepted we will send you a paypal link to pay your £45 race entry. You will also require a Motorcycle Federation Race Licence that you buy on the day of the race for £10. There are no entries on the day.

Remember, no entries till April 1. 

Photo: Horst Friedrichs

Berlin Coffee Club

We have a new dealer in Germany, the Berlin Coffee Club. It looks like a great place to hang out on a miserable winter's day.
Good luck with the business, Alexander.

If you want to stock Sideburn, or know a place near you that should/coudl stock the magazine, please get in touch - dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com

Troy Bayliss Classic

Multiple World Superbike champion, former car paint sprayer and all-round good sort, Troy Bayliss has organised another of his Classics, a kind of Australian Superprestigio.
Bayliss (pictured above at this year's Superprestigio) is now Aussie dirt track and supermoto champ and a big fan of dirt track.
He has invited Jared Mees, Henry Wiles and Sammy Halbert. Look at them pretending to tolerate each other.
There is a who's who of Australian racers from different disciplines, too.

It all goes off this Saturday in Taree.
More info at Troy Bayliss Classic.

Taree is an oil track. In the old days they'd soak the dirt in old motor oil to help keep it together and form a tacky track, now, I've read, it's vegetable oil. There are no new oil tracks because of environmental issues, but the old ones can still run.

The Australians tend to race lefts and rights. Read Andy from the Jerkyls inside line on racing as a happy amateur, in the current Aussie scene on a vintage two-stroke in Sideburn 19. G

LED Surfer

AMA Rule Changes

From AMA HQ...

For the 2015 season, the winner of the Dash for Cash will be awarded one championship point, but no other finishers will earn points for their performance. Instead, the starting lineup for the GNC1 main will be based on finishing position in the Dash. 

Previously, the top five finishers in the six-rider Dash for Cash earned championship points, with five points awarded to the winner. The change in point distribution promises to keep championship battles even tighter as the season progresses.  

In 2014, three riders were alive for the title at the season finale in Pomona, Calif., but under the new point schedule, even more would have had a shot at the championship in the final round. 

"It's a good thing, for sure," 2013 Grand National Champion Brad Baker and rider of the No. 6 Factory Harley-Davidson said. "The Dash for Cash, you're not recognized for second, third, fourth or fifth. You go out there and you should want to win it."

Dust Hustle

Dust Hustle by Ellaspede, put on last year in Brisbane. Looks like fun. G

Mad Max by Raid71 for Sideburn

Our latest giclee art print is a colour version of the two-tone artwork produced by British artist Raid71 for Sideburn 17.
It depicts Mad Max and the last of the Interceptors meting out some justice to the Toecutter's gang.
It is printed on  Somerset Enhanced Textured art paper.
This limited edition print is signed by the artist.

It is approximately A3 size (300 x 420mm, 12 x 16.5in)

Get your for £22 (plus post and packaging) from Mad Max art print.

DIY Number Boards

I've been doing a bit of sand racing at Mablethorpe. It's an environment that finds the smallest weak link and and makes it a big deal.
Among my exhaust cracking in half, shock falling to bits and water in the electrics, I couldn't manage to keep any stick-on numbers on my boards. So I decided to channel my inner Ornamental Conifer and paint them. I used my daughter's paintbrush and a tub of £3 Plastikote from Wilko's. I plastered it on thickly. If you want to copy, but you're a dim-bulb (or concentrating on something else more important) and can't work out how to do it, I attach a step-by-step guide

Start with the numbers you want to copy. I used the House Industries font created for the DTRA.

Get some greaseproof paper from the kitchen cupboard. Trace over the numbers, being careful the first number is still in place when you start tracing the second one.

Turn the greaseproof paper over and 'scrub' over the back of the numbers to transfer them to a piece of think cardboard.

Cut out the numbers with a sharp knife (not on the dining table).

Draw the numbers in pencil onto your number board and start painting!

As I said, I was after thick rather than pretty and really slapped it on.

 Voila!

 I was so pleased I did my front number plate too.