Kocinski's Wood Rotax

Is this the prettiest Wood Rotax ever? So beautifully put together. The exhaust has that unusual run, along the right hand lower frame rail, because this is one of Ron Wood's monoshocks with the RSU under the engine, early-Buell -style.

It belongs to former 250 grand prix world champion and multiple 500 GP racewinner, John Kocinski. He holds a couple of outright lap records on short tracks, set within the last few years, not in his racing heyday.

I interviewed him at Pomona a while ago, for a major motorcycle title who made a clichéd dog's dinner of it and I was embarrassed at the outcome. Maybe it's time to put it in Sideburn and make it sing... G

Redmax HBC Indian Scout

 This in from Steve Redmax...

HBC Motorcycles in Nottingham commissioned the build from us and did the paint at the end. There is a dealer comp going for Scout specials and they will all be displayed at the NEC next week . It has a Trask pipe 2 into 1 ceramic black . All the fabrication done in house at Redmax mainly by Glenn who also did the seat pad. 

We made a Dummy Alloy C&J-style XR tank shell from one of our tanks and XR alloy seat unit (both Redmax products). Under seat is a new subframe relocating the shocks to a more upright position and containing the actual fuel tank. Seat dzus fastens on and uncovers the fuel cap under the hump. Redmax alloy race numberboards front n sides and Tarrozi rearsets fitted on Redmax hangers that re-located the foot pegs back to a useable position and mount brake reservoirs at same time ... 

Redmax Flanders style black bars changed the look straight away , but the 19" spoked wheels really made a difference as i had 'reservations' about the fat standard ones. She flies straight as an arrow now ! We really like how the bike rides, very streetable and the motor has plenty of poke and revs away below, while the revised seating position make it able the hustle in the bends very well . We like it and feel it's a real feather in our cap to have made one so early on .... excuse all the puns mate , but we did enjoy this one!

There are more work in progress photos and videos here. 

New DTRA Magazine

The Dirt Track Riders Association, the UK's amateur flat track race series has done a great job of building on the foundations of what Short Track had built up. The UK scene is now over ten year's old and is growing year on year with their attitude and innovation.

Part of that innovation is a free digital magazine. Go to DTRA Magazine 6 to read the 117-page magazine (I know, 117, but that's digital for you, you can break the rules). G

Bernadette

Yeah, off-topic... Motorbikes back tomorrow.

For some reason I woke up with this song in my head and I've been barking 'Bernadette!' all day. I don't even know anyone called Bernadette. I had to search it out when I got back from the track.

Lead singer, Levi Stubbs is 30-31 in this 1967 performance. Motown was a production line of bands, singing songs written and chosen for the bands, but The Four Tops, four men, make the endless merry-go-round of boy bands served up a pop now look a substantial as post-pubescent holograms.

Watch the short dance break at 1:48. If that isn't the dance of a man so full of confidence, a man used to beating away admiring women (and maybe men) with a shitty stick, I don't know what is. Stubbs had been married for seven years at this point, and would have five children with his wife in their married life.

Stubbs was encouraged to follow other Motown lead singers by taking top billing (like Smokey Robinson and  the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes...), but wouldn't, so the band remained The Four Tops forever. What a man.

If you enjoyed this, then you'll probably like Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on the brand new Mustang production line too. G

Sideburn 27 - Pre-Order

Sideburn 27 is due to arrive from the printer one week today, so we're taking pre-orders now.
We've done two alternative covers. Subscribers will be sent the Indian FTR750 cover.

ORDER YOURS NOW

Subscribers: this is a good time to let us know if you've changed addresses. If you don't let us know before 9am GMT on December 1, they will be sent to the address we currently have on record.

There are so many great reads in this issue, tons of words. Good words. We know all the best words. This isn't the kind of magazine that puts a few phone snaps and 85 txt msge wrds and calls it a feature. We slog our guts out and travel all over the world to research this stuff.

COVER STAR: 1. Joe Kopp and the Indian FTR750 2. Joe Motocross
BIKES: Indian FTR750; Road-legal grasstracker; Ducati 749 street tracker; Panther-framed Honda XL350; BSA 250 framer
EVENTS: Dirt Quake Harley race 
HOW TO: Win a title as a one-man band with Alan Birtwistle
PEOPLE: Bryan Smith; American Flat Track boss, Michael Lock; Joe Motocross and Charlie Brown; Skip Aksland
PORTFOLIO: The art of Lorenzo Eroticolor
ADVENTURE: the Mexican 1000 on a Triumph T120; wasteland ruling on a Royal Enfield

ORDER YOURS NOW

We are offering 4-issue subs with a free Sideburn x Holy Freedom neck tube (RRP £18.50)

We also have 8-issue subs with a free Spark Eagle T-shirt (as worn by Guy Martin in China on the telly)

Or simply buy Sideburn 27 for £6 plus postage. What's that? A couple of service station coffees? Support the independents.

Sideburn in the Sahara

Last month, Sideburn undertook its second sold out Desert and Mountain Tour of Morocco with 12 adventurous readers in partnership with MotoAventures.

We are planning to run the tour again from 13-19 March 2017 (to try avoid the biblical rain storms). We have 10 now just 7 places.

It was a tough tour. Some riders got broken, others exhausted, while many just smiled the whole way through. One day it was boiling, the next we were riding through a blinding sandstorm for 30 minutes, then the final day served up flashfloods.

We had riders from the UK, Kuwait, Australia and the USA and it was an unforgettable experience for all.

Read Andy Baker's no-punches-pulled report from the 2016 tour on the new Sideburn website's STORIES page.

The price for 2017 is €1950. For this you get...

• Seven night's accommodation, six in hotels, kasbahs and riads that range from good to exceptional plus one night in a desert bivouac
• Five full days riding, 95% off-road
• Rental of a late model, very well maintained KTM 450 EXC
• Breakfast and evening meals and most lunch meals, plus drinks and snacks
• Full technical support from MotoAventures, a company that's been running off-road tours for 20 years
• Transfers from Marrakech to Ourzazate, the start and end point of the riding
• Use of a personal Garmin with an (almost) foolproof route so you don't have to follow a leader, you can ride at your own pace
• A whole week of riding and hanging out with Sideburn readers on the same wavelength as you

What isn't included: Flights to and from Marrakech; drinks with evening meals and any alcohol; Damage to bikes (limited to a maximum of €750 - 2016 figure, 2017 figure not confirmed); meal on last night in Marrakech; food on transfers to and from Marrakech; personal accident insurance with repatriation cover - this is essential.

For more info or for details on how to pay a deposit, email us at sideburnmag @ gmail.com

NOTE: This is a hardcore off-road trip not to be taken lightly. We had two riders with limited experienced of off-road riding, but who'd both done the Sideburn Himalayan tour with no problem. One of the riders survived, the other broke his wrist on day two. Although I'm a dirt tracker, I don't have a lot of trail riding experience (or skill). I find this tour tough, but rewarding.  G

One-Off Wednesday

Forget Black Friday, this is One-Off Wednesday.
On offer to the blog faithful this week are top quality, heavyweight zip-up hooded sweats.

Black with White print.
Original logo across the front. 99% Dirt print inside hood.
LARGE
LAST ONE in BLACK.
SOLD

Navy with Orange print.
Original logo across the front. 99% Dirt print inside hood.
MEDIUM
LAST ONE in NAVY.
SOLD

Screenprinted in England on an 'ethical' Fair Wear Foundation-approved garment.

Was £30 now £22 (plus post).

NO RETURNS ON ONE-OFF WEDNESDAY ORDERS.

Ryan Quickfall Exhibition

Our good mate and regular contributor Ryan Quickfall is having his first UK solo show in his home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The show opens at the The Toffee Factory in the Ouseburn area with a preview show on Friday, then open on Satruday and Sunday.
For more info go to Unit 44 Gallery. G

Snow Quake is back

WHAT: Snow Quake TWO! It's Dirt Quake on ice with Sideburn and Deus Ex Machina.
Same fantastic track as last year. Similar format.
Then drive down to Milan for an exclusive party at Deus Café.

HOW TO RACE: If you would like to race email us a photo of your bike and some details and we'll send rules and regs. sideburnmag @ gmail.com
No DTX bikes, sorry.

WHERE: Ice Rosa Ring, Riva Valdobbia, Italy

WHEN: Thursday 19 January. The day before the start of the Motor Bike Expo show in Verona.

ENTRY FEE: €50 plus Italian day licence/insurance (price of licence etc to be confirmed)

Check out last year's fun below...

Snow Quake from Deus Italy on Vimeo.

Hubert & the Husqvarna Shirt

In the post below Hubert Bastie mentioned the very few items that his racing father kept after he stopped competing. One of the items was a Husqvarna race shirt. Hubert wore the shirt to race in the the DTRA and in French motocross on his own vintage Husqvarna two-stroke. Lad above, Dad below, same shirt over 30 years apart. G

Bastie Racing Heritage

Sideburn's French ambassador, Hubert Bastie sent tells this great story about his family background...

Many of us, DTRA riders, are from a family of racers. The same for me.

My dad was born in 1950 in Paris. He rode Husqvarna, Ossa and Bultacos from 1973 to 1983. But I never saw him riding, not e even once (but last year he competed in a Super veteran race, after 33 years of not racing). Why? Because he just stopped everything when my brother came to the world.

What did he leave us from his racing years? Tons of bikes? Cool riding gear? Did he take us ride as youngsters? NO! Nothing!

He was just ok to help me to buy a trials bike, a Gas Gas 125, at 16, but I'd been focussed on a 1985 YZ since I was 12! For him motocross is baaaad and dangerous. That's so strange for a man who finished the seventh at first edition of Le Touquet, who won races in the French Enduro Championship.

Here is what he left:
3 helmets in the Garage, that became nice bird's nest.
One single Husqvarna Jersey.
Some trophies And a used Trelleborg tyre and tooooons of pictures...

 1981 Husqvarna 250

  1981 Husqvarna 250

 1982 Husqvarna

                                                                    1982 Husqvarna

 The one on the left became my mum 

 Ossa Trials

 The shirt I wore in DTRA

 Broken shock at Le Touquet in 1981

 The helmet cemetery today

With his road bike a Z1, one of the first in France

Scramble Me

Ernie and Nick, Icon's go to stunt fellas, have been recruited by Triumph North America to put a couple of the new generation Scramblers through their paces.
It looks like the forks have twice as much travel as a stock Scrambler, and Progressive are named check at the end, so I'd guess the shocks were uprated too, but it's still a great advert for this new bike.
And a brave move on Triumph's part to put out such a full-on video, that could easily pass for one of Icon's.
Good work fellas! G

One-Off Wednesday

Gore Rider Pocket T-shirt.
SMALL. 43cm/17in armpit-to-armpit
One only

£12 plus post

Small print on the pocket, big print on the back.
Artwork by Ryan Quickfall.

NO RETURNS WITH ONE-OFF WEDNESDAY ITEMS.

Sorry (not sorry)

Off-topic on a Wednesday? You betcha.

When Sideburn goes to a show with a booth the first rule is to entertain ourselves, and the best way is to have a great soundtrack. Luckily we have friends with incredible taste in music that are often happy to come to a launch or a bike show and hang out. Dave Taylor, Katie B, Johnny Alpha and jack of all trades, Dave Skooter Farm all man the decks from time to time.

I know Dave Skooter Farm's show selection records back to front and this one by The Easybeats stuck in my mind after our recent outing to the Revival Show in Rotherham. I always thought The Easybeats were one of the Liverpool explosion, but they are cited as being the 'greatest pop band to hail from Australia' (talk about damning with faint praise...).

The band formed in 1964 and had some great hits, including Friday On My Mind, and were all first generation immigrants. Three of the band were born in the UK, the other two were born in the Netherlands.

Enjoy lead singer Stevie Wright's chimp-like posturing, while not entirely mastering miming, and the chainsaw strum of the twin Gretsches while the studio dancers frug wildly. Yeah! G

Sideburn 9 Shirts

 

Evoking the spirit of the motor company factory racer's leathers, the new 9 long-sleeve shirt is available in black or white, both with front and back prints, and they are already flying out Sideburn's international distribution hub.

The shirts are made from 100% combed organic cotton, and printed in the UK.

Sizes M - XXL

Get your Sideburn 9 long-sleeve shirt for £22 plus post while stocks last.

Please check the size chart before ordering. If you have to exchange your shirt you will be charged return postage.

Sonic Weld Gold Star

Beautiful Sonic Weld BSA Gold Star built by Goldstarfreddie from New Jersey. I lifted the photos from the forum on britbike.com. Reminds me of the stance of the Sideburn Enfield 500. 

Sonic Weld style frames are still being offered, brand new, by Cheney Engineering in the USA. 

The builder of this bikes says...

This is one of those new Sonic Weld frames using up a lot of my old flat track parts. The cases are B33 with an early GS crank and with the quill timing cover and top breather. It handles like a 250 Bultaco but costs 5 times as much I thought this would be of interest to someone with only a motor as he makes these frames for various motors.

See See Motorcycles: Empire Building

The See See Motorcycles family has been busy over the last few months. The hard riding makers of the wonderfully inclusive, beautifully decorated moto-coffee shop in Portland, Oregon not only organise the annual One Motorcycle Show, the annual (and oft-copied) 21 Helmets show, they are a huge help in organising Dirt Quake USA and also promote a winter series of indoor flat track at Salem plus they sponsor a variety of racers and riders. So how the hell they have found time to open See See KTM, a dealer in all things orange, just 100 yards from their coffee and clothing/moto parts store is beyond me.

If that wasn't enough, they're about to open their second See See coffee shop, this one in Reno, Nevada. They're launching the Nevada branch with a 21 Helmets show. See the details above.

Good luck See See! GI

SEE SEE NINJAS - QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN SPROCKET from Neil DaCosta on Vimeo.

American Flat Track 2017 Schedule

American Flat Track (formerly AMA Pro Racing) has announced its official schedule for 2017.
What is interesting?

1. The first round is a TT at Daytona, within the enormous speedway on a Chris Carr designed track. Remember, the GNC1 (Pro, Experts, call them what you will depending on your age) will all be on TWINS!

2. The next round is a short track in Georgia, meaning there is no short track in Daytona.

3. Peoria is on. I'm most surprised about this. There must be some changes happening at the track because riders weren't happy about the safety there (Dominic Colindres was paralysed after a crash there this year). Brad Baker had a lucky escape. Now they're doing it on twins.

4. The Buffalo Chip TT. To appeal to the massive biker crowds at Sturgis, this race borders on exhibition. Again, it's going to be on twins. That makes three TT rounds in one season. The most there's been since I've been following GNC, I think (used to be Peoria and Castle Rock).

5. Perris is the final round. Not the tiny track, but the adjacent Auto Speedway. It's still regarded as a short track, so that's two short track races for the twins too.

6. There are 18 rounds. Santa Rosa dropped itself, after being on the preliminary list announced in September. California still gets three rounds, equal with Illinois.

March 16: DAYTONA TT – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
March 25: Georgia Short Track – Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, Ga.
April 1: Charlotte Half-Mile – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
May 13: Arizona Mile – Turf Paradise, Phoenix, Ariz.
May 20: Sacramento Mile – Cal Expo Fairgrounds, Sacramento, Calif.
May 27-28: Springfield Mile I* – Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
June 3: Red Mile – The Red Mile, Lexington, Ky.
June 17: OKC Mile – Remington Park, Oklahoma City
June 24: Lima Half-Mile – Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, Ohio
July 8: Rolling Wheels Half-Mile – Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Elbridge, N.Y.
July 29: Calistoga Half-Mile – Calistoga Speedway, Calistoga, Calif.
Aug. 6: Buffalo Chip TT presented by Indian Motorcycle – Buffalo Chip Campgrounds, Sturgis, S.D. Aug. 8: Black Hills Half-Mile – Black Hills Speedway, Rapid City, S.D.
Aug. 13: Peoria TT – Peoria Motorcycle Club, Peoria, Ill.
Sept. 2-3: Springfield Mile II** – Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
Sept. 9: Williams Grove Half-Mile – Williams Gove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Sept. 23: Lone Star Half-Mile – Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 7: Perris Short Track – Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, Calif.

* AFT Singles will race a TT on May 27
** AFT Singles will race a Short Track on Sept. 2

Photo: Brian J Nelson

NEW: Subs deals, neck tubes and restocks

Loads of new stuff and restocks of popular items that haven't been available for a while.

First up, is a Sideburn x Holy Freedom neck tube made for us in Italy by Holy Freedom. Versatile, 50cm/20in long, polyester impregnated with odour-free particles (it reckons...). 

£18.50 plus post. 

OR you can get Sideburn neck tube for free by subscribing to Sideburn for 4-issues/One year. 

UK £26

EU £36

Rest of World £42
While stocks last...

The wonderful and bizarre Union magazine, issue 3. 

High quality, British magazine that travels the globe to feature the bizarre and unusual. In issue 3, there’s a visit to meet the Raelians, a UFO religion that has been long derided as little more than a sex cult, an expedition to the wilds of the Ohio River to try and find America’s greatest lost treasure hoard and experience the unlikely two wheel transport taking the city of Detroit by storm— the, er, moped.
There’s also a look at sex worker fashion in America’s biggest legal brothel and we explore the mysterious modern day megaliths of Brittany and an in-depth interview with accountant turned photographer, Lee Jeffries and his long-term project on the world’s homeless.
UNION is lucky enough to be the first publication ever to showcase the work of Australian photographer Olivia Alexander and her documentary series on nightclub transvestites down under Add in features on haunted Indian hotels, the illegal street racers of Tokyo, band of the moment Highly Suspect, a chat with a Berkeley professor who is the world’s foremost expert on disaster prevention and much much more and there should be more than enough to keep you out of trouble for the next few days or so.

We have a handful of Sideburn 18, the Guy Martin Pikes Peak issue. 

We also found a stash of the Velocitas Sinistro patch that I was sure we'd sold out of. 

Finally, from the USA, we have the ever popular (unfortunate by-product of riding motorcycles) Broke Bone Patch.

What are you waiting for? Head to the Sideburn shop...