The Stansfield Effect

The latest instalment from Sideburn ambassador, John Harrison.

I first encountered Sideburn mate and perennial Dirt Quaker Pete Stansfield at the 2011 Hotrod Hayride, where he had ventured south to run his Triumph sprint/drag bike at the 1/8th mile Detonator Drags at Dunsfold in Surrey. He told me it was the first time the bike had been out since 1972.

I was racing my Harley 45 and drew Pete in my first race. Needless to say, he had blasted across the finish line before I completed my first (hand) gear change. The pic shows him warming the motor prior to changing to race plugs. I think he was running on methanol. I remember being impressed by his bib 'n' brace leathers and suffering severe tyre envy over that historic M&H slick. Yes that is a Dakota in the background and yes, the legend is true, it did race down the runway against Chief Detonator Langley Gifford in his 1940s period-correct '32 Roadster Hotrod, which was a lump-in-the-throat sight as they both thundered away into the late afternoon sun before the Dakota lifted off and banked hard right. Could it be the same plane that overflew Dirt Quake IV?

Pete also brought his sweet, hardtail pre-unit when it was in reverse-head incarnation. It has since seen Dirt Quake action, though in a different guise.

He raced Dirt Quake this year on a bone stock, low-mileage CCM flat tracker in the Street Scrambler class (I thought the stars on my leathers were neat, but Pete's were big 'n' GOLD)...

...while his daughter, Ellis, raced his stock ('cept for whitewall tyres) Suzuki B120 Loanaladyaracer.

Survivor Customs CCM Conversion

Mike of Survivor Customs is converting CCM road bikes into ready to race DTRA dirt track racers. This is one he finished for a customer last week. They can convert any CCM with Rotax or Suzuki engine: 604, R30, 640, 644. Contact him if you want to convert any other makes, DR650s, Dominators, etc

Survivor are based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This is Mike's description of this conversion.

It is a converted CCM 604 supermoto. The bike was fully torn down and rebuilt in dirt track spec using the original main frame and motor. Modifications include: 
Altered swinging arm, shortened and side shock mount added. 
Altered sub frame to fit XR seat unit. 
Custom built replica Wood tank and alloy liner. 
Yamaha R6 forks and modified R6 yokes 
Yamaha R6 rear shock with uprated spring. 
Custom mid exhaust using original header pipes. 
Custom alloy underslung battery box and underseat wiring tray. 
19in DID rims with Maxxis DTR1 tyres laced to motocross hubs. 
Electric start fitted with lanyard killswitch.
Number boards.
The bike is ready to race.

The price of the conversion is £2700 (not including a good donor bike).
Contact Survivor Customs at Survivorcustoms@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/survivorcustoms/

Below: Before. This is the next donor bike. Looks how long and high it is, in comparison to a short, sharp short tracker.

Frame loop has its shock mounting removed and relocated to the left side to allow the wheelbase to be shortened. 

Alloy liner with a Wood-style tank cover. Centre mount bolt for single fastener removal of the tank.

Detail of modified bolt-on subframe; shorter forks; repositioned rear shock; shortened swingarm.

Beware Chipmunks

After last year's Rye House race, I foresaw that my CCM wasn't going to get much action for the coming year so I took the precaution of draining the fuel and disconnecting the battery. I've been told horror stories of sheds catching fire due to mysterious electrical fires so am not keen on leaving a trickle charger on unattended. if I'm going to do a session in my shed or garden, I just flick it on charge for the day to keep it healthy.
The Rotax 604 engine seems to sump a lot of its oil if not turned over regularly. Mine spat out about 500ml when I tried to fire it up after a year off the job last week. Age-wise it's probably due an oil change but it hasn't seen much action and it's not deathly black, so I just topped it up with fresh. It did some gastronomic gurgles, spluttered, farted then started, for the first few crank ups.
I'm now wise to the short shelf life of modern fuel, but I thought best to crack the carb open and check for gremlins before just filling the tank and returning to Hoddesdon.

The Dell’Orto float bowl was showing the usual signs of light oxidisation. But more alarming was the contents of the big nut on the bottom. It looked like a chipmunk had crumbled a digestive in there.

Odd for a drained system??? After poke about with one of these excellent multi-point picks and a liberal spray of carb cleaner it was good to party.

No speed enhancing miracles have been gifted to man or machine in the past year, but it was good to be back, and I had a lot of fun.

Thanks to Anthony and Anna - and the ever faithful volunteer marshals, for organising another smoooooth DTRA race day. BP

DTRA Round 1: This Sunday

The first round of the 2015 DTRA season is this Sunday, Leicester Speedway (head to Beaumont Leys, find the big Morrisons or use LE4 IDS, and follow your nose).

Spectators go free!

Huge Entry 
31 rookies; 24 Thunderbikes; 17 pros; 11 vintage, plus restricted (riders who are between rookie and pro), juniors and minibikes.

Here are some photos from the Scunthorpe practice eight days ago. G

My own Wood Rotax has had a refresh for 2015. New rings, new valve guides, secondhand Racefit Ti pipe. Death Spray paint! Same loose nut on the handlebars.

One of my favourite bikes in the series (except for its hideous front mudguard). Isaac's twin-cam Rotax with a liquid-cooled head. Can't remember which chassis it is, C&J I think. Imported from the US last year.

Tom, colour-coordinated. We have a handful of these Sideburn logo zip hoodies left.

John Boddy and the Triumph bitsa. Read more about this bike in Sideburn 18.

John's brother, James and his Ariel, first time out, few teething problems. I don't see it on the entry list for Leicester, but I look forward to seeing it again.

James and his XS650, straight into the Rookies.

Two of Survivor Customs crew chat with Geoff Co-Built. 32 is Murph, sitting; 35 is Mike Hill, checked shirt. Along with Ryan Quickfall they are all entering the Rookies on modified CCMs this year.
Mike did all the conversion work, making the exhausts, shortening swingers, twin shocking rear ends,  the whole shebang. Survivor Customs is based in Middlesbrough and looks like a good place to have a road bike converted into the Thunderbike. Mike is already well up to speed on his.

Mike Hill on his self-built Survivor Rotax. He had practiced at Redcar the day before, and came for another full day at Scunthorpe. Tank logo was handpainted by Ryan Quickfall. Behind is Ian Cramp on his own self-built CCM.

Happy Survivor crew heading back north.

See you at Leicester!

Yamaha 500TT Flat Tracker

Very neat Yamaha 500TT race bike spotted on the Deus Ex Machina blog. It is/was for sale from their Sydney HQ.

If you're using this as a template, make sure you put your lanyard cut-out on the throttle side, not the clutch side.
Can someone tell me more about 'American CCM' frame. Is that ATK? Where they made in the US?

This spec is taken from the site.

Frame - American CCM Frame, Reynolds 531Chrome Moly.
Front forks - Fully adjustable WP units. Triple trees / clamps - American A and A variable units with eccentric adjusters for trail adjustment (5 separate sets of oval adjusters come with the bike)
Front Wheel - A and A hub, laced to PM rim, with Goodyear Eagle rubber.
Handlebars - AFAM with Renthal bar pad, Renthal grips.
Foot-pegs - Bates
Rear Wheel - A and A hub, laced to PM rim, with Goodyear Eagle rubber.
Rear Brakes - Brembo master-cylinder with remote reservoir, Brembo Brake calliper and disc
Tank - Red Max CJ Tracker tank with RedMax dual petcocks.
Rear Shock - WP rear shock w/ adjustable clevis for ride height setting. Remote reservoir fully adjustable for compression and rebound.

*SOLD* Cheap UK Flat Track Bike for Sale

Alloy tanked CCM running on 19s. Suzuki DRZ400 engine.
Ready to race. £1000 or near offer. Eligible for the Rookie and Restricted/Pro class (not Thunderbike).
I don't know the history of the bike, but it raced at the weekend and you're unlikely to find a ready to race bike on 19s any cheaper.
It won't have a V5 so you can't convert it back to a road bike.
Call or text Ronald on 07533 506062. G

A Scrambler Thing

After

Captain Simon, whose adventures on a Bultaco in the Southern Oceans are featured in Sideburn 11, has nearly finished his latest project - 'A Scrambler Thing'. Nice, eh? He made the tank and the fork protectors, remodelled the back end, changed the wheels. The banana seat doesn't look the most comfortable, but it's made from the base of an old Ducati Scrambler and he had it hanging about. G

Before

Short Track UK at Leicester Mega Post

Hanging out. Max, Drogo and Jason with my and Dave's bikes.

Last Sunday I left home at 8am, my lad, Max, sat next to me in the van, heading to Leicester. We were driving to the newest speedway oval in Britain, on a beautiful sunny morning. We returned home at 11.15pm, after a great day's racing.

For this year, Short Track UK (STUK) have changed things around. Instead of having the Club racing on one day and the GNC classes at another separate meeting, the Club championship runs during the day, the GNC from 7 in the evening. Lots of guys can, and do, race at both meetings, so it makes for a long day, but fun. STUK run on a shoestring, so they have to keep trying new methods of making it affordable to run the series.

I made the A Final in all the classes I was competing in and came sixth in the GNC Thunderbikes class, so I was well-pleased. Last year I kept missing out on the final. GI

Paul B's race hauler.

Jason's Racefit C&J Rotax. Beautiful bike.
Ex-Jacapo Monti Husky raced in the Novice class.
This bike turned up for the first time. I think it's Yam XT-based.
Neat SR500s. The yellow one flew with Neil Martin on board.
Drogo.
Hanging out 2. Dave Skooter Farm; me (in my favourite Motorcycho shirt); Wilky.
Adam Allott and Glyn Pocklington looked great on the Aprilia twins with their new Furygan leathers. The bikes need a bit more development, but sound great.
Sideburn 10 cover star Tim Neave was riding like a demon. He came third in the GNC, won both GNC and Club Thunderbike classes and the National Pro in the Club class.
Co-Built's Geoff came third in the Club Class Thunderbike.
Trophy hunters wear FTWCo.
Stu Avery debuted his XR in his...
...cool leathers.
Stu Lovell on his Suzuki-powered CCM.
Jamie.
Oli Brindley - this kid is so fast.
Vittorio Marzotto was one of two Italian riders who made the long trip. The other was Fabrizio Vesprini, who was challenging for the lead in GNC and Thunderbike classes on his Fasciani framers. This is the Vertematti-powered Thunderbike...

The TM-powered GNC framer (framers are legal in the UK GNC class. They're not allowed in the US GNC).

I love this photo of the pro singles class, taken by Anthony at DBA. Do you think they're trying hard?

The Skooter Farm evening team, dusty and creaky from a full day's racing already. Skooter Farm's Jason just raced the day Club meet.
Stu Lovell at Sunset.
Hanging it out. The GNC Class racing was the best I'd ever seen. Dirt Quake is going to have all the top UK racers competing because it's part of the GNC and Club championship. Plus all the nutcases in the special Sideburn classes.

Ade Collins, Tom Wooley, Tim and Tom Neave, Pete Boast, Darren Trapmore are all names to watch on the night, but there are a bunch of guys like Brindley Sr, Alan Birtwhistle and Richard Mason who can go for the podiums on the night. It's incredible racing.
Mr and soon to be Mrs Rocket (Mr Rocket is from the Hip Priests, who played Rollerburn) came to spectate.
Austin's Man Wolfs. All this for some shoes!?

Wilky sporting his Get Thee Behind Me Sideburn zip sweat.

Next race is King's Lynn, April 21, then Dirt Quake, May 19.

Entries for the Sideburn classes are going out today - entries are just £15 for three 4-lap heats on one of the best tracks in the UK. There are still a few places. Email us or leave a comment if you want to be involved.