German Flat Track Race: All welcome

From Jan-Willem, Dutch Brothers...

Could you spread the word for this event on 12 June? Homberg-Ohm is a beautiful setting in Westerwald, Germany. The track is nice and hard and not too big. We will split in two groups so it will be an excellent opportunity for rookies to have a go. We rode there several times in the past and always had a great time. further detail on www.dutch-brothers.com thanks a lot! 
Jan-Willem

Belgian Road Trip

Last Saturday morning I crawled out of bed at 2.30, woke up my 13-year-old son 15 minutes later, made a coffee and left for Belgium at 3am.

We met the Co-Built crew of Anthony, Anna, Geoff, Guy, Karina and Norm, in two other vans at the Eurotunnel for a 6.50 crossing. 

On the other side we drove the three hours/175 miles to Huesden-Zolder, where they have bread vending machines on street corners, street after street with no two houses are the same, a famous road racing circuit and a speedway track.

The British riders met with the Belgian DTRA contingent, plus the Dutch Brothers (only one of whom lives in Holland, the others are in Switzerland).
The Helzold track is going to host Hells Race, what could be the first ever dirt track race in Belgium, later this summer. Two of the Belgian DTRA riders, Angelo and Bram, have organised the meeting with the assistance of the local speedway club. The idea was to invite one dirt track class to an early-season speedway race for the speedway organisers to see what, if anything, they had to do differently. So this was an invite-only do at the Helzold Stars Speedway international meeting.

Saturday was open practice, Sunday was race day. Above is Belgian David's XT500.

Belgian Bram and his new Co-Built.

Norm and his Trackmaster Triumph twin.

Bram, David, and Hank looking mean. Co-Built Anthony's arm with an old Sideburn patch.

Guy and Geoff on their Co-Built Rotax singles. Guy painted both of them. Two very fast and stylish UK riders were back on the pace after disappointing (for their usual high standards) results at Rye House.

Co-Built Anthony (16), Jan-Willem Dutch Brother (15 - J and M Rotax), Angelo (55 Starracer KTM)

 Geoff and Jan-Willem

 Jan-Willem brought two bikes, his Astro...

and his J and M Rotax, with the wheels he designed himself. I had a few electrical problems, just as race day practice started, and both Anthony and Jan-Willem let me have a few laps on their bikes. Both were great and Jan's is sweet as. Short, great power delivery. I felt comfortable on it instantly.

I've started wearing an Icon AirFrame Pro to race in. It's the first Icon helmet with a flat shield/visor that allows tear-offs. I'm very impressed with the comfort. The lining is light grey, which shows up the dirt, but it is removable. It has carbon composite construction and a quick-release Pro-Lock system (which is similar to the Shoei system for those familiar with that). No tools required to remove it. Icon are so good with the details and I love the anodised gold double D-rings. Mine is an unbranded Rubatone Ghost Carbon and it's not as easy to wash as a gloss would be. Recommended. 

Luckily there was a couple of hours between practice and our first heat race. Anthony helped me find the problem with the bike, the CDI ('They never go wrong,' said Anthony). We swapped it, I turned the rear tyre for a better, but still worn edge and got going. I was disappointed with my results at Rye House, but think I know why. I felt pretty good at Helzold and beat both Anthony and Geoff Co-Built in a couple of the five 8-lap heats, which is a very rare occurrence now, so I can away feeling good.

Jan-Willem's brother, Mick, came from the Netherlands (2-hour drive) with a KTM DTX and this J and M Rotax. He chose to race his KTM and came second in the meeting having hardly raced at all for a year. Those Dutch Bros are fast!

Angelo is one of the men behind Hells Race. He also organises the Flanders Chopper Bash, and I'm sure Hells Race is going to be good.

They better book this flagman...

Support your local racetrack. Do like Angelo and support your local flat track magazine too. Sideburn zip hoodies are heavyweight and last for years.

Belgium is not known for its cuisine. I went for the chav pizza.

We rushed from the track as soon as the meeting ended for 21.20 crossing home. We were booked on different trains, all set off at different times but all got on the same, earlier train. Then it was 170 miles back north through England and home for just before midnight on Sunday night. Back to work (and school for Max) the next morning.

I was only accepted to race only a few days before the event (thanks Angelo!) and if I could have got out of going on Friday night without screwing people about I would have. Work is busy, I'm trying to build a hooligan bike for the next DTRA race,  I could do with saving money, but I'm so glad I went. Good friends, good riding and good spending time with my son. Motorcycle fun times. G

Photos: Stephen Volders, Bart Knops, Carina, Max I, GI

Get along to Hells Race!

Dutch Brothers KTM

More of the Dutch Brothers KTM with 19in Superwheels and Goldentyre road legal DT rubber.
And below, the drawing Jan-Willem of the Dutch Brothers drew as a young boy.
Check out the similarity of the wheels the young Jan-Willem drew and the ones the older Jan-Willem (who works in the Formula 1 engineering industry) made as prototypes. A clear vision. G

Goldentyre - UPDATED

Our friend Jan-Willem of the Dutch Brothers is selling Goldentyre road legal dirt track race tyres (that he also races on) and shipping them around Europe.
See the details on the ad above.

Jan-Willem (who, admittedly, is trying to sell them) says:
The Goldentyre went through several development stages, including expensive mould modifications. This under pressure from Chris Carr [7-time AMA champ, who worked on the development]. They came out really good and are certainly on a par with the Maxxis.

UPDATE: From Jan-Willem

These tyres are homologated in Europe and "E" marked.
Load and speed rating 
for the front 130/80-19 (27.0-7.0-19) TT 67H 
for the rear 140/80-19(27.5-7.5-19) TT 71H

Below is a KTM Jan-Willem converted to street/DTX trim with his own design of Superwheels, Dutch Brothers triple clamps, lowered rear suspension (altered linkages) and Golden Tyres.
The conversion was easy to return to standard.

[Note: Advert art by Ryan Quickfall]

Why 15?

 

A great story from Jan-Willem of the Dutch Brothers Racing - just about the most enthusiastic dirt tracker in the whole of Europe - about why he rides with number 15 on his bikes.

When I was 8, my dad took me riding in Nivelles. 
I had a little Montesa Cota 25 automatic. That day he let me try his Cota 348 with 6 gears. this was the first time I rode with gears. The bike was way too high for me so he had to launch me and catch me when I wanted to stop. 

Nivelles is a place in Belgium where there was a big motodrome. That same day was a karting championship race. There was one driver who used a different racing line and was really quick. He was wearing number 15 and inspired me. From then I used number 15. I found a picture, perhaps you recognize him.

Below is Jan-Willem powering out of a corner on his Harley XR1000 framer - that's his brother Mick, 16, behind him. Below that, crossing the line at a DTRA heat on his Rotax, under the lights at King's Lynn this year.

And this is a shot Ben made for Sideburn #1, of Jan-Willem on his Mule-built KTM DTMX at Lelystad speedway track. Note the dainty footwork.

Coolbeth wins Knoxville Half-Mile

With the intake restrictors* removed Harley's filled the top six at yesterday's Knoxville half-mile. Kenny Coolbeth, #2, won on the Zanotti bike we featured in Sideburn 11. This is his first National win with the team he joined in the winter, and his first since losing his ride with the official Harley team.

*For years, certain bikes have had to use intake restrictors that strangle the performance of the engine, in an effort to create a level playing field (don't ask us why). They crudely allow less fuel and air charge to transfer from the carbs to the combustion area. For 2014 they're no longer being forced on teams. A Kawasaki won the Springfield Mile. A Harley won the half-mile, but I think Harleys have won every half-mile for the last 200 years).

Sammy Halbert, #7, won the Dash for Cash and came third in the main

Jake Johnson, #5, who rode a Ducati in the Ramspur colours at Springfield, was on an XR750 in the same colours and came in second.

Brad Baker was sixth, 9secs off the lead in the 12.5-mile race. We don't know if this is still a hangover from his broken leg injury or points to the much-held belief that private teams can currently get more out of the XR750 that the factory can.

Mikey Martin on the Bonneville Performance Triumph, 11th in the main. A solid result for a team that is quick but suffers from minor reliability problems just when they don't want them. 

UPDATE
both Mikey, and Shayna below, are sporting the new Super Wheels designed by Dutch Brothers Jan-Willem

Shayna Texter, #25A, earned her national number by making the 18-rider main (out of 34 riders who tried to qualify). Her Latus Castrol Triumph had horrific handling issues at Springfield, but they tested between the two races and went some way to curing it, but she was still more than a lap down. Jeremy Higgins, #82, came back after missing a few races to come 13th on the Baer Kawasaki.

After completely dominating Springfield, Jake Johnson found himself down in 7th, the first of seven Kawasakis to make the main. There were also were also two Triumphs, one Suzuki and the eight XR750s.

Never happier than when he's holding a big cheque. Sammy Halbert.

1. Coolbeth. 2. Johnson. 3. Halbert.
That's how it stands in the combined championship standings too.

Next race is Lima Half-Mile on June 28.

All photos courtesy of AMA Pro Racing.

Superwheels

These are the lightweight, forged alloy race wheels that will also be road legal, designed by Jan-Willem of the Dutch Brothers (a Formula 1 engineer and amateur flat track racer).

This is a picture of the second generation prototype superwheels they include some performance and cosmetic refinements. Three sets will go to selected GNC teams, which I would like to thank for their trust and commitment. 
One set will tested for fatigue, impact and corrosion restance. This is required to be approved for legal street use in Europe. The fifth set will be used on a very exciting street-legal-ready-to-race project. 

The Superwheels are now very close to be released for production and to really turn this into a succesful mission, it needs a passionate, hands-on, creative marketing partner if this person is out there, he/she is most likely to read Sideburn so if you feel that this is something you like to do please get in touch.
jw@dutch-brothers.com

Super Wheels in the Flesh

Gary already posted the blurb on Jan-Willem's Super Wheels.
I've seen them up close at Noyes Camp in Spain. Unlike me, J-W does not hand-file bits of scrap iron in his garden shed. J-W's world is inhabited by robots wielding surgical instruments. J-W utilizes only refined high-tech alloys. These new wheels are as state-of-the-art as can be. The prototypes fitted here to Tom's awesome J&M framed Sportser were machined from spun blanks, but the production versions would look identical but be forged.

Inspired by the beloved BMX Skyway mags of our youth, I'd like to see them in garish colours too. Rad. BP