Sideburn 28: Out Now

The 28th issue, and the first of 2017, our tenth year of existence, is a solid chocolate bunny of moto goodness. This is a Harley heavy issue, but it's not one-dimensional. There are stories of riding across the USA on a 1915 board track racer; a blueprint and history of the '52 KR750; the highest of high-tech XG750s built by Suicide Machine Co in Long Beach, Ca; we have a bunch of racing V-twins from 1930s VLs to the hottest hooligans; a great survivor WR and an exclusive interview with the head of Harley-Davidson's design studio about the XG750R factory racer.

Buy SIDEBURN 28

Sure, that's a lot of Harleys, but on top of that SIDEBURN 28 has poetry; desert survival gear; Icon 1000's mean Dethgrip Kawasaki Vulcan (yes, really); the wonderful photography of Götz Göppert; a shop profile of See See's new Reno outpost; Dave 'B-Movie' Bevan's reappraisal of The Northville Cemetery Massacre; our regular Ask Guy Martin page, and last, but never least, Wayne Rainey's Trophy Queen.

Buy SIDEBURN 28

Remember, the Sideburn blog is now at www.sideburnmagazine.com

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

Icon Trick or Street

We don't really do Halloween in the UK, it's a very half-arsed affair, but the Americans do.

This design is limited to 1000 and cost $260 (in the US). I've never worn an Airmada, but I've raced in an Airframe Pro all year and like it a lot. G

Icon 1000: Three Martini Lunch

When Icon 1000, the Portland-based company that never sleeps, release a new video I get excited. They have a fresh new website too, covering their Icon Motosport, Icon 1000 and Icon Raiden brands. Go to www.icon1000.com. G

King's Lynn DTRA

I raced on Friday night at the DTRA round of Dirt Quake's Friday night. I had an absolute blast. Out of my six heats races I scored two firsts, two seconds, a third and a fifth. The finals are always harder because the quickest 12 from the 36 restricted and 24 Thunderbikes get through. I finished fifth in the restricted, then didn't even leave the track before going into another 8-lap final for the Thunderbikes. I beat some class acts, riders I don't normally beat, like Tom Clemens, and still came fourth! Bugger. I had great fun though.
Thanks to the DTRA and all their staff and helpers. Thanks to Icon for the Airframe Pro helmet. I really rate it.
Go to Dirt Track Riders Association to find out more about this great series.

The race was livestreamed, so you can watch a video of the whole race meeting here. G

Photo: Ian Roxburgh/DTRA

Taylor Dunfee's Broken Neck Fund

A couple of weeks ago Taylor Dunfee travelled up to Castle Rock for Dirt Quake USA, over 1000 miles from Southern California. It was the second time he'd taken part in DQ USA race with his friend in the Hooligan class on his homebuilt Sportster.

Last year he rode off with the flag girl (see the Preston Burroughs portfolio in Sideburn 25). This year he had a massive crash, clearing the wooden fence and flying head first into one of the metal poles holding up the catch fence.

Being a self-employed artist, and now unable to work, friends have set a fund for people to donate to. This is what they say...

Being the absolute beast that he is, he somehow survived, although not unscathed. He currently has a broken neck and what's known as burning hands syndrome. As an artist, Taylor makes a living by his hands, whether it be photography or illustration. In addition to a pile of medical bills including a life flight from the race track, he'll be out of work for sometime. The $10k goal is hands down less than what he'll need, but that is where we want to start as a goal for him to pay his bills and cut back on out of pocket medical expenses. These funds are needed ASAP, and help is greatly appreciated.

If you would like to help go to www.gofundme.com/taylordunfee.

As an aside, Taylor was wearing a new Icon Airframe Pro, choosing the safety of a modern helmet over the looks of a vintage one. It's likely it saved his life. Vintage helmets might look great, but when you really need a helmet you'll wish you had the very best you could afford. G

Sideburn Special Editions

We have a couple of special edition issues with covers we made with some of our beloved advertisers.
IMPORTANT: Only the covers differ to the regular issues, so these are just for collectors and completists. We only have a handful of each.

One is Sideburn 22 Icon 1000 cover, with their Slow Burn BMW R90/6, the other is Sideburn 23 Roland Sands Designs cover featuring the Geico Indian Chief.
£6 plus post from sideburn.bigcartel.com 

Icon Raiden on the Sideburn Morocco Tour

Portland-based motorcycle clothing company, Icon moved into the burgeoning ADV market with their Icon Raiden range. As part of the testing and marketing, they went on 2015's Sideburn Sunburn tour to Morocco. They shot this film when they were there.
The 2016 tour sold out in two weeks. If you're interested in going on tours like this with Sideburn, please drop us a line to dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com

Icon 100 Major Tom and Retrograde

Icon 1000 have done it again. To promote the release of their new Retrograde jacket they've unleashed their new GSX-R750 build, Major Tom. Then they flew it, regular Icon stunt collaborator Ernie Vigil and a good looking model to the moon to shoot the video. G

Sideburn x Himalaya Kit

Sideburn's Himalayan trip was a blast but packing for it was difficult. We were told to wear full-face helmets and expect rain. I wanted to travel as light as possible (but I never travel as light as some people).

So I decided to ride in trousers I could fly out in and take lightweight ex-British army waterproofs to put on over the top when needed. I never needed them. This is what I chose to ride in for the six days we were on the Enfields.

Icon 1000 Beltway jacket
$600
Four pocket coated canvas with leather reinforcement panels. Tough, tons of pockets, zip-out satin body liner, clever magnetic storm flap closing. Mine is a pre-production sample I got when I visited Icon HQ and it's showerproof rather than waterproof, but Icon 1000 don't make claims that it is waterproof. Tough coat.

Icon 1000 Cheeter gloves
$35
Felt much more lightweight than I would normally wear, but I was expecting to wear heavyweight Dainese winter gloves for most of the trip. Instead I wore these every day for 8 to 10 hours in our kit and they were the comfiest ever. No callouses, despite the rough going. Not sure how much protection the fabric back and goat leather palm would offer, and only a crash will tell me, so I'm putting that off. There is additional D30 (Icon's own armour) knuckle protection.
http://www.icon1000.com/

AGV AX8 Evo
£250
I'm spoilt for choice when it comes to helmets and would normally have ridden in an open-face Davida on a tour like this, but Vir, the tour leader, made it clear full-face was the way to go and all but one of our tour group listened to him.
This AGV is the lightest race helmet I've ever worn or even felt. It weighs just 1.15kg (2.5lb). Comfortable all day, every day.

100% Barstow x Ornamental Conifer goggles
$95
These road goggles have big frames (and lens) and look better with a full-face than open-face lid. Well made, lovely strap design from our mate Nico, with leather detailing. Comes with spare lenses to change for different conditions. Quality feel, but the top end of goggle price range.

Dainese TRQ-Tour Gore-Tex Boots
€250
High-tech touring boot with the protection of a Dainese raceboot. Fits under slim trousers (with a bit of wrangling) and very waterproof. Again, all-day comfortable. These are hardcore touring boots. I did 20 days straight in them, from coast-to-coast-to-coast of the USA - 8000 miles and they were faultless.

Kriega R35
£145
Possibly the best piece of motorcycle kit I've ever owned. I've only ever heard one complaint about Kriega packs and that was from someone who reckoned they were too big for the adjustment the straps offered, so if you're the size of a bear, perhaps try one before buying.

Edwin 55 Chino
£90
Not riding trousers, but I rode in them. And love them. Got them in a bit of a state too.

Slow Burn by Icon 1000

Read about this hard as nails BMW R90/6 and my visit to Icon 1000's HQ in Sideburn 22.

Icon 1000 are making great looking kit that Ben and I have used on trips all over the world. The geezer in this video wears the new Forestall jacket, Elsinore HP boots (now available in black) and the well-loved Variant helmet. I've spoken to a few people with those Elsinore boots, including Ben, and they all rave about them.

I wonder if my own trip to the Isle of Man in 2007, with Captain Simon and two European 125s, was any inspiration for this shoot? It's fair to say the Captain and I don't look as luscious as the lady captain of Icon's RIB, but we were in the middle of the Irish Sea and not taking any risks, opting for hi-viz buoyancy suits. G

Photo: Fly Tipping/ Fly Photos

Andy DiBrino on Dirt Quake USA

AMA Supersport road racer and some-time dirt tracker, Andy DiBrino presents his thoughts on Dirt Quake USA. It pretty much sums up what we think... G

Icon 1000 Jacknife & Ernie Vigil

Icon's Ernie Vigil thrashing a British Customs Bonneville Scrambler through the Salton Sea (a large endorheic* lake on the San Andreas fault in California).
Click to see more on the new Icon 1000 Jacknife range.

*a closed drainage lake that has no outflow, so water is only lost through evaporation or seepage.

Icon New Jack

 

Another great bike from Icon Motorsports , the US riding kits company that builds some fantastic bikes for their new product range photoshoots (Icon Basehawk jacket in this case).
This time they've updated a 1982 Katana with:

Oil cooler in the headlight opening and LED streetlight below
Bandit 1200 motor (some people talk about it being 'bigger', it has slightly more capacity than the original, but it's actually more compact front to rear)
Mikuni flatslides
Two British Nitron shocks in the monoshock position (like a prototype Rossi M1 from 2008 or so)
Modified Suzuki TL1000R Swingarm
Twin fillers
New tail
EBC discs and Nissin four-pots
USD Showas from a 2002-era Fireblade
Honda SP2 wheels

I love it. G

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.'

Icon 1000 Iron Lung

I love Icon. They do things properly. G

The Containment Conflicts

Another mind-boggling short film from Icon.
I rode the Ural in this film, The Quartermaster, when I was over in Portland. It was surprisingly good. G

Ride Icon

Icon Motosports

Portland in Rolling Stone, Italy

There's my and Micheal Schmidt's story on the Portland bike scene in this month's Rolling Stone Italia, on sale for the next few days. It features great people I met out there in like the SeeSee crew, Casey from G&H, Dirty Adam, everyone at Icon, Ginger at New Church Moto, the Sang Froid Riding Club, Bill from Canada, Norm Motorcycho... It's in the issue with the cartoon Ozzy on the cover. G

Dirt Quake 2 - May contain nuts

Well, Dirt Quake is over for another year. Thanks to all the helpers and our great sponsors. Thanks to our friends at the DTRA. Thanks to all the racers, who came from all over the Northern Hemisphere, and the spectators, some of whom came from even further afield. 

Here is a selection of photos kindly supplied by Tom of FT Photos. If you raced he will have a photo of you. He'll sell you a digital copy or an actual print. Contact him through his facebook - facebook.com/fooleryoftom - for his prices and when he will have the full selection online.

Yes, the street tracker/street scrambler class was hauling. In fact all classes had some very fast (and not so quick) guys. Charley Boorman #11, Christophe Gaime #9, Guy Sutherland #97. 

Charley Boorman raced the Zaeta DT brought over from Italy for the event. Gorgeous (the bike, not Charley).

Julien in Paris.

Icon Motosports' Lee Bowers served up a couple of incredible set of sets, flirting with Iron Bird's gyrocopter camera.

 Street Tracker class is go.

If you ever wondered why we called it the Inappropriate Road Bike Class, wonder no more. the Africa Twin, furthest form the camera, won the 24-strong class.

Sideburn's Ben 'Poncho' Part was flying on his longer-forked-for-more-ground-clearance XS650. He came a great second in a crazed Chopper class final.

 Gareth the Milk Chug champ.

Olivia the flag girl.

Ben kissing Davros the Trophy Queen.

Nope, no idea. It was a long day... G