Motoroco Wood Rotax

Go to our STORIES section to read the story and see more photos and details of this Wood Rotax that has been rebuilt and subtly tweaked by Motoroco in the Netherlands.

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

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

DTRA Round 1 Report: Rye House

The first DTRA race of 2016 was the biggest ever UK short track race (except for the Dirt Quake two-dayers that we hold with the DTRA). The meeting was split into two, with self-contained morning and afternoon sessions. Juniors, rookies and minibikes ran in the morning. Pros, restricted, vintage and Thunderbikes got on track at 2pm.

Rye House has a new owner and is under-going renovation. The DTRA seemed much happier with the new regime and the track was well prepared and looked after during the meeting. In the past, the previous owner would dump 1000 litres on it halfway through the meeting and totally screw it.
One result of the track being looked after was a very safe meeting. I didn't see the medical staff called once.

There were a ton of new riders in all the classes and some of last year's top restricted riders moved up to the Pro class. The DTRA has introduced a B Final for the Pro class to encourage those without a realistic chance of making the final to enter the dwindling Pro class in the knowledge they'll get three heats and a B Main. The B Main also acts as a last chance qualifier (LCQ) with the top two from the B Main qualifying for the A Main. There was a slight mix-up with the race order of this meeting so the B Main riders went straight from their ten-lap B into the 10-lap A Main without a break. That was a bit of a poisoned chalice, meaning they had to race knackered against the best amateur riders in Europe. The DTRA will sort that for future races.

The race attracted riders from Italy, Germany, France and Belgium, 12-15 foreign riders in total.
Thanks to the DTRA volunteers for all they do for the sport. They were working for ten hours on Sunday, plus travelling time, to make the event run as smooth as an oiled eel. GI

Sean Vukovic entered his very first dirt track race on his Survivor Customs CCM Rotax and won the Thunderbike class ahead of a strong field. Ross 'The King' Herrod was second, Survivor Mike Hill was third.
Want a potential race winner for £3500-£4000? Talk to Mike at Survivor Customs.

Frenchman Frank Chatokhine, #5R, came back to the series after missing much of last season and bossed the ever-growing Vintage class. We featured his Metisse Triumph in Sideburn 17.

17-year-old Ollie Brindley #24, hasn't had an off-season. over winter he has raced both Superprestigios and a bunch of Florida races, plus spent two weeks with AMA Pro Johnny Lewis. He followed the hard-charging current champ, Aidan Collins, for a few laps before finally making a pass stick and then he cleared off. Aidan came in second, Alan Birtwistle (aka Moto Ninja) came a good third. 

Vintage class rookie John Harrison looked like he'd been parachuted in from 1974. He is one of many riders who lost their dirt track virginity at Dirt Quake and now are racing in the DTRA.

Another is Ross Sharp, one of the Bike Shed MC full-time staff. Ross bought a used DTX bike last year, did a few practices, entered the Rookies and won first time out. A very confident rider.

Alessandro Rossi from Deus Milan bought Jason's gorgeous Wood Rotax (that we have a blueprint of for all the Wood Rotax fans out there) and flew in with his family for a weekend of motorcycle fun.

James from Hard Luck Tattoo is another graduate from the University of Dirt Quake. He raced two classes and was smiling like a loon every time I saw him. 

And me? I missed the Eastbourne practice because of bike problems at the Rye House practice the week before, then didn't get the bike working properly until the Friday before this race. It ran like a dream, but I forgot I only wanted to leave that rear tyre on for the pre-season practices and turned up to the first race with a worn Maxxis DT1. Better riders than me could cope with worn rubber, but I need all the help I can get. This photo shows ambition getting the better of talent. Still I made the Thunderbike final, stayed on two wheels all day and had a lot of fun. 

The next race is at the MCN Festival, Peterborough over the weekend of 14-15 May and Colin Edwards is racing with us! G

Photos: Ian Roxburgh

New Blueprints in Stock

We have just made Giclee prints of the Wood Rotax blueprint from Sideburn 22 and...

 The Yamaha TZ700 Miler from Sideburn 15.

We also have blueprints of...
Wood Norton (from Sideburn 13)
Bultaco Astro (from Sideburn 14)
Harley XR750 (from Sideburn 16)
Trackmaster BSA A70 (from Sideburn 17)

They are all high quality Giclee prints, 40 x 30cm, printed exclusively for Sideburn.
£22 plus post from sideburn.bigcartel.com

We also have the XR750 blueprint T-shirt for £18 plus post

And the Bultaco Astro on black T-shirt FOR FREE with the 8-issue subscription deal.

El Solitario DTRA Rookie

David B from El Solitario borrowed my Wood Rotax to compete in the Rookies class at the King's Lynn round of the DTRA championship.

I think he liked it - 'One of the sweetest experiences I’ve ever had on a motorcycle!'
Read his blog post on the day over at El Solitario.com.

Next DTRA rounds are this Saturday and Sunday at Amman Valley, Wales. Free to spectate. G

Photo: David Marvier

Out in Front

Just recovering from a great motorcycle weekend in England. Thanks to The Bike Shed crew for their Event (more on that when we get chance) and the Dirt Track Riders Association and all their volunteers for a super-smooth race meet at Rye House.

With nearly 30 riders in the Thunderbike class I didn't qualify for the 12-man A Final, but I was on the front row for the B, got the holeshot, led every lap and managed to break from the pack (see below).

I'd always rather qualify for the A with no chance of a podium, but it is nice to win a race every now and then. 

Thanks to Simon F for the photos. G

Trying

It's rare I see of photo of me that actually looks like I'm trying, so I thought I'd share these that I pinched from Anthony's DBA blog. They were taken at last weekend's King's Lynn race. I'm racing my Wood Rotax.
If you're new to the Sideburn blog, well howdy. We're a motorcycle magazine that features dirt track, speedway, ice racing and other go left and leftfield stuff. We make room for varied knobbly-tyred goings on; road bikes that look like they could or should race, and bikes that shouldn't race, but do. Oh, and art.

And we race too, in the UK flat track series. This blog is an extension of the magazine and the events we organise. If you like it, do us a favour and find the money to buy a magazine. Thanks. G
Photos: Tim Coles and James Boddy

I'm trying

I did an email interview with Dutch for his website The Bike Shed. He wanted some photos so I dug out this one from Stoke a couple of years ago. My body position isn't ideal: sat too square on the seat, throttle elbow much too low, but I like it because I look like I trying. I do try, all the time, but sometimes I don't look like I am in photos.

I love this bike, my Wood Rotax. That's why I'm not buying a twin shock scrambler, I have one of the greatest twin shock dirt trackers ever built (according to Chris Carr in an interview in SB10). G
Photo: I'm pretty sure Dan or Hayley took this photo.

Some pictures from Fermo Flat Track, Italy

From Filandro Di Paolo. Thanks. Nice horse track...

Fan bike XS650. Long forks!
Dutch Bros Wood Rotax

Dario! From Sideburn 1.
Marco Belli's Zaeta
Husky DTX.
Jacapo Monti's mutant CRF. Repositioned rad, carbon front rim, new subframe, new tank, R6 forks...
Fasciani bike with hideous new Lambretta in background ridden by a man in flip-flops. I apologise for this making it onto the site...

Dirk's New Bike

This has been on my desktop for months. Jan-Willem Dutch Brother sent me it. It's Dirk's new bike, a Wood-Rotax on lovely Performance Machine 8-spokes. He bought it after seeing an advert on VFT then imported it. A steady dribble of framers are coming to Europe from the US and,of course, more are being built here by companies like Co-Built, Zaeta and Red Max.

If anyone has those PM wheels for sale, let us know, please. G

Prep

New Maxxis DTR-1 CD5 rear tyre; new Mikuni; new method of zip-tying (learnt from road race teams - insert a little bit of poly pipe to stop the brake line from chafing), clean-up; re-grease. Nearly ready for Sunday.

HEY, UK Short trackers, anyone got an old Maxxis front they don't need? Sideburn's mate Carl at CFM is modifying a bike to practice on and needs a tyre. Please bring on Sunday if you have anything. Thanks. GI

Wood Rotax Street Tracker

From Ed (who also owns this Harley KH)...

Thought you might like to see my Wood street tracker. Ron originally built this one as a playbike, and the large tank, kick starter, long travel suspension and front brake are all original. So are the thick padded seat and passenger pegs. I've spruced it up a bit, and added the lights and a Phil Darcy built Mikuni HSR42 carb, but it was already in fine shape, having played around on fire roads in Northern Arizona for it's entire life. Metzeler street tires got it through its inspection, but I reckon they will be coming off soon.
Happy Holidays, Ed

Read the Ron Wood story in Sideburn 3.

The Prince of Peoria

Michele forwarded this great photo. Sorry, don't know who took it, but it looks like Chris Carr and his Wood Rotax. Styling. 1986? G