You think you've got problems?

From our old friend Big Rupe...

Pannier fire on the A43 this morning. Lost a 35-year-old pair of Cheney shoes. R

DIY Hot Shoe

We thought we'd share this how to on the blog. Skooter Farm's Captain Highside wrote it for Sideburn 3. We put it up now, so Dirt Quake gladiators can have a go at making a hot shoe if they fancy one (no, it's not mandatory, some quick lads have raced without hot shoes in the UK). Click the image a couple of times and it should be readable.

Sideburn 3 was a mighty issue. We have some in stock. G

Axminster Hot-Shoe

Invisible from the air with its grass covered roof, Hanger 88 on the edge of the old RAF Hullavington runway is hard to find in the pitch black of a winter's night. Easier to switch off your engine and listen out for the whine of under-powered Chinese mini-bikes and the screeching from the cheap - but very effective Cheng Shin tyres.
Last weekend my brother sold his BTS I was intending to ride, for £250. Ronald picked one up last night for £280 (the same one maybe?!) which was flying until we decided to venture out from the tiny central ring we set up, onto the much faster perimeter karting circuit and he slammed it into the barrier. Co Built kindy brought along some extra bikes so all 8 of us has plenty of track time. I managed to create an small oil slick after a less spectacular tumble. But what with the make-shift carpet-shoes it soon got mopped up after a few laps. Thanks for organizing it all Anthony.
Next time it would be great to have a few more riders and spend some time setting up a slightly bigger oval. Maybe even make a day of it and add it as a Short Track UK event. BP

APART

Team Sideburn wears Brogues, so this chrome 'sculpture' made by Finn Stone speaks to our sensibility. Just many one of the eclectic artist repped by Adrian Palengat's APART gallery. For many years Adrian had a gallery on Portobello Road in London, but when the rates became extortionate he had no choice but to hit the road. Maybe a blessing in disguise, APART is now a roving gallery which pitches up anywhere between London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Paris, Venice and Berlin. BP

Golden Slipper

Along with the usual shining trophies handed out for each class in UK Short Track, for the next race at Buxton there will also be a 'Golden Slipper'. But we've already decided Jason is going to win it. BP

Fetish

Co Built Geoff knocked this hot shoe together for me. It's on my desk and I can't stop staring at it. I can't work. How do I break the news to my wife? BP

Wild Man Kenny Brown

UPDATE:
the full original feature on our godfather's Poppa Wheelie blog http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#3957159232109297459

Big Foot

Help Please...Until I get the time to have a custom steel shoe made, can anybody lend - or sell, me a size 12 UK / 13 USA / 47 Euro, steel shoe for our Rye House practice on Friday? Gary took my boot to the Allan Bellham Speedway Services shop, and even though their stock is literally piled from floor to ceiling, they don't do shoes for Sasquatch. Boot width is an issue; 11.5cm across at the forefoot. 32.5cm length. BP

UPDATE: The problem is Ben's boot has a sole stitched around the side. All the off-the-shelf hot shoes are for modern speedway boots (like these TCX boots) which are much slimmer - even with their protective inner boots) because of their stuck-on sole. G

Fiskerton Practice Track

I made it over to the Fiskerton practice track when Stoke had been cancelled. It's a great little practice track, totally hidden from the road. It's as grassroots as it gets, but, by gum, it's fast enough for a short track. Scottie was there blooding his lad Flynn. A few bike troubles slowed him up, but he got the hang of it. And he wore his favourite T-shirt and his homemade hot shoe.

This is Les squealing the tyre of his almost standard XS650 into turn 1. Jason pointed out that if he did that move on that old Yam into the car park of a bike meet it would go down in history.

Nice toolbox

This is Stew's bike. When I asked him why he was called The Dogger he just laughed. Now I really want to know. (For our foreign readers, Dogging is the quaint British hobby of going to a deserted car park and having sex while people watch, or just going to watch. The name comes from the excuses people use when the police turn up 'I was just walking the dog when I saw this going on, officer'.

Facilities at Fiskerton? Bring your own.

Steel Shoe

These should make turn one a little more interesting.
Every turn in fact. BP

The Hotshoe Man

Anyone know who shot this feature on Ken Maely, a few years ago, for French Magazine Cafe Racer?

You think you know someone...

I've been fortunate enough to interview Kevin Schwantz a few times. Saw him race in England too. Even got changed in the same room as him before we went to ride MotoGP bikes, but I never knew he was a dirt tracker. I knew that most US racers had raced on ovals, but it was so rarely mentioned in the Schwantz stories I'd read it had passed me by. Then I found these photos in a dusty corner of his website and they're gold dust. I love the ABC leathers, so I dug about to see why they had Darryl on the front and discovered this on the AMA Hall of Fame website 'He also raced a few amateur dirt track races using motorcycles borrowed from his uncle, AMA Grand National racer Darryl Hurst. Schwantz got his first taste of road racing at an event through the streets of Austin, Texas. Schwantz won the race over a slew of the best road racers in Texas riding his uncle’s Yamaha short-track racer.'
And he's setting the bar high with the outfit in the family photo, but his dad edges it in the style stakes. GI

Max Schaaf

Sideburn 2 star Max Schaaf has designed a limited edition shoe for Vans. They come in a replica of 1970s repica Harley spares box with a set of bike grips. There having a launch do thing this weekend. Wish we could be there.

What happened here then?

I think that's Scott Russell (not Thee). Don't know who that hot shoe belongs to. Or the foot. Or the visor.

Ken Maely

The Legend. Shot taken by Craig Randall at Houston. Read about the amazing Houston Astrodome races in Sideburn 2.