Travis and the Ronin at Pikes Peak

This is a video of our poet, regular contributor and friend Travis racing the firebreathing Ronin at Pikes Peak last year. The video is long because it shows three full 10 or so minute runs from different angles, but I'll be honest and say I didn't watch them all right through.

The beginning of the film is loaded with emotion and significance as Travis hugs his wife before the start, she kisses him on the chinbar of his helmet and walks to the side wiping a tear from behind her sunglasses. Earlier in the week their good friend Carl Sorensen crashed in practice and died. Travis had been weighing up the opportunity versus risk since then and came to a decision. Watch how he leaves the startline to see how committed he was to his decision. Travis would come second overall behind Honda America's official CBR1000 entry.

You can either watch the entire film, flick through the different angles or choose one angle and watch the whole race, but at the very least have a flick through to see the landscape change from lush forest to barren rockfield to snowline. At 35:16 Travis passes as a deer at over 100mph.

At the beginning the mechanic uses the line 'Colorado bike, Colorado rider, Colorado race'. It made me smile because I used that line when I visited Ronin in Denver to be the first journalist in the world to ride the road bike and put the idea of this Pikes Peak project in Ronin's mind. Who doesn't love it when a plan comes together?

Read my Ronin road test in Sideburn 19. G

UPDATE: This post was supposed to go up yesterday but was SNAFU'd. Sorry!

Stone

This is an extract from Dave Bevan's essay on the 1974 Australian biker movie, Stone, written exclusively for Sideburn 24.

The film opens with surely the weirdest (only?) didgeridoo-flecked space-jazz-swamp rock ever to grace a soundtrack, and what would be, if not for the acid mind-melt score laid over the top, a tranquil scene of a politician addressing a crowd toting placards baring environmentalist slogans and ’70s hippie goodwill. 

The relative peace is destroyed by the four-cylinder thunder and whine of sixteen brand-spanking Kawasaki Z1s with psychedelic customised fairings and paint jobs.

Read another 1630 words of this memorable article in Sideburn 24. Stone is often mentioned in relation to Mad Max, and while there are similarities, there are more differences. I've been meaning to watch it for years and finally got around to it while making the last issue. It's well worth £10 from Amazon.

We cover a lot of dirt track related stuff, but it's not all we do. Road trips, custom street trackers, adventure riding, Pikes Peak stuff and the odd (very odd) essay about bike films too, from Once a Jolly Swagman to On Any Sunday. G

Pirelli Moto at Snow Quake

The godfather of European Flat Track, Marco Belli, raced the Deus XJRX Yamaha XJR1300 at Snow Quake. And he flew on it. I got the holeshot in one heat race and he came past me like a 100bhp blizzard making me think, almost simultaneously, 'How is he riding that so quickly?' 'Why aren't I riding this more quickly?' and 'Jesus, those tyres look dangerous. Second place is fine this time.'

The special Pirelli tyres helped. A lot. The clip-ons didn't help. One bit. Marco Belli blew people's minds.

Marco also runs the Di Traverso flat track school in Italy. Fly in, ride the Yamaha SR400s on a beautifully prepared track, hang out at Deus Milan and neighbouring bike shop Officine Mermaid, then fly home. Perfect.

Thanks to Pirelli for helping make Snow Quake happen. A big report on the event is coming up in the next issue, due out in March. G

VIBA Scrambler LARA800 Vs Snow Quake

VIBA Motor of France brought one of their limited edition LARA800 Scramblers to Snow Quake. It's based on a modern MV Agusta 800 liquid-cooled triple and they allowed Dirt Quake veteran Pierre-Alexandre Treust race it on their own handmade ice tyres (Treust was Toy Story's Woody on a full fat BMW airhead Boxer at DQIV. You can see him in this post).

The day didn't start well for the €32,300 (plus tax) exclus-crambler. The top of the lightweight battery cracked, perhaps due to the frigid temperatures, and shorted. But VIBA boss, Yann, had packed a spare (very professional). Once they got going, and Pierre got his eye in, the bike ran well and the pilot was brave, on a bike with not much steering lock. For those who don't know, you really want a lot of steering lock on a bike you're trying to powerslide. If a bike doesn't have much lock, the forks hit the lock stops before the back end has stopped over-steering and then it wants to highside and there's not much a rider can do about that. Especially on ice.

The way people rode heavy street bikes on the Ice Rosa Ring was an real eye-opener. Legends, the lot of them.

More Snow Quake reports from other racers coming over the next few days. G

R1 Tracker

Ben Bostrom
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Gregg's Custom Yamaha R1 1000cc street tracker.
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Story by MotoGeo's Jamie Robinson.
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Sideburn 9 
Also available in a back issue deal, while stocks last. G

SKON - Some Kind Of Nature

We have a new advertiser in Sideburn from the next issue, Some Kind of Nature, a clothing brand based in Nottingham. I met up with the founder, James and he's a mad bike enthusiast into street bikes and motocross. He has fingers in pies. I hope Sideburn can do some interesting stuff with him in the future.

SPECIAL OFFER: If you buy anything from SKON online, at www.somekindofnature.com, use the code SIDEBURN20 to get 20% off your order.

This is what James says about SKON. G

Some Kind Of Nature or S.K.O.N for short is the logical retail extension of a creative speed loving, adventure chasing bunch of 80s kids obsessing over design snd style. Find what you love & let it kill you. 

The label is ran from a pizza bar in the heart of the creative quarter in Nottingham owned by label founder James. SKON's limited edition garments are produced in the UK and shipped across the world. The brands MC club styling, 80s inspired board and bike loving tattoo enthusiast approach is fast gaining them a loyal following!

El Solitario Big Bad Wolf

The Spanish agitators collaborated with Yamaha Yard Built to create this Yamaha XJR1300 beast. Inspired by the Black Arrow? (I might just be jealous, because I couldn't afford half the stuff on this bike).
And it walks the walk. It won the Sprint at Glemseck this year.
This is straight (with bits cut for space) from the press release...

Key to the success of the project was the collaboration with Mauro Abbadini, from Classic Co. as technical director of the build, he brought with him the confidence and know how of a veteran racer and winner of many battles. 

The ‘Big Bad Wolf’ AKA: BBW, has almost everything custom made with the exception of the frame, the tank, the handlebars and the rear light, reducing the wet weight to just 183kg. The Motor was blueprinted and the heads were ported and flowed. The intake port flow was increased by 50%. Compression was raised from 9.7-1 (Stock) to 10.7-1. The rods were reinforced with titanium bolts and the crankshaft was rebalanced. 

All the electronics and were removed and state of the art Lectron 42 Carburetors were added, developed specifically for the BBW by Lectron Fuel Systems on their flow bench to be plug & play on delivery. A Dynatek Programmable Ignition was installed. The work takes the power up to 148 BHP at the rear wheel. 

Plus...
Classic Co. carbon fibre tail section, motor air rams and belly pan 
Dymag carbon fibre wheels
ISR triple trees, disc rotors and the rear brake caliper bracket. 
ISR hand controls 
ISR calipers 
K-Tech Suspension/ Novatech front forks and the rear shocks 
Asahina Racing exhaust 
Taleo Racing oil cooler 
Over Racing swingarm and rearsets
Motogadget M-Unit and M-Lock
 Corona quick shifter 
PIAA headlights
Death Spray Custom paint

Deadvolt by Fuel Haus

This came in from Jeff Yarrington in Philadelphia. Looks like a Dirt Quake Inappropriate Road Bike contender.

I have recently started fresh in Philly, new life, new shop. I will keep this short, My first build out of the Fuel Haus I thought may be something you'd appreciate. a fun bike, that is fun to ride. And way over-powered. 

Have a look at the pictures and hopefully feel free to share in any way you like, blog, site, or simply social media. It all helps with new business and this being our first offering out after getting our space and things that go with it. 

The bike, "Deadvolt" started as a 1987 ZX750R. It now as you see is something much different. Frame, aluminum wheel discs, seat, rack, exhaust , etc etc all handmade here. 110 hp, 6-speed, 60-tooth rear sprocket, its big big fun on and off the street. currently on ebay

Jeff Yarrington and Atticus.

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

The Black Arrow Summer Memories

I love these photos by Jean-Francois 'Jeff' Muguet of me and my Suzuki at the Cafe Racer Festival, Montlhery from earlier this year. Good memories of a really nice event.
I write regular updates on this bike for Performance Bikes magazine. G

Honda RC213V-S

Marc Marquez's GP bike on the road.
Love this paintjob and the whole concept, just ditch the blue front disc carriers. G

See more photos at the excellent twwhlspls

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.'

Ronin

This is an interesting bike with a very interesting story behind it, being made in Denver, Colorado. Here's the official line from Ronin temselves...

First 12 Ronin Motorcycles released for sale

Denver, CO – After several years in development, Ronin Motor Works announced today that it is releasing the first 12 bikes of their limited run of 47 motorcycles via their website http://www.the47.com

These limited production motorcycles are designed at the Ronin Motor Works factory in Denver, Colorado, using the latest in engineering software and design techniques. The Ronin motorcycles are produced to strict tolerances, and yet each motorcycle is crafted with honest, time-tested manufacturing principles. Each production Ronin features 11 cast aluminum parts, all poured and heat-treated within a short drive of the Ronin Motor Works factory. Castings are hand-sanded over countless hours before being painted and assembled onto bikes. Other components including the seat, carbon fiber air box cover and fenders, sheet metal parts, and wiring harness are all designed in-house and then sourced locally. The Ronin's design is as unique as its manufacturing process. The brake and clutch master cylinders and steering nacelle are all one integrated assembly ending with small bar end mirrors and LED turn signals. To achieve a light, clean aesthetic, cables, wiring, and fluid lines are routed inside the castings and under the air box cover and seat. Traditional motorcycle components are combined into unitized parts to save space and weight, such as the battery box that incorporates the rider’s foot pegs and the belt drive tensioner. Other advance design features of the Ronin Motorcycle include, RFID ignition key and solid-state rely module, custom-tuned ECU, high-efficiency stator and a newly designed high-flow exhaust system.

The first 12 bikes released will be in the classic Silver and Black color of the original Magpul concept bike. At $38,000 (USD) each, these bikes will be the most affordable of all the Ronin motorcycles released (and priced below the cost to produce them). The initial release of 12 will be followed by 10 all-black versions at an increased price. After that, there will be a release of 8, then 6, then 4, and then 2; each group will have different color schemes and features. The remaining 5 bikes will be one-off designs. Every bike is named after one of the 47 Ronin warriors from Japanese folklore, and each warrior's name is engraved on the bike and on the owner's toolkit.

Ronin Motorcycle History 
In 2008, when the Buell 1125 was first released, there were press shots of the bike showing the engine, frame and swing arm with all of the body panels removed and the simplicity of the design was evident. Arguably, the production 1125’s most interesting engineering aspects were hidden under its skin. At that time Magpul Industries Corp. acquired two Buell 1125Rs to use in a design exercise to explore what sort of bike could be built around the revolutionary engine and frame. Eight months later, the resulting concept bike was revealed as the Magpul Ronin at the 2010 SHOT show in Las Vegas.

Later that year, Harley-Davidson announced the elimination of the Buell brand and with that, Harley-Davidson dealerships started liquidating their Buell assets. Based on the possibility of creating additional Ronin motorcycles, a number of stock 1125s were purchased and placed into storage. Because the bike was designed as a concept, it was not conventional in appearance or function. People either loved it or hated it, but enough interest was generated to investigate a limited production run of the Ronin design.

Since the concept bike was hand built, building more than a handful of bikes would require infrastructure to be put in place. As the concept was named Ronin it was decided that the number of bikes should be 47 as homage to the old story of The 47 Ronin from Japanese folklore. Taken from the Japanese word for a Samurai who lost their master, the name "Ronin" was chosen to signify Buell motorcycles that will continue on after the demise of the company. The Ronin concept featured a custom monoshock linkage suspension system, front-mounted radiator, unitized handlebar assembly, new ram air intake, cast aluminum tail section, and high-flow exhaust system. The features enhanced the bike’s ride while also decreasing the total weight by approximately 50lbs from stock.

From Concept to Production - Ronin Motor Works 
In 2012, two of the Magpul founders came up with a plan to keep the project alive by individually funding a “pop up” manufacturing company dedicated to producing a production version of the Ronin motorcycle concept. They formed Ronin Motor Works in order to create an entity solely focused on the Ronin project, since the demands and specifics were somewhat different from Magpul’s main focus on a rapidly growing presence in its primary product markets. Ronin Motor Works secured a location in Denver and hired a small team of motorcycle design specialists. This team starting working on a 20 month long redesign of the Ronin, using the concept bike as a guide. Extensive engineering, design for manufacturability, ergonomics, and testing went into the final product.

In 2013 the production design was finalized and Magpul authorized Ronin Motor Works to use the “Magpul”trademark and logo mark on the production bikes under the name “Magpul Ronin Project.” In 2014 production began on the first group of Ronin motorcycles. These will be released in reverse serial number order (47 -1) in various, predetermined color schemes that will be more limited as each release is announced.