Sideburn 30

Another milestone reached. Issue 30! And our regular readers tell us it keeps getting better. That's the idea. This another fat 116-page issue squeezed, like blood from a stone, out of Sideburn's Lincolnshire HQ.

BUY SIDEBURN 30

COVER STAR: Manon Hache; Co-Built Rotax and Chris Piascick art
BIKES: Bottpower XR1R Pikes Peak special; budget Yamaha FZ-07 framer; monoshock H-D Sportster; Wedge BMW 310; Honda 650 Mablethorpe Sand Racer
EVENTS: Travis at Pikes Peak; The Springfield Mile; Pendine Speed Trials; DirtQuake VI
HOW TO: Use your brake to go faster by Johnny Lewis
PEOPLE: Marco Belli; Sean Flynn and Dana Stone
PORTFOLIO: The photography of Kristina Fender
MOVIE: Godspeed! You Black Emperor
ADVENTURE: Across frozen Mongolia on Enfield 500 combinations
PAGES: 116

BUY SIDEBURN 30

BMW Kneeler

This silver ingot was one of the many nutty bikes at the Westonzoyland sprint I went to a few weeks back. Held on a former WWII airfield, organised by the NSA. A great event. Young lasses and very, very old blokes alike, beating the crap out of equally modern and ancient machinery. Unlike the roped-off Pendine sands vintage hot rod sprint, the laid back set up in Somerset allows for an eyebrow contorting sense of speed. And the pits are very much open so you are welcome to chat with the crazies who are daring enough to keep this sport alive. BP

This R100/7 (I think?) was designed as a hill-climber so the third wheel steers too, to enable quicker cornering on mountain circuits. A basic linkage runs over the chair.

Enzo Sidecars: Back in stock

These are officially child's toy, but they make a great ornament too (in my opinion). Super tactile, EU approved, designed in the UK for a UK company (but made abroad).
We had British Racing Green and copper-coloured ones that sold out. Now we have red and chrome and silver and black.

Dimensions: Length 250mm x Width 195mm x Height 130mm
Materials: ABS Plastic with high gloss UV coating. Hand-polished with care.

£42 plus post for sideburn.bigcartel.com
We deliver worldwide. G

Chairmageddon

It seems the end of the world happened. The Four Chairmen of the Apocalypse at a Danebury grasstrack meet in genteel Hampshire. Photo by Simon Burgess. MP 

Yamaha Yard-Built x Dirt Quake

This is Yamaha Yard-Built's official video from Dirt Quake IV. They brought a great line-up of modified Yams from their Yard-Built program and two 'official' riders - Marco Belli (dirt track legend and man behind the Di Traverso school) and Alessandro Rossi (one of the owners of Deus Ex Machina Milano).

Marco raced the Deus modified XV950 D-Side (with sidecar and surfboard removed - see it below in its beach-bothering incarnation). Alessandro raced a 2014 SR400 modified for the Di Traverso School.

The video - which was made by the same crew that film Yamaha's MotoGP coverage and campaigns - features other Yamaha riders from the weekend: the DTRA's reigning Thunderbike champ Dave Chadburn and the wicked fast #36 TT500 he raced on Friday's night DTRA round; Hubert Bastie - the Ninja Turtle on the Clutch Paris-supported FZ750 and Serge Nuques on the 1000cc R1 he raced at the TT. Watch him win the inappropriate road bike class at 3:01 for an incredible way to cross a finish line.

Big thanks to Yamaha Yard-Built for supporting Dirt Quake IV, all the sponsors help make the show bigger and better. G

When Dinosaurs Roamed the Beaches

From Harley in the Isle of Man

I was nosing through some old photos and came across this monster, taken at Mablethorpe at least 25 years ago. I’ve no idea who was at the controls but they really don’t make ‘em like that any more. 
Happy New Year 
Harley

Vöcklabruck

From Charly in Austria

 Hi Gary! 
 I'm responsible for the motorcycle history in Vöcklabruck. That's a small city with about 12000 inhabitants. The picture was made at a sidecar ice race at 1960. 
 You can use or public the picture if you have a need. I'm looking very much forward to the next issue. Have a nice day and greetings from Austria 
 Charly

Beat Combo

We've been mentioning Lewis from the band Little Barrie a bit on the blog because he's supplied a brilliant and very personal feature about vintage grasstrack for Sideburn 10. The band has just been touring the US. Flat track racer and SB contributor Greaser Mike went to see Little Barrie in NY.
When Lewis got back off tour he sent us these photos and this message (he said he doesn't look himself in the top photo. He hadn't recovered from the tour yet...). G

The background to the bike is....a good friend of my dad's Kenny White passed away this year, he had keep it in his garage since the 70s (this is an early 70s outfit). His daughter gave it to his old passenger John Smith. All their old grasstrack crowd met at the funeral and it ended up at my dad's garage to be restored. They are all itching to have a go on it. I haven't seen one of these kind of outfits in the flesh since I was 2 yrs old! And very much doubt there are very many around...I know Gerry Wheeler, one of the top riders of his day still does a lap or two on his at big events for show, that's the only other one I know of.
Tour went really well thanks, although I was a broken man by the time I got back. Thanks for hooking us up with Mike Kramer.
Lewis

Lewis Wharton Jnr.

Ford Capris, Bay City Rollers barnets, chunky cork soled sandals, nostalgia is everything. I also love that crystal ball thing, whereby you can look at this old photo and know what that little baby doesn't
- He can't yet wipe his own arse, but he will be come a bassist in a rock'n'roll band, he will (have no choice but to) love motorbikes. And in 37 years time, he will write an article about his Dad's antics as a grass-track side-car monkey for a motorcycle magazine called Sideburn. His band is called Little Barrie. They have a new album out in the here and now, today. It's called King of the Waves. They're playing at Bowery Electric in New York tonight. BP
UPDATE: You can see a special recording of Little Barrie playing live on Breakthru Radio. It's good. G

Caption Winner

Back in December we ran a little competion Not sure I'm wholly honored, but the winner is Andrew Gray. Even my wife said "The likeness is quite uncanny!" He will be receiving a stack of assorted stickers, badges, and a kipper in the post - should have quite a guff on by the time it reaches him. BP

Simon's holiday photos

My mate Simon took his hand-built Yamaha R1-powered BABYIOS to Corsica this summer. He saw this there. GI