John Harrison: The Early Years, pt2

As we explained ahead of part one of John Harrison's look back at his early biking years, his attitude and style caught our eye at DTRA races, so we invited him to share his thoughts on the blog. We're glad we did, and here's his latest instalment.

I was really lucky when I turned 16, because I coerced my mum into getting me what I reckoned was the best moped of the lot, a Fantic Caballero. She wasn't best pleased when my O level results came through a while later, though.

It was a proper little trail bike. High-level pipe with a natty heat shield, knobblies, enduro-style pouch on the tank, satin black with Italian stripes and raised, polished guards. Most of the lads went for FS1-Es or the rather more sluggish four-stroke Honda SS50, but me and my mate (who got me onto bikes with his BSA Beagle) both had Caballeros and never had trouble outrunning the other mopeds. The rings went at 3000 miles and it blew tail light bulbs weekly, but that was worth living with. We rode them down to Cornwall for a week's holiday and I thought nothing of riding 50 miles each way to visit my girlfriend every weekend. Great off road, too. My ride to work took in some green lanes so it saw plenty of trail action.

At 17 I traded it in on an RD250C Yamaha, but I couldn't keep up with the repayments and had to let it go after nine months or so. Still, I had it for the fabulous summer of '76. A lovely, good-quality bike. I've liked Yamahas ever since.

Pics of the RD and Caballero from the internet, they're not my bikes.

A little later I bought a clapped out 250 Bultaco Sherpa and rebuilt it. I had the frame nickel plated and replaced all the knackered bits.

But, much as I love trials I'm no good at it and trials bikes are not much use for daily transport. So I bought a DT250 that had been stripped down and used as a common basher. Luckily, the road equipment had been kept so I put it back on and it was a fun road bike, really rideable. I'd love it now to convert for DTRA racing.

This is the only picture I've got of it, peeping out from behind a project that inevitably never got finished. A friend and I went halves on the Capri,  which was going to be a high-steppin' gasser with a straight-tube front axle. We got as far as the chassis and bulkhead work seen here, and bought a flip front and a (supposedly) hot small-block Chevy before running out of steam. JH 104R

Teen lust

When I was too young to ride on the road, I had posters on my bedroom wall of Harley's SX and SS250s, and I was mad for 'em. I still think they look great and we have a soft spot for them on this blog, given that Garrett B's street-tracked SX was the subject of our very first post, eight-and-a-half years ago.

By the time I was old enough for a road bike, the law had changed and 250s with L-plates disappeared in a blue-grey fug of lost hope. But even at that tender age, I'd have had no trouble telling a 1000cc four-stroke V-twin from a two-stroke single, though the AMF-era marketing geeks hoped otherwise.

"If you can't tell it from our big bikes, see your AMF Harley-Davidson dealer," they say. Why? Did they have in-house opticians back then? MP

Boss 1974 Yamaha 250 in UK

Not one single interesting flat trackers being sold on UK eBay gets past Kev H. He combs the online auction site with a fine-toothed comb and clues us up when he finds one.
His latest find is this Boss Yam 250. Non-runner parts missing, but has potential. It certainly looks the part. Bultaco Astro botherer? Could be. G

Mablethorpe

Mablethorpe sand racing season continues tomorrow. Racing from around 11am. Free to spectate, cheap to race.

They'll let you race just about anything. You just need to fit a lanyard cut-out wired into the loom. This Kawasaki GT550 is a regular in the unlimited road bike class (for anything over 250cc).

 There's also a class for grasstrackers.

The previous race was my first of the season. My dirt cheap Honda SLR650 (also unlimited road bike) had been neglected all summer, but was treated to a new Renthal chain, oil and filter and a once over at CFM of Sleaford, plus a seat unit from Survivor Customs. Much appreciated support from son/mechanic Max and Dave Taylor.
Got a second (I think) in my final heat of five after having terrible starts. I also had the narrowest escape from a crash that I've ever had. I was so sure I was down and out that I was already looking behind to see if anyone was going to hit me, when the bike came back in line and I didn't even lose a place.

Glyn is in the under 250 road bike class on his modified Suzuki X7.

Andy's started racing a Honda  XL250 in a KLX frame.

Ross (Rootbeer Bobber) has built a DT400 (above and below) to race in Vintage DTRA next year, but has bought some tyres for a run out on the beach. He debuts tomorrow.
It would be great if some of the sandpeople would cross over to the DTRA, though a few sand bikes (like my Honda have no brakes, and they need a rear brake for UK dirt track). And they'd need 18 or 19in wheels for DT tyres. G

Rare Bultaco Astro for Sale in UK

Our mate Gareth is selling this. Again, we don't know anything about the condition or history, we're just passing the details on.

Brought over from Colorado approximately 3 years ago where it was raced regularly we are told. A good friend over in CO had agreed to buy the contents of a garage from the mother of a guy who had been killed in a road bike crash. This was his race bike and one of 16 other dirtbikes in the garage. I intended to race it here after giving up supermoto and having taken part in DQ1. That's now not going to happen unfortunately so it's time to move it on even though I love looking at it parked in the garage.

I have spoken to Hugh's Bultaco in the USA and they have seen this bike in photos and reckon it's pretty special. 1972, model 106 - The first of the Astros. The swing arm and yokes (Nortex) are one off race items I believe. 
The wheel hubs are Barnes and the rims are original Akront, Borani rims (19" front, 18"rear) the rear having knock off sprocket and disc carrier. Original Pirelli tyres ( worth a bit on their own) in good nick. 
The LHS petcock leaks where it meets the fibreglass and will probably be OK with some tank sealant. I have some POR15 which comes with the bike. 
 The Hurst Airheart rear brake set up works from the bars but could do with new seals and I have spare brand new pads for it. 
I have run it and it selects all gears and the clutch is fine. It needs rejetting though as it's very rich. Could do with new chain and has a mahoosive! rear sprocket. 
 The forks need an overhaul at present with little oil inside. Fork seals readily available for these forks. 
The seat is a later style seat and the frame rails have been altered to accommodate. 
Electronic ignition with a twin spark CDI. 
I have a manual and some other bits for it. I also have the import paperwork (pre NOVA) 
 It's a lovely bike and needs racing. £2,950 collection only. Cheshire. 
Gareth 07516 978059

ATTENTION: BULTACO FANS
We have Bultaco blueprints in the Sideburn shop.

And/or subscribe to Sideburn and get a free Sideburn Bultaco Astro line drawing T-shirt with the first of your 8 issues.  Follow the link above. You can choose from the latest issue or the next, but don't hesitate because we're running low on this shirt and will be changing the offer soon.

Busch Brothers DT400

This gorgeous, rebodied DT400 was built by the insanely talented Busch Brothers. It's featured in Sideburn 21.
It's also for sale. $4200.
Located in Reno, Nevada.

Stealing Speed by Mat Oxley

Sometime Sideburn contributor, Mat Oxley, has self-published/reprinted one of his books, and it's a goody. It's the story of Walter Kaaden, the Iron Curtain, WWII flying bombs, spies, defections and the Japanese buying German technology to finally build a really successful two-stroke.
Read a very good related post by our own Mick P - Walter Kaaden and Two-Strokes

Here's what Mat says about the reprint...

Finally reprinted in HARDBACK after several years out of print. Current best prices on Amazon for secondhand copies of Stealing Speed are £73 for a paperback and a ridiculous £640 for a hardback! This is why I decided to reprint the book, so you can once again buy it at a reasonable price.
The book itself costs £14.99. I have included post and packing in the prices on this site, so the UK total is £17.79, EU £21.85 and USA/Australia etc £25.99.

Get a copy direct from Mat at Stealing Speed. G

Trackmaster Titan

Trackmaster-framed Suzuki Titan 500s are rare beasts, perhaps only two or three were ever made. This is one shot 'in the day' at the San Jose Mile. We found another of the two-stroke twins, with its original racer and owner, at Springfield last year. See the bike and read the story in Sideburn 20. G

Ohio

Gregory from Ohio got in touch a few months ago saying, and I'm paraphrasing, 'I've raced motocross, I've starting reading Sideburn and this dirt tracking looks fun, but when I've tried to speak to some dirt track race people in my area they've been very dismissive and I don't know where to start. Help.'

I remembered that regular blog contributor and sometime Sideburn magazine contributor, Roger F (whose great shots from Ohio races in the 1970s are in Sideburn 7) lives in Ohio. I introduced Greg and Roger via email, and...

Thanks again for putting me in touch with Roger, Looks like I'll be racing this weekend. Really appreciate your kindness. Looking forward to many more issues with my new subscription. I included a photo of my first flat track build (Yamaha 360).

The race is at Western Reserve in Salem, Ohio. Roger said he would also be there. Looking forward to the fun. Have a good race this weekend, let me know how you do! Will you be in the states for Dirt Quake USA? 
Greg 

Sideburn - converting the world to flat track, one rider at a time. And yes, we'll be in Castle Rock for Dirt Quake USA. G

Garrett B: A special place in our hearts

Found this photo of Garrett B over on Travis's 747 Rider blog.

Long time Sideburn blog readers might remember Garrett has a special place in our hearts, because his gorgeous Aermacchi was the subject of our very first blog back in March 2008 (we started the blog after the mag, how very old-fashioned, eh?).

Since then and now we have made 4928 posts. If you look on the sidebar on the right and scroll to the bottom you will see we have added a list of all the labels we semi-religously use to link posts from the SEVEN years of this blog. Only enter the tangled web if you have two hours to lose.

Garrett and his son and daughter all race on the Colorado flat tracks. In this photo Garrett is wearing the very first T-shirt design we made, the Dick shirt. G

UPDATE: Following our own label trail reminded me I'd already posted this photo. It works!

CR500 Tracker for Sale - Be Quick

Just found out about this, thanks Greg.

The CR500 tracker that won the 2013 DTRA Championship with Tim Neave on board is up for sale on eBay Honda CR500 flat tracker.

This bike was featured in Sideburn 14. G

Photo: Tom Whiting

Bodyboarding

Jenny surfing her Yamaha DT250.
Photo by Lanakila MacNaughton

Stories of Bike: The Jerkyls

A nicely edited film from Australia that does a good job of explaining my own attraction to racing flat track - racing a gang of mates for fun, sometimes at the back of the pack.
If I just had to sit in my van focussing on the next race or thinking about my gearing I wouldn't look forward to the racing half as much as I do when I know I'm going to have a laugh with a bunch of mates I met through racing but who now meet up when we're not at the the track. It's probably because a lot of these fellas are roughly the same age as me and got into racing when their youth was long gone.

By the way, this is what Aussies called dirt track, on knobblies, not traditional DT tryres. G

UPDATE: Read Andy Jerky;s story about racing in Sideburn 19.

Frank Gillespie Stylist

Frank Gillespie riding Gaskill built, Sachs-KTM engined, Penton 360? 1974? Santa Fe? BP

Champion Ossa (street legal!) For Sale in UK

This looks like it would be a great fun race bike, but I'm not sure I'd want it as a road bike. Thanks to Ross for the tip-off. Follow this link to UK eBay (not a) Champion Ossa. The reserve is £2600.
UPDATE: Spurious title on eBay. I should've read it more carefully. It's not a Champions frame. Still neat, but not a desirable (to me at least). G

Hmmm...

"Do you think it is possible to turn this two stroke Jawa CZ 175 drudge I have access to, into something off the meat rack like this Yam????. I thought it could be rad but > > > > > > i'm not sure whether to proceed or not ha ha.
happy new year CFH!

UPDATE: Strangely, I just noticed in MCN that Jawa 350 twins (shown below) are being imported into the UK. They cost, what I think is, a whopping £3799. If you're still interested go to http://www.jawamotorcycles.co.uk GI

Don't Dilly-dally!

We'd rather be out racing an NSR250 on a Japanese frozen lake, but we're happy to be here sending orders out every day.

If you're in the UK, there is still time to get your Sideburn goodies for Christmas if you order today!

sideburn.bigcartel.com

Fast Freddie

My memory is so shot, I forgot I'd written about this short film, and even interviewed Freddie over the phone about it, back in 2008 until I was searching old copies of PB for something. It blew me away when I first saw it and it did five years later.
There are a lot of pretentious motorcycle films clogging up the internet. This is the drain cleaner to flush the worst away. G

For Sale: CFM TDR250 Street Tracker

Our good mate Carl CFM in Lincolnshire (who did the lion's share of our Project FT and Royal Enfield) have their latest project up for sale.
£2850.
Here are the details (sorry for the caps, I didn't have time to retype).

FRAME, SWINGING ARM AND ALL ANCILLARIES POWDER COATED SATIN BLACK.

ENGINE FULLY RE-BUILT NEW: 1mm O/S PISTONS, CRANK RE-BUILT WITH NEW MAINS AND SEALS, CLUTCH PLATES AND SPRINGS, PORTS CLEANED AND POLISHED.

WHEELS: 18" RIMS FRONT AND REAR, DUNLOP K180 TYRES, NEW TUBES AND BEARINGS, POWDER COATED.

BRAKES: HEL BRAKE LINES, CALIPERS RE-BUILT, NEW PADS AND REAR DISC. FIREBLADE MASTER CYLINDER, HEL FRONT RESERVOIR, HRC REAR RESERVOIR.

EXHAUSTS: DEP SILENCERS, FRONT PIPES RE-SPRAYED, AS NEW. SUSPENSION:

FORKS RE-BUILT WITH NEW SEALS AND GAITERS, POWDER COATED LOWERS, REAR SHOCK POWDER COATED SPRING, NEW LINKAGE BUSHES AND BEARINGS. NEW SWINGING ARM BEARINGS AND ONE-OFF FORK BRACE.

ALSO: RENTHAL BARS, GRIPS, CHAIN AND SPROCKETS. LED REAR LIGHT, POWDER COATED 7" HEADLAMP AND GRILLE, CUSTOM BRACKETS. RE-COVERED SEAT, TAPER ROLLER HEADRACE BEARINGS, NEW GEAR LEVER AND LINKAGE.
ALL FASTENERS REPLACED WITH STAINLESS.

STANDARD UN-CUT WIRING LOOM WITH RELAY AND WIRING FOR INDICATORS IF REQUIRED. ONE-OFF TAILPIECE, TANK FLUSH FILLED WITH NEW TAP AND CAP.
BUILT LAST WINTER WITH NO EXPENSE SPARED.
10 MONTHS TAX AND TEST. STARTS, RUNS AND RIDES PERFECTLY.

ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL CFM ON 01526 830472

Ring-a-Ding-Ding