Dunlop Commit to American Flat Track

The bones of a press release from American Flat Track...

AMA Pro Racing and Dunlop Motorcycle Tires are excited to announce a renewed, multi-year partnership with the recently-rebranded American Flat Track series. Dunlop will hold the exclusive category rights as Official Motorcycle Tire Supplier for the series and will extend their support into the marketing, competition and broadcast efforts over the next three years. 

 'Dunlop has more than proven their dedication to motorcycle sport over the years, and we are proud to expand our partnership with them,' said Michael Lock, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. 'Starting in 2017, Dunlop will put more money into the paddock by substantially increase their contingency. This shows just how much they care about the paddock and how serious they are about joining us as partners as we build a bright new future for the sport.'

Starting in 2017, Dunlop will increase their per-race contingency payout to riders by nearly 300% and will pay contingency in both the AFT Twins and AFT Singles classes. At select rounds for the AFT Twins class, the tire manufacturer will begin to offer two rear tire options, giving each rider the opportunity to select their preferred compound.

Photo: Chris Hinkle/ AFT

Contingency - this is a fancy name for prize money. I spoke to Michael Lock at length recently, for an interview in the next Sideburn, and he says contingency is good for everyone. If Honda put in a load, for the GNC2 class, then other manufacturers are obliged to do the same. I'm not sure I see it that way, but Lock is far better informed than me.
The Dunlop contingency is different, because it is guaranteed. Honda might not win, but Dunlop will. 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

Illustration by Mani

My name is Filippo Fiumani, I am a designer from Italy living and working as a freelance in Portugal. I am a follower and reader of your magazine, I dig so much the visual approach and the contents of your mag. I did this illustration of the Michelin puppet that I put in attachment, feel free to share it if you like it, I would be happy with that. thanks for your time
Cheers. 
MANI 
www.fiumani.it

 

 Bowie memorial tribute for Vice magazine

 Lemmy tribute for Vice magazine

Custom design for DMD Helmets. 

DIY Ice Tyres: Updated

The first Snow Quake is an experiment, and it doesn't make sense for a lot of riders to buy ice tyres for one ride a year, so Mike of Survivor Customs set about making his own. Here's what he says...

You want a half decent enduro/ motorcross tyre with some decent tread.  The length of screw will depend on the tyre tread depth, I reckon you want blocks at least 20mm deep,so if you use a 25mm screws you will need to line it with something 5mm thick at least 

I researched and spoke to a couple of people who made their own studded tyres, and discovered you need the screw to go right through the tyre carcass this will help it stay in as it bites into the cord. Hence why you need a liner. 

The screws I used were sourced from a local bolt and fasteners shop... they are M6 x 25mm Hex head self tapping screws with an 8mm head. These are also known as roofing or tech screws but you don't want the ones with the self drilling tips you want the pointed ones. 

I made a tyre liner from an old speedway tyre you need to cut the bead and half of the wall off each side of the tyre so it slots inside underneath the tread .... the screws slightly bite into the inner / liner securing the screws so I'm told. 

Once the screws were all fitted securely I used an angle grinder to cut slots in the heads roughly half the depth of the head... this is important because this is the tread of your tyre. The grooves make them grip. You need to change the angle of the grooves. In the centre of the tyre, the grooves should be horizontal, that means across the tyre. The outside screws, used when leaning, need vertical grooves. The screws inbetween need diagonal cuts. 

UPDATE: Bob in Minnesota (where they know a lot about ice racing) says to remember to tape the joint of the liner to stop it nipping the tube. I'm sure Mike at Survivor would have done that, but forgot to say in this quick how to he kindly wrote for us.

Hope it kind of makes sense... these methods are tried and tested, but I've never ridden on ice before so I thought it was best to use some seasoned knowledge, to make these on the cheap.

Click to find out more about the Snow Quake race we're promoting with Deus ex Machina and Pirelli in the Italian Alps. G

Big Foot Spotted

Helicopter + frozen lake + Suzuki Boulevard 800 mutant = fun

Read all about this Canadian bike, and it's builder, Bill Hitchon, in Sideburn 20.

Thanks to Norm Motorcycho for the link. G

Rock Hard

I hate gadgets, and I'm tight, so the likelihood of me splashing out on a flashy gold designer bicycle pump is NIL. Especially one that sounds like it's named after Mexican royalty. But that's just what's happened...

Steaming down the local highstreet, I could feel that the tyres on my Moulton were on the squiggly side, making the handling even more squirrely than usual. So I pulled into the nearest bicycle shop to blow them up. Factory rated at 100psi, but I rarely achieve that hardness with my own crappy old column pump. I didn't pay attention to the particular brand / model of pump at the shop, but did take special note of the blingy Snap-It™ valve, which made the the process easy and scientifically successful. Rock hard in just a few effortless pumps. Hmm. I keep a miniature donut ring of BluTac on my Presta valves, so as to maintain an airtight seal, but the two-piece (revolvable) screw-on + rubber o-ring of this baby, means none of the usual hissing of air escaping its vocation. And the airline is long enough that you don't need to park right next to it.

Once you've bought a snazzy bike, there is a whole industry dedicated to trying to get you to spend wedge on the latest fad. The next ridiculous size up of MTB wheel, some new outer space developed lycra wear, or an over engineered titanium tool of debatable usefulness (going on a diet will save you much more weight and money). The Birzman Zacoo Maha IV sounds like a serious contender in such a field. But after a boring evening researching column pumps on the internet, many fingers pointed to his royal highness Birz' IV. It turns out he/she is actually of Taiwanese descent. None of my four pumps - at least one of them manufactured by a reputable brand, do what they are meant to do. And the local garage now charges for the use of its airline, so I thought what the hell, lets go crazy. The Snap-It™ is also Schrader valve compatible, so it should be able to pump up my motorbike tyres too.

Evans Cylces have a great deal on at the moment. The Birz' IV is £24 inc delivery - not a stupid amount of money when its RRP is £37.

The pressure gauge goes all the way up to an eye watering 160psi - what vehicles have tyres that hard?! So my only gripe would be that the dial is not set with more increments lower down the scale, which would be really useful for a flat track motorcycle where you are around the 20psi mark, and a few poofs either way are critical. The Snap-It™ does have a blow-off button for deflating (without having to remove it from the tyre), but you would still need to take it off to use a proper tyre gauge for more accurate low readings.

Birzman Zacoo Maha IV had absolutely no problem of making short work of my flat CCM tyre. Or the saggy Space Hopper in the garden (theres a screw-on adaptor for that and footballs included). I might have go out and pump up the tyres of all the cars parked on my street. Just for fun. BP

Umlaut T-shirt

Guy Martin features in an interesting new website from tyre manufacturer Metzeler. It covers his racing, hobbies, a visit to Metzeler's German motorcycle tyre factory, Pikes Peak and his new 'signature' tyre - the Metzeler Guy Martin Racetec RR. Check out the site by following the link.

We were pretty happy to see Guy in his Sideburn Umlaut shirt in some of the videos and photos.
You can get one of these shirts AND a free back issue for just £15 (plus post and packing) from the Sideburn webshop. Just choose the back issue issue AND the correct size of shirt you require from the drop down menu. G

Goldentyre - UPDATED

Our friend Jan-Willem of the Dutch Brothers is selling Goldentyre road legal dirt track race tyres (that he also races on) and shipping them around Europe.
See the details on the ad above.

Jan-Willem (who, admittedly, is trying to sell them) says:
The Goldentyre went through several development stages, including expensive mould modifications. This under pressure from Chris Carr [7-time AMA champ, who worked on the development]. They came out really good and are certainly on a par with the Maxxis.

UPDATE: From Jan-Willem

These tyres are homologated in Europe and "E" marked.
Load and speed rating 
for the front 130/80-19 (27.0-7.0-19) TT 67H 
for the rear 140/80-19(27.5-7.5-19) TT 71H

Below is a KTM Jan-Willem converted to street/DTX trim with his own design of Superwheels, Dutch Brothers triple clamps, lowered rear suspension (altered linkages) and Golden Tyres.
The conversion was easy to return to standard.

[Note: Advert art by Ryan Quickfall]

Dirt Quake Rubber

On the run-up to Dirt Quake 1, I recommended the Mitas Speedway rear as perfect cheap option dirt track tyre. One of the only drawbacks is that it's not road legal. As I'm planing to get an MOT for my chop but want to maintain the bobbly* look, this Taiwanese trail pattern Cheng Shin seems like a good choice. Unlike a motocross tyre, it has the same razor longitudinal cuts as the speedway rubber which give some extra flexibility in the knobs.
At 3.00 x 19" it's slightly narrower which makes for better handling on the street too. It cost me £50 at Kempton (which in retrospect sounds a little dear). I haven't tried it in action yet but the compound feels nice and grippy - unlike the perished and hard speedway cast-off I ran last year.
Your back tyre isn't so crucial if it fishtails in the quagmire but if you want to keep your pants soil free, it's most helpful you have a well planted front-end. BP

* Bobbly is a term first coined by Skooter Farm Dave in Milan a couple of years ago when he took note of the nouvelle vague choppers with motocross tyres - ie bobber with knobbly tyres. This Evo' built by Benny Boneshaker is a perfect example of the genre.

Fantic Koala-Rara

Forget the Flying Squirrel, Combat Wombat or Porcupine, there is a new favourite mammal-related motorcycle name in my life. Thanks to Harley for the tip-off. This one's on Italian eBay. G

From the people who brought you the Fantic Chopper, I wouldn't want to meet their design team without a cattle prod in my hand. 
Harley, Isle of Man

Mitas Speedway Rear

'Made in Czech Republic - British League - Not For Highway Use - Mitas Speedway Rear SW-07 3.75-19'
These tyres you can find discarded at the perimeter of any UK speedway track. At the hands of a methanol burning pro they will only last one race before they're shredded, two if you flip them. Anything with more stubble on it than a 2.5 x 19 ribbed Avon Speedmaster has got to be good to stop the front end of my XS washing out at Dirt Quake. For the rear I'll stick with the 3.5 x 16 Avon Speedmaster with its Fruit And Nut chocolatebar tread pattern. If I was feeling a decadent cheat I'd go for full bobbly spec MX knobbly on the back. BP

Heidenau Race (and Street Tracker) Tyres

From Jan-Willem Dutch Brother (#15 above), sent this to movers and shakers in European flat track (like Short Track UK's Peter Boast)...

With Maxxis tires becoming more and more expensive, perhaps you also have had complains from riders on low budgets?
There are at least three tire manufacturers looking at offering flat track tires at competitive prices, and perhaps even type approval for street use. But until this becomes a reality, I had a chance to test some Heidenau K34 tires last weekend.

The Heidenau K34 tires are commonly available for classic bikes and have higher speed rating then most classic tires. and some sizes are even available in soft racing compound.
Talking to Jimmy from A&A Racing, these racing tires are already used successfully in the amateur flat track races in the States.

Last weekend I used 4.00x19" hard street tires, 1.1bar (16PSI) front, 0.9bar (13PSI) rear
The track was the speedway track in Svitay and the surface was loose to start with.
The tires felt very predictable to me, just like I am used to with the Maxxis. I could not even find a clear performance difference.

The next day was race day and I continued to use them for the first two heats (as shown above). My starts weren't brilliant and I got stuck behind Austrian supermotard ace Hanson Schruf. I could stay on his tail but did not have enough margin to overtake.
The track was grooving up and I changed over to Maxxis. The Maxxis had clear grip advantage on the grooved track.

Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the behavior of the K34 street tires. Perhaps the soft racing compound would work well on the grooved track too.
The K34 cost about half of the Maxxis and they behave very well. The other great advantage is that they are street legal, and street trackers help awareness of the sport.
I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts about allowing these tires for racing.
Jan-Willem, Dutch Brothers

K34 street tyres
K34 race tyres

Please help Icon with a tire

Our good friends the bike clothing company and bike builders, Icon in Portland need a 19in dirt track tyre for a project bike - Maxxis or Goodyear. They're trying to buy one, but are struggling to find one this late in the season. Any dealers got one? Any racers got a part-worn? They're a good company to help out. I'd like to be owed a favour by Icon, if you know what I mean.
Email Justin at contest@rideicon.com

Here are some previous Icon Bikes

Rock Hard

Levering on new tyres on at 9 o'clock at night in the pitch black (I mean even owls were flying into trees black) in the pits at Amann Valley last year was tricky, but successful. Then pumping them up with Dickie CoBuilt's cigarette-lighter powered pump was a laugh; especially because of the pathetic comedy suck-blow-rattle it made, was also successful. But come day break, it turned out that the tyre bead hadn't popped out onto the rim. So I rode the bike illegally to the nearest garage, but it was a Sunday and they weren't open, and there was no airline lying around. Anyway what the hell, it doesn't matter if the tyres are all wonky, the track is all wonky anyway right? And I never bothered sorting them for my few remaining race meets.

But seeing as this week I've been trying to get the bike slightly more race worthy (the rear sub-frame is still cock-eyed after crashing at Stoke), I decided to take the loose wheels down to my local friendly Texaco. They are the only garage I have come across that has a
free air-line, so you can inflate and deflate until the mission is accomplished. Even charged with washing-up liquid I still had to pump the bastards up to 80psi / 5.5 Bar before they seated properly, then letting them back down to 28psi / 1.9Bar, which is still too hard, but I'll wait until I'm trackside before dropping them further to ± 18psi /1.24 Bar. BP

Martin's T-bird

Super-tidy T-bird, thanks for the photos Martin. I replied, maybe the email didn't get through. That is a hell of a pier in background. Southend? Southport? Someone tell me please. G

Hi, I have just been given a web site for you mag and it looks great.need more of your type as I love flat trackers and have done for years. a picture of my bike I just built.
Martin

UPDATE:
The big brother to the skinny ribbed Avon Speedmaster (front), the Avon Safety Mileage MKII 3.5 x 19" AM7 (rear). NB The 16" of the same model series has a different tread pattern yet again.

Animal Bloated

All the while BratStyle have been getting respected airtime for their take on street trackers, and virtually coining a new genre with their dumped SR bobbers (they pretty much started the fetish of recent years for the zig-zag Firestones didn't they?), Animal Boat have kept a more quiet sub-radar profile. Beavering away on a different tangent we wanted to know more about their FAT tyre street trackers and their looney high bared MX/trackers (the Honda 'XM' (XL), that Mr Martini built looks like it must be related). Matt Roberts has made an in-depth photostory for SB#7. BP

Rich's XS650 - UPDATED

From Rich

My street tracker needs a new rear tyre fairly soon and really want to get a pair of K180's for front & rear if possible to replace the TT100's.
Do I remember rightly a while back that you fitted a K180 VanVan front 18" onto the rear of one of your bikes. How did it work out in the end, any problems or was it ok.
If it went ok I was thinking of doing the same, if it'll fit between the swing arm on my XS650. I've got a spare front hub and would then get it built up onto an 18" rim and fit the vanvan K180 on the front as well, bingo! a set of new K180's.
Since the photo, I've just fitted some Hagon progressive fork springs and dropped the forks which has brought the front end down a bit and it feels great, much improved from the old knackered springs.
I couldn't get to the last Rye House meet, went to the one before and dragged along a couple of mates & we loved it, even thought about giving it ago until that poor bloke on an orange xs650 crashed near the end and broke his collar bone I think, respect. Hope to get to some this year.
All the best, Richard

You're right, but we haven't done a ton of miles on the FT (with its VanVan rear tyre) because it's been on show at different places. If you don't want kneedown potential I'd say it was fine, but I'm just a rider, not a tyre expert. If you're in doubt, you should check with tyre people. I'd fit one to an XS and not worry, but I'm not much of a worrier.
I also did a season racing on VanVan tyres and they held up remarkably well, so I'd say they're pretty hard. It's probably a much better idea that fit chewing gum soft Maxxis race tyres to 19s to run on the road. G

UPDATE:
Richard, I hear hear Gary's line and would go VanVan, but if you do decided to put tyre technology (or lastest tyre fashions?) before Le Look le plus cool...
The trusty all weathers Michelin Macadam 50 I used to run on my Zagato Guzzi, aren't made anymore. Andrew Gray recommended me against the very tacky (as in sticky not kitsch) classic racing Avon AM22 + AM23 as they dont make the street compound anymore and they're fakin expensive even if you buy them direct from the factory in Melksham (-on-Avon). There is not much shopping choice for wider than standard (not by modern bike standards) 18" rims. I did look at the Avon Road Rider but went for Bridgestone BT45 in the end; 110-80 front, 130-80 rear. But haven't ridden them in anger yet so I can't truly vouch for their capabilities (bizarrely the front tread depth is very shallow compared to the rear. I know they wear slower, but even so). BP

Boneshaker Racing

Because Wednesdays are all about bone shaking and we approve of knobblies on chops. Bike by Benny Thomas of Boneshaker Choppers. BP

The Don

'Daytona here we come. My Sonic Weld, hard tail, Brakeless, DT1 250 Yamaha all ready for the new AMA Vintage Flat Track season opener at the Daytona Motor Speedways new short track on Feb 28th. If you are down there for bike week. Make sure you stop by! Seeing all these old flat trackers out on the track will be worth the trip. Racing starts at 11:00am on Sunday. Followed by an awesome amateur flat track program.
Special note for all you vintage fans, The tires on the Yami came from the basement of the late Rex Beauchamp just last summer. Mrs Beauchamp found them during a renovation. Luckily I got the whole stack! Not only will there be great racing at the new short track, the spirit of Rex will still be with us in Daytona.
See you at the races.'
Don Metro Racing

Special note for all you font fetishists, I asked Don about the funky #25 on his bike...

'I guess it kind of goes hand in hand that we dig the 60's and 70's thing. I can't really say that anything inspired me. I am pretty artistic. It just happened. I almost whimped out and got lazy and just went with the 2 & 5 from American money. That was too easy, so I just started to goof around with it.
I constantly drew cars and motorcycles from the time I could hold a pencil. Always in trouble in school for not paying attention. Busy drawing stuff. Teen years, I airbrushed tee shirts and custom vans after school in our garage. Always pinstriped vehicles and painted signs by hand. Restored cars and motorcycles for a living before we got Metro. Did a lot of multi-colored race cars, custom HD paint etc. Now I just do custom cards for friends and special events. The computer and vinyl machines made me a dinosaur.
People always say. "Don't drink and draw" I start drawing after I start drinking,
Ha !!' Don

Play Time

The English bleat about a few inches of snow, over in Vermont it's more a matter of feet - and then they go out and have fun in it. This is #38 Frank Rounds' YZ460. BP