Good Stuff from Good People

All new stuff from friends of Sideburn

The Ruby Castel, from €900

Lowbrow Customs Harley Sportster chain drive conversion, only $160 (plus post)

Venhill 940 and 941 clutch levers. £39 (plus post)

Venhill Black

I use a lot of Venhill products, our Royal Enfield has Venhill lines, and I'll order some of these for the Black Arrow when I get that far down the line: electro-plated black Powerhose Plus brake line ends and banjos on a marine-grade braided line with a Teflon core, covered in a PVC. Tasty. G

Yamaha BW200

From Neil (who also made the incredible Rollerball Action Figure)...

Hey there, I saw on your blog you were interested in fat wheeled bikes.
I had a Yamaha BW200 until last year, when I sold it to a mate who still has it.
They were made in the mid 1980s, off road only, with a 200cc engine and then later with a 350cc.
If you look on my blog manisatthewindow.blogspot.com, the very first picture posted is that bike. (Won't take long to find, I haven't posted that much).
They are pretty rare in the UK, mine was the only one I ever saw.

Shaggy Dog/Monkey Story

So this is my (most recent) object of desire. Unearthed on the Japanese Daikoube blog with no decipherable info. So I sent out questionnaires to those in the know...
Ben Wilson revealed "Looks like Suzuki RV90/125 wheels, tyres, forks, swingarm & maybe frame with unknown Honda lump [me now thinks is an 1990s XR100] & Yamaha tank. You could use a TW125 as a donor instead."
Adrian Apart in Buenos-Aires was foxed and added this Yamaha BW200 bog bike to the debate:But then trumped with: "I just bought a new version of an RV yesterday. It's made by Mondial under license from Suzuki - its an exact replica of the 90 but with a 125 engine - they're bringing out a 250 version next summer. it's an Italian company based in Argentina, manufactured in China and assembled in Buenos Aires and probably going to be sent by me to the UK as i think it'd sell well there - do you ?
Small world here - Jezza and i have been hanging out a lot with Alejo Pichot - he's the Triumph guy you were in touch with.Jezza choppin' me bars down (without adult supervision) for easier traffic work. xA"BP

Caff Racer WANTED

We need to borrow a (road-going) caff racer for a photoshoot in Bristol, England - What Have You? BP

Brembo wanted WE'VE GOT ONE THANKS!

We need a half-decent Brembo, stock Ducati/Laverda/Bimota-style front caliper (like this one) for our Enfield. The fixings for the fork legs are 40mm centres. Either left or right will do (right is preferable).

Can someone do us a deal, please? Email us at dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com (take out the spaces). Thanks G

RCD-TEC

I think these RCD rearsets are the best looking in the world. Made in Derby, England by a nice fella called Mark, not in China. They're on the want list. G

Racefit Legend

Racefit Legend in titanium. On the want list. G

Flying Zacchinis Roppongi Wallet

Can't think of many better places for all these petrol receipts.

Flying Zacchinis

Keihin CR

On the want list...

Desperately Seeking...

Our good friend Andrew Gray in LA is looking for an 18" Astralite for his chunky Guzzi. He specifically wants a 2.5 or 2.75 width. Any body got one for sale please email via dirt @ sideburnmagazine . com
He's got a 18x1.85in he can trade. Team Guzzi Nerd will be racing at the Belgian big dipper of Spa for a 4 hour endurance this summer.
BP

Alimentazione

Leftfield biblically loaded painting by Italian artist Antonello Riommi of a Dell'Orto VHB carb as fitted to old Guzzis. And some crusty loaves. I love the way it's painted so seriously but the content is so absurd. Want. BP

Racefit Visit

Called in at Racefit for a cuppa yesterday. Sorry about the crap phone pics.
They've imported some fancy carbs from Japan for a customer...
A bank of four Yoshimura Mikuni TMR-MJNs. Just incredible things. £2000, plus another £400 in shipping, tax and duty. Ouch.
Racefit's new Growler 2. Titanium, naturally, it's all these fellas deal in.
Me trying out Racefit's latest project for size. GSX1100 frame, Paoili forks, RCD yokes, Dymags, TLR swingarm converted to twin shock, Works Performance shocks, monstrous Mistral tuned 1400cc Katana motor.
One of Racefit's suppliers made Jon a solid carbon-fibre version of a Turner needlenose Summerski (I know eff-all about skateboards, but I liked the shape of this). GI

Performance Machine DT

Dirt track racing wheels from Performance Machine. Nice. G
UPDATE: The Red Max Speed Shop are UK agents for these wheels.

Nitron Twin Shock T-Series Silver Collet Version

On the want list. From Nitron Japan. GI

Pegram's Lloyd Bros Ducati on eBay

Yes, really. That's it below, ahead of Sammy Halbert and the current champ, Jared Mees.. Thanks to Jan-Willem Dutch Brother for the link.

This is a 2007 Ducati GT 1000 Flattrack bike that was built for Larry Pegram in 2009 to race in the Grand Nationa Flattrack Series. He made the Springfield Mile main event on it the first time he had raced the bike. It was also one spot out of the main event in Bulls Gap Tennesse with Aaron King riding it. It was the first stock frame bike to make the main event at a Grand National Twins race in many years, and it is a Ducati! The stock frame has been slighty Modified, it has a Penske rear shock and Traxxion Dynamic forks that have both been rebuilt by Davey Durelle. It has PM wheels, and Vortex bars and sprockets. It is an electric start bike, push the button and it is ready to race! The engine was built by Pegram Racing, It has high compression pistons with Ducati performance cams. This bike has been in Road Racer X magazine and many other magazines. It is a rare race bike and is the only one like this.

Buy the Lloyd Brother's Ducati flat tracker

Bell 500 Speed Soul

As mentioned last week Sideburn was sent a new Bell 500 open-face lid to have a look at. Like Barbour (with their International jacket), Bell can say they're not retro, they've been doing this since this helmet was cutting edge.
The shape is the same, but protection (say Bell, is much improved). The padding is thinner, than say a Davida Jet, so the shell's small like an old helmet, but it has American DOT approval (though I don't think that's anything like as rigorous as British BS testing).
Bell say 'Again, this is not a retro, copy helmet. This is a remake of the original Bell 500. Bell invented the EPS liner for motorsports helmets, and the 500 was one of the first to feature this huge advance in safety.
'The new Custom 500 has a surprising amount of technology in it. Bell wanted to retain the slim look of the original Bell 500 while still meeting modern DOT impact standards. A fiberglass shell and a special EPS liner refined in their Santa Cruz California headquarters enabled them to do this. Most modern helmets with this slim, open-face design do not meet modern safety standards and are sold as "novelty" helmets.'
The feelgood quality starts as soon as you pick up the box. It's covered in printed pinstriping, a flat tracker printed on it, open the flap and the Bell Horse Power is snorting at you, then there's a (cheap feeling) helmet bag, a cool label on the strap and the lid itself.
The interior is really nicely made, silky and stitched. The paint finish is excellent too. This design is by Roland Sands and is part of an artists series of 500s. Other artists are Jimbo Phillips and Chris Wood. We'd love to see a Death Spray one.
And the price is good too - about $130.
Go to the Bell Powersports for more info and US dealers.
We'll let you know about European dealers and prices as soon as we get them.

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

Master Cylinder

Anyone know what make Mr Kocinski's rear master cylinder is, please? G

OK, I've sorted the master cylinder, thanks Giannis. Now Jason and I want to know what the oil line from the oil filter cover to the cam cover is for? A fail-safe oil route? We've never seen this before.

Photo: Superbike Planet

Freshly Made Donuts

The Chris Carr flat track school is life changing, full stop. The day starts with Karate Kid type wax-on, wax-off repetetive exercises; including donuts, on a crappy CCM-badged C-XR230-E. I say crappy because you wouldn't waste your piss on it if it caught fire - or so I thought. By lunch time I WANT one of these disposable Chinese toys. The Man shows us how it's done - it aint as easy as it looks, but the seeds have been sown. Apart from being the winingest flat tracker ever, Chris Carr is also an inspirational teacher. Firm and authorative, but funny and patient too.



Big Fool BP

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