Brightest star in the remedial class

I had a bit of a shocker at Buxton. Look, I know I'm not a very good racer, but I fell below my normal low standards. I crashed three (four?) times, stalled twice. I pushed the bike further than I rode it. I didn't make the Thunderbike A final, something I always really want to do, or the short track semis, but that meant I still had two B Finals. And that when I finally got my eye in. I was racing decent riders - the Co-Built guys, Wilky, big Trappy, people who beat me, but I got a win and a second. I love racing. You should give it a go. And Dan Walsh shot it from stupid raceface to chequered flag. Anthony came close, though. Blimey.
Thanks Dan. GI

Bubba Shobert's Beef Jerky

Bubba Shobert has taken over the family Beef Jerky business. Get it here.

Merinero x Sideburn

From our very good friend Adolpho at Bonneville, Madrid

I enclose some art of my friend Antonio Merinero. He is a talented guy that has passion about bikes, and some of his art moves around wheels. He made some prints with my logo and we exhibit them at the shop with good results. After showing to him some Sideburn mags he has decided to make this one as a present.
Gracias. Adolpho

Antonio's Blog

Amazing Joe Kopp video

Joe Kopp from ScoobyDoo2 on Vimeo.

Thanks to Stu for the comment that put us on to this. Earlier today we posted a shot of Smokin Joe's disintegrated XR750. This video shows how it happened. Scary. I bet every mechanic on the GNC circuit is busy checking welds this week.

Lots of things struck me about this video.

1. Listen to the hum of atmosphere before the start.

2. Check out Chris Carr's blistering starts. I can't believe I've shared a track with him.

3. Thank goodness for air fences.

4. Green Onions is a great track.

Thanks to whoever filmed it and put it on Vimeo too. GI

Jens' BMW

From Jens in Stockholm...

I'm hoping you're having a great summer!
It's finally rideable. Not ready, but rideable. And here's proof of how much I like Sideburn!

It was under heavy influence from Wrenchmonkees #9 that I built this. The rear subframe has been shortened 4" and a new seat was hand sewn after Japanese customs. New shocks from Hagon and open Minizooms complete the look. Essentially I'd like something to the tune of Death Spray Customs for a paint job but I might settle for graffiti.
I am looking at a new fork with double discs, a new headlight, new smaller battery, new headlight and new handlebars and controls. Then we'll see. Hopefully next summer.
/Jens

The Cartorialist.com
James List blog

Calistoga Half-Mile

From long-time friend of ours, Ivan Thelin...
'Last night at the Calistoga Half Mile, we saw local boy Stevie Bonsey (80) beat some of the best dirt track racers in the USA. Afterwards when we met he said "I have been waiting 17 years for this. I've been wanting to win an AMA National since I was 3.".
He's 20 years old of course, and maybe 110 lbs, and regular at Lodi Cycle Bowl and San Jose Speedway. He could fit in one leg of my leathers. Great kid. In all the hubbub, I forgot to look and see if he was wearing one of my hot shoe straps.'
.
'The crowd was big, and lots of familiar faces were there. Every dirt track racer and fan in Northern California must have bought a ticket. The promoter did a stellar job, and delivered on what might be the race event of the year around these parts.'
Coolbeth in white.
The Dash for Cash for the six fastest qualifiers. (From L-R) Johnson, S. Halbert, Carr, Pearson, Bonsey and Nicole Cheza.
Sammy won the Dash and was second in the main.
Jake Johnson, third in the main and keeping the pressure on to be the Grand National Champion. He's second to Kopp in the combined and second to Halbert in the twins championship.
Joe Kopp's Harley collapsed in a heat race, meaning he had to transfer to the main via the semis on his spare bike. He did. I wonder if he wished, he'd been on his Ducati... It's hard to see what happened, but it looks like the legs of the swingarm have split from the pivot tube.
Wiles and Coolbeth.
Wiles and Mees.
Kayl Kolkman on the Wood Rotax twin. Came fourth in his semi just missing out on making the main.

Photos: AMA Pro Racing

Lowbrow Holeshot

Sideburn is proud to sponsor the Lowbrow Holeshot...

Hey guys, we are putting on a party on September 18th and 19th in Ohio called the Lowbrow Holeshot. Dirt track races Saturday night, party, free beer, free camping, free everything. We can get out on the track as well as 80 acres of hare scrambles trails on Sunday. We have guys coming out from all over midwest and east coast on choppers as well as some dirt track guys bringing vintage Triumph flat trackers and such.
Tyler, Lowbrow Customs

Zaeta. Horse. Power

Marco Belli and Armando Castagna get an outing at the Treviso horsetrack on a pair of Zaetas. They're chased down by Graziano Rossi in a Porsche. Filmed by Alberto Narduzzi. GI

Co-Built save

These are the Co-Built fellas racing what they build. Dan Walsh took the photos. Julian Ryder, author and Eurosport's MotoGP commentator, turned up to watch. The track owner ruined the track for more than half the meeting by overwatering it. Why? Dunno. This is how Geoff (45r) coped with it and how Anthony (47) made up a place.
'Flying W' chuckled Julian.

Loving the old fashioned phone booth thing on the wall in the background.
More great Dan photos soon. GI

So, this bloke right...

Look, I daren't actually name this bloke, because he lives in a small village in the English East Midlands and his name is so distinctive - it would be unfair. And he's not even a mate. So...

'Bob' lived in a nearby village. He had an oxy-acetylene torch and a confused attitude to health and safety. When his five-foot oxygen cylinder ran out he found that the brass regulator on his spare was damaged. He didn’t like the look of it, gas welding can be dangerous, and with a perfectly good regulator on the empty cylinder, well, why not swap them over?

So, he lay the full cylinder on the lawn in the back garden, and, propped up at an angle for easy access, Bob straddled the cylinder and started to unscrew the regulator. Now, he wasn’t stupid, he knew that the swap would have to be really flippin' quick to avoid losing too much gas, so he had the good regulator right there ready by his side. He loosened the regulator with a spanner, then started to unscrew slowly by hand.

The following happened in a split second: Bob never knew just how many turns were left before 2500psi blew the regulator clean off the bottle. It fired, like an angular brass cannonball, through his Land Rover’s tailgate, continued through the driver’s seat and buried itself in the dashboard. Meanwhile, the torpedo-shaped steel cylinder shot up the garden, through two brick walls and into the kitchen. On its way, to add injury to insult, it crossed a gravel path and blasted the still-crouching Bob in the back like a shotgun. We can only imagine this scenario being retold many times in the hospital as Bob lay face-down biting a pillow, gravel pinged into a stainless steel kidney dish and assembled medical staff bit their sleeves in desperate attempts to stifle laughter. MP