Kempton Park Bike Jumble

This Saturday 24th March, at Kempton Park racecourse, Staines TW16 5AH‎ only 30 minutes west of central London.I can't make it but am looking for some monkey Mini-Trail bars if anybody spots some - preferably the later model with the separate bar clamp - not those shown which are a single casting with the top yoke. BP

World Exclusive*

Just got back from a Dainese event, to promote their new D-Air Street airbag system, at Brands Hatch. This, the very first AGV Guy Martin Replica, was there being photographed. The real Guy Martin was too.
The replica is an entry-level lid, not the same model Guy races in, and will go on sale for £180 or so, in the UK only. The bird on top is a Martin. Get it? Skull and Spanners are on the side. Sideburn's friends Red Torpedo, get their logo on the chinbar. G
* I think...

SB#10 Launch Party Liverpool

Nothing beats the drone of motorcycles in the Queensway tunnel to welcome me back to Liverpool - this time Supertrapp, Akraprovic and Remus were performing (sounds like the line-up for some dodgy eastern bloc metal festival).A quick hack across town through start-of-the-weekend traffic and we're at Davida Fid's house for a hearty pre-party nosh-up (two proper 'Tintin in Botswana' cauldrons of curry and tongue teasing salads). Lyrics Lounge seems to fill up instantly and stay so until 2 in the morning, El Toro were on fiah.the 'stage' was level with the dance floor so the moshing drunks kept falling into the monitor speakers.when the last DJ came on, the last lone dancer was boddy-popping to Sisters of Mercy. Made my night. BP

Sideburn Award Verona

We were honored to be asked to nominate a 'Sideburn Award' for the bike of our choice out of the zillion on show at this years Verona Motorbike Expo. Choosing a top 10 was fairly easy, but it was a close shave to the wining post. Danny Hard 9's sparkly Cub pipped it - now featured in SB#10Danny on the podium, uneasy at being the denim filling in a tweed sandwich. Photo from Freeway magazine. BP

All the Raj

Great shots of Driver Chris and Clare's riding holiday to India. See more at Driver Chris blog. G

Ready to Rumble: Dirt Quake

It's two months till Dirt Quake and we're full steam ahead.
Band is booked; stunt rider is booked; tattooed, fishnet-wearing roller display ladies are booked; vintage speedway race is sorted and we've had a lot of interest in Sideburn race classes.

We're very happy to announce the UK importer of Storz parts and Zero choppers (plus builders of show-winning bikes) Krazy Horse Customs have joined Spirit of the Seventies, Icon and Co-Built as a sponsor. If your company wants to be a sponsor, get in touch.

Our race entry forms will go out early next week. Those who've already contacted us have first choice at the places, but need to get their entries in pronto. There are a few left spaces on each grid, but not many. Email us if you want to compete. Race entry is £15 plus £5 day licence. That gets you into the event too, obviously.

Here are the classes:
Chopper - it must look like a chopper. It does not have to be road legal. It cannot simply be a stripped down factory custom. Factory customs go into inappropriate road bike.
Inappropriate road bike - Road legal, working lights and horn and a registration plate, we're not the police so we're not checking documents. Comply to the spirit of the class. If you're in any doubt ask. We've got Enfield, BMW, BSA Bantam and Vespas lining up so far.
Street Tracker - self-explanatory. Must have working taillight and horn, otherwise it's a race bike. We're letting street scramblers in too, because some lovely bikes have shown an interest.

Anyone who has a sand racer or hillclimber should enter the novice class of Short Track UK. It will be great to have you involved, but our classes are for bikes that couldn't/shouldn't normally compete. f you want more details on the Novice class rules, let us know.

DEALERS - We've got some good ones lined up, but we want more. Get in touch for excellent deals on pitches.

Some people have asked about campsites. We're not organising any camping and people can't camp at the track. Just google Coventry campsites, there seems to be three.

It's going to be good. G

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

Custom Bike Trackday

Dutch from The Bike Shed (that's him above, on the black SportClassic) sent this and asked us to pass the message on...

BSMC Cafe/Retro Trackday
Taking your bike on a track day is not only an awesome day out with your mates, it's also one of the best ways to really bond with your bike. Hitting the same corners over and over again, braking later, improving your lines, with sticky tarmac, loads of runoff and everyone going in the same direction is a priceless experience - in the safest environment to ride your bike hard.

When the subject comes up, I'm always blown away how many people assume they're likely to crash on a track day. Sure,
one or two people usually crash on every track day (you can usually spot them in the morning briefing), but usually because they are riding faster than they should or showing off.

If you're biking pride and joy is a flat tracker, cafe racer, scrabbler or bobber then joining a group of riders on 180mph race reps probably seems even more intimidating, and having been in a small group of retro cafe racers on an open track day we certainly got some looks (mostly wondering how the hell we passed them on the brakes into Druids) - but it also occurred to us that it would have been an even better day out if we had the track to ourselves, or at least were in the majority or had our own cafe/retro session… So that's exactly what we plan to do...

If you fancy taking your flat tracker, cafe racer, bobber, scrambler or whatever around a track like Brands Hatch or Mallory this summer, in good, like-minded company, then register your interest at The Bike Shed and depending on numbers we'll pool our buying power to either get our own sessions on an open track day, or better still, have a track day all to ourselves.

Leaning hard, picking fast, smooth lines, and pushing your rpm towards the redline is what your bike was built for. Get on it, and do it in good safe company with BSMC.
Dutch

The Making of On Any Sunday

1971 must-see (if you haven't 10 times already), seminal classic from surfing film maker Bruce Brown. SB#10 studies history. BP

The Future of Custom Motorcycles

Just seen this on Classified Moto site and had to share it. I nicked some of the blurb, because it sums up how we feel about Sideburn.

'The best thing about working for yourself is being able to try whatever hair-brained idea you please. And a couple of months ago, we did just that.'