Ocala Dirt Track on FansChoice.TV today

The same FansChoice TV crew that delivered GNC live streams all year are streaming live racing from Ocala, Florida today. This is a non-GNC race, but FansChoice and the AMA are using it as a test for new equipment. Some of the top racers will be there preparing for the season opener at Daytona next month.

Live streaming coverage will begin with pre-race interviews at 3:00 p.m. ET (12:00 noon PT) with practice at 4:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. PT). The evening program of racing is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. ET (3:00 p.m. PT). Log on and tune in at http://www.FansChoice.tv.

Sideburn x DTRA x Bolt

We're having an event with the DTRA at Bolt London, the afternoon of Saturday 21 March.
Come along and see...

• Great DTRA race bikes
• The best photography from the last few seasons
• Meet the race organisers and have all your questions answered
• Check out the new number boards with a custom font from House Industries
• Paw the fancy clobber and Biltwell good stuff that Bolt sell
• Have a Dark Arts coffee
• Make a night of it with an after-party hosted by the Eat Dust crew from Belgium

Oh, and get your hands on the new Sideburn! G

Das Boot

Anybody got any info on this BMW R75/5? Initially thought it could be the Australian Aftershock, but watching the video again that looks wetter. BP

XS Stunner

Lovely Shell XS750 (not to be confused with the factory shaft-drive triple monster), Star Racer framer, built by Jim Speer. BP

Peaty's Bike Bonanza

Advanced warning of a mountainbike jumble in Bristol next month. I am a pedal head as much as a petrol head, and have been invited to have a stand. Beyond motorcycle tyre kickers, Sideburn seems to have drawn troops from BMX and skateboarding disciplines. The cross-over of inspiration is always heathy. There is not a lycra-only door policy. I will have a full range of Sideburn mags and limited stock of T-shirts. If there's anything you specifically want from our stock leave a message. BP

More info on the Peaty's webite

Icon New Jack

 

Another great bike from Icon Motorsports , the US riding kits company that builds some fantastic bikes for their new product range photoshoots (Icon Basehawk jacket in this case).
This time they've updated a 1982 Katana with:

Oil cooler in the headlight opening and LED streetlight below
Bandit 1200 motor (some people talk about it being 'bigger', it has slightly more capacity than the original, but it's actually more compact front to rear)
Mikuni flatslides
Two British Nitron shocks in the monoshock position (like a prototype Rossi M1 from 2008 or so)
Modified Suzuki TL1000R Swingarm
Twin fillers
New tail
EBC discs and Nissin four-pots
USD Showas from a 2002-era Fireblade
Honda SP2 wheels

I love it. G

Di Traverso School

There's a report from the launch of Marco Belli's Italian school coming in the next Sideburn, on sale in March. G

More Mablethorpe

My old mate Col drove 100 miles down from Scarborough to watch the beach race at Mablethorpe and took these photos. The next race is this Sunday. Racing from about 11. 

Don't worry, there aren't any quads...

Carl CFM dominates the 250 road bike class on this TDR250

Neil's Suzuki from the 200 road bike class.

George Hopper and his mini-grasstracker

The variety of bikes is a big draw. Some people go low, dirt track style chassis, below, while others keep long suspension. Above is a CCM Rotax from the Unlimited road bike class. Below is a Honda XL250 (I think) from the 250 Road bike class.

Pete Pearson's Yamaha 600. He absolutely flies on this thing.

Handsome grasstracker. 

Before the racing started there was a memorial service for a lady who had been helping the club, marshalling for years. All the racers lined up on the beach as the local lifeboat went out to, I think, scatter her ashes and shoot a flare into the air.

Me in the middle. Starts are getting better. I'm getting slightly closer to the leaders. I had some good battles with the two bikes either side. There are about 12 bikes in our class.
The ambulance, is on the startline. We start in a line, off the track and have a drag race to the first corner. You can see the churned up track bottom corner. Pete Pearson doesn't even touch that bit of the track, his line is so high and flat-out.

Carl spitting a blue genie off the start. On his way to another heat win.

Mark's Bonneville. He's mustard off the start. This bike prefers a waterlogged beach that doesn't rut up and stays smoother.

Another oddball bike in the Unlimited Road Bike class, a grey import Yamaha SRX. 

For more info on times and race dates go to sand-race.co.uk. 

Thanks for the photos and emergency spannering Col. G

Survivor Customs: Part 2

Another lovely little film made by Drifter Visuals of Mike at Survivor Customs, showing some of the made-do-and-mend skills being used to build his budget DTRA Vintage racer. G

Troy Bayliss to Race in GNC

Road race hero Troy Bayliss, one of the proper good guys in world racing, is going to race a select number of GNC Miles on the Lloyd Brothers Ducati this season.

At the age of 45, the former car sprayer has had a second wind. He is Aussie dirt track and Supermoto champ. He raced at the Superprestigio (but didn't make the final) and hosts his own high profile, star-studded Troy Bayliss Classic flat track race in his hometown of Taree.

The announcement is getting non-FT fans very excited, which has only got to be good for the sport.

Bayliss is one of a handful of riders to win a MotoGP and WSB race (Bayliss didn't just win a WSB race, he won 52 of them and three WSB titles). Bayliss, Hayden, Biaggi, Kocinski, Checa... Who am I missing?

All Bayliss's wins were on Ducati, so the link with Lloyd Brothers make sense.

If Bayliss has a good showing (easier said than done), perhaps it will convince Nicky Hayden to pack in being an also-ran on an uncompetitive bike in MotoGP and go back to his first love.

The Lloyd Brothers Ducati won back in 2010 with Joe Kopp on board. It was Ducati's first and, so far, only GNC win. Two-time GNC champ Jake Johnson rode for Ramspur Winery-Supported Lloyd Brothers team in 2014, and had the choice of XR750, Kawasaki and Ducati (see above, our own snaps from Pomona in October).

Out of the 12 mile or half-mile races, he chose the Ducati four times; XR750 five times and the Kawasaki three times. In a very consistent season he was never lower than sixth,. He scored two seconds on the XR, one second on the Kawasaki, but 'only' three fourths and a fifth on the Italian bike. G

Bayliss in Australian dirt track action. 

On the 1098 Superbike.

And the Desmosedici. It's going to be great to see him on the Miles. He sounds confident and Jared Mees is quoted as saying he's ready (though he's hardly going to say he'll get his ass handed to him).