Thursday 31 December 2009

'I ride gravel fast in remote places'






Found by Dan Walsh on ADV Rider forum. Love people who prove you don't need the 'perfect' bike for every occasion. GI

Started from 2008 XL1200N 'Nightster'
18" rear, 19" front Sun rims Dunlop K180 flattrack tires( now Conti Twinduro)
Chain conversion from Storz
Mikuni HSR42 conversion
All wiring harness/efi removed, chopper wired with about twelve feet of wire, marine grade simple switches, glow when fail fuses
Nitemarz high pipes with internal glass packs
Indian royal enfield 18 liter military patrol fuel tank plumbed with find anywhere taps and fittings
Standard 7" find anywhere headlamp shell and caged bright led driving light
Road king shocks, proggresive fork springs

I ride gravel fast in remote areas so the changes reflect my needs.
Thanks and yes it rips!
Lyle, Canada

Poetry in Motion

Scott Pommier is an artist, and an inspiration. He also shot the Scorpions for SB#3. BP

Antonio Merinero



Lovely stencil artwork created by Antonio Merinero. Like Radical Ducati he's from Madrid. Spotted on Zen of Neato. GI

Wednesday 30 December 2009

Street Tracker Cali

Radical Ducati in Madrid produce erotic Ducati specials - the Rad02 Montjuich TT is a right go'er. But this ex-California 1100i is not giving me the horn. I rate it on par with the Totti Motori Ducati 'scrambler' GI posted a few days ago. Although the high-level pipe is quite rude. A Guzzi engine is a lump from which ever angle you look at it, and I'm not sure if its bulk lends itself to flat track treatment??? The over inflated petrol tank isn't doing it any favors. BPUPDATE:
Via Spanish John; who gave us the original tip-off, the meassage has come back from Pepo Rosell and Reyes Ramón of Radical, that this bike should not be considered as seriously as their Ducatis. They realize it's no Mona Lisa...
"This bike was built in a very short amount of time, as something exclusively for the road with tracker and 50s bobber overtones [?] and that if they'd wanted something to look like a racetrack refugee, it not only would have been very different to what they've ended up with, but that he'd have started out with a Supermotard Aprilia. However, his top priority has been to finish the RADs for the Verona Show. He does not expect everyone to love what he does, but wanted you to understand where his mind and priorities were when doing this."

No more anonymous


Please don't comment anonymously. It's pointless. I don't want to turn off the setting because Stevie 28, comments anonymously but signs the bottom. GI

Safety First

Another priceless sticker from my Vehikel autojumble collection. Very Milton Glaser BP

Aguante Atlanta! Aguante Leeds!





More from Alejo in Argetina. It's a follow up to this post. It's nothing to do with motorcycles (they'll be along again later), but I love the fact Alejo is from Buenos Aires, home to legendary Boca Juniors, and he still chooses to support the third division, Atlanta.

So you are a Leeds man? Well, here are some pics of "la cueva" ( it means "the cave"). Here you'll find the ATLANTA gang, and as you can see we share the yellow/blue colors. In the "bombo" (the big marching style drum) you can read "bohemios" , the Bohemians. It's the nickname for all the Atlanta fans, and that's the bombo that goes to all the matches.
There are no cool bikes in this pictures but that's me reading SB#4, to my left and right two generations of bohemians. Hope you like them.

AGUANTE LEEDS!!!!!!!
AGUANTE ATLANTA!!!!!!!
(very hard to translate "aguante" but it comes from the verb "to hold" or "to bear" it's commonly use in futbol to describe what the fans do for their team it is use as GO LEEDS or GO ATLANTA , it also means that your team holds their colors against the others)
Free Spanish lesson ha!
Have a great year to all at sideburn!!!



Incidentally, I was just looking at the Argentinian league tables and Banfield have won the league. Newell's old Boys came second. Who? And WHO!?
UPDATE: Below is the badge of Newell's Old Boys. It's probably going to upset Alejo, putting a rival team's badge on this post, but you've got to love NOB.

Survival

Tuesday 29 December 2009

My First Car

While applying for a National Insurance Number for my foreign wife, I had to answer some rather odd questions, which included the 'security question' "What was the colour of your first car?" If you discount all the red-oxide primer, multi-coloured over-spray and white roof, I suppose it was grey. I started to go off on one about the 4" roof-chop, but was cut short by "What was the surname of you favorite childhood friend?"...!
Way better than an external hard-drive as a keep-safe, is my Mum's kitchen pin-board. Several decades worth of happy memories and vehicles. This is my Wolseley Hornet. Essentially a regular 70s Austin Mini with the same transverse 850cc engine, it was badge-engineered as both a Wolseley and Riley, with its chipmunk nose fake radiator grill. The derrier has a carbuncle boot with miniature finned rear lights. My younger brother (on the left here), is sitting on his Mongoose BMX with ACS Zee rims, he's also sporting Simple Minds haircut with above the ear water-mark, so I guess that puts the date at ± 1981. My elder step-brother (on the right) came down from Wales with his MIG welder which seemed very space age at the time. Having spent literally years honing it, my step-dad sent it to the scrapper while I was away at college, before it ever rolled under its own steam. BP

Wood Rotax for sale in Germany


Perfect Thunderbike spotted on Short Track UK. It's near Frankfurt, so about six hours in a van from Calais. Who's having it?

Wood Rotax, it has a 560 motor, a brand new Woods Boom box exhaust, A+A adjustable Triple clamps with R6 forks, plus the original Betor Forks and Wood triple clamps. A brand new K+N air filter. Brand new rear sprockets, knock off wrench, and EMT
Gold Chain. Extra seat Pad, A+A fork protectors. I am moving back to California so I must sell everything fast.

I will sell everything plus any other extras I have laying around for 3000 Euros. Buyer must pick it up at my house in Germany.Thanks, Chris Paulson
chris paulson
sandmühle 71
55262 heidesheim
germany

www.chrispaulson.de
www.myspace.com/chrispaulson1
0049 177 802 2654

Tel's Braintree Photos

Lots of UK indoor short track photos from Tel Court.
Marco on the Zaeta is 6. Kennett, the overall winner, is 8. Ade Collins is 90. Gary Johnson the Isle of Man TT racer (in tasteful retro Suzuki shirt) is 16. Chippy, 65 (race umber, not age), is well out of shape. Rusty Hodgson, 49, looking good in his new Kevlars.
Some more video here. GI
PS Braintree is a strange name for a town, eh?

Monday 28 December 2009

UK Indoor Short Track success!



Couldn't make it to Short Track UK's indoor meet, but I've spoken to a few people and it sounds like it was a great success. 23-year-old Coventry Speedway rider Edward Kennett smoked the best in Europe on a very tight circuit. The venue was full to capacity (which is over 3000) with 200 poor sods being turned away at the gate (Boastie warned you to get tickets in advance on this very blog). Marco brought the Zaeta home 4th. Some of the UK's fastest didn't even make the semis!
Looks like it will be a regular date. Well done to Pete and Jackie. GI


UPDATE: This just in from Rus Scott...
I was at the indoor meeting yesterday in Braintree. it was a great day with standing room only in the packed arena. I didn't get any where near the semis what with the standard of riders but it was still a cool experience. Here is a helmet cam video from a practice session. happy new year Rus #21r

Watch for where Justin 'Harga' Hargate (of the Wainfleet MegaBowl) comes underneath him.

Recycle Innovations by by TOTTIMOTORI & MARCHINGEGNO


Roberto of Totti Motori just sent this to us...

Recycle is a new way to transform your bike into a Special.
It is an idea based on the simplicity to change parts whenever you want. In a very easy way you’ll be able to ensemble the look that pleases you more, interpreting your bike like you please, making it yours only, simply unique.
The kits made by Recycle are produced recycling original parts. Other parts are made with fiberglass. All to keep prices low and in order to be interchangeable and to obtain in this way a total personalization.
With Recycle you can chose between two versions: Cafè-Racer or Scrambler.
The modularity of the parts implies an infinite number of versions and colorings that you will be able to change at your please. Even every day ,easily, in your home.
The tank color is obtained applying on it a fiberglass cover, perfectly matching and of the color you have chosen.
The “two into one” muffler by Recycle has thought of three possibilities of mounting: all with one silencer, high, low and intermediate.
The seats are produced recycling the original base and can be mounted as single seat, single + bags, single+ painted tail, or double. Also the original wheels can be substituted with new ones with tubeless rims by Recycle.
The Recycle parts can fit only Ducati 93/2005 model Monster, which is one of the bikes more sold and in production since 1993.
Your Recycle motorcycle can be totally taken apart. Once painted the frame and the engine elaborated it will be remounted by hands in the configuration of your choice.
Roberto Totti
www.tottimotori.com

Cheap (?) XR750 for sale


From Tom Brown...

Searching American eBay is far more rewarding when looking for flat trackers than UK/Europe. This sweet XR750 on US eBay
And yes I can see lots of rusty bolts but with a winter/spring of credit card abuse and family neglect while in the garage this XR could be ready for the start of the racing season.
All the best for the new year
Tom

Sunday 27 December 2009

Hillclimber Cream



Found on Jeff Decker's blog. Love to ride something like this up a widowmaker. A more modern equivalent, though. Same power, same weight, same wheelbase, same chains. Any suggestions what would make a good basis? G

Saturday 26 December 2009

Caption Competition

For those of you not still dormant after excess turkey and trimmings (what do Americans eat on Christmas day if turkey is reserved for Thanksgiving? - which bizarrely enough although an American institution, was invented by English pilgrims)... Here is a little word game for the prize of some assorted stickers. BP

Friday 25 December 2009

Happy Christmas from Sideburn


Big thanks to Tim Beaumont Designs for the artwork.
Keep coming back, we're posting everyday. G

Thursday 24 December 2009

ForkCo Oil Filter covers




Tom at ForkCo distributes Sideburn in Japan. He also makes lovely motorcycle parts that have an understated style all of their own. These are his latest creations, a range of three SR400/500 oil filter covers: Radial fin, Emboss and Luxe. Subarashi! G

SDEBUM


From Jason...

Private number plates. Great aren’t they? What better way of showing off to the driving public that your intials are JC and are 37 years old or perhaps live at number 37.
If I had £49,995 spare I’d definatley spend it on JC 37. And they say you can’t buy cool.

I guess it’s the modern equivelant of that story in the Bible, where Michael Palin puts a really fat donkey in his garden, yet has no food in his fridge. What a show off.

Here in England you can’t just have any old letters and numbers, you have to choose from a list, which means a certain amount of inginuety is required, aswell as pots of cash. For example if I wanted to tell the world exactly what car I drive, I’d have to spend £22,000 on 4UDI. Or indeed how about the very popular lady at the end of my street, who has, SHAG5 4 $. What if I were a Hedge Fund Manager? I’d have G4RDEN. No, silly that’s not really what a Hedge Fund Manager does, I’d probably have TH1EF. However I am not a Hedge Fund Manager, but infact a bit of a retard and as a consquence do not have much money, which would of been OK if my name was Kaz, Taz or Maz and my lucky number 5431, then £350 would suffice. But it is not, well, 5431 is my lucky number but my name is not Kaz.

So how do I cash in on this ultimate expression of individualisum with just £10? Take a bow Mr BMW 110T. Whats so special about that? Well let me tell you, this clever fellow put a black bolt inbetween the, one’s, which made it read BMW HOT, what an ingenius genius.

Tadarrrrrrrr.......My Triumph’s 985 EBM is instantly transformed into SIDEBURN if you squint a bit. OK SDEBUM anyway, but what do you expect for £3? and enough change to make a plate for my house. RO5E CO77AGE.

Jason

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Ze Garage du Bubblevisor



Found this art on the Bubblevisor blog. It was created by Dutch artist, Lennard Schuurmans, who runs the blog, and the top one was inspired by Sideburn 1. Lovely. Bubblevisor is the totally unpretentious archive of a certain kind of lo-fi custom and cafe racer that Lennard finds on his searches of all four corners of the blog and web universe. It looks like it's going to be in an exhibition in Luxembourg.
'The first of March 2010 is the opening of my solo exhibition in EXTRABOLD in Luxembourg. Working title for ze exhibition:
Ze Garage du Bubblevisor (inspired of course by the amazing blog "Ze Last Chance Garage Du 78")'.
You always wanted to go to Luxembourg? Here's your excuse. GI

Mean BSA


This looks a real weapon. From Quality Custom Cycles blog via Show and GO blog.
The seat, the pipe, the modern forks (NOPE, see comments)... Mean. GI

London Calling?


Something about these really wound me up. What is the point? I'm not getting on my high-horse about collaborations or people trying to earn a living or anything like that, but this is SO cynical and so opposed what (I thought) The Clash stood for I don't know how much further we can descend. Who approved this? What next Ramones edition Schott jackets? Johnny Rotten edition Dr Martens? Yup, probably. GI

Alternative Fuel

There's been a lot of hype in the motorcycling press about the TTXGP. But the only 'sustainable' energy (fuel) being considered as an alternative to the evils of petrol, is battery power. The electric bikes make a quiet Star Wars pod-racer whine, but don't tell me the batteries are made out of flour and yeast, or are even 1% biodegradable at the end of their working life.
Ben Wilson is an internationally acclaimed industrial designer. Together with the genetic scientist Dave The Roofer, he has developed the bio-mechanical XTSNOODLER HYBREED 4X4. It runs on a liquified mix of Pedigree Chum (39%), left-overs (21%); pizza or soggy Weetabix preferred, and water (40%). Snoodlers are bred domestically in Taiwan, the mechanical sections are assembled using 100% recycled parts. The noise it makes, is an intermittent but inoffensive 9Db "yap yap". The team are boycotting both the eGrandPrix and the notorious FIM backed e-Power world series in 2010, and will instead enter their true alternative fuel vehicle into the UK Short Track; Thunder Bike class, in the coming season. And are hoping to sign Stevie Coles as factory rider. BP

UPDATE:
Another beauty of the afore mentioned HYBREED hybrid, is its simple manufacture. No need for expensive tooling, or set-up costs for new model variants. Building such a vehicle in ones own shed; or kitchen even, could be a real possibility in the very near future. To illustrate the speed at which their factory can change tack due to market winds, Wilson and Roofer have just produced a Harley-Davidson™ variant to comply with the All American Twins rules for 2010 - a mere 48 hours after having received news of this new race series. This new variant also makes use of obsolete AMF stock and should retail at approximately half the price of a Fat Bob. BP

Tuesday 22 December 2009

Century Cycle


From Norm at Motorcycho, who has just done a dream trip of great California bike shops. He's a man of few words. He's also one of the Scorpions. See the updates of his road trip at Motorcycho.

'Great wall - o- pics at Century Cycle in Cal.' Norm

JoMoCo Triumphs






Dan Walsh, turned us on to these modern Triumphs built by JoMoCo. I think they're the same people who were a Melrose Avenue T-shirt brand, who bought the trading name from Bud Ekins, and made the best motorcycle book I've ever seen (40 Summers Ago), but I'm not sure. They don't mention any of that modern stuff in their history.
I think the bikes look great, but how many more times is Steve McQueen going to be wheeled out to sell retro stuff?
Anyway, we wish them luck. GI