The other Panther

Talk of the Panther monoshock made me wonder about the bikes built by Phelon & Moore that came out of Cleckheaton in West Yorkshire and whether they'd ever turned out a dirt tracker. Seems they did, right back at the dawn of speedway in the late 1920s.

But this, below, also caught my eye, a Panther-Cotton hybrid that sold at auction (I'm not sure when) for around £2500. You can get more info on the Bonhams site. Looking at these bikes now, they seem like a precursor to the laid-down motors typical of speedway's modern era.

Panther built bikes from 1904 - 1967 and the big slopers were by far their most famous models, though always more associated with sidecars than hot shoes. MP

Rare Sporting Harleys on US eBay

I wouldn't have much use for it, but I still would love this alcohol-fuelled 1927 Harley JD hillclimber. It's up on US ebay with a starting price of just $9999. It's in Washington state.
This is the same model engine that Homer Knapp used in his race bike.

The same seller is also offering this rare 1953 Harley KR750 flat tracker.

Thanks to Martin H in Germany for the link. GI

Deadman and Wolves

I've banged on about Wolverhampton and the English Black Country before, but I've yet to mention the brilliant Tommy Deadman. A pioneer of British speedway, Deadman captained one of the first English clubs, Wolverhampton Wolves, formed in 1928, as well as racing hillclimbs and grasstrack. He was also a pioneer of motorcycle football, later to be known as motoball and still responsible for the bloodied shins of devotees around the globe. A test rider at Sunbeam, he built the bike he's pictured on here, his 'Sprint Special', using bits cadged from broken factory racers. Loads more over at Wolverhampton History, along with photos and clippings, such as these here, supplied by Deadman's daughter, June. MP 

Meccano treasure trove

Meccano Magazine was started in 1916 by Frank Hornby, inventor of the Meccano hobby engineering sets (and later Hornby model railways and Dinky toys, some hat-trick) that did a brilliant job of keeping the minds of millions of teenage boys off their own nuts, for a while at least.

A bunch of insanely dedicate people have scanned and made available pretty much every copy of the magazine, which ran until 1981. There's even a searchable index. If you go in there, don't expect to emerge in less than an hour. The bikes, by the way, are from August and October 1929. Many thanks to Brownhills Bob for the tip-off. MP

Up the Wolves

I'm back on the northern fringes of the English Black Country at the moment. The house where I grew up, and where my parents still live, is on the Wolverhampton Road, about seven miles from Wolverhampton itself. Over the past century or more, the English West Midlands has been home to more bike builders than any other British region, though almost every marque is now defunct. Sunbeam, of Wolverhampton, is just one of those.

The DT90 dirt track model was introduced in 1928 and featured the TT-winning 493cc Model 90 OHV engine, though fitted with single-port head instead of the twin-port on the road racers and road models. The Druid-style girder forks came in for a load of criticism from testers and racers, so for the following year (below) they were swapped for the Webb-type popular with dirt trackers. Wheels are a giddying 28in. MP

Wall of Death Indian For Sale

'Indian Scout built as a Wall of Death bike immaculate condition. Not registered. Converted to road use.'For Sale here

Hooked Up

This is Henry Tyrell-Smith in the 1929 Senior, at the Isle of Man TT. By the fourth lap his Rudge was three minutes ahead when he crashed at Glen Helen. He re-mounted and still managed to finish 3rd despite leg injuries and three cracked ribs; just 50 seconds behind a Sunbeam in 2nd. The place seems to propagate madmen. Gary is there now. BP

Iron Maiden

We're flattered with propositions from around the world, for new stories '....that may be of interest to Sideburn?', as way back when we printed the first issue, we were seriously worried how soon the well of suitable and original material would dry up. Plus, it's no good just banging a magazine together with 4"-b'-2" and a few rusty nails, we decided from the beginning we would only include stories and photography of worth, and make a magazine we'd want on our own coffee table. So how to sort the wheat from the chaff? Sideburn is not Wikipedia.
Would a Wiki' researcher cross-dress as a pensioner in piss-stained nylons, just so they could go deep-cover and gain access to restricted MI5 files on a Lady speedway star from the 1920s? A Sideburn researcher would. - Well not me personally, but Mick Phillips would. And did. He has written the inside story on infamous Fay Taylour for SB#5. And we even had to go as far as New Zealand to get the photos.

Incase you are wondering, 3/4s of the next issue is now completed; we will trickle feed you teasers as we finish it off. BP

You wouldn't want to get you goulies on the wrong side of this steel log-splitter. Mick Phillips had another close shave.

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

Chater Lea 350

1929. 80 years ago and looking fine. Thanks Mick.
What's the writing on the banking in the background. Looks Russian. GI

Don't know quite what she's doing with that thing...

but I like her style.

Human Cannonballs Dick Smythe & Co.

A horizontally opposed flat twin is not exactly the first engine configuration that springs to mind for flat track racing, but the 1929 Douglas DT was the dogs bollocks of it's day - and many consecutive years thereafter. This brochure was picked up by our vintage shingle antenna Mick Phillips, via our friends (step-cousins twice removed) at Classic Bike Magazine.

'Manufacturer to His Majesty the King' and 'By appointment to the King of Spain' you don't get accolades like that for motorcycles these days. 'Due to its low centre of gravity, even weight distribution and perfect balance, it can be "broadsided" at angles that would mean a spill with a single-cylindered mount. Power as silky sweet as that of a turbine. It accelerates with a snap and a surge. Speaking of this acceleration one well-known rider said that it was akin to being sucked up by a gigantic vacuum cleaner... If you have aspirations to Dirt Track fame, do as the Champions did - get the right machine - the Douglas.'

Why were those piss-pot helmets always so tall? - the retro Davida ones aren't quite so comedy. I guess they were originally developed for human cannon balls, and impact was only ever TDC. According to MP "Racers always carried several rounds of bread and dripping, and a flask of tea in their helmets."
BP

Fred Lange hillclimbers

Thanks to Patrick for the lead on these incredible bikes. I really, really hope whoever paid for them to be built actually rides them up a hill once in a while.
1928 Hill Climber
This is one of two Fred Lange Re-Creations. It demonstrates Harley-Davidson's conservative approach to designing motorcycles coupled with their deep desire to win in competition. There is nothing exotic about the machinery except for the ingenious combination of the best materials on hand. This motorcycle used the powerful two-cam engine base from an F-head motor, and incorporated special factory-made cylinders based on Peashooter technology. Its transmission holds but a single gear. The in and out selector box was typical of hill climb specials. The rider would depress the clutch pedal, snick the transmission into gear by a small hand lever, and engage the clutch at the start of his run.
The hill climber chassis was a specialized piece of equipment, beefed up with trusses and extra reinforcement. The front fork was also not standard fare. It sported additional side trusses and a friction damper.
Everything about this motorcycle is serious, from its special front end to the chain shod rear wheel.

Mr Perfect and his perfect bike

Last month we put out an APB on this guy via our own private dick Chopper Dave. At that point we had no name, no nothing, except that he and his vehicle are Perfect. Lieutenant Dave is good. The name is Homer Knapp. The game, gnarley 1928 JD.
BP