Les and his wooden balls

Maxxis, take note. Whatever happened to Les and his balls-out Douglas DT? MP

When McQueen raced a Douglas

I was researching a piece recently on Steve McQueen's relationship with Triumphs, and stumbled across these pics of him racing a 1920s Douglas flat twin in the mid 1950s at the Knatts Valley hillclimb in Kent, England. The bloke he's pitched against in the second shot is the great Alf Hagon, top speedway, grass track and drag racer of the '50s and beyond (these days the name is just as famous for his shocks and wheels). More info about these photos in an interview by Kandee Nelson with the photographer, Max Poultney, on Steve McQueen Online. MP

'Douggie'

Douglas DT 500 flat twin, as used by Fay Taylour in the late twenties. The champion's weapon of choice. What elegance. This catalogue shot from the great Flick collection of Bubbles 44. BP

Douglas

Now living in Bristol, I have a new soft spot for Douglas bikes. The red brick Victorian factory on Hanham Road, in the suburb of Kingswood, still stands. This lovely 1930 shot of Wally Kilmister is from the excellent New Zealand national library collection. Speedway was started by Ozzy brutes in 1923, then quickly picked up by the Kiwis, before being introduced to the Brits four years later. BP

Douglas DT

The Dirt Track. Built in Bristol, England.

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

Sideburn 2 Teaser

Spoke to the printers today and they've promised to deliver a week on Monday.
So if you want one in the first monster post-out we're taking orders now.
Here's some of what's in it. Go to www.sideburnmagazine.com then click Shop. Make sure you say ISSUE 2, because we're still getting orders for 1.

Heavy Metal
Is the XR the ultimate tracker?
Is this the ultimate XR?
& its road legal(ish) so you can use it for shopping.
Smokin'
Thats not a pet sausage on Art's leg, its a meat hook to keep him on stop his Douglas and stop it careering off over the boards and killing innocent bystanders.
Sideburn's private collection of cigarette cards depicting men who were men that smoked.

Since the beginning of time...

From Dave Skooter Farm.

Who says dirt track is a new sport here in the UK?
Here is proof that us limeys have been getting dirt in the eyes since 1927!

NOTE: Ad is bordered with left-handed Swastikas before that crazy Austrian got his hands on this old good luck symbol.

'Les Blakeborough A Man With Balls Of - (drum roll) - WOOD'