Mert Lawwill by Ryan Quickfall

We have a few of these beautiful, hand-pulled screen-printed posters up in the shop. This image was originally created for Sideburn 13, by English artist Ryan Quickfall.

The artwork measures 500 x 380mm. Each one is hand-numbered and signed by Ryan. Limited edition of 45.

They look good on a computer screen, but they look amazing in real life. Mine's going to the framer's today.

They're £40 plus post from the Sideburn Webshop. G

Search And Destroy

Two of my favourite things - St Mert of Lawwill and The Stooges. This video is not for the faint-hearted, or possibly anyone planning to race flat track this weekend. There are some brutal crashes in it.
Thanks to Norm at Motorcycho for bringing this to our attention.

If you like Mert, read our interview with him in Sideburn 13. If you don't like Mert, get out of here, you rat! G

Metal Mert

My mate Ped summed it up when he emailed this...

'Normally these things are shite. This one isn't.'

It's a one-off made by Brown Dog Welding, Detroit, MI and is up for sale for $320 (£205).

XR750 on UK eBay!

This is my road registered XR750 which I bought off the track in 2004 from a guy called Marcus 'Skid' Link (if your out there Skid I trust you are keeping well).
It is a 1978 motor in a Lawwill Frame and swing arm set up, the forks are WP, it has a slammer 4 speed gearbox and has titanium Valves, Cosworth pistons infact all the race toy internals of the late 90's race bikes.
I put a front brake on which I made, a number plate and upgraded the ignition from Motorplat to PVL which is a much smoother spark delivery system, I have tucked all the electrics under the rear wheel into a box and made a carrier for the ignition coils so that they sit smartly under the tank.
The heads have twin plugs, are 'Bathtubed' and have 'D' ports, I ran the bike for a couple of years and then in 2006 I shipped the motor over to California where I had a complete rebuild from the crank up with all new internals, bearings, rebore, new Carbs the lot by Jim Kelly of Jim Kelly Racing.
I have Jims report, dyno results (high 80's) his parts used and labour schedules, after having it returned I have leaned out the jetting and knocked back the ignition timing for road use. (It would take no more than a few hours to retune for race use).
At the moment it is running on brand new Avon Road tyres, I had taken the Goodyear Eagle II's off as you get a wobble from them on the road, obviously the buyer will get both sets of tyres along with all the sprocket sets, the 2 exhaust systems shown, the two petrol tanks shown (one is Alli and one is Fibre glass), all the old internals that were sent back with the fresh motor and any other odds and sods associated with the bike.
The bike has a Starter Adaptor 1/2" drive and comes with the electric Hand held starter motor, it will run and bump on a slope or on the flat with a friend.
Its only claim to fame is that Jack Osbourne rode the bike on a promotion video for his Adrenalin Junkie show.
The bike is MOTed until June 2011 and the tax runs out the end of November.
Please note that this is a Race bike, it is not a show bike and although I have it on the road it really comes into its own when raced.
I am selling this bike for financial reasons, the wife needs the money! If you choose to keep it on the road you will have lots of wow moments and it will be very noticed everywhere you go.

See it here eBay. Thanks to Mike C for the tip-off. But, what's the difference between no reserve and putting up a a starting bid of £10,000?

A world of cool events

Just none of them in Britain...

Meet Marin County’s own racing legend Mert Lawwill and enjoy a special screening of the classic Bruce Brown film On Any Sunday at the Lark Theater in Downtown Larkspur, CA., March 29th, 2009.
For over 20 years Mert has been developing and machining state-of-the-art prosthetic hands that have changed the lives of people who literally and figuratively need a hand. With help from Michael Aron of the Mojotown Project, he is now establishing a nonprofit organization to grant hands (or offset the costs) to those who don’t have the means to purchase them. The Mojotown Project’s special screening of On Any Sunday will kick off the fundraising efforts for MertsHands.org.
Seats are Limited, GET YOUR TICKET TODAY
If you go, remember the photographer and say a little prayer to whatever you believe in, please.
Thanks to Ivan for telling us about this.

Stockholm is beautiful, full of beautiful hedonists and cool cats. This'll be fun. And the Davida MotoPhoto exhibition has photos by Ben Part and Sideburn contributor, Fly Tipping.

This looks to be a very avant garde, nouvelle vague kinda get together. Right up our strasse. Shame it's in Italy. From OttoNero

St Mert asks 'Am I all there?'

St Mert says

Three post in half-an-hour! Happy now!

St Mert says

'Gary and Ben have been in Scunthorpe all day, they have asked me to pass on their thanks for all your support.
There will be more entries tomorrow.'

St Mert it's Friday

St Mert says 'Do something this weekend to make yourself happy.'
Amen. GI is off racing, BP is getting ready to move to France.
What are you doing?

St. Mert says 'Comment!'

We're learning about this blogging lark as we go along. We've changed our settings now so anyone can comment. St. Mert says 'Comment now!'

St Mert

Ascot 1963. The first year Mert rode for Dudley Perkins. 'I was just learning how to ride a Harley after riding a BSA.'

Oil painting

St. Mert

Cumberland, Maryland. 1969