Sideburn 34: Out Now

We venture into the deserts of California, Mexico and South Africa to test the mettle of our contributors. Old bikes are ridden not hidden, and inappropriate machinery is raced through 1000 miles of wilderness  proving the adage that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

SB34 also features McQueen's very own Huskie; a new regular column from Death Spray Custom, an interview with the toughest woman in flat track; follows a group of female high school students building a budget race bike and serves up an LSD-fueled report from Wheels and Waves El Rollo race. Yes, really.

BUY SIDEBURN 34

COVER: Hayden Roberts and his Triumph TR6 desert sled
BIKES: Triumph TR6 desert sled; Harley Sportster 883 Baja racer; Steve McQueen's On Any Sunday Husqvarna 400 Cross; High School project Honda CB160 flat tracker; Survivor Customs CCM Rotax racers;
PEOPLE: Sandriana Shipman; John Harrison; Chuck Joyner
INTERVIEW: Johnny Lewis
HOW TO: Build Your Own Flat Track
BLUEPRINT: Jawa 500 DT Type 890
SHOP: Rebels Alliance
EVENTS: X Games; Wheels and Waves; Sons of Speed banked oval racing; Vancouver Flat Track, Pemberton, BC;
ADVENTURE: 1000 miles through Baja on a Sportster; deep into South Africa on Royal Enfield 500s;
PAGES: 116

BUY SIDEBURN 34

BUY SIDEBURN 34

Woffinden wide-line

There's always an excuse for a bit of Woffy and here he is showing the form that's made him the reigning British and World Champion. He lines up against Troy Batchelor, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Nicki Pedersen in the second semi final at the Mitas Slovenian GP last September. MP

Bobby Boogaloo Schwartz

Where are you today Mr Boogaloo? BP

Chain male

I know it plays on your mind every single day: Why, oh why, do the Cradley Heathens speedway team have a hammer as their emblem? Easy. Cradley is in the heart of the English Black Country and from the early days of the industrial revolution metalworking, especially casting and forging, and in particular chain and nail making, played a big part in the local economy.

In fact, just up the road at Netherton was Noah Hingley's foundry where, incidentally, they made the chains and anchors for the Titanic. This film shows the men at Hingley's smashing the daylights out of hot metal with slick, almost choreographed precision. And remember, every one of those links has been manhandled and hammered.

If you really can't hack the full eight minutes (though you'd be mad to miss it) skip to 7m 30s to see some synchronised rivet hammering. No really, it's... riveting. Ommer it, me babbies! MP

Jawa Flat Tracker

Anybody know anything about this bike? (Motorkáři is a Czech moto forum and I can't read the original watermark underneath). BP

Thriller in Malilla

Some fine racing in the final of Saturday's Swedish round of the Speedway World Championships. Britain's Tai Woffinden went into this GP leading the championship, but Denmark's Nicki Pedersen was chasing him hard...

GM Speedway Restoration

Italian GM-powered racer, from Geoff who previously sent us a photo of his Jawa speedway bike. The Bad Boy Club and Oakley stickers root this in the 90s. Bad Boy Club ironic comeback, anyone?

My ex-Shawn Moran 1990 PJ / GM 
I've just put the period correct stickers on Shooey's old PJ Framed GM so thought I'd send you a photo of it.  
Cheers Geoff

Geoff's Jawa & Tiddler Turner

From Geoff D in Lincolnshire. I love old speedway bikes' asymmetrical bars.

As it was a nice day in Lincs today I took a few pics of my Jawa that may be of interest. 

The Tiddler Turner story [in Sideburn 20] was great and brought back a lot of memories. I put a link to Sideburn on the Speedway Friends facebook page where it got a lot of interest as he was a very popular rider. I saw Ian ride many times including the meeting I've attached photos to. 

The engine on the Jawa hasn't been started since a rebuild but I do plan to give it a spin at Scunthorpe. I just need an original throttle and it's about ready. 

I also have Shawn Moran's 1990 World Championship (which he was later disqualified from) runners up GM which i'm putting back to how it would have been on that season. It won't be concours as i also intend to give it a spin when it's finished. I'm trying to get all the correct stickers at the moment and there are a lot to get because he plastered it with sponsors stickers! When it's finished i'll send a pic. 
Cheers Geoff

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 

Taree MCC 1975 & 1984

Donna from Australia read our story about 1970s speedway rider Ian 'Tiddler' Turner in Sideburn 20 and got in touch with this email and great photos. They're from Taree, the town (and I assume the track) where Troy Bayliss runs his invitational dirt track meeting every year.

Hi Fabulous Dudes at Sideburn,
I had to email and gush liberally about Issue 20, the speedway story you tempted me with was as nostalgic as promised, many thanks! I am so thrilled that I invested my money in a Sideburn subscription, as it is easily the most entertaining mag I read, and the highlight of the week when it arrives in my mailbox. Being the mega fusspot (and SEN teacher) I am, I do tend to have OCD and 'edit' everything I read, including mags and newspapers, and I have only ever found one or two typos in Sideburn, which, in my eyes at least, is perfectly acceptable, as you are writing about cool stuff after all! 
In all seriousness, guys, many thanks for a glorious read. I particularly love the variety of bikes and bike culture that you cover each issue, especially the speedway; it's f*****g brilliant, but I am biased in that view. Other bike mags I have read have shiny stuff in them, and yours does too, but you also celebrate the mongrels, the rusty and the bitzers, which, I must say, I prefer, as they have such cool stories and histories behind them. Totally awesome! 
The hot guys riding the bikes in each issue of Sideburn, too, certainly adds to the appeal of the mag, in my eyes at least. Lastly, Gary, the speedway story in Issue 20 brought back such wicked memories for me that I had to dig through my dad's old photos and I found a couple of gems of an old inter-club meeting from 1975 at a Taree (Mid North Coast, NSW, Australia) racetrack. My god, those leathers are...graphic! I think these snaps are testament to the brilliant times to be had on the back of a motorbike, bad taste in leathers notwithstanding! 
Ride on! 
Regards, (Probably Not Your Only Number 1 Sideburn Fan), 
Donna

F2 speedway testing

F2 speedway is the brainchild of former racer Pete Seaton. The aim is to offer an affordable way to get into a sport that has become prohibitively expensive for many. The bikes use 450cc four-stroke motocross engines running petrol. Understandable, approachable, affordable bikes. Among the riders here in testing is three-time UK short track champion Aidan Collins (Honda kevlars), who's put in hundreds of laps on these bikes. Read his views, those of Pete Seaton and about F2 speedway in Sideburn #16. MP

Rye House 1946

Rye House is a track, North of London, that the DTRA regularly race at and rent for practices. To learn it has such history is great.

We race there on Sunday 21 September.

I find it interesting, that while US servicemen went back to California and set down the ground rules of what it is to be a motorcycle (and hot rod) rebel - rules still being mirrored by real and wannabe outlaws 70 years later - the British returned home and raced. Many of them raced on makeshift ovals on the latter years of the war.

We have a feature on 1939-45 warzone speedway in Sideburn 8. G

Woffy's the Man

A slightly belated congratulations to Scunthorpe lad Tai Woffinden who last Sunday was awarded the Motor Cycle News Man of the Year award to clutter his cabinet alongside the World Championship silverware he brought home last season. The annual MCN gong has been given out since 1958 and Woffy, who races for Wolverhampton Wolves in the British Elite League, is the first speedway rider to get his moniker on the trophy that bristles with names such as John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene and Joey Dunlop. MP

If you've not seen the youngster in action, treat yourself:

Buxton Hitmen Calendar

A. Sack the marketing manager.
Or
B. Get yours here. G

Woffy Woffy Woffy!

Big congratulations to Tai Woffinden on becoming World Speedway Champion earlier this week at the last round in Torun, Poland. The Scunthorpe lad is the first Brit to pick up the title since Mark Loram in 2000. It's been a big season for the 23-year-old, who also collected the British Speedway title along the way, as well as two broken collar bones - the same one - the last time just two weeks ago.

This was only his second time on the World GP circuit, the first being an ill-advised and forgettable foray in 2010, only months after the death of his father, former speedway rider Rob. Thanks in no small part to the expert attention of Peter Adams at Tai's club, Wolves, he's really shone this year, showing classy verve and a full-on style that makes his races memorable. MP

Here he is in a great race in the European round of the World Championships at Bydgoszcz, Poland, in April this year:

Speed Merchant Speedway

Dan over at The Speed Merchant sent these photos from a recent City of Industry speedway meet in Southern California. If you're out that way and have never seen speedway, go along, sit next to someone who looks like they know the rules and tactics and you'll love it.

The Speed Merchant are making some great parts for Sportsters and new Bonnevilles - triples trees, forks adjuster inserts, ribbed engine casing covers, pegs...

Thanks for the photos Dan. G

Tomba Archive

Raffaele Paolucci of the arty Street Tracker blog - who shot the cover of SB#11, befriended Gianni Tomba, Italy's historical authority on Speedway in the '70s-'80s. Sideburn #12 delves into his black and white archive. (You don't have to be into masks and leather to appreciate these yesteryear photos but it helps). BP

Covatti!

Sideburn 11's cover star is Argentine-born, Italian-passport holder, Nicolas Covatti. Raffaele Paolucci took the photo and wrote the story and he updated us with the great news that Covatti has his first Speedway GP wild card entry at this Saturday's Italian GP at Terenzano. Raffaele says...

Now he has a chance. It's a hard race, you know that he runs against the best riders of the world. From many years, they do more than one hundred starts every season. But he is a good boy, very serious, a fair fighter, very spectacular, exemplary inside and outside the track. It will be a great experience, a must if you hope to become a professional rider.
Also, Covatti is rumoured to be joining British Elite league team, the Birmingham Brummies. G

Every Wednesday Nite

They've even got a Tiki Bar! IndustryRacing.com

Wembley, 1948

Apparently, some running and jumping event started in earnest last night, at a brand-new purpose-built stadium in London's Stratford. But the last Olympic Games held in Britain were based around The Empire Stadium, better known as Wembley Stadium, given its name by popular consent from the area in which its twin towers sat, in London's north-western suburbs.

The stadium was already 25 years old - none of yer purpose-build splurge in those years of make-do - and while it was being tarted up ready for the Games, the resident speedway team, the Wembley Lions, were turfed out for the whole summer and had to run home matches at the track of bitter rivals, the Wimbledon Dons, way down south on the other side of the river.

But for the 1948 British Riders' Championship final, speedway was back at Wembley and the September meet drew a crowd of getting on for 100,000 be-capped, Woodbine-fuelled spectators to see Australian Vic Duggan, the moustachioed Harringay Racers rider, take the title. Yep, 100,000 at a speedway event in Britain, and it wasn't uncommon. There's some Pythonesque BBC newsreel footage of the event here. MP

Vic Duggan in action in 1947. Pic: John Chapman/defunctspeedway.co.uk

Olympic opening ceremony, Wembley, 1948. Imagine the same sort of crowd for  a speedway meet. It happened, and often