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Indian Contingency Calculations

Feb 20

Indian Contingency Calculations

Indian officially announced that they would run a two-man Wrecking Crew (as we reported earlier in the week). This is made up of a one-man factory team of reigning champ Briar Bauman, and the factory-supported independent (but not a true privateer), the former champ, Jared Mees. This is the first time in the new Indian team's lifespan that they've had two-rather than three riders on their 'Wrecking Crew' (see why we think that make business sense in BronBo Goes Private). On t

Time's up for Vance & Hines?

Nov 10, 2020

Time's up for Vance & Hines?

The drag racing news site eatmyink.com has reported that Vance & Hines will not be running the factory Harley-Davidson flat track or NHRA drag racing teams in 2021. We have contacted Harley-Davidson for confirmation but have not received official confirmation yet, so we must stress this is nothing more than a rumour at this stage. While unconfirmed, if it is true it wouldn't come as a surprise. Vance & Hines has run the factory team since, 2017, the year the factory committed

Sammy's Back

Sep 10, 2020

Sammy's Back

Sammy said all the right things when he was on the Vance & Hines Harley XG750R, and put it on the podium, and also came within a whisker of winning at it, but for a red flag when he was out front, but the statistics tell a different story. Sammy was Rookie of the Year in 2006 and the de facto GNC champ in 2009, if you, like we do, add the points for the singles and twins class (like it always used to be), Sammy had the most points. Instead, he's credited as Singles Champ and

Indy: Sweeps, Grand Slams & Records

Aug 29, 2020

Indy: Sweeps, Grand Slams & Records

Earlier this week we reported how unpredictable the 2020 AFT Singles was. We believe there is not even a hint of a dominant week in, week outr acewinner yet. AFT SuperTwins is far more easy to bet on. The winner is going to be on an Indian FTR750. Four races, four Indian wins, two to Mees two to current #1 Briar Bauman. Out of the 12 possible podium positions so far in 2020, only one position has been filled by a non-Indian rider, Bryan Smith's third place at the second Indy

Catch Fite Klub

Jun 13, 2020

Catch Fite Klub

We have purposely not covered the result of this week's pay-per-view Flat Track Fite Klub as it's still out there to watch. Chris Carr go in touch again to say... In case you missed it, the Inaugural Flat Track Fite Klub is still available to watch. I won't spoil the outcome, but you'll see one of Today's Stars having to go the distance with one of the Legends. Think 'Rocky Balboa on two Wheels, only for real and not a movie: Flat Track Fite Klub will take you to the order pa

Flat Track Fite Klub

Jun 8, 2020

Flat Track Fite Klub

This just in from Chris Carr. The round table, that is free to view, happens tonight. Who: Scott Parker, Chris Carr, Jay Springsteen, and Joe Kopp against today’s Flattrack stars Jared Mees, Bryan Smith, Sammy Halbert, and all-arounder Ryan Sipes What: One on One, best of 3 Match Races. Best of Legends vs Best of Today’s Stars on BULTACO ASTROS! Where: Undisclosed location due to Covid-19 When: 8:30 PM EST, 5:30 PST, Tuesday, June 9, 2020 How to Watch: The following link: Fl

This Racetrack Eats Motorcycles

Feb 16, 2020

This Racetrack Eats Motorcycles

I was interviewing AFT privateer Shawn Baer a couple of days ago and he mentioned the Mega Mile race. We ran some photos from it in the magazine years ago and I couldn't remember why the race hadn't gone back there. I did remember it was a 1.25-mile oval out east, but had forgotten it was called Colonial Downs and was in Virginia. A search threw up this pretty incredible race footage from 2014. There are lots of familiar names in the race, being only five years ago, but lots

New H-D SuperTwins Team

Dec 5, 2019

New H-D SuperTwins Team

Vance and Hines chose and otherwise quiet Thursday in December to announce some huge news, the line-up of their 2020 team. And it's exciting. Jarod Vanderkooi is retained and joined by 2019 AFT Singles champ Dalton Gauthier and 2016 AMA Twins champ, Bryan Smith. Smith's long-time crew chief, Ricky Howerton joins Vance and Hines as crew chief. Howerton is quoted as saying, 'I think the Harley-Davidson Factory Team has all the ingredients in place to field bikes that can win ev

They all look the same, right?

Sep 28, 2019

They all look the same, right?

Eagle-eyed Sideburn contributing photographer, Ed Subias spotted something hokey with an official Indian T-shirt. Somethings had changed, some had remained. IT bugged him till he could get online to check. Ed is a photographer with some kind of photographic memory and was sure he remembered the original photo. His internet search confirmed it. The rider was Bryan Smith, from around eight years ago, when Smith was a Harley-Davidson rider! The Screaming Eagle logo on Smith's le

Springfield Mile 1 Thoughts

Sep 1, 2019

Springfield Mile 1 Thoughts

So, the schedule caught up with me and I couldn't follow every race live. I missed the SacMile, but watched the Peoria TT after racing myself the same day, so I was just observing, not making notes. Briar was on it at Peoria, and the king of that track, Henry Wiles, was out injured. Such has been Wiles domination that no other current Twins rider had ever won at the track. Then it was onto the rescheduled Springfield. Friday night was Singles Short Track night, and, again, af

New York Short Track Thoughts

Jul 15, 2019

New York Short Track Thoughts

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. I watched all the practice, qualifying, heats and semis, then fell asleep for an hour after setting my alarm for 2am. Ugh. There were no Production Twins at the NY ST, so the extra class was the Bultaco Invitational. It was won by Charlie Roberts, one of the main men behind the Rookies Class of 79 charity, that raises funds for injured flat trackers. The 40-odd year-old Bultacos were only about 1s a lap slower that the latest, tuned 4

Laconia ST Thoughts

Jun 16, 2019

Laconia ST Thoughts

American Flat Track debuted a new racetrack yesterday, the purpose built short track in Laconia, New Hampshire. Why there? It hosts the oldest bike rally in the US, like a smaller Daytona or Sturgis. It's a decent idea, but there were problems. I was watching on Fanschoice, not live, but the crowd looked quite thin. As the reputation grows, hopefully so will the crowds, but if this was anyone's first flat track race as a spectator perhaps they won't have had the greatest expe

Red Mile Thoughts

Jun 4, 2019

Red Mile Thoughts

Here's the latest instalment of my morning after brain dump after watching (and listening to) the AFT 2019 races on Fanschoice. First thought was thank goodness the rain held off to actually get a Twins race finished. The Singles managed to have their Saturday Springfield TT, but the last two Twins mile races have been rained out, and this one was postponed from Saturday to Sunday. There must have been a lot of twitchy executives. The rescheduled race was at a very handy time

What's Happened to Bryan Smith?

May 13, 2019

What's Happened to Bryan Smith?

The 2016 champion was missing from the So Cal Half-Mile on Saturday, the second race he, or his team, have decided to sit out this season. Giving the Super TT a swerve was somewhat understandable if they were struggling, and they seem to be. Bryan Smith's weakest discipline are TTs, but missing this half-mile was harder to fathom. Smith is well known to be a mile specialist, but in his title-winning season he scored a first, second and fourth at half-mile tracks. He did fail

Daytona TT Thoughts (UPDATED)

Mar 15, 2019

Daytona TT Thoughts (UPDATED)

Sideburn ed's morning after bullet point debrief of the Daytona TT TWINS We have been getting very excited about new Estenson Yamahas and team changes, but the entry list for the twin class was very thin. 26 riders aiming for a new, reduced, 16-rider main. The track took what looked like a 1/4-mile drag detour down the tarmac banking, before braking hard for a hairpin. The dirt section had two dogleg kinks, one each before and after the jump. The jump itself was a decent size

Screw you, Kawasaki?

Mar 13, 2019

Screw you, Kawasaki?

Photo @bsmith.4 On Tuesday, just two days before the start of the 2019 season, Bryan Smith's Howerton Motorsports Crosley Kawasaki broke cover. However, if you didn't know the history of the bike, or the architecture of modern Japanese twins inside-out you were unlikely to know it was a Kawasaki. This is a development of the bike Bryan Smith won the title on in 2016, the last before Indian entered American Flat Track and not only came with a great bike, but also cleverly nul

Howerton Kawasaki Chassis

Feb 9, 2019

Howerton Kawasaki Chassis

I was looking for something else when I came across up an old email from AFT team owner/engineering master, Ricky Howerton. Attached was this image of Bryan Smith's championship winning chassis for his Kawasaki twin, that he sent when we featured the bike in SB23. For the 2018 season Howerton moved with Bryan Smith to be the crew chief of the official Indian team, but after two years with Indian, they've decided to run with the Kawasaki again for the 2019 season, which is cur

AFT Rule Changes - Indian on Warpath

Nov 15, 2018

AFT Rule Changes - Indian on Warpath

Oh boy, things are really hotting up in American Flat Track. In addition to the rule changes we picked up on 1 November, more have been announced that have upset Indian so much they've made an official press release. This is it in full.. Read it then see our take at the bottom... American Flat Track recently communicated a series of rule changes for 2019, designed to increase the competitive balance in the sport. Two of the three rule changes single out Indian Motorcycle and

AFT 2019 Schedule: Sideburn analysis

Oct 21, 2018

AFT 2019 Schedule: Sideburn analysis

AFT has released its provisional 2019 race schedule, so it's time to pick through it with a medium-toothed comb. All the regulars are there. It begins with the Daytona TT, that we hope continues to improve in the way year two was much better than year one. There are the traditional pair of holiday weekend Springfield Miles, the Sacramento Mile, the Peoria TT and the Mees-promoted Lima Half-Mile. The Buffalo Chip TT, held during the huge Sturgis bike rally, is now a newly esta

Smith On Kawasaki for 2019

Oct 8, 2018

Smith On Kawasaki for 2019

American Flat Track hosted its end of season awards night in New York last night and the big news announcement was that Bryan Smith will be back on a Kawasaki for the 2019 season. The 2016 champion sewed up his one and only championship win on the Howerton Motorsports Kawasaki at the final race of the old AMA Pro Racing era, before it was rebranded as AFT. He narrowly beat Jared Mees (who, at the time, was racing a Harley XR750) at the Santa Rosa Mile after the pair went into

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