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Rough Diamond

Mar 31

Rough Diamond

We featured Rebels Alliance' incredible Yamaha SR500 in Sideburn 35. Ollie Porter shot the bike in a freezing cold studio, with a freezing cold Steph Bolam, who we met for the first time that day, but has since become a regular at DTRA races. There are so many incredible touches on this bike. Order Sideburn 35 to pore over it. Rebels Alliance bricks and mortar London shop has closed unfortunately. It's a casualty of London rents, and the decision was made to close just before

Greenfield Practice Bikes

Jul 26, 2020

Greenfield Practice Bikes

A couple of weekends ago the DTRA ran two days of practice at Greenfield Dirt Track in Lincolnshire, UK. The classes were split and riders had to choose if they wanted to ride on Saturday or Sunday, social distancing meaning the numbers were limited. These are some of the most eye-catching bikes (and people) from the weekend. The first three photos are Lucky Luke (with his Sideburn x Biltwell goggles) and Harley WL flathead racer . Luke is a tattooer who runs Hard Luck with J

Brad Pitt (The Sideburn Connection)

Sep 19, 2019

Brad Pitt (The Sideburn Connection)

This month's US edition of GQ magazine has a cover story interview with actor Brad Pitt. The leading men's style magazine yet again reanimated the corpse of Steve McQueen by having Pitt dressed like McQueen once did, sat on a motorcycle. GQ needed a bike as a prop, and rather than going the easy route and using a modern Triumph Scrambler, they tracked down Hayden Roberts of Hello Engine, who is one of the leading authorities on 1960s desert racers, and borrowed the TR6/B Hayd

D*Face x Indian FTR 1200

Jul 18, 2019

D*Face x Indian FTR 1200

Indian Motorcycle are chucking the kitchen sink at their new FTR 1200. On top of the three versions - FTR 1200, 1200S and Race replica, there is a container load of accessories and now five artist series 'tank' cover paint options. The artists chosen to design the tank covers are Steve Caballero, ThankYouX, Risk, Adam Turman and UK-based mate of the mag, D*Face. D*Face owns Rebels Alliance in London, who built the Sideburn 35 Yamaha SR500 cover bike. In the video below D*Fac

Lima Half-Mile Thoughts

Jul 5, 2019

Lima Half-Mile Thoughts

This is a little bit later than usual for a couple of reasons, but I saw this race live in the flesh, having flown out to the Midwest and driven for hours on end to follow the fortunes of Red Torpedo-sponsored riders, Jared Mees and Shayna Texter. And it was a great experience. My full story will be in the next issue of Sideburn with photos by Ed Subias, but here are some thoughts. The race is promoted by Jared and Nichole Mees. That means they put up the money to bring the A

Moto Safari: The Ballad Of Baboon Valley

Jun 23, 2019

Moto Safari: The Ballad Of Baboon Valley

Our friends at Moto Safari have another South African adventure ride coming up in October and they are offering 15% off for Sideburn readers. This is how they describe their adventure... As we descend down from the Baboon Valley to the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the desert turns to green rolling hills, beach sand and dunes that beg to be ridden, wild and unruly waves and deep blue, cold seas. Our prayers to the Gods of Dirt are answered as the blacktop quickly turns int

Rebels Alliance x Sunday Motors Rat Race

May 21, 2019

Rebels Alliance x Sunday Motors Rat Race

Rebels Alliance are organising a party and car park race for the Saturday night of Bike Shed Show weekend, that's THIS WEEKEND. So if you're in London for the show, make sure you get round to their spot on Sclater Street, which is a short walk from the Bike Shed headquarters, and about 1.5 miles (30 mins walk) from the Tobacco Dock show venue. They're putting on a mini bike race, live band - The Pearl Harts (see below), food trucks and good times to extend the fun of the Bike

So Cal Half-Mile Thoughts

May 12, 2019

So Cal Half-Mile Thoughts

Continuing reactive reports and thoughts the day or so after AFT races, here is the latest. Because this was a west coast night race I only caught the first few laps of practice and the Singles and Twins mains. Here goes... TWINS I went to bed thinking this must be the easiest year ever for a rider to gain their national number. There were only 19 riders entered for a 16-rider main. Make the main and you get your national number. Go back to Pomona, another So Cal race, in 201

DTRA Launch Report - Megapost

Apr 3, 2019

DTRA Launch Report - Megapost

The DTRA season launch has become a fixture on the UK flat track calendar. It's always held in London, originally at Bolt, more recently at the Bike Shed's arch 3, and it's always been popular. On the surface, it's an unusual idea. Most race clubs have end of year presentation events, not pre-season launches, but it really works and is a good way to get racers, sponsors, supporters and staff together (all pictured in one snap above, with DTRA bossman mouthing off on the big s

SB35 Launch at Rebels Alliance

Dec 21, 2018

SB35 Launch at Rebels Alliance

Many thanks to D, Boots, Max and the rest of the Rebels Alliance crew for hosting our launch last night. It was held at Rebels' wonderful Sclater St HQ because their Rough Diamond SR500, is the SB35 cover bike. The launch was slightly later in the month than we wanted because D, the store's founder, is D*Face, world renowned street artist, and he and right-hand man, Boots were painting a massive wall in Taipei as part of the All The Rage art show. Me going to Japan didn't hel

Sideburn 35 DIGITAL EDITION

Dec 21, 2018

Sideburn 35 DIGITAL EDITION

You love to drink deeply from the dirt track knowledge well, but you don't want to pay the postage for the physical magazine or perhaps you risk an anaphylactic shock if you touch premium weight paper and top quality printing. So, now you can buy the digital version of the current issue, SB35, for £2.50, to keep forever (or until the world descends in a soup of chaos and the internet is turned off). BUY DIGITAL SB35 This is the run down of the contents... COVER: Steph Bolam o

Sideburn 35 Launch

Dec 15, 2018

Sideburn 35 Launch

Well, the mag's been out a couple of weeks but with my trip to Japan and D-Face's busy schedule we've only just got this sorted. This Thursday we're having a knees up at the very excellent Rebels Alliance in East London. There's going to be live screenprinting, of Sideburn and Rebels merch, free booze and the cover bike too, plus the best vibes. Address is: 64 Sclater St, London E1 6HR And you're all invited! #Launchparty #London #RebelsAlliance #Sideburn35

Ollie Porter x (Steph Bolam + Rebels Alliance) = SB35

Dec 10, 2018

Ollie Porter x (Steph Bolam + Rebels Alliance) = SB35

The story of Sideburn's latest cover shoot starts with a conversation I had with Sarah, a lady at a company I was working with. She told me her boyfriend was a photographer and he liked bikes. I've seen a lot of photographers over my 25 years of motorcycle journalism, so I was polite, but didn't expect much. The partner turned out to be Ollie Porter (aka Ollie Portis) and when I visited his website, my mind began racing. This guy wants to work with Sideburn? The images were m

AFT Production Twins Get Serious UPDATE

Nov 15, 2018

AFT Production Twins Get Serious UPDATE

It was only two weeks ago (in a post about AFT's 2019 rules) we described AFT's Production Twins as a 'somewhat half-arsed stepping stone class for AFT Singles riders to get on twins'. Today the series announced that the class will grow from a frankly pitiful two race 'championship' it was in 2018 to a full 11-round series for 2019. AFT Production Twins is aimed at younger racers, brought up on 450 production bikes to get a taste of twins and custom built flat track framers b

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