Sideburn is proud to have brokered a deal to put our staff poet, track tester and roving ambassador, Travis Newbold on a very special version of Bottpower's XR1 to compete at Pikes Peak in 2017 (subject to entry being accepted, see below).
The Spanish company's XR1R will use an engine from the track-only Buell XBRR. Only 56 of this fully-faired, Daytona-focussed racers were built, during the time of Harley's ownership of Buell, and two have been loaned to the team by their customers. The engine will be in Bott's own titanium spine chassis. The styling of the bike will be very similar to the XR1R (above). I hope there is room for 747 on the side number plate.
The main sponsor for the Bottpower Pikes Peak project are our friends at Kriega, the British-based innovative moto-luggage firm who have advertised in Sideburn since issue 1, and who we featured in Sideburn 21. Entries for the motorcycle and ATV classes at Pikes Peak have been slashed in recent years (perhaps as a result of two deaths in two years), so the team's official entry is being considered. Fingers crossed. Travis has won his class in previous years and came second in 2015 on the Buell-powered Ronin. he was only beaten by an HRC-backed Honda America Fireblade. You can read more about Pikes Peak in a story written by Guy Martin in Sideburn 18. We only have two of these issues left. Keep up with the Bottpower Pike Peak project at the Bottpower blog.