We've run out of room at Sideburn's HQ, so we're doing what we never thought we would, and putting up one of our crown jewels for sale.

This 1983 Honda FT500 was our first project bike and was on the cover of Sideburn 6 (and also on Bike Exif). The only fly in the ointment when we built it was a worn out top-end, but that has now been totally replaced and is as good as new (thanks to Gavin B for the parts).

Our Death Spray Custom-painted FT500 has been ridden in France and England, but its never been our daily rider. It's also competed in Dirt Quake and has a slight chip, that's been repaired, on the tank as a reminder.

The Honda is a great city bike and would easily cope with longer journeys if you're with a group of bikes with similar power. Cheap insurance too.

SPECIFICATION

ENGINE: Full top-end rebuild by CFM; NOS Honda starter motor; Supertrapp end can; K&N Filter; Renthal sprockets

CHASSIS: Modified FT500 frame with raised seat rails; Gilera Sport 50 fuel tank; Norton Commando racer style seat unit; Yamaha TDR250 forks; one-off EBC Pro-Lite discs; Yamaha R6 four-piston front brake caliper; EBC pads; Honda CRF450 front brake master cylinder; Hagon Nitro rear shocks; fat bars with Renthal bar clamps;  Goodridge brake hose; seat cover by Steve at Lucky7; standard wheels with Dunlop K180 tyres; bear trap-style foot pegs

PAINT: Death Spray Custom

PRICE: £4300

The bike will be sold with tax and 12 months MoT.
We can arrange delivery to some areas of Europe.

Photos: Paul Bryant

Mr Death Spray Custom couldn't make it to Dirt Quake because he was in Charlotte, North Carolina watching Nelson Piquet Jr race a NASCAR truck he'd designed the livery of.

Our Project FT -  that DSC sprayed - was raced at Coventry by Carl, though.
Photo below taken from Russ's Dirt Quake flickr. G

Some shots nicked from Flat Tel's flickr. There are 298 over there. Thanks Tel. G

To help some of the friends who help me in my day job and with Sideburn and, also, to try gain a bit of coverage for Sideburn, I worked with photographer Paul Bryant to put a couple of bikes up on Bike Exif.
Some of the people who comment on Bike Exif, just some of them, I view as the lowlife of the motorcycle online world. They look at someone's hard work for ten seconds and then spit some bile at it before going back to their motorcycle-less lives. I'm convinced these people don't build bikes. I don't think they even ride. And if they do, they don't ride anything modified. Anyway, that's only some of the people who comment. And you don't have to read the comments. In fact, I'd advise not to. You can never get those seconds of your life back. The Sideburn blog comments are different. They emanate from an open-minded, fun-loving, bike-building place. Still, Chris, who runs the Bike Exif site, seems a good egg and features very handsome bikes.
The motorcycles I sent to be featured are Sideburn's Project FT (built by CFM, painted by Death Spray Custom) and Racefit's Spondon Zed.
 Our Project FT was featured in Sideburn 6 if you want to read all about it. G

We talk about CFM a lot on this blog. Carl (the C of CFM) is definitely a Sideburn brother. He rolled our turd of an FT500 in glitter (that's him testing it below), then did a lot of the hard work on our project Royal Enfield. He's also worked on all the other bikes I've owned in the last three years.

Dunlop K180 tyre, Hagon Nitro shock, Supertrapp silencer, EBC disc, frame mods by CFM, Death Spray Custom paint. GI

The knitwear obsession grows.
This is Boris the Sock Monkey by Fi who was making it for a friend till she realised he's an exact match of Project FT's Death Spray Custom Colour Blinder paint, right down to one orange eye. Thanks Fi. G

I love looking at bike show photos from around the world. Even though there is a generic hot rod or period correct chopper look/uniform, there is still a lot of room for local interpretation. And a lot of that was in evidence at the Milan Show Down.
A couple of Rumblers. Romano from the Rumblers was the driving force behind this great show.
Paolo from Zaeta. Too much for one woman, not enough for two.
This is bike show crowd Milan-style.
The DJ - the Blonde Pit Bull. Skooter Farm Dave took over the decks. Well, turned off the CD decks and started spinning his 7-inchers.
The bar was selling more cocktails than beer.
Dave!
Hats!
Euro flat track champion, Zaeta team rider and all-round legend Marco Belli called by and had a quick Campari. No, really.
Photographer Antonio Cellini. Nice sweatshirt Antonio.
Everyone likes having their photo taken in Italy.
This is photographer Carlito Schiliro, who shot the M&M's story for SB6, and his friend. You think a photographer would manage to keep his eyes open for a snap.
Killer fringe.
Paolo Sormani (left) and Roberto Ungaro from the world's second best motorcycle mag, Riders.
This lady kept walking past and stroking Project FT's tyre. She thought nobody was noticing, but we caught her.
We liked 'Till Death' on her throat.
Eye see.
Patch club.
Paparazzi.Chick magnet.
These two started jiving when Dave was on the decks.
Stefania from Mermaid.
Antonio, Stefania and Dario from Officine Mermaid.
Mermaid crew re-enacting The Clash 1977.

Project FT has been up in Oi Polloi, then at the Stafford show, meaning we haven't had a lot of time to ride it, so I took one of the new scarves for a road test on Honda the other day. I can guarantee the Sideburn scarf performs as well, if not better, than any other scarf on the market. GI

Oi Polloi's window before the stickers went up.Pete's Stiletto getting some free fuel from the FT. Note Bedlington Terrier on back seat.
Action Man 1970s Adventurer is an Oi Polloi fashion icon. The geezer in the mirror trying on shoes is singer Finley Quaye.