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

Pete Stansfield has supplied a great post on his Triumph chop, Old Blu' and I finally discovered why a rusty, gold and polished alloy Triumph was called Old Blu'.
Go to Sideburnmagazine.com to read more. This blog is going to be retired very soon, but we're going to continuing blogging on our new website.
                                                                                                        Photo: Guy Bolton/GKM

Our mate Guy S is selling one of his wonderful big-bore Triumph racers for £7995.
It's Christmas, treat yourself. The bike is located in Oxfordshire, UK. It's a racer not a road bike. Keep it as a racer. Here's what Guy says...

Triumph T120 1970 engine in a VMC frame.  

Imported from Ohio in 2014 by me, this bike won the UK DTRA Vintage Class Championship in 2015.

The 650 motor is fitted with a 750 big bore kit and was modified for racing in the US. It has a ported head, racing valve springs, racing cams. It runs a pair of Mikuni carbs, which were new in 2015 replacing the worn Amal mk2s previously fitted. Ignition is an ARD mag, a favourite of US racers because they are very reliable, robust and don't need a battery.

Starting is via a remote 1/2" drive remote start socket on the left hand side crankshaft end. The left primary drive case is a period skinny flattrack item for extra ground clearance (no generator required or fitted). Alternatively starting can be via a roller starter. It starts easily and idles reliably.

The clutch is a 7 plate LP Williams new in 2015.

Stainless exhausts were made in 2015 specifically for this bike by Geoff at Co-Built.

Front forks are Betor in Weiss flat track adjustable yokes. Rear shocks are Ohlins, again new in 2015, piggy back reservoir type with adjustable compression, rebound, ride height and hydraulic preload adjusters.

Wheels are 19" with Excel rims, spool front hub, rear quick change Barnes type hub. Swing arm bushes replaced last year, also front wheel bearings and spindle.

The fibreglass Trackmaster tank and Champion seat unit are very good, and were repainted in red and silver metal flake with a lot of 2k lacquer in early 2016. 

The frame was made in 2004 by VMC Racing Frames in Cleveland, Ohio, by Doug Horner. It's oil in frame, made specifically for flattrack racing, and is based on an early 1970s Redline Racing design.

It's a fast, reliable and nice handling bike. It's a race bike, not a show bike, and is being sold as such.

See and read more at Triumph T120 Racebike. The contact details are there too.

Another found by eBay hound Kev H. This bike is mixed in with a number of other Brit bikes all in the same eBay listing. Below is what the advert says (thoughut I've corrected some of the typos). This sale is nothing to do with Sideburn. We don't know the seller or the bike. Buyer beware and all that.

 Triumph Trackmaster flat track racer with 500 Daytona race engine £6000. All of them need work varying degrees and parts then mot and register very easy to do we the deed of title from America and NOVA tax paid forms. Please contact me for details we are in Exeter Devon

The latest instalment from Sideburn ambassador, John Harrison.

I first encountered Sideburn mate and perennial Dirt Quaker Pete Stansfield at the 2011 Hotrod Hayride, where he had ventured south to run his Triumph sprint/drag bike at the 1/8th mile Detonator Drags at Dunsfold in Surrey. He told me it was the first time the bike had been out since 1972.
I was racing my Harley 45 and drew Pete in my first race. Needless to say, he had blasted across the finish line before I completed my first (hand) gear change. The pic shows him warming the motor prior to changing to race plugs. I think he was running on methanol. I remember being impressed by his bib 'n' brace leathers and suffering severe tyre envy over that historic M&H slick. Yes that is a Dakota in the background and yes, the legend is true, it did race down the runway against Chief Detonator Langley Gifford in his 1940s period-correct '32 Roadster Hotrod, which was a lump-in-the-throat sight as they both thundered away into the late afternoon sun before the Dakota lifted off and banked hard right. Could it be the same plane that overflew Dirt Quake IV?
Pete also brought his sweet, hardtail pre-unit when it was in reverse-head incarnation. It has since seen Dirt Quake action, though in a different guise.
He raced Dirt Quake this year on a bone stock, low-mileage CCM flat tracker in the Street Scrambler class (I thought the stars on my leathers were neat, but Pete's were big 'n' GOLD)...
...while his daughter, Ellis, raced his stock ('cept for whitewall tyres) Suzuki B120 Loanaladyaracer.

Ernie and Nick, Icon's go to stunt fellas, have been recruited by Triumph North America to put a couple of the new generation Scramblers through their paces.
It looks like the forks have twice as much travel as a stock Scrambler, and Progressive are named check at the end, so I'd guess the shocks were uprated too, but it's still a great advert for this new bike.
And a brave move on Triumph's part to put out such a full-on video, that could easily pass for one of Icon's.
Good work fellas! G

Kev H has found another dirt tracker being sold in the UK. This is a rare and beautiful beast. Race-spec Trackmaster Triumph T120R. We don't know anything about the sale, so buyer beware, but what a stunning piece of kit. This is what the ad says...

£8000 or best offer.

TRIUMPH T120R (1971) USA FLAT TRACK/ DIRT BIKE.
THIS IS A ORIGINAL USA FLAT TRACKER NOT ONE WHICH HAS BEEN MADE UP. VERY RARE NICKEL PLATED TRACK MASTER FRAME AND SWINGING ARM
TWIN LECTRON CARBS
CERIANI FRONT END
GRIMECA REAR DISC
K AND N FILTERS
OFFSET FOOTPEGS WITH BATES RUBBERS
FLAT TRACK PRIMARY CASE
FLAT TRACK TYRES, (NOT FOR USE ON HIGHWAY)
THE BIKE HAD A LIGHT RESTORATION A FEW YEARS AGO IN THE USA. IT HAD A NEW SEAT AND TANK AND I THINK WITH NEW WHEEL RIM, SPOKES AND HUBS, OR HE MAY HAVE HAD THEM POLISHED, I HAVE FITTED A NEW BATTERY, IT STARTS 2ND OR 3RD KICK AND SOUNDS WONDERFUL, AS YOU SEE, IT HAS NO FRONT BRAKE, LIGHTS , HORN ETC IT HAS A CUT OUT BUTTON TO STOP, THIS IS A GENUINE FLAT TRACK BIKE , EX RACER, I DO HAVE THE NOVA DOCS FOR IT, MAY BE INTERESTED IN EXCHANGE FOR NORTON OR BSA W.H.Y.

From Mule Motorcycles in Southern California...

Saw your featurette on the Panther and thought you'd like to see the one I have in work. Updated bodywork, Storz tank and modified Woods seat. All new 750 motor.
Richard

Read about the modern Bonneville street tracker Mule Built for Arctic Monkeys drummer, Matthew Helders in Sideburn 25.

eBay hound Kev H keeps sending us links to bikes on sale in the UK. These are for would-be DTRA racers.

One is a ready to race Suzuki 450, the others are a couple of DTRA vintage class compatible bikes that have the air of barn find/ on-going project about them, especially the one with the Can-Am tank. The two Triumphs are being sold by the same bloke who had the Triumph T100C on ice tyres a week or so ago. Looks like he bought a job lot of interesting, affordable vintage racers/projects.
These sales are nothing to do with Sideburn. We know nothing about the quality or history of these bikes or even if they are what they purport to be, we're just passing on what's out there. G

Kev H has found another beauty on UK eBay. Again, this sale is nothing to do with Sideburn, we're just passing on the details...

Triumph Flat track / Ice racing bike, believed to be a Trackmaster frame? Frame No is 197, engine is a 1968 T100C competition engine, turns over with plenty of compression, Imported by myself from the USA which accounts for its well preserved condition. Fitted with ice studs in the tyres. nice leather seat. It came out of a full collection of similar bikes I bought and all have so far run well.

When Icon 1000, the Portland-based company that never sleeps, release a new video I get excited. They have a fresh new website too, covering their Icon Motosport, Icon 1000 and Icon Raiden brands. Go to www.icon1000.com. G

Thanks to our friend Tom Baldwin for alerting us to this:

Spotted that the latest film review in Sideburn, "Psychomania," (one of my long time guilty favourites) has just been remastered for HD DVD, and will be released on the 19th September. To coincide with this, they're showing it at the BFI (British Film Institute)with a Q and A session with the lead actor, Nicky Henson. Find out more at BFI Flipside Psychomania.

Hope it's of interest to you, and perhaps to other Sideburn readers? 
All the best, Tom


READ ABOUT PSYCHOMANIA IN SIDEBURN 25.

Spotted on Triumph's Official facebook page, Guy Martin out on Bonneville Salt Flats, testing the Triumph Rocket streamliner while wearing a Sideburn Engine sweatshirt. The photos are from the first day of practice, with the stabilisers on. They didn't stay on for long. The bloke's a natural.

Get yours from sideburn.bigcartel.com. We ship all over the world.

All photos courtesy of Official Triumph 

Record addict Guy Martin will be at the Bonneville Salt Flats later this month for a Triumph-backed attempt on the motorcycle land speed record.

The Infor Rocket streamliner is the latest in a 60-year history of Triumph velocitubes to contest the record in Utah. With around 1000bhp from two turbo-charged Rocket III engines on hand, Guy will be looking to top the the 376mph record that's been held by Californian Rocky Robinson since he piloted the twin Suzuki Hayabusa-powered Ack Attack to glory in 2010.

Rumours of tea-making facilities built into a compartment behind the cockpit have yet to be quashed by Triumph officials.

Here's a video of Guy meeting the Infor Rocket for the first time. The attempt will be shown by the UK's Channel Four, though no air-date has yet been set. MP
Photos: Triumph Motorcycles

The rules are 750cc or bigger, multi cylinder, stock frame, no front brake.  That meant Brink's gorgeous 1940s Harley WL45 was in the mix.
All the bikes were road bikes, the scene hasn't developed to US standards were most hooligan bikes only ever see the track, so most riders removed front brake levers or calipers, leaving discs or drums fitted.