Dirt Track Articles
Photos: Polish speedway rider Jarek Hampel
One of the many things that makes Poland truly a wonderful country, aside from the pierogi and women, is its national fascination with Speedway. Racing motorcycles on dirt ovals enjoys the kind of popularity and attention there that meaningless ball sports enjoy here. These photos show Jarek Hampel riding around Leszno and below there’s a video of one of his most recent races. Check out the slic...
May 20, 2011
Re-imagining Ockelbo
Tasked with reviving the historic Ockelbo brand as a maker of motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles, transportation design students at Sweden’s Umeå Institute of Design came up with these seven concepts. The results are one part KTM, one part Harley and one part pure imagination. Produced between 1962 and 1989, Ockelbo was a Swedish brand of remarkably nicely designed snowmobiles. Like KTM or, f...
Apr 27, 2011
From MotoGP to the Indy Mile: Roland Sands' Desmo Tracker
Exclusive to Hell For Leather, this render and these photos show what the finished Roland Sands Design Desmo Tracker will look like. If you haven’t heard yet, Roland’s finally lost his marbles, building a flat track racer based on the limited-to-1,500-units, MotoGP-replica, 197bhp Ducati Desmosedici RR. With permission from his doctors, we asked Roland what the hell he was thinking. HFL: What...
Apr 06, 2011
Dailies
Video: riding sideways with Deus
Following on from Carby Tuckwell’s article the other day, It happened at Harold Park, here’s video of a bunch of hoons riding sideways on a horse track. Harold Park is an old, half-mile gravel horse racing track near Deus Ex Machina’s Sydney HQ. That’s a good enough excuse to turn up with a bunch of vintage dirt bikes, right?...
Mar 29, 2011
Buell can still kick Harley ass
So this is just a Harley XR1200, right? No. Where that bike weighs 260kg and makes 85bhp this Bott XR-1 will weigh just 170kg and make 100bhp. How’s it do that? Why Buell parts of course. The XR-1 will take its wheels, suspension, brakes, engine and swingarm from a Buell XB12, housing them in a custom steel spine chassis. Looks, like the XR1200, are inspired by Harley XR 750 trackers of yore. ...
Mar 07, 2011
Custom: Marcus Moto F1 Tracker
“This is a one-off concept motorcycle that very well could be the base for a coming Ducati,” Marcus Carlsson tells us. As the name suggests, he’s Marcus Moto Design, a one-man custom bike company based in Stockholm Sweden. The F1 Tracker is based on a Ducati 996, but draws inspiration from a 1975 Ferrari Formula One car, hence the huge air scoop. Like the other modifications, that scoop is t...
Feb 23, 2011
Sideburn Magazine issue 5: ass kicking women
The fifth issue of Sideburn Magazine is devoted to the ladies, telling the stories of winning female flat track racers of the last 90 years. There's also GSX-Rs on ice, Dave Aldana on dope and some jerk named Wes picking a fight with champion racers for not having balls. Issue 5 of the world's best go fast, turn left magazine is on sale now. Order yours here:Sideburn Magazine...
Mar 28, 2010
Sideburn Magazine issue 3: Ron Wood, Dick Mann and Mablethorpe
The world's best go fast, turn left magazine has just released its third issue. Sideburn number 3 is jam packed with flat track content ranging from the classic -- Dick Mann, sand racing at Daytona, an "exhaustive" feature on Ron Wood, and a 1st Cavalry helicopter pilot turned racer -- to the modern -- DIY hot shoes, custom Triumph Thruxton trackers, Mule Motorcycles and sand racing in the UK. Sid...
Apr 24, 2009
Dailies
KTM 950 flat tracker takes AMA Grant National by storm
Actually that headline is a bit exaggerated. Project K Racing, competing with no factory backing and very little money, is finding the dirt track circuit challenging. But it has the right idea. By converting a KTM 950 Super Enduro R cheaply and easily into a competitive flat track racer, it hopes to make the sport more appealing to more manufacturers and more sponsors. We'd love to see more motorc...
Jul 10, 2008
Dailies
Harley-Davidson XR1200 coming home to USA?
Harley just purchased the rights to use the XR1200 name in America from Storz Performance. Could this mean Harley will sell the XR750-inspired performance bike in the country of its origin? The XR1200 has been declared a Europe-only model by the company, despite being manufactured in Missouri and calls from American enthusiasts of form and function for the model to be sold here. Storz was using th...
Jun 18, 2008