Round Two of the UK Flat Track championship tomorrow with a heavy threat of rain.

Here are some shots from Stoke speedway in 2006. After the race, we actually got showered with our helmets, boots and leathers on....I thought it was a great idea until we totally blocked the toilet blocks drains...Sorry about that!

Anyways, flat tracking is definitely not a wet weather sport!

DIRT QUAKE: WORK WITH WHAT YA GOT!

The fast approaching DIRT QUAKE race event is Joe Public's one-time opportunity to come racing....no strings attached. It will be a one night stand of exhilaration, fear and a true sense of accomplishment.

Whatever bike you can lay your hands on, we got a suitable class for you to race it in. Novice, street-tracker/street-scrambler, inappropriate road bike and chopper classes.

Here's what was lurking in my shed. Given to me over 15years ago... a crusty, unloved Suzuki GS750 hardtail chopper. I say 'hardtail' but what I really mean is 2 iron bars bolted into where the rear shocks should be.

My mates, PITSTOP PAUL and his lad PITSTOP KEV dropped by today to make initial steps to get her running for the big day. When I aquired the bike in the last century, it was running. However, it seems to be missing a rectifier and the wiring loom looks like it was put together over the phone by Peters and Lee. The overall standard of engineering is so poor and ham-fisted....it's almost perverse.

I'm not gonna race this bike personally. I'm already racing my Rotax in both the club meeting 11am-4pm and then in the GNC at 7pm which is more than enough considering I'm suffering with a hernia. The deal is if they can get it running then Pitstop Paul can race it in the Chopper class.....I'm positive I'll get far more pleasure watching a newbie at the helm representing SKOOTER FARM/SIDEBURN than riding it myself. If Paul decides not to race.....I already got a subsitute. A guy who's last legitimate occupation was being fired out of a cannon in a stunt show!

The Pitstoppers left undaunted with a small shopping list: coils, plugs, plug caps, air filters and a rectifier.
Work continues next week.

I hope this post inspires folks who toy with the romantic notion of being a motorcycle racer to stop fantasizing and make it a reality...even if it's just for one evening.

Remember....Ride it like you borrowed it!

FRANK SIDEBOTTOM AND THE VENTURES...whats the connection?

Got a nice surprise in the mail today from my good friend Mel Bergman in California. It's a music project that himself, Deke Dickerson and friends collaborated on with Nokie Edwards.

Nokie Edwards was the lead guitarist with original instrumental surf kings THE VENTURES from 1959-1968. Tons of great tracks: 2000 lb bee, pedal pusher, swingin' creeper and their biggest hit...walk don't run.

Mel is the Guitarist in THE PHANTOM SURFERS and Deke was in THE UNTAMED YOUTH and this platter is an authentic sounding homage to the mid-60's period Ventures.

However....track Five is called DO THE FRANK SIDEBOTTOM....

How can this be? you ask.....Well, let me explain.... back in 2005, my band THE STAGS played a couple of European shows with The Phantom Surfers. One of these was at Wigan where we somehow managed to get Frank out of retirement to compere the show.....this kickstarted his career and led to me becoming Franks road manager.
Mel and the rest of the band where totally knocked out with Frank....instantly recognising the genius that it was. Frank ended up singing SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER with the Surfers and it brought the house down.
Frank and The Surfers stayed in touch and plans were made to record a Frank Sidebottom and the Phantom Surfers EP, for U.S. release and a west coast tour to promote it. Frank was really excited about this. Mel sent six or so instrumental tracks over but Frank being Frank....He never actually got round to finishing it. Sadly, Chris Sievey, Franks alter ego, contracted cancer and died. He did tell me he had recorded vocals on a couple of the tracks. It's possible they are tucked away somewhere on his portastudio. Problem is Chris/Frank was a disorganised, unconventional maverick. How you would even start to figure out the mystery tracks whereabouts totally beats me.

Anyways...it seems this particular song has gone full circle. Mel and the guys have paid tribute to Sidebottom by keeping its original title and having one of the all-time great surf instrumental guitarists play on it. I'm positive that Frank/Chris would be completely jazzed at this unlikely outcome....you know he would.....he really would....thankyou!

THE MAKING OF 'DIRT QUAKE' TEASER TRAILER

 Great day recently, filming the teaser trailer for Sideburn Magazine's next event DIRT QUAKE.
Weather was amazing, Hayley Saull and Dan Walsh from Patteran Productions did a super job as did my co-star Wilky # 99!
Extra big thanks to Kaitlyn, our glamourous starter girl who patiently hung around all day waiting for her call...and also Jonathon Saull for taking the photos.

Bikes featured in the shoot were my '82 Suzuki GS 850 shaft drive and Wilkys newly imported '38 Harley Flathead. The bikes were required to be street legal for the road sequences and it was a bit of a challenge to achieve that. Wilkys bike wasn't even registered in the UK and mine had been stood in a damp shed for over six years. Favours were called,  queue-jumping MOT's sorted by Gary at NORTHWEST CUSTOMS, emergency carb stripdown, new battery and filters by Paul and Tony respectively at PITSTOP MOTORCYCLES.
Wilky jumped through hoops to re-register his sickle on a UK plate....just in the nick of time.
The choppers rode surprisingly good out on the track....considering the hardtail frame, high bars and forward foot positioning. the Flathead developed a fault half way through the day....but Wilky somehow managed to keep her running and got the job done....a real trooper!

Keep an eye out for a cameo appearance by SKOOTER FARM team manager Joe Crawford!

Watch the trailer

DIRT QUAKE PREVIEW from SIDEBURN on Vimeo.


More event details http://sideburnmag.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/dirt-quake.html

DAVE SKOOTER FARM....PLUS SUPPORT!

After three months of rigorous lifestyle change, exercise and healthy eating...my body rewards me by developing an inguinal hernia.
Inevitably, I'm going to have surgery...but in the meantime.......IN GOD WE TRUSS!
Made a makeshift cod-piece out of 2 pairs of underpants, a piece of camping bed mat and some duct tape and proceeded to skate the pool. This worked satisfactorily so I then purchased a cheap, generic hernia support belt online and went flat track racing last weekend with no obvious serious issues.....but I guess it's only a matter of time.......

SIDEBURN MAGAZINE # 10 LAUNCH PARTY

Tomorrow night in Liverpool! Friday 16th March..... I got two features in this issue!
If you are in town or nearby....get on over...we got the new mag, shirts, live bands, great DJ's and pre and after-parties at Fids house

FRANK SIDEBOTTOM FUNDRAISER MANNEQUIN



Better late than never....here's a project I did last summer during the six months or so I wasn't blogging.
The idea was to make a life-size Mannequin of Frank Sidebottom to help raise awareness of the Statue Fund to raise money for a bronze statue in Timperley village (6 feet outside Manchester)

 I took Franks head (there is only one in existence) to CNC ROBOTICS where I do freelance set building for their sister company LIVERPOOL SCENIC WORKSHOPS. They kindly 3D scanned the head and then machined a polystyrene replica for me to use as a base to create the head.
I sealed the polystyrene with pva glue and the painstakingly rendered the entire head with a thin but tough layer of car body filler. facial features the nose, lips, hairline and ears were sculpted and then sanded until they blended in.

At this point I also started to work on the body. A shop window dummy was donated by fellow Frankophile Alan Woods. Unfortunately, the dummy was tall, slender and gazelle-like...NONE of Franks attributes. I decided to modify the standard dummy to resemble Franks vital statistics. This involved shortening the arms, legs and 'cutting and shutting' the torso. That went very well so I decided to now reposition the arms utilising plastic plumbers 'elbow joints'. Again this worked out surprisingly well so I took it further and remodelled the left hand, cutting and repositioning each digit into the 'Thumbs Up' sign. I pinned it all together with short lengths of coat hanger wire.
I sourced an identical suit on ebay for a max bid of £11.37...which I won, spent £4 on the shoes in a charity shop and had a genuine pink tie previously worn by Frank and then passed on to me as a member of Franks backing band THE OH-BLIMEYS.

I'm really bad at painting and the plan was for Martin Sievey (Frank/Chris's older brother) to do the painting..... however this didn't happen for various reasons so I decided to apply the paint myself. I'm more than happy with how that turned out. Working for Frank/Chris for the last 5 years leading up to his death I even knew which particular brand of paints to use and their code numbers.....Chris even imparted a couple of tips on techniques he used to achieve the desired affect.

I'm very proud of my work and whenever the statue is on public show, folks seem to love it.
It is currently on display at Alans shop in Wigan and is scheduled to make an appearance at FRANK-FEST in Manchester on Saturday March 31st. Headlining is THE FALL also THE STAGS are on the bill and will play a couple of Franks best loved songs in the set.