SF204

Heralding the dead time between Christmas and the New Year celebreations is the new issue of Streetfighters, fighting its way through snow, ice and slush to reach subscribers' doors this week. Those of you not wise enough to recognise the benefits of subscription will be able to buy your copy from newsagents during the first week of 2011.
With a second installment of our trip to Fighterama, coverage of the NEC show plus Will's excursion to Milan, a variety of feature bikes (including two turbos, a fat-tyred FireBlade and the stunt-tastic Bandit on the cover), updates on the project bikes we've been covering (including the completed Project Li'l Lives) and a very exciting episode of Andy Sparrow's superb cartoon, Jet Metal.
SF204, in newsagents from Thursday January 6th.

SF203 Fighting Talk

Well, here we are. Only a matter of a few weeks since the Coalition’s austerity programme was announced and already there’s been widespread ConDem-Nation (woo, go me) and a small riot during a London protest. That riot, one would assume judging by the tone of the media coverage it received, was tantamount to the Storming Of The Bastille but it resulted, in fact, in nothing more serious than a few windows broken by hyperactive students, a renegade fire extinguisher obeying the laws of physics and some police-issue Kevlar underwear suffering mild distress.

Anyway, as a result of these swingeing cuts (great word, swingeing – I just wish I knew what it meant) we’re all going to have to tighten our belts. I’ve had to stop using the top 3000rpm on the ZX-10R to conserve fuel (which means it takes me nearly 0:47 minutes longer to get to work), and have initiated a campaign of maintaining an economic rate of front tyre wear by keeping the thing aloft as much as possible. Worst of all, Streetfighters Towers is now operating exclusively on low-cost budget toilet paper made of recycled Honda service manuals...

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in SF203, and then add your comments here...

Two Strokes Are Enough

A phenomenon of the 21st century (in fact of the digital age where the proles expect, and are expected, to have their entire personal life on public display on the internet) is the blog.
Now, many are life-sapping diaries of dull, keyboard-tapping souls who spend their waking hours in front of a computer monitor, but others are inspirational collections of pictures and quips that inspire you to unmanacle yourself from the PC, and go out and do something exciting.
Here's one - the 2 Stroke Bike Blog (found here ), and as the name suggests, it focuses on motorcycles powered by a two stroke engine. Any motorcycles, from ex-Sheene Grand Prix beasts, to modified Eastern Bloc commuters. Every smoker's dream...

Internally 'Charged

There's many wierd and wonderful things to be found on the internet. And some of them involve motorcycles.

This motorcycle was once a GS500. Until, that is, it was acquired by Matthew Neal and Prabesh Prandey, to use in their mechanical engineering design project at San Francisco University. Using convenional student wisdom, their project is most definitely 'outside the box' (and yes, that is a truly horrid turn of phrase). Their plan was to supercharge the little Suzuki, but instead of using an external (and conventional) supercharger, they've instead used one cylinder as the compressor...

You can find out more about this astounding project from the blog here

Obituary of a CBR...

Faithful readers (as, no doubt, you all are) will have already seen the feature on Jon 'CBRRRT' Lungley's Blade in SF203...

However, given that we are limited in the number of pages we have each month, we don't get chance to tell you about all the issues encountered during the build. Rather conveniently, Jon ran a build thread on his Blade on the Custard Fighters forum - here as well as at the upside-downies forum at www.streetfighters.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID+12308
Being the friendly, co-operative type, Jon has also ran a thread on how easy it is to fit a single-sided swinging arm into a Honda FireBlade, and that's here

Going Down(hill)

While neither of these variations on two-wheeled lunacy are especially connected to streetfighters, a significant number of motorcycle hoodlums enjoy riding off-road, whether it be motocross, enduro or trials. And there's an ever-increasing number who're getting hooked on the joys on downhill mountain biking. Watch this video and you'll realise why...

SF203

Subscribers will have already received their copy, unless they're truly snowed-in, and the new issue is also on sale at the Streetfighters stand (X10) at Motorcycle Live at Birmingham's NEC.
Containing a shed-load of stunning feature bikes including the red hot turbo Bandit cover bike, plus the first of two reports from Fighterama, a comprehensive guide to loads of suspension goodies, a report from a totally barking French hillclimb plus all the usual project bike and race reports and childish malarky...

Motorcycle Live! At the NEC

The International Motorcycle Show at Birmingham's NEC, this year having the exciting 'Motorcycle Live!' title, begins on Saturday. The SF team will be setting up the Custom Xtreme display tomorrow, showcasing thirteen of the UK's best streetfighters alongside a further thirteen of the country's best custom bikes as organised by Back Street Heroes.
Those of you who have seen the floor plan contained within this week's copy of 'the country's favourite motorcycling newspaper' may have noticed that we're not actually listed as Streetfighters or BSH (Yeah, thanks for that MCN!), but you will find us listed as 'Ocean Media'. Either way, we're located at stand X10, smack bang in the middle of Hall 4 and between Piaggio and Honda and the 'Get On' training zone.
At the Custom Xtreme display, you'll be able to see, amongst others, Lee Workman's Yoshi GSX-R (the cover bike from issue 200), Sammy's Pink Bits(a) Gixer and Tony Taysom's angular GSX from the same landmark issue, the turbo Bandit from the last ish and 203's centrespread bike, a trick-framed GSX1400. The new issue will also be avaiable at the show, along with some new merchandise.
See you there!

Veidec Vids

Blatantly blagged from the King Racing website, this is a lovely video from the Veidec racing featival in Sweden. Although the video states that it's nitro bikes, there's other stuff, like ProStockers, in it as well.

There's some beautiful slo-mo footage, and plenty of proof that the Pro bikes don't always go as straight as the riders would like...

Stunt Starz feat Chesca Miles

Couldn't get enough of Chesca Miles, our featured babelicious stunt rider this month? No, us neither.

Well here she is in glorious technicolour moving image, out practicing with partner Alstar. Check out www.stuntstarz.co.uk or look up Stunt Starz on Facebook for more. And of course, if you haven't already, go out and buy SF #202 for our exclusive interview. With naughty pics! Wibble.

Fighting Talk 202

Despite our incessant whining over the issues that motorcyclists face in everyday life, it's actually been over a decade since we last had any great threat to the lifestyle of the inveterate motorcycle tinkerer, and while the huge Euro Demos of the time were, seemingly, effective in ridding us of the threats of power limits and anti-tampering regulations, nobody was under the illusion that the suits in power in Brussels were going to leave us alone for the rest of time...

So none of you should be surprised at the recent announcement by the European Commission, which intends to implement regulations that restrict modifications made to motorcycles – a move eerily close to the proposed anti-tampering legislation of a decade or so ago.

As has become common practice amongst those who, seemingly, create new legislation in order to keep themselves in a job, rather than pass on a consultation document to parties with an interest (and knowledge of) the area in question, they keep it quiet, whisper amongst themselves and hope that no-one who is likely to disagree with their aims ever hears about the legislation in question.

Luckily for us, we have our eyes and ears amongst both the British and European parliaments, and although they couldn't be seen as being quite as exciting as international espionage – we haven't quite got a mole in Whitehall, or even a badger in Brussels (although we do have a stoat in Amsterdam…W) – the work that the Motorcycle Action Group and the British Motorcyclists Federation do is invaluable for the future of motorcycling...


Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in SF202

Do You Make Things?

Ever wonder why it's so satisfying?
Read this

One memory of Fighterama...

... but more are appearing through the fug.

There'll be loads more pics in issue 203!

Streetfighter & Stunt Fest @ Wembley

Here tis, the video of the event. Filmed and edited by Matthieu Ferreira, it's essential watching if you weren't there and essential watching if you were. Either way, it's essential...

Rrrrrrunaround... Now!

There's been a slight lack of posts here on the SF blog of late, as Will and MDM prepare themselves for a weekend of Continental debauchery.
Will's heading to Italia, to check out the bikes at the Milan show which, besides being the manufacturers' venue of choice to reveal the new European market machines, also has a big custom bike show.
Meanwhile, MDM and the advertising Js are hitching a lift with merchandising guru Glyn, piloting the fun bus through the night to get to Fighterama by tomorrow morning.
Consequently, there'll be no posts on here until sleep has been caught up on and hangovers banished...

SF202

Streetfighters issue 202 is grinding its way through the printing presses as we speak, ready for departure on Pat's van on Thursday to head to subscribers front door mats.
Containing dynamic pics of streetfightered motorcycles from aroud the globe (the Blackbird on the cover, an LC from the Midlands, a Gixer from the east coast, an ultra trick GSX1400, a Katana-style Bandit, a Yam from the flatlands of Holland and one of the maddest GSX-Rs you've ever seen, amongst others) reports from the European Stunt Competition and north-east America's FighterFest, plus the regular updates on drag racing, circuit racing and the onrunning project bikes, it's essential bedtime reading for the cold Autumn evenings...
SF202, on sale in newsagents from Thursday November 4th.

South West Stunters

We'll be bringing you the full details of the European Stunt Competition from the South West Motorcycle Show in the next issue (out next week, hint hint), but here's a taster video courtesy of Kiff at Deviant Videos...

A Quick Breather...

... from the deadline chaos, means we can drop in a few pics from the Custom Paint Shop...









We'll be bringing yoummore more details on the Custom Paint Shop in the next issue!

SF201 Fighting Talk

While we've always been more than happy to get involved in political rants in our Fighting Talk editorial column, here at Streetfighters we're not really the sort of mag to plagiarise other publications' publicity drives, and we tend to leave the motorcycle industry to get on with its own self-promotion too.
Recently, there's been something of a drive by both the MCIA (Motorcycle Industry Association) and Britain's Most Popular Motorcycling newspaper (ie Britain's only motorcycling paper) to encourage more people to take up motorcycling, both as a hobby and as an environmentally-friendly and economic way to commute to work. And they have good reason.
The number of new riders coming into motorcycling has plummeted faster than Shell Petroleum's street cred over the last year or so (estimates suggest that the number of completed tests in the UK is down by 60%, that's fifty thousand fewer people gaining their bike licence over just one year!), partly due to the horrendous weather last winter, but primarily due to the new half-arsed approach to the testing system, as brought in in April last year. Not only were the number of test centres reduced (thus forcing some people to have to travel in excess of 100 miles to get to their nearest centre), but changes in the test itself (including a compulsory 'brake and swerve' test that had to be undertaken, even in wet weather) dissuaded many people from bothering. Fortunately, it appears that the testing procedure is now being reviewed, but is this too little, too late?
Now, no-one who reads this magazine got into motorcycling because of economic reasons or environmental concerns, but because it is FUN. Nobody who has ever ridden motorcycles needs to be told how great they are (although our little corner of biking is particularly exciting, thanks to all the one-off machinery and some rather extreme engineering and power outputs). But, it could also be said, that many of us have become a bit jaded with bikes over the years – we've accepted that modern bikes have prodigious amounts of power, razor-sharp handling and brakes that can stop the world from spinning on its axis, but many of us can't remember what it was like to just get out on a bike, any bike, and the liberating sense of freedom that it brings...

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in SF 201, on sale now

Bonehead

There's several reasons why so many people chose a Suzuki Bandit when they're thinking of owning a naked performance bike. There's the fact that they wheelie like a good un; the engine is emminently tunable; it's a piece of gateaux to swap the front end for something trick and upside-down; and there's probably more bolt-on parts available than any other model of bike.
But it's never, ever for the reason of putting on a headlight like this one...

Sorcerer's Apprentice...

Many of you will remember the utterly superb 'Judge' - the turbocharged ZX-9R as built by Australia's Extreme Creations. Since we featured the bike, it's remained in use, and recently went for a check up on the dyno...

Ouch. As you can see, oil pouring out of a huge hole ripped in the crankcases by a conrod that didn't want to be in there anymore was ignited when it splattered over the turbo. The incident was caused by an oil filter collapsing and restricting oil flow to the bottom end of the motor. Remember people, disposable filters that are changed regularly are that way for a reason...

For those of you who can devote a bit more time at work to watching videos, here's the full footage of the dyno day. The Judge is on at about 2 mins 30...

Exteme Performance Bike Weekend

This weekend, the 9th and 10th October, sees the finals of the Straightliners drag race championship and ACU drag bike championship, as well as the Straightliners Stunt Championship, at Santa Pod Raceway.
Both ACU and Straightliners classes (but not RWYB) have the Eurodragster.com / Speedflow 'Perfect Light' award with £50 for the first person to run a 0.000 reaction time, and the Eurodragster.com / Gold RV 'Perfect ET' award to the first rider to run a prefect bracket or dial-in time (ie a 10.100 in the Straightliners 10.10 class) and there's fifty quid up for grabs there too, although to qualify the bike must carry a Eurodragster.com/Gold RV sticker, available from the siging-on office.
The running order is here

Streetfighter Trophy up for grabs at Brightona!

This weekend (10th October) we're sponsoring the Streetfighter Trophy in the custom show at Brightona, which will be held this Sunday (10th October) in - yep, you guessed it - Brighton.

Brightona's a huge event and raises lots of cash for the Sussex Heart Charity (in 2009 it raised over £21,000), and one of the star attractions is Harrison BILLET's custom show. If you want to enter your pukka fighter in the show and be in with the chance of a trophy, just find a marshal when you arrive and tell them that you want to display your bike.

Other attractions include live bands, hot rods, trade stands and a Wall of Death, whilst entry is £5 on a bike (or free on foot).

More details on the event at: http://brightona.brighton-rock.net/

Ohm, Ohm On The Range...

One of the most impressive sights on the quarter mile is that of Top Fuel motorcycles, with Larry 'Spiderman' McBride being the most famous, and most successful, contender in the sport.
As such, Larry was drafted in to ride a bike that is almost the antithesis of the nitromethane-breathing, earth-shaking, bowel-moving Fuelers - an electric drag bike... The sound is strange, the numbers impressive!

Due to the low sound level of the electric motor, in comparison to a nitro motor, you can actually hear how hard the rear tyre is working!

Charity Build

Those of you who have been following the progress of the Little Lives GSX-R in the pages of the magazine will know the reasoning behind its build.
The driving force behind the project is Dave 'Emoe' East, and with the generous support of various members of the streetfighting community, he's building a tricked-up GSX-R 750 which will be raffled off to generate a fat wad of cash to donate to the neonatal unit at Milton Keynes hospital.
Now, the plan was to raffle off the bike, plus varous goodies donated to the cause, on the 1st November, with the lucky punter collecting the bike from the International Motorcycle Show at the NEC in December.
However, due to Emoe's baby son, Hayden, having some serious health problems, the project has (rightfully) taken a back seat for a while, and while the raffle will indeed take place on November 1st, the bike build may take longer than originally intended...
Even so, the winner will gain himself (or herself) a fully-finished bespoke 'fighter, with stacks of trick goodies, as the build-up thread on Emoe's website shows (here). There's also additional pruizes in the form of a pair of his 'n hers Sartso jeans from Wildandwicked.com, a tee shirt and hoodie from Moorespeed Racing and a year's subscription to Streetfighters magazine. So, four prizes and a worthy cause to which to donate your money. Head here to get yourself your tickets.

SF201

Streetfighters #201 is currently running through the steam-driven, orc-operated satanic paper mills in deepest, darkest, errr, Wolverhampton...
Heading out to subscribers tomorrow, it'll be on newsagents shelves from Thursday 7th October, and will contain not only glorious technicolour pics and flowery prose describing the camo 7/11 displayed on the cover, but also numerous other feature bikes, project updates, sports reports and irrelevant ramblings from the barely-coherent editorial duo...

Uncovered By Full Cover Companies

It seems that those companies that broker or supply motorcycle insurance cover have realised that the far greater sector of their core business is blokes...

This first pic comes from Bennetts and shows two of their 'Bennetts babes' getting lathered up with 'busty beauty' (c. The Sun 1977) Lucy Pinder as part of Bennetts eightieth birthday celebrations...

And this second shows a sneak preview of the Adrian Flux 2011 calendar!

All Together... Aaaaah...

Some of you may remember Leigh 'Fish' Russon, either for his trick Bandit that was featured back in issue 163, or, more likely, the utterly hilarious video of him flipping the bike at Santa Pod, with his good lady Megan subsequently falling A-over-T in her rush to aid her stricken bloke.
After rebuilding his Bandit in a crystal white, even tricker form, Leigh and Megan tied the knot, and rabid snapper (and closet paparazzi) Everett, passed on the evidence.
Congrats to them both!

Show bikes needed!

On Sunday 3rd October at Santa Pod, the JapShow Finale is occurring. This isn't an excuse to gather round, eat sushi and compare your Hello Kitty handbags though. No, it's an event for all petrolheads, and especially those with a particular interest in those rapid vehicles which are Oriental in origin, to gather and watch these bikes and cars getting thrashed up the strip.

And there's a show n' shine too, open to Jap-based motorcycles - and The Pod are after streetfighters to display, with trophies and prizes to give away to winners. If you're interested in displaying your bike, please contact Chris at chris@santapod.com or on 01234 782828.

Tickets for the event cost from just £12 for Sunday and £20 for the weekend, and to book call 01234 782828 or visit www.japshow.co.uk

Fighterama Show Entries

We had a number of people asking how they should go about obtaining a show bike entry to Fighterama, as they have modified bikes that they feel of a quality suitable for Europe's (nay, the world's) most prodigious streetfighter show.
So, for those interested, they should email bewerbungen@fighters-magazin.de with some pics and basic details of their bike and they can, of course, write in English.
Good luck, and we'll see you there!
More details on Fighterama can be found here

Icon Ography

Icon are an American manufacturer of alternative motorcycle safety wear - the sort of helmets, jackets, gloves and boots that really fit into the streetfighter way of life. And they've got a blog too, here, we especially like the 'Polaroid Fame' sections...

SF200

The double centenary issue of Streetfighters is, even as I type, being manhandled by posties the length and breadth of Britain as it makes its way to subscribers doorsteps.


The bumper issue, complete with gert big pullout poster, will be on newsagents shelves from Thursday 2nd September...

New Wheelie Record!

Shane Egan, aboard his Holeshot Racing-equipped turbo GSX-R 1000, broke the existing flying kilometre wheelie record with an astounding 181.6mph run on Saturday 21st August at Elvington airfield!
More details in Streetfighters issue 201!

Manx Grand Prix

Those of you in touch with the road racing scene will be aware that the Manx Grand Prix is currently mid-way through practice week, with the amateur races featuring not only classes for modern machinery but also classic and post-classic.
The post-classic is of particular interest as it's open to bikes such as early GSX-Rs, FZ750s and the like, includng a pair of Suzuki XR69s ridden by Micheal Dunlop and the world-famous bugger grips as affixed to Guy Martin.
Conveniently, for those of us who haven't ventured over the Irish Sea to the world capital of road racing, there's live coverage of the racing, and loads of other info, via the internet at MGP Festival

Stunt Bike Football

The Vertical Trix guys show off their skills for the BBC. Click the title for the link.

Just to be clear - this is the only kind of football that Streetfighters endorses. Anything else is for overpaid pansies. So if a stranger comes up to you in the street and tries to tempt you into a field with an inflated leather bag of wind, remember kids - just say no.

Clicky

Stunt bike football will be one of the disciplines at next weekend's Vertical Trix European Stunt Competition at the South West Motorcycle Show, held at Westpoint Arena, Exeter on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th August. More details from South West

Ooh, look...

... what we found! We've had a bit of a clear-out in the SF office - thanks to some suits deciding that archive boxes couldn't be left underneath desks - and we've found a fair few old pics, including this one of the lovely Bobbi from South Wales! Unfortunately, this does mean that Will is now spending most of the day in the toilet with a laminated printout of this pic...

Speed & Wheelie Weekend

Only handful of days left to go before this year's Wheelie and Speed Records weekend at Elvington airfield, just outside York.
With the wheelie speed record currently sat at 174mph, and with at least four turbo Gixer Thous set to compete, plus Dodge on his supercharged Hayabusa, could 2010 see a new record at last?

With regards to the top speed attempts, we've seen over 250mph at ELvington before, courtesy of Jarrod 'Jack' Frost of Holeshot Racing, and with a greater numberof landpseed specific bikes being built of late, it looks like we'll be seeing plenty more machines capable of over four miles in a minute...
Elvington plays host to mono and two-wheeled speed freaks on Saturday 21st August and Sunday 22nd August, and the airfiled can be found just off the B1228
here
More details on 200mph

Bulldog Splash

While the heavy police presence of the previous two years was pretty much absent, the overbearing presence of rain-laden rain clouds wasn't...

this was as close as most people got to the drag strip! More Bulldog news in SF201, out October 2nd...

Dirty Speed

While the boys in blue consider any speed to be naughty, especially anything over 70mph, just have a think about how fast 252mph must feel like. Then think about what it must be like when that speed is achieved when riding, not on supersmooth runway-type tarmac, but on the dusty, dry dirt surface of El Mirage in southern California...
That was the speed that John Noonan (main main at JE Pistons) recorded on the 1.3 mile dry lake bed course of El Mirage, when he rode the Hayabusa prepped by Brock Davidson of Brocks Performance.
The final tally was 252.035mph, which is the fastest speed for any vehicle this year at El Mirage, and the Big CC turbo-equipped Suzuki now holds the record for the fastest bike speed on dirt (albeit 20mph lower than the top speed acheived on tarmacadam).
More info at Dragbike.com

Pic by Zane McNary

A Busy Weekend Ahead

With one of Europe's biggest biker parties kicking off on Thursday, as the Bulldog Bash kicks into loud and raucous life, most of the UK's Superstreet drag racers already on their way to the NitrOlympics at Hockenheim in Germany for perhaps the biggest drag race in Europe, England's famous Donington Park circuit being reborn with the Classic Revival and Round 5 of the Straightliners drag race series at North Weald on Sunday, now is the time to be checking the weather forecasts and deciding where you're going...
More details from Bulldog, Hockers, Donington and Straightliners

Better late...

After a few days delay, the subscribers issues of 199 have been delivered, and newsagents shelves will be displaying the issue from tomorrow, for those not-yet organised enough to sort out a subscription...

SF199

Only a couple of days until subscribers receive their copy of the new SF199, and another week or so before it appears on newsagents shelves.

From budget builds to expense-no-object forced-induction beasties, event reports from the TT via Finland and Tokyo to Straightliners in Elvington, and project builds galore, SF199 is flying off the printers right now!

Wembley...

... So that's it, all done and dusted, the first Streetfighter & Stunt Festival at Wembley was a resounding success, and you'll be hearing more info when Streetfighters 200 hits the shelves, but for now, here's a couple of teaser pics...



And we have to say a huge thanks to all of those who brought their bikes along for the show. Cheers to one and all...

Not Long Now...

...Until the Ace Cafe's Streetfighter and Stunt Festival at Wembley, undoubtedly the most exciting event on the 2010 streetfighter diary.
Opening at 9am on Sunday 25th, and situated on and around Wembley's northern car park, off Engineers Way, the show revolves around the Streetfighters Show - the country's biggest display of streetfightered motorcycles, with all manner of goodies on offer to those who win one of the three show classes (Best in Show, Best Engineering and Best Brightwork), but there's also the stunt competition (with a multi-national entry list), the Ace Cafe Hostess of the year contest (with heats throughout the day), a mobile dyno in attendance and a charity raffle too.
Best of all, having just checked various online meterological sites, it appears that the weather is going to be dry, sunny and hot!
See you there!

We Are Led To Believe...

... that the correct internet-savvy phrase to use when purveying these two pictures is WTF...


No, we don't really know what to make of it either...


... but for the fact that wheelies and stoppies will be out of the picture.

Dear Westminster Council...

... here's a little message to you from all the people who are aggrieved about the state of play with regard to parking charges for powered two wheelers...

Cov Stunters

Skard4Life, the Coventry-based stunt collective, have a street ride on Sunday 18th July, a mere three days away!

More Like this Please!

Okay, so it's media sweetheart and allround good guy (and closet nutter) Roland Sands, and it is only a mildy tweaked fully-faired Fireblade, but there's loads of attitude in this pic. Oh, and a scantily-clad nubile too, which is nice.

Algarve Gathering

Given that the scorching weather that has produced hosepipe bans over the UK has deserted us just a matter of hours after those bans were put into place, some of you may be thinking of heading elsewhere for a touch of sun...
May we suggest that, for next weekend, you jump on a plane and head to Faro airport, in Portugal?
Why? Because one of Europe's biggest motorcycle rallies is a mere five minutes wlk from Faro airport, that's why!

Fame and Fortune

Proof that, by entering a competition in Streetfighters, that you not only have the opportunity to gain some goodies, but also immortality on the printed page and the electronic ether...
Adrian Jelley won the Roaring Toyz model that we gave away a couple of issues ago, and this is his almost-finished Gee Ess. Yes it is running, and yes, it is inside his house...
Here

Wembley Show Update!

A quick shout for those of you who have thought about entering your streetfighters into the show at Wembley on the 25th July but have yet to pull your finger out.
With three categories in the show - Best In Show, Best Engineering and Best Brightwork - there are cash prizes, some very special trophies and a Simpson Speedway RX helmet to be won by Best In Show, and a Craft RX6 Evolution apiece for the other two classes. The cash is from us at Streetfighters, the trophies are from The Great Frog and BFO Motorcycles, and the helmets are supplied by TopGear Superstore

No Mind Reading Here

We were concerned that the 'heads' in the higher floors of the Canada Square building were reading our thoughts, but we discovered a way to stop them...

Will is also convinced that a diet of thinly-spread poo on bread is a cure for all ills...

'Max Comfort

This weekend, the 10th and 11th of July, sees the Bat and Ball pub in Billingshurst, West Sussez play host to the Southern Comfort V-Max Rally.
As the name suggests, the speciality of the weekend will be Yamaha's big bruider muscle bike, the V-Max (and, indeed, the second generation VMAX).
The full address is the Bat and Ball pub, Newpound Lane, Wisborough Green, Billingshurst, West Sussex, RH14 0EH.

Please, Take a Chair...

Some of you may have already seen pics of this, or maybe you noticed it whilst wandering around last year's Fighterama show at Kalkar, but we thought it was about time that we showed it to you again...
A streetfightered outfit is a rare thing indeed, although the crew at Bimbo's Fighters have made sure that once they have someone sat in the sidecar, they're going to stay there...

East Kirkby This Weekend

If you're not heading up to the revitalised York Dragway, maybe the wilds of Lincolnshire are more to your dragracing needs?
Sunday 5th sees a Straightliners run-what-you-brung and classic sprint, in association with the VMCC, plus a round of the national Sprint Associations series, at the ex-runway at East Kirkby.
Race entry is £45 and a one day race licence is a fiver, admission in £10, under-fifteens are free and camping is available to racers on the Saturday night!

Inspiration For Show-offs

Those of you who like to seek attention when you're out and about on your bike may be influenced by this video. But please, ignore the big shorts...

True, it may be a video from the now-defunct Myrtle Beach Show on America's East coast, but it does prove that people with blinged, fat-tyre bikes aren't afraid to use them in a proper fashion...

Bye 'Eck!

It's been a while since we've heard any positive news about York Raceway, but after noting a couple of recent rumours about the venue being improved, we get a press release about the next meeting at the venue.
Although the last time that Straightliners ran at York was years ago, with the sound-sensitive Elvington replacing it on the Straightliners race calendar, there has been regular car-orientated meetings, and now, there's been a special push to get bikes out on the Melbourne track for this weekend, the 4th and 5th of July.
York Raceway are offering 50% off for riders' run-what-you-brung sign-on fee and 50% off admission per rider this weekend!
They will be also debuting three new classes to York Raceway:-

Outlaw Bike (slicks and wheelie bars) - run on the 1/8 mile.

Outlaw Street (treaded tyre, no wheelie bars) - run on the 1/8 mile.

True Street bike ( street legal bikes) - 10.00 heads-up breakout class, run on the ¼ mile.

Also a Super Street Bike shootout over the 1/8 mile title is up for grabs with £500 cash in the pot to split between the winner and runner up! A minimum of four bikes is required for the eliminations for the prize fund to be paid.
Sunday Street Wars will have the quickest four street legal bikes going for the Sunday Street Wars title. Plus trophies are up for grabs for street legal bikes -Quickest Japanese bike , Quickest Italian bike, Quickest German bike, Quickest American bike and Quickest British bike.
The track will be swept and glued throughout the weekend, so this really does look as though it could be the start of a return to York for bikes!

Oops...

Regular readers will recognise the two vehicles being apprehended by one of the Isle of Man's finest men in blue at this year's TT...
Yup, the nearest is the 'Teabie' as built by Viz for his Manx holiday, and t'other is the Dudette's GSX. However, unlike many of the people pulled over on the Island, the misdemeanor was not one of excessive speed in a built-up area, but because a number plate had absconded...

SF198 Fighting Talk

It’s nothing new for the daily papers to print shite. Most of them regularly assail their readers with half-arsed and irredeemably trivial ‘news’ stories, which jostle for position with TV reality show exclusives or paparazzi upskirt shots of the latest celebrity pop tartlet.

And, more dangerously, the media is able to manipulate public opinion to suit an agenda, and indeed can be powerful enough to influence the decisions of Government. Take, for example, the rapid, knee-jerk banning of mephedrone after a hysterical media-led outcry, almost entirely based on speculation and relying less on hard facts than your average Enid Blyton book.

So, when motorcycles recently came under the scrutiny of one particular ‘journalist’ seeking to provoke a sensationalist reaction from the public, we decided enough was enough. Enter stage left Paul Routledge, professional busybody and Mirror columnist (and gobshite…MDM).

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in Streetfighers issue 198, on newsagents shelves from Thursday July 1st, and then make your comments here!

Knob Twiddler

The convenience of remotely-mounted shock dampers is made all the more interesting by the close proximity of a nitrous bottle... Tweak the wrong one when you're sat at the traffic lights and the slightly stiffer suspension setting that you were hoping for is replaced by an additional 50bhp when you hit full throttle. Alternatively, if you want to humiliate the Ducati-riding multi-millionaire in matching red leathers and Desmodecicci, you could end up with no more power and a suspension action like a hippo surfing in custard...

Chopper Power!

Anyone who was first taking to two wheels in the Seventies will remember two iconic products from the Raleigh stable - pedal bikes that have now gained classic status and are worth inordinate sums of money to certain collectors. However, rather than look at the ludicrously heavy and over-stylized push irons through rose-tinted glasses, we think that this is by far the best thing to do with a forty-year-old pushbike...

SF198

Those of you wise enough to subscribe to Streetfighters (thus saving money, getting yourself a cool and froody gift and receiving the magazine early) will hear the soft 'plop' of SF198 as it hits your doormat tomorrow morning (or Saturday if Pat is being lazy). It'll be a slightly louder 'plop' than usual, as issue 198 comes complete with free stickers!
Aside from the freebies, there are features on perhaps the most powerful Yamaha v-twin in the world, three tricked-up Kawasaki Zeds, a triumverate of modded Gixers, a race rep 400, a 'fightered Hayabusa, a blinged R1 and a radical Suzuki Kettle, plus all the regular news, products and racing and project updates as well as a pull-out guide to the biggest streetfighting event of 2010, the Streetfighters 7 STunt Festival at Wembley on July 25th!
And those of you too short-sighted to have subscribed will have to wait until Thursday July 1st to be able to get your mag from the newsagent...

Brum, brum, pop!

One of the most talked about bikes in the ACU Superstreet pits for 2010 has been the turbocharged hayabusa of Dave Holland. Tipped by many to be a contender for this year's championship, 'Dutch' has had his fair share of bad luck so far, and this impressive video from 'Doctor Dave' Smith shows his latest mishap...

So, Is It Or Isn't It?...

... a streetfighter?
Ignore the voluminous rear mudguard and check out the spec - bespoke frame, footepgs set to the rear as rearsets rather than forward controls, flat drag-style-handlebars... a 'fighter or not? You decide!

Attention, Race Fans!

Especially those who favour motorsport that's carried out over 440 yards of tarmac or concrete...
This weekend sees two drag racing championships pass their mud way point. The Straightliners series returns to Elvington on Sunday for Round 4, with the ultra-competitive 9.10 bracket class being the most varied and exciting class, even though it's not as fast as Top Bike (or Comp if the quick boys turn up).
Meanwhile, today is a Peak Performance test day at Santa Pod, followed by the ACU Summernationals meeting tomorrow and Sunday. With the meeting being over just two days (normally ACU drag meetings have qualifying on a Friday, or run through to a Bank Holiday Monday), qualifying is going to be intense, and the forecast suggests that the exciting Superstreet class will be the one to watch! Each qualifying run will really count, and with rain today the likehood of an intense one-shot qualifier is high...
More details on the Elvington Straightliners round at www.straightliners.co.uk and further info on the Santa Pod Summernationals at www.eurodragster.com or www.200mph.net

Beem' Me Up

Yeah, yeah, so it's been a while since the last blog post, so sue us! Deadline hassles, the TT and illness have combined to make us too frickin' lazy to bother, but as the next issue of the mag is just about complete and ready to roll off the printers, we're getting the opportunity to collate our thoughts and plan the next trip to the pub...
While the official BMW race team over on the Isle of Man didn't achieve much in the way of race success, here's an example of the new S1000RR that has opened a few eyes!

While the engineremains internally standard,with the addition of a full titanium exhaust and a Power Commander V, an astounding 203bhp makes its way through to the back wheel, and with the suspension lowered front and rear, a pair of BST carbon fibre wheels bolted in along with a 9" stretched swinging arm and a few subtle clutch modifications, this bike ran a very impressive 8.497 second quarter mile, topping out at 158mph after hitting the rev limiter before the 1340 foot mark. And that's with a 1.394 sixty foot time! Impressive huh? Looks like it could be the ideal RWYB tool!