SF216

Okay, so Streetfighters issue 216 is, at this very moment, being electronically transferred over to the printers, and will be printed and out to subscribers shortly after Christmas.
So, on that note, we're off to the pub...


Oh, in case you wanted to know, the new issue has feature's on Yantosh's twin turbo GSX-R, a single-sided tuned XJR, a minimalist FireBlade, a spud-munching Gixer, a sweet GSX1400, a rad RZR350, a lightweight FZR Thou, a subtle Triumph, a very trick Blade and all the latest news and updates, plus a report from the NEC 'Motorcycle Live' show last November...

Happy Chrimbo y'all.
Love & peace.

The Full Build

Every so often, we'll be posting links here on our blog relating to build threads of feature bikes that we've featured.
We're starting with the bargain basement Bandit turbo as featured in the current issue - SF215 Jon's turbo Bandit clicky-clicky

Late Chrissie Prezzie?

Here's an idea - meat 'duster

Monster Girls!

We like Monster energy drinks.
Not especially because they taste nice, nor that they help us stay awake when heading home from events like Fighterama and Motorcycle Live.
No, we like them because they sponsor the things, and people, that we like, and that they organise things like this...

This is the Monster Girl line-up for 2012 - the selection of lithesome lovelies that'll be promoting the brand at events across Europe throughout the next year. Wonderful ain't it?
Events covering diverse extreme spoerts such as MotoGP, Superbikes, supermoto, MTB, BMX, surf, snow, skate, WRC, snowmobiles, SX, insane distance jumping, MX, off-road, trials and FMX - you'll be seeing the Monster girls at them all. How did they find such stunning totty?

Fired Up!

Remember Cabbie's Kwikasfaki? From the cover of issue 213?
Well, just for the naysayers that we overheard at the NEC, here's a wee video from when Cabbie first got the stunning little triple fired up and rolling...

SF215

Hot on the heels of the 2011 13th issue, 'Past, Present & Future' is issue number 215 of the regular magazine.

With a report from the tenth anniversary Fighterama bash in Kalkar, a radical two-stroke triple, a bargain basement turbo Bandit, a mini Moriwaki-rep Zed plus heavily-modified examples of Kawasaki's ZX-10R, a Honda CB900, an Aprilia Futura, an R1, a quad and stacks more, it's in newsagents right now! (And if it ain't, ask them why not!)

Triple Treat

The guys at Icon are teasing us again! This time it's with an all-too-brief video clip featuring Ernie Vigil and Nick Apex aboard a pair of Triumph Speed Triples...

Okay, so this vid is rather short, but we're promised that there'll be a longer one along soon.

In the meantime, check out the regular updates on the Icon blog here

13th Issue on sale now!

The Streetfighters Special Edition 13th Issue 2011 is a detailed guide through the world of streetfighters past, present and future, from the original 1950s café racers through ‘classic’ streetfighters, to the present day with stunter street rides, the awesome French Monsters Race series and an interview with the man who designed the T509 Speed Triple, and then into the future with the lowdown on high performance electric bikes, futuristic concepts and even a functional Light Cycle. This Special Edition is priced at £6.99 and is worth every single penny… even if we do say so ourselves. Go get one bought!

Custom Xtreme at Motorcycle Live

On Saturday the 19th November, Motorcycle Live 2011 opened its doors for the first time. Star attraction was, of course, our Custom Xtreme display of the finest customised motorcycles, an assembly of the best bikes as hand picked by Streetfighters and Back Street Heroes staffers to represent their particular styles.

Full coverage of Motorcycle Live and Custom Xtreme will be in Streetfighters #216, which hits the shelves in early January, so for now here's a pic of Best Streetfighter winner Yantosh claiming his trophy from our guest prizegiver Danny John-Jules, formerly the Cat from Red Dwarf.

If you're going to the show, make sure you pop by the Streetfighters/BSH stand and check out Yan's awesome twin turbo GSX-R as pictured, plus a further ten or so of the best streetfighters around. And, of course, check out the awesome creations sourced by the BSH crew, including the Best BSH bike 'Weird Fish' built by Paul Milbourn and the utterly awesome Lamb Engineering 'Son Of A Gun' BSA, which took Custom Xtreme Best In Show 2011 - the highest accolade we can give.

While you're there, check out the Roland Sands VMAX on the Yamaha stand and buy Scary Glyn, our merchandise man, a pint.

Brum Bound

With SF215 almost in the bag, we're about to pack up the SF office and head to Birmingham's NEC for Motorcycle Live and, more specifically, Custom Xtreme.
With a dozen of the UK's best streetfighters, allied to a similar number of radical customs thanks to Back Street Heroes, Custom Xtreme has be regularly voted as being one of the most interesting features at the show. That, in itself, is a good reason to attend, but also remember that the 2011 Streetfighters 13th edition will also be on sale from our stand.

Smoking!

So, we're back after another weekend of lunacy and drunken debauchery at Fighterama in Germany, having had a grand total of about eight hours sleep in five days...

We'll be bringing you a full write-up of the event in the next issue...

SF214

Streetfighters 214 is in the newsgents now!
Featuring not only the gorgeous turbo GSX1100 you can see on the cover, but also a turbocharged, trick-framed Bandit and loads more too (yes, I've already forgotten due to the excitement of this weekend's Fighterama...)

A great tribute video to MotoGP ace Marco Simoncelli, who sadly passed away on Sunday after an accident at the Malaysian MotoGP.

Rest in peace SuperSic, from all at Streetfighters...

SF213

Yeah, we're crap. We forgot to post a pic of the current issue's cover.
So here it is...



As recompense, here's a link that'll take you through to the build thread of the cover bike, Cabbie's stunning H2 / GSX-R - clicky

Can you smell rubber?

Spotted at last weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod was this, rather extreme, racing scooter...
Would you put your faith in a BMX front end? It clocked 97mph through the timing lights...

Extreme Performance Bike Weekend

The only all-bike drag racing weekend of the year at Santa Pod kicks off at 9.30am tomorrow, Saturday 8th October.
With the final round of the ACU Drag Bike series, the final round of the Straightliners National Drag Racing Championship and the final round of the Straightliners Stunt Championship, it'll be a full weekend!
More details on www.extremebike.co.uk

Ride To The Wall

Next Saturday, a mass motorcycle tribute to our Armed Forces will take place at the
National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The fourth annual Ride to the Wall will take place this Saturday when many thousands of motorcyclists make their pilgrimage to the National Memorial Arboretum to show their support for the Armed Forces.
Riders will attend from all corners of the UK and parts of Europe, either as individuals or in groups and chapters from particular organisations. They will gather at one of the seven designated start points around the country at 9am to ride to the Arboretum, including Drayton Manor in Staffordshire.
At 2pm a Service of Remembrance will be held at the walls of the Armed Forced Memorial, which is engraved with the names of more than 16,000 service men and women killed on duty or by terrorist action since the end of the Second World War.

Deep Joy...

For those of you who think that the recent panic about potential EU legislation affecting uis here in the UK is mere heresay and all a fuss about nothing, then maybe you need to bear the following in mind:-

"The Road Safety Authority in Ireland has confirmed that it intends to
make hi-viz clothing compulsory for all motorcyclists from 2014.

MAG(UK) requested confirmation earlier today after the Irish Road Safety Authority told a reporter that the RSA wanted voluntary wearing of high visibility jackets rather than compulsion.

Asked when the RSA had changed it's mind about mandatory wearing of high visibility upper body clothing with full sleeves for rider and pillion passenger, the Communications Manager at the RSA emailed MAG(UK) saying;

"I can confirm that the RSA has not dropped the position outlined in the Motorcycle Action plan. We do intend to seek to introduce the measure in 2014, subject to consultation with motorcyclists and industry on the most appropriate type of hi-viz material and possible solutions."

Too many riders have been unwilling to believe they will be forced to wear day-glo clothing in the near future. Until now the RSA has soft-pedalled its determination to legislate, but now there is no doubt that the authorities are serious.

Recent research shows drivers who also ride motorcycles watch-out for bikes and are far less likely to collide with them. Surely, this shows that the key to road safety lies in getting everyone to look out for each other and to think about who they share the road with. Forced day-glo will simply marginalise riders and let unobservant drivers off the hook. Such a lazy approach to road safety does not deserve to succeed in Ireland, France or here in the UK.

So, don't forget Sunday 25th September, MAG is co-ordinating mass-protests against this and other threats to biking that are springing-up throughout Europe - let's get out their in convoys to raise awareness of bikes on the road and demonstrate our opposition to further restrictions on biking."

Charity trek

Just landed in the Streetfighters inbox is this, from Chris at Hood Jeans. He and his brother are trekking in the Himalayas to raise funds for the RNLI. More info below, including a link for donations. Dig deep, cos that's one huge bunch of hills they're attempting...

"On the 27th of this month my Brother, two friends and myself are heading off to the Himalayas. Our main objective is to climb the 20’300 ft Imja Tse (Island Peak) but we also want to trek to Ama Dablam base camp, Chhukhung Ri, Kala Pattar and back to Everest base camp. We are also trekking to a memorial area known as Chukpilhara; there are many monuments and chortens for climbers and sherpas that have died on Everest and on the mountains, this is a stunning area passed by climbers heading for Everest. As most of you know my mother died earlier this year and Mitch (my brother) and I are taking a little granite memorial to place there in memory of our Mum. The site is overlooked by Ama Dablam, a beautiful mountain is also known as ‘Mother and child’ we feel this fits well with our plans. The climb was booked before her death however my brother has decided to raise money for one of our mother’s favourite charities (R.N.L.I – Lifeboats) all money raised therefore will go to the N.N.L.I, he is very close to the target so if you are interested please visit his page / link. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/mitch-islanpeak

"Training is going well for the challenge, technically we are less prepared but we hope to learn what is needed with things like crampon’s, Ice axe’s, ropes, carabineer’s and harness, etc when we get to Nepal. The good news is we have Dorjee Lama Sherpa leading us; he has summited Everest six times so hopes are high that he can get us to the top (Many might say that would be his greatest achievement)!

"Kind Regards, Chris."

SF212

Subscribers will've already received their issue, but those of you who enjoy a trip to the newsagents will need to be looking out for this:-

It's in the shops now and, aside from the loony and his SV650 that appear on the cover, there's also our report from the Brent Cross Streetfighter & Stunt Fest, a classy white Yam R1, two bonkers Beemers, a rusty FireBlade (yup,really), a beautiful Spanish Ducati and much more.
Treat yourself, you deserve it.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeelieeeeeeeeeeeeee!

A swift bit of footage for you from last weekend's World Wheelie Competition up at Elvington.
This was the winning run, and you'll be seeing more coverage in Streetfighters mag very soon.


PS The speedo reading is actually in kilometres per hour...

Feel Good Factor...

Okay, so there's no great heroics, and no jaw-dropping stunt antics, but it is a video that makes you want to get out and ride...

Aside from the lean angle indicator thingy, it's proof that there's some cool riding roads in Germany...
And thanks to our friends at East Side Fighters, here's another vid they've done...

It's the same rearwards-facing camera angle, but it does mean you get to see the cool, chattering, intakes on the Max...

DIgital Greasy Spoons

Judging by the number of cafe racer projects being undertaken this year, especially on the far side of the Atlantic from SF Towers, it seems that there's something of a revival in interest in cut-down, race-inspired 'classic' bikes...

Despite their potential at incurring chronic lower back pain, and the limited amount of power available from the varied powerplants chosen (certainly when in comparison to modern sports bikes) we can certainly see the potential in making a bike that's a hoot to ride out of what was, originally, a cheap ol' nail...
If your interest has been piqued, you'll be pleased to know that there's numerous aspirational online scrap books focussing on cafe racers, most notably the one on the ADVrider forum - a thread that is currently an impressive 328 pages long! See more here

Rea Racing & Yoshi Johnny @ Manx GP 2011

Just a reminder that Nigel Rea will be out for practice tonight, weather permitting, on the Isle of Man Mountain circuit in preparation for the Manx GP.

He will be alternating between his Yamaha R6 in the Junior class, and the hand-built (by Yoshi John Oliver) GSX-R 750 Slabside in the Classic Superbike class. Tonight he's out on the Slabby from 1820 - 1905 and then on the R6 from 1910 - 2010, and the rest of the MGP calendar is shown below.

Tune in to Chris Kinely's live commentary on Manx Radio from 7pm tonight, and for all sessions throughout the rest of the Manx Grand Prix, at www.manxradio.com. And pick up Streetfighters #212, on the shelf next week, for the complete lowdown on the build and preparation of the GSX-R, followed by a full race report in #213.

PRACTICE SESSIONS:

Wednesday 24 Aug
1820-1905 Senior, Junior, SuperTwin, Newcomers A
1910-2010 Classic, C/Superbike, Jun P/Classic, Lightweight,New B

Thursday 25 Aug
1820-1905 Senior, Junior, SuperTwin, Newcomers A
1910-2010 Classic, C/Superbike, Jun P/Classic, Lightweight, New B

Friday 26 Aug
1820-1905 Classic, C/Superbike, Jun P/Classic, Lightweight, New B
1910-2010 Senior, Junior, SuperTwin, Newcomers A

Saturday 27 Aug
1930-1940 Senior, Junior, SuperTwin (No Newcomers)
1945-1955 Classic, C/Superbike, Junior P/Classic, Lightweight (No Newcomers A & B)

Monday 29 Aug
1525-1630 All Classes except Newcomers A & B, Junior, 350/250cc Classic

Wednesday 31 Aug
1515-1525 Senior, Classic Superbike, Junior Post Classic (1 lap)

RACE DAYS:

Saturday 27 Aug
1730 Race 1 - The NEWCOMERS RACE (3 laps) in 2 capacity classes run concurrently. Followed by practice session.

Monday 29 Aug
1015 Race 2 - The 350cc/250cc CLASSIC GRAND PRIX RACE (4 laps) in 2 capacity classes run concurrently

1315 Race 3 - The JUNIOR MANX GRAND PRIX RACE (4 laps)
Followed by practice session.

Wednesday 31 Aug
1015 Race 4 - The 500cc CLASSIC GRAND PRIX/FORMULA CLASSIC RACE (4 laps) in 2 capacity classes run concurrently
1315 Race 5 – The SUPERTWIN/LIGHTWEIGHT MANX GRAND PRIX RACE (4 laps) in 2 capacity classes run concurrently.
Followed by practice session.

Friday 2 September
1015 Race 6 - The SENIOR MANX GRAND PRIX RACE (4 laps) 1315
Race 7 - The CLASSIC SUPERBIKE/JUNIOR POST CLASSIC RACE (4 laps) in 2 capacity classes run concurrently.

Followed by VMCC Closed road parade.

Jaw On The Floor?

It will be.
We've shown you Danny McAskill videos on the blog before, and once again, we'll make no excuses about the fact that he's on a push bike. This video needs no excuses, it is, quite simply, awesome...

Not That There's Nowhere Else To Go...

So the MAG Ganton Gathering in Yorskhire may be cancelled, but this is probably one of the busiest weekends in the calender...
There's the Bulldog Bash at Long Marston Raceway just south of Stratford-Upon-Avon, which has opened today. Early reports say that there's minimal police presence (unlike previous years), and that the weather is due to improve from today's soggy conditions in time for the weekend's drag racing and Status Quo on Friday night...
The Straightliners freight train heads to North Weald in Essex for Sunday, with not only the UK's premier drag race series taking place, but there's also classes for classic machinery, and an autojumble too. And just a spit off the M11.
Hunters of a fast buck or two can head to Smeathorpe airfield (down by the Somerset / Devon border) on Saturday, as there's £300 cash for the quickest ET for a street legal bike over the 1/8 mile, and a large trophy to put the cash in too. It's £10 on the gate per person and sign on £25 per rider to sign on.

Going To Ganton?... Don't.

It is with great sadness that the Organisers of Ganton Gathering have today announced that the rally has had to be cancelled.

This is due to poor ticket sales, as the Event had not sold enough tickets to be financially viable to go ahead.

*We can now confirm that everybody that paid for tickets by debit/credit card has been refunded, though it may take a few days for the refund to show on your account. Refund receipts are in the post. Thank you for your patience.*

If you have paid for your tickets by cheque, a record will have been kept of your booking and a refund will be sent to you in due course.

MAG UK, on behalf of MAG Foundation, would like to extend our grateful thanks to those people that have so vigorously supported Ganton Gathering and worked hard to make this Event a success.

We apologise for any inconvenience the cancellation of this Event may cause and can only offer assurance that the Organisers have not taken this decision lightly.

Essex Police camera bikes - "extremely successful" - hmm...

Have a read of this article, from the Essex Police website:

http://www.essex.police.uk/news_features/video__audio/audio__video/drive_to_reduce_biker_casualti.aspx

And watch the video:



Wethinks the plod got this one wrong. The article says: "The covert patrols and RIDE courses have been launched following a significant increase in the number of serious road collisions involving motorcycles. Between January 1, 2011 and April 12, 2011, three riders died and 42 were seriously injured, compared with three fatalities and 30 serious injuries in the same period last year."

But the cop in the video says (at 1:05ish): "It's been extremely effective, since the beginning of 2011 more than 60 bikes have been stopped using this scheme..."

So it is only since the introduction of these camera bikes that the sharp increase has occurred. Using police logic, you could argue that this initiative has caused an extra twelve casualties in 2011. It certainly isn't the "extremely effective" and "extremely successful" initiative they say it is. An increase of twelve casualties seems rather a failure, that is if you're actually concerned with the safety of motorcyclists.

Yaaaaawnn....

Well, that was Brent Cross... An awesome day - incredible stunting that was of a true world class, sunshine that defied the cliche of a typical British summer, and an astounding display of not only the UK's finest 'fighters, but also a strong showing of foreign bikes too.
We'll have more info and pics in the next issue, once we've had some sleep...

Brent Cross

As regular readers of Streetfighters, you'll be very much aware that this weekend, specifically Sunday 31st July, will see all the names of the UK's streetfighting and stunt riding scenes descend on Brent Cross, in north London, for the 2011 Streetfighter & Stunt Fest, organised by us in conjunction with the Ace Cafe.
With the gates opening at 10am on Sunday, there'll be continuous entertainment laid on by the stunt competition (with entrants from all over Europe), a massive streetfighter display (with entrants, err, from all over Europe, and beyond actually), live music, drifting shows, extreme motocross and all manner of other palaver too...
Essentially, it's THE show to go to if you're a fan of streetfightered motorcycles.
See you there.

The show is in Brent Cross, north London, just off the A406 North Circular Road, just five minutes from the Ace Cafe (who, incidentally, will be holding a show party on Saturday night).
More info here

Ballistic

Ballistic is the only word that can describe Bill Warner's recent performance at Loring air force base in Maine, USA.
Riding his turbocharged, methanol-fuelled Hayabusa - reputed to make in the region of 1000bhp and encased in super-slippery bodywork - 'Wild Bill' recorded a new record for a 'sit on' motorcycle (as opposed o a 'streamliner') at a frankly astounding 311.94mph!

Not only was this the first run over 300mph for a true motorcycle (rather than a cigar with wheels) it also shattered Bill's old record of 278.6mph.
Fans of fat rubber will be happy to hear that Bill was running a 240 section rear tyre (on a BST carbon fibre wheel) on the 1.5 mile course.
To get an idea of just how fast that is, and how awesome the methanol Busa sounds, check out this video.

More info is available on Bill and the bike here

How Fast?

Not just the bikes in the footage, but the fact that the DVD review of this year's Isle of Man TT has already been completed by Duke Video, as you can see from this trailer...

How scary is that footage of John McGuinness going down Bray Hill? Answer - not as scary as some of the other footage...
More details from dukevideo.com

SF210

Subscribers will have already received the new issue of Streetfighters, number 210, complete with the free stickers (not shown in this pic), but for those of you who haven't had the foresight to become a subscriber (you obviously enjoy the walk to the shop), you now know what to look for...

With a Scorchingly trick framed Laverda gracing the cover, seven glorious pages of TT coverage, a trad but rad Gixer-engined cafe racer, a turbo Harris Magnum, a Hate-ful R6,a feisty French ZX-12R and lods more besides...

Demon Tweeks Open Day

Tomorrow, Saturday 25th June, North Wales' largest aftemarket motorsports supplier open its doors to those of us of a two-wheeled bent.

There'll be goody bags handed out (with free copies of Streetfighters!), a wheelie machine courtesy of James and the Vertical Trix team, a free prize draw (with Dunlop, Fox and Bike It goodies, and loads more), dealer support from Dynojet with their dyno truck, Michelin, Fox, Bike Torque Racing, Moto Corse Ducati, Ohlins, Motul Oils, Beta Tools, R&G Racing and loads more.
Plus, personal appearances by BSB star Chris Walker and star of the 2010 TT Races and the Close To The Edge film, Ian 'Hutchie' Hutchinson!
Oh, and MDM will be there with his camera too...

We're off to the ballet...

And you thought we were just uncultured bums? Enjoy the graceful movements and timeless finesse of this modern interpretation of an extract from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Farmyard Animal?

If you can read this, then you're not on your way to the Farmyard Party in Yorkshire. You should be ashamed of yourself...

Undoubtedly one of the most popular bike rallies in the UK, it always has a good turnout of streetfighters, helped by the superb roads around Helmsley, where the rally is held.
This year, Streetfighters magazine have our very own party marquee, with all the usual bands, comedians and banter as you'd expect. There's a custom bike show tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) with a Streetfighter class (natch). More info can be found at The Farmyard
After two nights of debauchery, you can chill out and watch some drag racing on the way home, courtesy of the Straightliners round at Elvington, just the other side of York from the Farmyard.

SF209 Fighting Talk

"It was only a couple of years ago, in SF188, in which we brought to your attention some new road policing proposals being considered by the then Labour government. These proposals suggested that police officers should have the ability to issue on-the-spot fines for Careless Driving, effectively rendering obsolete the process of court hearings and allowing police officers to act as judge, jury and executioner at the roadside.

Well, since that Fighting Talk, things have been a bit quiet on this front, probably due to Labour’s spectacular defeat at the hands of the Tory Bullingdon club and their fawning yellow sandal-wearing manservants, but these proposals are now hot news once again. Unveiled to coincide with the commencing of the United Nation’s Decade For Road Safety, which starts now(ish), the revised proposals suggest that Careless Driving roadside penalties could be handed out for a variety of minor traffic offences, including tailgating, undertaking, weaving and ‘driving aggressively’. Much has been made of the effort to target “boy racers” which, of course, appears to apply to anybody who enjoys using a high performance or modified vehicle (and not, of course, to our own Environment Secretary who would never speed and then ask someone else to take the points for him… nope, never… ). But here’s where it gets foggy.

As I said the last time we talked about this, on-the-spot fines remove the necessity for a driver suspected of an offence to go to court. The matter is dealt with at the roadside. Which means that the policeman will be able to have you prosecuted, fined and have your licence endorsed in less time than it takes you to smoke a cigarette. On something as cut-and-dry as speeding, this works – either you were speeding, or you weren’t. But careless driving is highly subjective – one man’s recklessness is another man’s ‘good progress’. Whether you are reckless or not depends literally on the policeman who observes your behaviour; his mood, his policing targets, his opinion of you and whether he’s a malicious git or a genuinely nice guy..."

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in the current issue of Streetfighters, and make your comments here.

For no other reason...

... than we found this pic lying around amongst the notes, press releases and general detritus and thought that you'd like it...

Burn baby...

Surprising what you can manage with a disposable lighter innit?...

SF209

It’s a race replica with a difference that soaks up the limelight in our centrefold feature this month. It’s a naked Ducati 996, stripped down and reinvented as a supermotard, and finished as a 1970s Formula 1 Ferrari tribute. Elsewhere in our crisp, delicately-scented pages is a gorgeous German Harris, CeeJay’s urban V-Max shot in Banksy’s tunnel at Waterloo, a seriously mint Katana special, action from Daytona Bike Week 2011 and loads, loads more. Combine that with updates from our pet Thunderbike racer Beanie, plus stunt rider news in Section59, reports from ACU and Straightliners drag racing and all the incisive news, product reviews and chauvinistic humour you’ve come to expect from Britain’s most delinquent bike magazine, and you’ve got the general idea.

Soon to be oozing off a shelf near you like some sort of freaky jam, Streetfighters #209 hits the shops on Thursday June 2nd.


Froody!

Main Event 2011

Starting from today, with a Pro Peak Performance test day, the UK's premier drag race venue, Santa Pod, is holding perhaps the most important drag race meeting of the year, as far as European joint car and bike meetings are concerned.
The Main Event, as the name suggests, is the big meeting of the year, with FIA car classes and UEM big classes ensuring an international entry over and above the UK national classes.
Consequently, the international field in Pro Stock bike will be perhaps the most competitive it has ever been, with at least three riders (including Shopshire's Dave Beck) aiming for Europe's first six second Pro Stock run.

Naturally, the earth-shaking, nitro-powered Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars will be top of the bill for most punters - if you've never seen nitro cars, it is one of those things that you must see at least once in your life (although when you've seen them once, you'll want to see them more and more...)


But for us at Streetfighters, the real anticipation is for the Super Street bike class... This season has already seen most of the class setting personal bests, and a seven second field, and the build-up to this meeting is described in detail at Stephen Moon's SSB blog here.


More details on the Main Event at the Santa Pod website and Eurodragster

15 Minutes Of Fame Anyone?

Well, if you consider fame to be starring in a telly ad for shower gel...
The company in question is looking for someone who is in their late thirties (ish), has a wife and nippers, has no previous acting or modelling experience and, vitally, builds their own bikes! The chosen one will be filmed at work and at play (presumably building bikes) during the last couple of weeks in May, so you'll have to be quick and email castingresponses@ogilvy.com as soon as possible. They need to have some pics, contact details and a brief bio...

SF208 Fighting Talk

"For those of you that either didn’t read last month’s Fighting Talk, or have a memory addled by drinks / drugs / chemicals / percussive shock, in our monthly rant at all things rubbish we dragged out the SF Towers communal soap box (it’s a Metric Leather one, we move with the times y’know, none of that Imperial rubbish) and had a good old fashioned British whine about the impending legislation that the unelected numbnuts in the European Commission are set to foist upon us.

These Euro dullards are convinced that there is an issue with vehicles being modified – more accurately, that there is a problem with restricted vehicles being altered in order to go faster and/or make more power. The nasty little side effect of their intentions being that they will, inevitably, make as big an effort as possible to pass their proposed rules and regulations onto all vehicles, neatly crushing the custom bike and car cultures (and aftermarket industries) in the process.

But maybe this Orwellian glimpse of a homogenized and bland future is just out of reach for the dictatorial Brussels buffoons? They’re going to try and justify their actions and, in order to persuade the tax-paying public (and, hence, the people who pay their wages) that their new treaties, laws and additional waffle are actually a Good Thing, they will grasp at any straw that helps them achieve their aim. More often that not this involves twisting survey results and statistics, although it seems that they’ve now stumbled on a far more mercenary way of achieving their depraved aims..."

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in the new issue of Streetfighters, on sale in newsagents now, and then post your comments here.

First Loser?

While the title of this post may not be considered to be an especially polite way of congratulating someone in attaining a First Runner-Up prize, here at SF Towers we've never been especially polite (except to the cleaners and Paula our office assistant, who keeps us fuelling with butties and ridiculously-strong coffee), and we also consider Lee Workman to be a close-enough friend to take a bit of ribbing.
The pic shows Mr Workman, with his haul of goodies from the London International Custom Show at Alexandra Palace back at the end of February.

Aside from the trophy, he also gained a pair of Pirelli tyres, a pair of Sartso jeans from Wild & Wicked, a token towards an MTC exhaust can and a Streetfighters goodie bag.
To find out who was placed just behind, and just ahead, of Lee, check out the LICS coverage in the current issue...

Straightliners Round 4

The fourth round of the UK's premier drag race series hits Cumbria this weekend, at the airfield at Kirkbride.
Racing is on both Saturday and Sunday, with race entry at just £35 to all comers, and spectator cost a fiver.
A highlight of the Kirkbride track is the crest at about three quarter track, which seems plenty of bikes lifting the front wheel, and many of the faster 9.10 and Top Bike competitors taking off completely!
More details here

SF208

A slightly delayed notification of the publication of Streetfighters 208, due to over-consumption of Easter eggs, sunstroke and procrastination...

Subscribers will have their copies already, so will be aware of the stunningly subtle Extreme Creations ZX-10R turbo that graces the cover, the retro-modern Moto Martin cafe racer CBX, the fifth Mortagua bike, the turbo 'GS750', the predatory Gixer and mean Zed Thou, the display of Roland Sands' creations, the Alexandra Palace London International Custom Show report, the blood-coloured turbo/nitrous Z1000, the long and lean camo GSX-R, the Spondon turbo and the other stuff too... Those of you waiting for the mag to arrive in the shops will know nothing at all about those features...

Gulf Fueller Debuts

We made comment of Ian King's new Top Fuel bike in the News pages a few issues ago, and of the sponsorship that the team had gained from Gulf Oils. Well, last weekend saw the bike's first outing, at Kunmandaras in Hungary, with an impressive showing - a shut-off-at-half track 7.6 first run out of the back of the van, with Kingy posting a 6.573 in the final! Could we be seeing the first five second Brit Top Fueller?

Rollie Free Returns?

If so, he's living in India...

Closer To the Hedge?

I was lucky enough to manage to blag my way into the premier for the new TT film, TT3D - Closer To The Edge, last night. Not because I wanted to hobnob it amongst the stars and glitterati, but simply due to the fact that I'd seen the trailer (below) and knew that I just had to see it...



Rest assured, it's everything that you'd expect after seeing that trailer, and more. If you've never been to the TT then it gives you a true flavour of what it's all about, and if you have been, then you'll enjoy it all the more.
Focussing around TV's favourite canal barge pilot, Guy Martin, as well as the softly-spoken Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness and bean pole Manx hero Conor Cummins, the timing for the filming couldn't have been better as, with the 2010 race results, and what happened to all four of those riders, it couldn't have been scripted any better.

My favourite film of all time used to be Mad Max, followed by Bladerunner and Dr Strangelove, but they've all been surpassed by this astounding film. The 3D element does add a certain attraction, but it's not really what it's about - it's the love and passion for true road racing in the world's most amazing race. Watch it.

It's on release, in 3D cinemas, from April 22nd.

Straightliners Round 3

This Sunday, the 17th March, sees Straightliners back at Elvington for the first time in 2011 for Round 3 of the championship, alongside Round One of the Terminal Velocity top speed championship, as run over the standing start 1/2 mile.
Entry for spectaors is a tenner, just follow signs for the Yorkshire Air Museum off the A64.

It's Czech, Mate

The Czech Republic isn't a country that is known for its motorcycle industry, but maybe this is the start?...

Not the most svelte of machines, the reason being that the FGR Midalu is shunted forward by a massive 2500cc V6 engine, claimed to make in the region of 240bhp!

The factory claim that that's enough to make it the world's most powerful production bike. Well, it will if it makes it into production, which will hopefully be the case within six months. More info in the next issue of Streetfighters...

Behind The Scenes at Bulldock

Whilst they were over in Japan last year, Boxer and his chum, Jason Fullington, called in to Bulldock Mototcycles in Tochigi. Regular readers will have seen the features of the gorgeous, and very trick, Zeds that Boxer photographed while they were there, and here's some video footage of their visit, sushi-side...

You can see more stuff from Boxer on his online telly channel - HoonTV, and the cool Icon gear that Jason is always seen wearing in such style (what is this, Hello?) will shortly be available in the UK through Parts Europe

SF207

Hot off the printers' presses today, Streetfighters 207 will be winging its way to subscribers within 24 hours, and well be on newsagents shelves on Thursday April 7th.
Never mind the bollocks, issue 207 contains the radical 'Punk Rod' Yamaha FZ, some astounding mini streetfighters from Indonesia, the Suzuki that we alluded to here on the blog a few weeks ago, a stealthy Honda X11, a tattoo'd Suzuki, a flat tracker Kwak from Lancashire, a TL Thou that's not for arachnophobes, plus much more, including a feature on how you can get insurance cover for your modified bike...

Brighton Peer

Live on the south coast? Bored?
Head down to Brighton next Saturdday (the 19th March), and you'll be able to see a shootout (swell, more like a 'drift-out') between Marc 'Sparky' Chenel and Belinda 'DriftHer' Challis in a two wheels versus four smoke-filled challenge!

It'll be part of the InCarNation show in Brighton, in cooperaton with the Ace Cafe London, and Sparky will also have his wheelie machine in attendance, and the Eastcoast FMX guys will also be there, doing daft stuff like climbing off a motorcycle while it's thirty feet up in the air...

Race Season Underway!

As from next Sunday, March 13th, the UK drag race season is underway, kicking off with the first round of the Straightliners championship at Santa Pod.
There's a Run What You Brung meeting the day before, giving people time to dial their bikes in before the opening round, and overnight camping is available.
It's also the first round of the Straightliners / Stunt Store UK stunt championship at the Santa Pod meeting, so expect world-standard stunting too!

The evening of Friday 4th March will see streetfighters and loonies descending on the Ace Cafe, North London, for the third monthly Streetfighter Night of 2011. Sponsored by Streetfighters Mag, Fighters Mag (Germany) and Bomber Mag (Finland), it's the premier streetfighter event in that there London Taaahhhhhn.

Expect gorgeous bikes, naughty ladies, delicious grub, no jellied eels, cold beer and top prizes including, for this month only, a pair of tickets to the single evening screening of I, Superbiker, at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly on Monday 14th March.

See you there.

SF206

Subscribers with efficient postmen will have received their copy this morning, but the rest of you will have to wait until it hits the newsagents' shelves next week. Unless, of course, you happen to be going to the London International Custom Show at Alexandra Palace this weekend, as we'll have copies on sale on the Streetfighters stand.

Aside from Marie's marvellous Martek, the new issue contains features on Frank's fantastic 7/12, a tremendous Taylornmade VMAX, Magpie's magical ZXR, a brilliant black Fazer, a perfectly painted Polish Gixer, and, err, lots more too...

No, It's Not Australian...

The Nembo is, in fact, an Italian creation and, as you'll see if you scrutinise the pics, designed around an engine that is, in the covnetional sense, upside down.
The reasoning is that the crankcases atre the strongest part of the engine assembly so, when using the engine as a stressed member of the chassis, the assembled bike is stronger of the engine is mounted thus.
Although we think that the Nembo engineers have been on the grappa as, after all, this cofiguration will make for a top heavy bike that requires additional oil pumps and will be a bugger to check the valve clearances on...

Project If Only...

You may remember the Project If Only SV650 that Yantosh was building last year? Well, Yan finished the wee beastie although, due to general editorial lethargy, we've not actually managed to get it photographed yet.
To prove that it was finished, and that it lives, here's a video...

SF205

Fresh off the press and winging its way to subscribers' doors right now is the new issue of Streetfighters.


With the wondrous Holly Peers utterly naked, bar a pair of boots, and adorning the centre spread minimalist GSX-R, issue 205 also contains an ultra-trick Kawasaki, mono-wheeling antics from a KR-1S, B-King and turbo Gixer Thou, a cafe racer-cum-flat tracker from the US, a clever Bandit/Gixer hybrid, an elaborate GS750 and all the usual race reports, project updates and irreverant ramblings.
SF205, on sale in newsagents on Thursday 3rd February.

Zed's Not Dead

Over the last year, we showed you a number of extremely trick Kawasaki Zeds built by the Bulldock concern in Japan. To give you an idea of just how big the air-cooled musclebike scene is like in the Land of the Rising Sun, here's a video of a Zed meeting...

Future Shock

Many members of society are firmly of the belief that the future of personal transport lies with electric vehicles. If this is the case, then we should soon be seeing electric bikes that could, loosely, be labelled beneath the 'streetfighter' banner, much like this design project undertaken by Dan Anderson.



The 'Volta' is a design study by Australian Dan, undertaken during his industrial design degree.



Consequently, there's not actually a running Volta as yet, but with electric vehicles very much in the limelight, it's only a matter of time before we see a production electric bike along these lines.





Of course, there are those people who say that the so-called green electric vehicle is no such thing, given the environmental debt inflicted by the mining of the rare metals required to manufacture the high tech batteries, and the fact that those batteries will need to be regularly charged too. Of course, time will tell what happens with private transport...

Road Kill

As you'll know by now, having scrutinised each and every page of the most recent issue, SF204 features Paul 'Sideshow Bob' Kyle's fat-tyred FireBlade.

Since the bike was photographed for Streetfighters, Paul has decided to upgrade various parts of the Blade, and you can follow his progress on the Custom Fighters forum

Finishing On A High

Following on from our feature on French hill-climbing a couple of issues ago, here's a short video of a young man on a GS750-powered hillclimber - a young man who obviously starts out meaning to take it easy but, by the time he gets to the top of the hill...

High Plains Drifters

While car drifting is far too 'Top Gear' for our liking, we do like Kawasaki ZX-10Rs with stretched swinging arms, we do like Nick 'Apex' Brochta and we do like the guys at Icon clothing, who commisioned this here video...

Those Long Winter Nights Must Be Flying By...

Take a couple of disposable lighters...

Take them to bits carefully...

Stick them back together in a different way...

And you end up with...

Something that you'll not be able to use to light your bifter...