Streetfighters

SF 217 - out imminently

2012-01-26T13:12:00.001Z

Subscribers will be getting their copies of Streetfighters #217 around about now.

This month’s cover bike is Spart’s awesome turbocharged Hayabusa, presented with our gloriously butt naked model, Paige. Elsewhere in the mag we bring you a beautifully finished Irish GSX-R, the fantastic RSD KTM 525 café racer ‘Katosh’, an awesome flamed-up Hungarian Katana 750, a 140bhp GSX1400 by DSD and many more.

There’s events coverage from EICMA Milan 2012 and the Rat’s Hole Show in Daytona, ACU drag racing, project bike updates and all the usual news, products, reviews, opinions, fanmail letters, small ads and weird, inexplicable stains that make it smell so good.

If you’re not a subscriber you’ll have to wait another entire week to get yours from the shop. SF #217 hits the shelves on Thursday 2nd February. Get a subscription here: http://www.streetfightersmag.com/subscribe

Wallpaper

2012-01-24T18:32:00.002Z

Following their superb Drift 2 video, as we showed you recently, Icon have realeased a number of images taken from the video for you to use as wallpaper on your 'puter screen.
If these pics don't make you want to learn how to drift, then you're already dead.
The pics, and plenty more, are available at ride-icon.com

2012 KTM Duke 690

2012-01-20T17:09:00.005Z

One half of the Streetfighters Editorial team (the better looking half, or so his mum says) is off to Spain on Sunday night, as a guest (or adoptee) of KTM Motorcycles.

They're launching the 2012 Duke 690, the fourth major incarnation of the Austrian factory's iconic hooligan thumper. Our fearless (feckless?) journalist will test this bike to its absolute limits in order to bring you the most comprehensive roadtest around, before retiring to the hotel to test KTM's bar tab to the absolute limits and, eventually, to puke on his own feet and fall asleep.

This is KTM's own film of the new Duke 690. Make sure you check out SF #218 (on the shelf at the beginning of March) for the full roadtest feature.

Our Favourite Monster

2012-01-19T16:13:00.002Z

Yup, as we ascertained a few weeks ago, Monster Energy drinks are definitely our favourite...

Got Your Bearings?

2012-01-18T17:54:00.002Z

Here's a handy link for those of you who're planning a front end swap.
You can check your bearing sizes, and thus work out either what bearing you need to purchase, or whether a swap will be a direct swap or not (as long as the stem is the right length, of course) by checking the list here

Pure Awesomeness

2012-01-13T17:13:00.003Z

We showed you a teaser for this video a few weeks ago, and now Icon have released the completed vid, featuring Ernie Vigil and Nick 'Apex' Brocha. We need say no more, but for watch it on full screen, with the volume up loud!

Nitro Circus

2012-01-12T13:32:00.002Z

You've probably already seen this clip, as it's plastered all over Facebook etc, but it's worth another watch anyway...

It's going to be fantastic on the big screen!

It's Not The Size...

2012-01-11T18:02:00.003Z

... it's what you do with it. As these pics prove.

Cappucino?

2012-01-10T17:23:00.002Z

It was a while ago when we featured these two cafe racers, as built by one Roland Sands. But, seeing as we'll be featuring another bike built by Roland in the next issue, we'd thought we'd show you this wee video...

SF216

2011-12-21T15:59:00.004Z

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

2011-12-21T15:18:00.002Z

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?

2011-12-19T11:00:00.000Z

Here's an idea - meat 'duster

Monster Girls!

2011-12-13T19:07:00.003Z

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!

2011-12-07T12:11:00.003Z

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

2011-12-05T15:02:00.003Z

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

2011-12-01T16:18:00.003Z

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!

2011-11-21T16:44:00.002Z

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

2011-11-21T16:28:00.006Z

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

2011-11-17T17:03:00.002Z

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!

2011-11-07T16:13:00.004Z

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

2011-11-03T16:06:00.003Z

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...)

2011-10-26T13:43:00.001+01:00

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

2011-10-20T15:33:00.003+01:00

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?

2011-10-11T20:46:00.003+01:00

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

2011-10-07T18:49:00.003+01:00

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

2011-09-28T12:59:00.002+01:00

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...

2011-09-21T18:45:00.003+01:00

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

2011-09-15T17:33:00.003+01:00

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

2011-09-01T14:20:00.003+01:00

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!

2011-08-31T13:48:00.002+01:00

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...

2011-08-31T13:15:00.003+01:00

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

2011-08-30T16:11:00.005+01:00

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

2011-08-23T12:01:00.004+01:00

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?

2011-08-16T19:56:00.003+01:00

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...

2011-08-11T15:21:00.002+01:00

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.

2011-08-11T15:11:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-03T15:16:00.004+01:00

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....

2011-08-01T10:12:00.002+01:00

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

2011-07-29T17:53:00.003+01:00

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

2011-07-22T16:09:00.004+01:00

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?

2011-07-19T14:07:00.004+01:00

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

2011-07-05T10:45:00.002+01:00

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

2011-06-24T14:04:00.002+01:00

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...

2011-06-22T17:59:00.004+01:00

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?

2011-06-17T16:43:00.003+01:00

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

2011-06-16T11:47:00.000+01:00

"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...

2011-06-15T13:33:00.003+01:00

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

Burn baby...

2011-06-14T17:56:00.001+01:00

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

SF209

2011-05-31T16:18:00.003+01:00

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

2011-05-26T09:48:00.005+01:00

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?

2011-05-17T19:51:00.002+01:00

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

2011-05-12T15:32:00.000+01:00

"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?

2011-05-11T17:47:00.003+01:00

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

2011-05-06T18:30:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-04T14:02:00.003+01:00

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

2011-05-04T11:19:00.003+01:00

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?

2011-04-20T13:32:00.001+01:00

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

Closer To the Hedge?

2011-04-15T14:43:00.004+01:00

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

2011-04-15T14:34:00.003+01:00

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

2011-04-07T15:26:00.003+01:00

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

2011-04-06T12:42:00.003+01:00

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

2011-03-30T14:31:00.002+01:00

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

2011-03-16T11:25:00.003Z

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!

2011-03-10T16:15:00.002Z

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!

2011-03-02T12:45:00.004Z

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

2011-02-24T14:12:00.004Z

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...

2011-02-23T12:59:00.005Z

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...

2011-02-22T16:34:00.003Z

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

2011-01-26T18:44:00.002Z

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

2011-01-20T14:06:00.005Z

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

2011-01-20T12:23:00.006Z

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

2011-01-19T11:32:00.003Z

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

2011-01-19T11:27:00.003Z

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

2011-01-14T14:28:00.003Z

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...

2011-01-13T08:41:00.006Z

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...

There's Fast... And There's FAST!

2011-01-12T13:13:00.002Z

And this is most definitely fast!
Bill Warner, pilot of the turbocharged Hayabusa in question, clocks 278.6mph on this run. Just check out how fast it's accelerating when the bike passes through the 270mph mark...

Oh, and talking of Greg...

2011-01-12T09:50:00.002Z

... here's a video of that R1 'tracker that we featured back in SF191, courtesy of American bike magazine Cycle World.

Charity Blade

2011-01-12T09:29:00.006Z

Built by Greg DeJardins of Gregg's Customs over in California, this CBR 1000RR Fireblade is up for grabs in a raffle to raise money for the Ride For Kids Organisation, with proceeds going to help sick kiddywinks and their families.

Whilst there are a lot of simple bolt-on upgrades to the Blade like the RSD wheels and Sato rearsets, as per Greg's other builds (such as the flat-tracker R1 we featured in SF191, and another R1 that's in the next issue) the Honda has some neat bespoke parts too - a one-off front number board style headlight shroud and the hand-formed sidepanels show what Greg likes to make - and is finished off with a paint scheme influenced by Freddie Spencer's 1981 Superbike Honda.

These pics were taken by Robert Pandya and blatantly ripped off the Cyril Huze blog although this last one was off the Gregg's website...

Bring The Noise!

2011-01-06T11:08:00.005Z

If you've got volume on your computer, turn it up now!
What, at casual glance, appears to be a cafe racer'd Suzuki Bandit, is far more than that. The engine is a 500cc inline eight cylinder, created from a pair of 250cc inline fours...

And another video of another bespoke multi-cylinder machine, spoilt only by the bloke who's had his arse stolen getting in the way of the camera, shows a six cylinder machine built, again, using 250cc Suzuki engine parts...

Rocket Man

2011-01-05T11:35:00.004Z

Bonkers Frenchman, Eric Teboul, set a new record on his peroxide-powered rocket bike at the UEM Finals at Santa Pod last September. He also had the foresight to fit a video camera onto the ballistic two wheeler before the run, and here's the result...

Magpul Ronin

2011-01-04T17:35:00.005Z

Based around the, sadly defunct, Buell 1125CR, the Magpul Ronin is a rework that uses some interesting engineering and brutal design.

As yet, it is unclear whether any parts or, indeed, completed bikes will be available from Magpul, but the team continue to develop the project.

Find out more on the Magpul blog here

FT204

2011-01-04T13:49:00.002Z

Happy New Year!
And here's something to addle your fuzzy New Year heads...

"As I sit huddled in front of my laptop in my thermals, two woolly jumpers, a beany hat, scarf and 'Scrooge' fingerless gloves, the UK is just coming out of its first fortnight of winter trauma. Councils are whining about running out of road salt, commuters are complaining about trains delayed because of the wrong kind of snow, and students are keeping warm by setting light to riot vans. There's more snow and sub-zero temperatures forecast and it's not even Christmas yet...

They're not ideal conditions for riding motorcycles, and readers in Australia, South Africa and the southern and south-western states of the US will be smug and toasty as they hack around in the sunshine, but there's no excuse for British readers to feel down in the mouth and grumpy. Well, no more than normal.
Winter is, traditionally, the time for us to be spending time in the shed, garage or workshop, although when temperatures are hitting minus ten and below all over the British Isles, it's no wonder that people would rather be sat in front of the fire / telly / lapdancer than be in a bitterly cold workshop, fingertips freezing to any bare metal surface and losing the feeling from their extremities.
Ironically, it does seem, at this point in time, that the 2010-2011 winter is the time when we should all be pulling our fingers out to build some really special bikes for the 2011 riding season, as there's a number of events that are crying out for some extra-special trick builds..."

Read the rest of this Fighting Talk in the new issue, out now!

SF204

2010-12-27T10:57:00.002Z

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

2010-12-16T16:01:00.001Z

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

2010-12-16T08:13:00.008Z

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

2010-12-15T12:38:00.003Z

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...

2010-12-15T12:01:00.008Z

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)

2010-12-09T16:02:00.004Z

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

2010-12-03T16:06:00.002Z

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

2010-11-25T17:02:00.002Z

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

2010-11-24T16:15:00.004Z

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

2010-11-12T17:38:00.004Z

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

2010-11-11T08:47:00.001Z

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?

2010-11-11T08:45:00.000Z

Ever wonder why it's so satisfying?
Read this

One memory of Fighterama...

2010-11-09T14:03:00.001Z

... but more are appearing through the fug.

There'll be loads more pics in issue 203!

Streetfighter & Stunt Fest @ Wembley

2010-11-09T09:22:00.006Z

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!

2010-11-04T12:10:00.002Z

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

2010-10-25T16:36:00.002+01:00

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

2010-10-20T16:38:00.001+01:00

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...

2010-10-20T16:05:00.004+01:00

... 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!