Wednesday, 18 November 2009

It's all a bit of a Jumble , i'm afraid !












Hi Y'all , coming to the end of the season - so i thought i'd post a few pics from some of the shows we've been out n about to over the year !
Think these are from the recent Ardingly jumble/show in Sussex and Sammy millers museum in Hants .
We see more n more Streetrackers on our travels to shows n Jumbles and meet the most interesting people doing it - and some old bastids too !
You can't build a bike just off of Fleabay you know so pile in at the next autojumble and get a bargain and rub shoulders with some real people and roll around on the floor fighting for that Vincent part u don't need !
Oh and smell the oil/rust ! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm nectar .
We may be having a stall at the Show/Jumble this Sunday in Newbury (weather permitting)
May see you there ?
Take change , a kung foo bag , and Haggle like crazy !
WENT TODAY SET UP EARLY , WATCHED IT PISS DOWN ALL MORNIN , PACKED UP N WENT HOME - NOT MY BEST DAY OUT EVER !
Still there's the Off Road and spares show at Malvern next sunday ! ALL INDOORS ! Gonna try that one for size (ever the optamist !) If that's your area and you want me to take something up there - let me know , although i'm taking a shed load of stock any way !



Friday, 13 November 2009

BOASTIE - ONCE - TWICE - 3 TIMES A LADY !
















Not really , just sounded right for the title !





Anyway there's one man out there who walks the walk AND talks the talk .
Pete Boast . Yep this man wakes up one day and says i'm gonna start a Flattrack series in the UK . so he does .
Then he thinks , now it's good and we've got the best riders in europe fighting over the title, i'm gonna win it . and he does .
Not content with that , he wins both titles (country and western ) no - i mean Shorttrack and Thunderbike titles , back to back .
Then he hops on a plane and thinks , i can win the European championship too . And he does .
He even goes over to the States and tries his luck there , but you can push your luck so far .
Anyway Big up to the main man (as they say over there ) , let's here it for Pete Boast .
3 Titles-One year.
Thanks Pete , cos we love racin' ya too .
Follow this link to Pete's site and join up (or just buy a T shirt)http://www.shorttrackuk.com/

SOLD OUT - STOCKED UP - SOLD OUT AGAIN !
















Man , what a coupla weeks down here at the Speedshop ! got three boxes of tanks in from the USA and sold em all there n then . So i re-order them from the States again and i still think i'm about two tanks behind on the orders i have taken ! Anyway one box came in today (out of three!) and there were no tanks in it and no tracking info either (weasel did'nt like the sound of this .....) so i'm crossing all my fingers in the vain hope they turn up on monday .Then i gotta order it all again (Thank god for VISA) , if this keeps up i may just break even !
Got loads of new lines in , Tell tale tachs , lights and controls etc
But the best selling stuff at the moment is the Trackmaster tanks i do for Triumph T140 (and other oif bikes) and the new T140 seat (custom made to fit the wide frame rails). Also in is XS650 seats (custom fit to std frame rails).
Also coming along nicely is the shop runaround W650 , see pic - actually that's not how it looks , cos i've changed the tank and seat since then and tried 3 lights none of which i liked , so it 2 steps forward , 3 steps back (repeat untill fade !) see it coming together here http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622537126012/
Got plenty of projects coming on now , and have a unused GNC Flattrack frame/swing arm for a Harley / Buell motor for sale (like this one) http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/3405861010/in/set-72157616150877871/
if anyones interested ? (not cheap tho) Hens teeth i think !.
Look at that rain out there ! Stair rods .

Monday, 2 November 2009

ROAD TRIP TO PARIS FAT CLUB- OH LA LA A POO POO.
















What a weekend we had ! Me n Gary Side and Ben Burn all cooped up in the REDMAX van , loaded with goodies and an XR750 . First off to see the Cool dudes at Ruby Helmets (J&D) http://www.ateliersruby.com/then to a trendy bar that night , with some street trackers parked outside and a who's who of Paris bike life kicking around , i felt like one of the faces .
Anyhoo we thought it'd be a good idea to get the XR out and ride it around the streets with no lid or gear and arrive at the bar , so we did - and it was .
Seb is a great guy from the Fat club M/C dudes http://www.fatclub.fr/and he put us up in his appartment for the night (thanks mate) and then showed us the workshop the club shares in town and his bikes XS flattracker and Buell cafe racer (right up my street). How Super ! They got a Dyno n all there .
Then it was off to Dimities House for a photo shoot with the XR and Ruby helmets for Jerome (one cool Hendrix dude), which i enjoyed immensely (and was given an origional Evel Knievel canyon jump jacket to wear for it !) these guys are on our wavelength ! Spent a while getting Dimitries Triumph streetracker going for which i got to go round the streets on it ! she rode great too . So i sparked up the XR and returned the favour - u shoulda seen the smile on those boy faces !
Not only are they great guys , they got great wives too - and they laid on a Fab Mexican lunch. Thanks Girls , mucho appreciato Senoritas .We of course stayed too long and had to rush around Paris to see the shops we came to visit and were late getting to the Fat club party after the trains broke down in town ! But the guys there were welcoming and set us down with some food near the band and we displayed the XR on the stage too ! there was no room for our stall but we chilled and chatted to the guys until time to go (we were driving overnite to the Chunnel !)
Thanks Fat Club Paris for the good times and party , Big Big thanks again Sonic Seb .Thanks To Jerome and Dimitrie and the lovely wives !
See more pics here on (even more if i find my camera , these are from my phone!)Flickr .http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622593044559/

Thursday, 22 October 2009

WANT>>>WANT>>>WANT>>>>WANT>>>>WANT
















Want some CO-BUILT yokes for my Flattrack project bike .

NO , change that , i want em for all my bikes (and i've got a few !).


Oh yea and while we're at it , i WANT one of his frame kits too .

May have to settle for some Yokes for now tho , Anthony showed me his new Yokes (Triple trees if you're a septic tank) the other day and they are indeed the dogs dangly bits in quality and looks department to , so i need some . Mind you check his whole bike out and you can see the build quality ooozing out , and it's not just a looker he's had a rash of wins on it recently and it's survived a few big offs too ! See Co-built here http://www.co-built.net/about.html

Oh did i mention i want one ? ;-)

KEOGH DESIGN - AMA FLATTRACKERS
















I know a man , a very nice man - who just happens to be a top motorcycle designer . John Keogh (see http://www.racetaylormade.com/tmpages/design.html)- you may or may not recognise his name but he's done loads and been everywhere ! sensing that , i bought the conversation around to Flatttrack (as i always do !) and he mentioned some designs he did for the AMA in 97 when they were trying to get manufacturers into the then new Non-Harley category . Looking at the pics John sent over , you can see that quite a few of these bikes have arrived on the scene now and it must be nice to look back at stuff you drew up that then materialised in a similar fashion ! It's like Mystic Meg or something .
Thanks for the images John .

Saturday, 17 October 2009

LAST RACE OF THE YEAR - WOT A CRACKER !
















Yep , What a race meeting that was ! RYE HOUSE is a great venue for a race and presentation afterwards , it's got a great track surface which makes for good racing and excellent spectator facilities , which makes for great viewing ! All round a great Vibe was buzzin on the day .Had a mixed meeting myself , being right up for it after Chris Carr's training day , went well in practice and had a great first race grid position ie Pole ! and my clutch cable broke just before i went out . Gutted . Did ok in the other two qualifiers , but never made the final . Still got to watch it and it was a cracker ! i predicted a few crashes and there was - a few making it into the fence - hope ur all ok ? Anthony got stampeeded upon by a XS650 and walked away . Had Les torpedo me on his XS and the end of my last race and go cartwheeling over the top in a very nasty crash , maybe he did'nt see the flag? i don't know - i stayed on and only had a dented megaphone , but his bike was pretty beaten up (see pics) and he , i think suffered a broken collar bone . Hope ur alright mate .- Does that count as a Squadron 165 attack?
As a side note , my full gringo 'tasche did'nt make me any faster , so i've decided to go down the Prof Caracticus Potts look now (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and see if that works ?
Chris Carr gave us a lesson on which lines to use out there , whilst walking away with it - as ever the proffesional racer and a joy to watch .
Also a Joy to watch was the Mini-bike races with the best bit being the father n son bit , with Dad pulling his boy backwards by the arm to beat him over the line ! ;-)
Sitting in the stands i noticed the large crowd and pleasant vibe and also the non-stop information / chatter coming from Martin our excellent Commentator (thanks mate).
Presentations at the end went well , with Boastie wrapping up both Championships ! Well done mate , all hail the new Double Champ !
Also , as usuall - the event ran with well oiled precision , so thanks to all those Guys and Gals involved with the organising / running of the event . Top Job .
See all the pics here , as usuall from the camera of Sideburn Girl !http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622604599662/

Saturday, 10 October 2009

CARR-NIVORE . (BIT LIKE A CARNIVAL ONLY DANGEROUS!)
















Yea , it's been n gone - and it was great !
Chris Carr/sideburn night was a fabulous do , with the the right crowd and no crowding . The great man told us a few anecdotes of racing and the raucousness of california and Flattrack from the seventies on , suffered our questions and auctioned his gear all in the name of supporting UK Flattrack racing .
All present enjoyed the night , and some of us were lucky enough to be at his Masterclass at Rye house the next day , i personally want to thank him for imparting some of that knowledge to me , because now i have unlimited front end grip that i never knew was there ! Chris himself made it so . Bring on Sundays race , i feel a win coming on . (may take that back later!)
Also in pics are the new Dirt track T's i've just had in - Kin Fab . Order one .
Oh yea - Chris Carr rode my bike (which i desperately wanted him to do - Skootafarm Dave may have had a hand in that) and said - "That's a big old bike for a small old track" but he went on out and made it look extra fast and everyone else extra slow , like he always does . Nice one Chris , cos i've never heard that XR roar from the side line and it's great .
The fantastic bikes shown here are part of the great display of bikes on the Night and these particular bikes belong to Alistair McQ (great chap too) he also took them to the Track at Rye house for a photo shoot and test ride shootout for a Mag , but the bikes (having been in storage ) refused to play ball and few laps were managed . But what gorgeous things they are !

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

DEATH SPRAY STREET TRACKER
















Dave popped over today (from Death spray customshttp://www.deathspraycustom.com/) and tried a few new clothes on his XS650 Tracker , whilst i marvelled over his paintwork ! Then i thought i ought to have a section in my Flickr page for other peoples Flattrack/Streetrackers so here it is .http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622412603891/
If you've got any pics of yours - send em in and i'll put em up !

Nice bloke Dave and we chatted for ages about bikes of all kinds , just how i like to spend my mornings .
But in the afternoons i like to cut up Jap bikes - so here's what i've been upta with a W650 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622537126012/ Oh yea , got a great guy (Glenn) making my seat pads here now , Alloy bases - top Quality £55 up .See pic.

Must go loading up all my crap and going to Chris Carr / Sideburn nite - BE THERE .
I SAID - BE THERE.

Sunday, 27 September 2009

CARR-NAGE ! CHRIS CARR IN UK SOON !!!!!!


Roll up , Roll up , Chris Carr over here again after breaking a land speed record ... again ! Yep , Your only chance to see the man over here , and then race against him (if you're stupid enough !)
Firstly Sideburn Night Oct 8th (nothing to do with fireworks!)http://www.sideburnmagazine.com/CHRIS%20CARR%20NIGHT.html Then the CCM Track Day the day after - with CC telling it how it is http://www.ftexperience.com/index.html, Then Race the Man at Rye House on Oct 11 th with all us dancing fools - or come and watch it , there's no excuse cos it's just north of london - and everyone can get there ! Please come everybody cos alot of people work hard to make this happen , and we need all the support we can get , more than that tho , you'll have a great time .Period.

Sunday, 20 September 2009

SHORTTRACK UK RACING AT THE BMF SHOW
















As usuall , the racing was spectacular at Peterborough . The Scooterfarm team had a good day doing formation laps together (apart from John Lee, who rather selfishly decided to remain at the front of each race , rather than battle with us at the back ! Ruined a few photos that.) I had some good starts and a big crash and Dave had a fabulous second place which got us all out of our seats ! Well done Anthony Brown on his Nifty Co-built Rotax for winning a heat (we have a great pic of that!) and well done Steve Coles for a fantastic cartwheel over the fence to avoid the bikes behind (we have that pic too , although you have to search for it !). Real congratulations goes to Marco Belli for winning his first race back , after what was a nasty crash when we were over in Austria . He's Back .We got a good pic of that too cos Sideburn girl got a Fab new camera for her birthday and she can zoom in to your retinas as you ride past ! She even got Rusty in a 'diet coke break' moment washing his bike topless ! (one for the girls there !)
So Great meeting - apart from the guy who watered the track twice making a hot summers race day into a wet November day for an hour or so ! Still they did sort it out in the end , but i ask you - who's gonna clean my bike ?
Pics here , and they're a good selection of everyone so have a looksee ! (video to follow)http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622299259183/

MONDAY,TUESDAY,HAPPY DAYS........
















Thursday , Friday Happy Days , The weekend comes-my cycle hums , ready to race to you !
Sing along you know the words . OK So , Gary says - fancy coming to this Do in Brick lane (London 'tarn') on Thurs nite , we'll take our cafe racers n look well cool , then there's the Goodwood revival on Friday if you can get a ticket , Then we're Racin' at Peterborough on Saturday - sounds like a plan . Yep , says i , We can fit it all in - wot could possibly go wrong ?
So i'm runnin around Thurs morn trying to load the van for racin , then checking over The Reverend (My Norton) for the thrash up toLondon and , as expected the lights are on the fritz . Two hours later and broken earth in loom replaced , i jumped on the old bike and made the rather crap (road works all the way up the M3) 80 mile trip up the Smoke no problems , to this Re-enactment Retro Photo display amongst all Londons finest Dandy Rockers (and Ben too- the other half of Sideburn). Nice one , then into Brick lane for a Curry and jump on the old steed , with Gary on his Guzzi Cafe Racer and head back Thru the centre of town back to my gaff , only the ole gall did'nt like all that filtering and went down on one cyl ! Easy solved - drop it down a gear and clear her out - that woke a few cockneys up !The ride was ace , We cracked off at dawn to Goodwood on the bikes again - along the A272 which is one of the best scratchin roads i know , to the Revival - which is totally mind blowing - for Bikes , cars , planes , women - what else could u wanna see thru your sepia coloured glasses ? The car park before you even show your ticket was better than any classic car show i've ever been to ! You gotta go ! See all the pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157622417631216/

Friday, 28 August 2009

BUSY DAY AT THE RANCH ! (For TONYS !)
















Pays to stick around for more than five minutes at my place , first of all i had Tony from local MX test track "Tonymoto's" pop in to chat about his XS650 build he has goin on , managed to sway the conversation towards building an oval there ! Possible southern test track !
Then i had another Tony Arrive this guy is local to me and has one of the only real Halco Ascots out there being used too (over 100K) Built by the late Tony Hall (ex Wasp MX sidecar boy) in Salisbury using a design made for Yamaha by the guys that did the Commando isolastic frame .
Special bike at 175kg too , could'nt stop the other Tony drooling over it (asked to sit on it 3 times !)It even started on demand ! Sweet.Then my dad popped over (out for a blast) on his Thruxton Bonnie - he's a Tony too !
To round off the day my mate Keef popped in on his XR750 (daylight mot job ) to shoot the breeze and talk Flattrack so i challenged him to kickstart it on tape - and off it went , second kick ! Gonna put it on my U-TUBE (he's a 10 stone, hips gone, Jesus lookalike) . Wheres the Tony in that u ask ? Well u gotta kick like Tony the Tiger to start one o them !http://www.youtube.com/user/REDMAXSPEEDSHOP

Tuesday, 25 August 2009

ROCKINGHAM SPEEDBOWL TRACK DAY
















Sounds like Flattrack - tastes like Track day ! Rockingham was built not so long ago for NASCAR racing and has a high speed banked bowl of Tarmac - which luckily i never tasted !
Took the old Paul Smart Replica round there on a Motorcycle follies/Moto Rapido track day after my good mate Manch had to bail out and go back to work Underwater somewhere in the North Sea , leaving me his place gratis ! Thanks Manch .
Great day caning round learning the circuit , which is infield( like Daytona ) until at the end i found i could take out most of the Jap crap by virtue of holding her flat oot when all the Gixers were still feathering the throttle and trying to avoid the highside (which four of them experienced !).
Thats when 90HP beats 160HP , just throw in tons of off camber curves and very short straights. Fab day out , with some old friends (Dell n James) and the Moto Rapido boys . Lastly Dan was there on a Suzuki going like the wind and loving it , not unusual you might say - but Dan is paralysed from the waist down and this was his first outing since Mark modded his bike with electric gear change (on the button!) -it was a joy to see him go . They waited for him in the pit lane each time and caught him when he stopped ! Way to go boys !
Nearly forgot , we have Scott Smart riding our Superstock 1198s at the Mo (nice chap) and he was there testing clutches and making us look very slow on the Ducati Streetfighter (shown in the pits photo) - anyway his dad is Paul Smart and my bike is a replica of the one he won Imola on back in the seventies ! It all ties in .

Monday, 17 August 2009

HEY HEY - IT'S THE HAYRIDE !





























Once a year in a Gun Shooting club the size of a small town (Bisley , Surrey) comes an event so good , i go .



It's the HOTROD HAYRIDE and it's organised by the Executioners car club , you take your old Hot rod to the meet , camp and enjoy the Hillbilly/rockabilly bands then on Saturday you polish you cars and stand around looking at them NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



No what really happens is you wake up still feeling the night before and take your expensive 1930's ride down to the hidden race track (oval) and race it round like you don't care , some crashing in the process and limping off back to the camp site ! Cool as f##k i say .



Cos we go every year , we get to take the bikes around and this year i was able to put on a bit of a show to promote Shorttrack UK , taking 4 bikes and riders down to enjoy the smoothed out and dry track (pics of bikes and track later). Today i thought i'd include pics of the event and save the track pics for later , cos i'm getting em sent to me later. Yes that is a naked lady ! in between the bands and dancing they have a red hot Burlesque show . U shoulda been there..........




The Band shown is Smokestack Lightening , the carts are the soapbox derby race , the Mercury is my ride ,The naked lady is Miss Honey Lulu and the cars parked around are just that - everywhere ! More pics soon .http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157615768296835/