Images Sideburn/Jonny Wilson/Subsculptures

Britain has some great motorcycle events, but many are as stale as the last supper’s leftovers. A few years after first launching our own independent motorcycle magazine, the Sideburn team started thinking about bigger events. We were jealous of cross-genre shows in Yokohama and Brooklyn and knew British riders needed something more stimulating than sitting in a field wearing a jester’s hat while listening to an AC/DC tribute band.

The result was Rollerburn. Held last November, in Nottinghamshire, it mixed a broad custom show with a slalom skateboard race. It threw in a full, all-girl roller derby match and an art show. Thirty dealers and three bands set up. A couple of Arctic Monkeys paid on the door. Comedian Charlie Chuck destroyed a drum kit. Donkey!

Sideburn magazine focuses on motorcycles that ‘go fast, turn left’ from the worlds of dirt track and speedway, and also the road bikes loosely inspired these worlds and the DIY ethic, but we wanted Rollerburn to have much wider appeal.

The roller girl connection came from feature we did on the cult 1970s movie Rollerball. Roller girls go fast and turn left too. And a lot of them are better looking than the majority of people who turn up at British bike events. They were in.

The show bikes were inclusive too. This wasn’t a chopper show. Exhibits ranged from Shinya Kimura’s Junkyard Phantom (that featured in the movie Iron Man) to a Rossi replica Ducati Desmosedici RR.

The artist Conrad Leach created an 8ft square painting to face the ramp (it was later auctioned for charity) and slalom skaters, some of who turned up on their own Harley lowriders, launched themselves down it.

The highlight of the nine-hour event was world’s first and last indoor Rollerball drag race. Three 600cc dirt track race bikes towed three fearless rollergirls down the 150m strip. The team of TT hero Guy Martin and Catfight Candy won the three-way heat. Candy limped away with friction burns as big as your fist.

People came from all over the UK, France and Spain. The only lows of organising an event like this is the fact it takes over your life in the run-up, when you regularly ask yourself, ‘why are we doing this?’ That and the fact we couldn’t do everything we wished due to restrictions from the venue. It’s the kind of stuff that made me publicly state ‘never again’. The highs are the feedback, in the form of smiling faces on the day and internet buzz after it. That’s what makes me think, maybe we should do it again.

It’ll take some beating, but we’ll try. And there wasn’t a jester’s hat in sight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

www.sideburnmagazine.com

Photography John Isaac/Magneto

The long, lonely stretch of road that is Camber Sands is the sort of place you’d usually hurry through to more pleasant pastures such as nearby Rye. Unless, that is, you’re holidaying at the massive Pontins holiday camp there or remotely interested in 50’s car culture.

If you are then you’ll know that Pontins is kept in business by hosting some of the biggest Rocking events this side of the Thames. Now in its 15th year the ‘Rhythm Riot ’ is as its promoters promise ‘3 days and nights of 50’s music and mayhem!’

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The Rhythmn Riot sells out months in advance and the holiday camp has never been so packed. Thousands of rockers from all over Europe and further afield descend on this damp stretch of Kent Coastline. With three different venues catering to the Lindy hopping, jiving crowd right through to late night Burlesque acts by the lovely Missy Malone, Cherry Shakewell, the music (and the mayhem) goes on every night until 5am; often continuing as impromptu Chalet parties until lunchtime!

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The Rocking scene has always gone hand in hand with a real love for classic American cars. This year’s Riot was no exception. The faded stucco of Pontins’ once grand frontage was an acreage of rusted out old jalopys, ridiculously overfinned Cadillac land yachts; Tri Chevies, Hillbilly trucks and everything in between. Even the odd British classic found its way into the melee.

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This year’s highlight was of course a visit from the legendary customiser George Barris, who’d flown over especially for the Riot. A UK based collection of Barris show cars was on display too, thanks to Gary Hillman. His taste for the weird and wonderful has curated an amazing collection, including one of the very few official Batmobile replicas complete with Batphone and flames out of the afterburner exhausts.

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The Vintage Hot Rod association and Jack Hammer Speed Shop had again helped out in bringing the Hot Rod/Custom element to the event. As well as curating the Barris cars the brought artists displaying pinstriping, great artwork from Jacqueline Davies, and a stunning ghoulish Model A hearse in black with so many one-off details you could have spent all day checking them out.

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On Sunday Rye’s local police had their hands full as they directed the traffic for the traditional cruise, ensuring the ‘normal’ cars didn’t interrupt the show for the Rye locals. The fully restored 1956 Bedford coach followed a mile long line of Americana, led by a smiling George Barris in his Batmobile.

The Riot is a grand tradition, bringing together people with an endlessly appealing passion. Long may it continue.

http://www.rhythmriot.com/

images: Southsiders

We might be a bit slow off the mark here, but this morning we stumbled across some of the nicest pictures we’ve ever seen coming from the Goodwood revival.

The images come from those fine folks at Southsiders MC, whose blog is on our regular roster of daily browses.

Every year the event is one of the most photographed on the calender and is getting bigger every year.

This set is a testament to the worth of the slow, deliberate process of larger format film photography.

Bravo Southsiders.

See the full set here.

image: Sideburn

Our friends at Sideburn magazine, “the world’s most suave motorcycle magazine”, is organising and promoting a one-off, cross-genre event that they reckon will to “go down in history”.

Hold on to your whiskers folks and prepare for the hairiest bike event of the 2011. Rollerburn, according to the dirty-left turning Sideburn crew who are creating such a thing, will be “a festival of two-wheeled death traps and roller derby vixens”.

On Saturday 19 November 2011, at Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire the staff of the cult magazine will host nine hours of “family entertainment” (!) incorporating a full roller derby match, followed by the world’s first (and probably last) Indoor Rollerball drag race: three lightning fast racers riding three motorcycles towing three fearless roller girls. One winner.

One of the confirmed racers is Guy Martin, arguably Britain’s favourite bike racer, Isle of Man TT hero, star of TT 3D – Closer to the Edge and the BBC primetime series – The Boat That Guy Built. His attendance guarantees a sell-out crowd.

In addition there will be an invite-only custom show of the finest custom bikes; live sets from a bunch of bands, flat track demos, DJs, food and drink stalls and loads more.

You either get it or you don’t. We suggest you turn up either way to see what all the fuss is about.

full set of images from Ian Wilson here.

Every September vintage and classic racers gather in the historic hillside town of Angouleme, which straddles the beautiful Charente River.

At the hub of the town is an amazing 12th century cathedral, but during the middle weekend of September all eyes are on Circuit des Remparts, which has hosted the street race here since 1939.

The weekend opens on Friday with the Concours D’elegance, where the machinery can be ogled, lusted after and judged. Racing proper begins on Saturday and Sunday — and it’s the close up and personal, visceral nature of the tight circuit that brings such good entertainment — and great pictures too.

Check out the lovely onboard action from what looks like a venerable prewar car, which is really evocative of racing times past.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s one of those events that you might not think is what you’re all about.

But if you save your pennies for Bernie Ecclestone’s circus to come to the Northamptonshire countryside — you really should consider hitting the Silverstone Classic. For us, the Silverstone Classic offers much more bang for your hard-earned bucks.

The appeal is obvious to many of us. Think of every kind of racing formula to have graced the circuit for the last seventy odd years — think of cars and bikes from every era of 20th century racing in fact: and you have it all there.

But not only can you watch these rare and classic cars get an outing at the place for which they were bred — you can get truly up close and personal with the men and women and the machines themselves. There was music, classic aviation displays — an amazing weekend, in other words.

Highlight for us this year was undoubtedly the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of the E-Type. Apparently close to a thousand etypes were on site and on-track, a record grid of 52 racing E-types contested a round of the E-type Challenge, the special race series created for 2011 to mark the anniversary year.

Buy your tickets early for next year’s extravaganza.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now is it just me, or is the recently announced music lineup at this year’s Silverstone classic the weirdest imaginable?

Lewis Hamilton might be dating Pussycat Doll in Chief, but we think the connection between lycra pop and classic sports cars is tenuous in the extreme. Will the new breed of neo classicist dig Carlos Santana’s retro noodling? Will the bearded veterans the box-stirring and greasey-rag bothering understand the significance world’s naughtiest girl band? Whatever the non-automotive entertainment on offer, the classic is always an impressive event.

This year the event is due to take place from 24 to 26 July 2009, featuring the world’s iconic racing cars and marques. Race grids include pre-war sports cars, Grand Prix race cars, Group C Le Mans racers to the stunning pre-’63 GT and sports cars, alongside other crowd favourites such as, Mini racing, Touring cars, Formula Junior and even Edwardian race cars.

Both young and seasoned racers, as well as celebrities and racing heroes will take to the track for three days of atmospheric and thrilling on-track action. Silverstone Classic will host more than 70 car clubs, 4000 cars on display, automobilia sales and a classic car auction, and further entertainment from stunt bikes to drag racing.

Get your freak on and get down to see some real cars racing this summer.