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Sideburn was never going to be a retro mag, just concentrating on the ‘glory days’. We were determined to respect the past, but never be stuck in it, and Sideburn 49 covers the past, present and future of our two-wheeled loves. PAST Chuck Palmgren tells us all about developing the very first Yamaha XS650 for dirt track and taking Yamaha’s first mile win on it (before Kenny Roberts cemented Yamaha’s place in dirt track history). Two friends, Mike Davis (founder of the Born Free custom show) and Paul Hartman race a couple of tasty 80-year-old Harley flatheads in the Californian desert (and regret it almost immediately). Also, Matt Wait recalls his podium at Pomona in 1995 for the Trophy Queen page. PRESENT As always, road and track is represented. On the road side of things we have the truly unhinged Hot Dock Buell XBRR, and, from France, Tank Machine’s tasty Indian FTR 1200 trackers. We test the 2022 Enfield Himalayan too. From the track perspective we interview AFT race winner Davis Fisher, get the lowdown on the Lowery Racing Yamaha MT-07 Production Twins framer, and lap up Holy Freedom’s 3D-printed, 24K-gold-covered Yamaha XT600 tracker (and watch in horror and it’s smashed to pieces on the photoshoot). FUTURE Harley seem determined not to give the public the V-twin street tracker they yearn, so we had Kardesign Koncepts create a very realistic and gorgeous digital concept of a street tracker using the 1250cc Revolution Max engine from the Pan American to point them in the right direction. And it's exclusive to us. Put your hands together and pray Milwaukee's decision makers are reading Sideburn. Plus there’s art from Chris Watson and Mark Ward and unique tech writing from Travis Newbold. COVER: Hot Shoe by Cheetah BIKES: Holy Freedom Yamaha XT600 tracker; Trackmaster Yamaha XS650; Tank Machine Indian FTR1200; Lowery Racing C&J Yamaha MT-07 Production Twin; 1938 Harley-Davidson WL desert racer; 1942 Harley-Davidson WR desert racer; Harley-Davidson XR1250 digital concept; Hot Dock Buell XBRR ‘Gladiator’; Royal Enfield Himalayan PEOPLE: Chuck Palmgren; Davis Fisher, Zaria Martens, Matt Wait; Kurt Walter (Founder of Icon Motosports); Barry Stevenson INTERVIEW: Davis Fisher PORTFOLIO: The art of Chris Watson TRACK DATA: Castle Rock, USA EVENT: Slide on Sunday and TnT Cup dirt track from Indonesia PAGES: 108

Sideburn 48 mixes the majority of our dirt loves. Of course, there's American flat track, from the pinnacle to the amateur classes, but we don't solely love oval racing, and we have reports from an event held under the shadow of Mount Asama, Japan, the Grizzly Cup classic scrambles. Japan also serves up a Honda-saki Kawasaki KX250 motocross-powered Honda FTR250, built by Asterisk, one of the country’s custom bike masters, and we also show the best dirt trackers seen at the most recent Mooneyes Hot Rod and Custom Show. Then there's an owner's report on what it's like to pay the thick end of $20,000 for a brand new Harley Pan America 1250 adventure bike before beating the stuffing out of it. A very different type of trail bike is on the cover with Arctic Monkey's drummer, Matt Helders, and his just completed Mule Honda XR650R. What else? 81 and 18-year-old racers compare notes at the Dairyland Classic; super snapper Scott Toepfer shares our favourite shots from his portfolio; the survivor of one of the gnarliest dirt track crashes captured by a photographer’s lens tells his story; Machinist Gab explains how she ended up co-owning a CNC machining company and also shows her Royal Enfield 650 racer; there's an AJS Stormer two-stroke dirt tracker, and Suicide Machine Co serve up three of their most recent, sublime custom builds. COVER: Matt Helders on his Mule Honda XR650R BIKES: Mule Honda XR650R; Honda FTR250/Kawasaki KX250F hybrid; Royal Enfield INT 650 dirt tracker; SMCO Harley GT466; SMCO Livewire; SMCO Husqvarna 701 SM; Sub Kulture Cycles framer minibike; AJS Stormer 360 dirt tracker PEOPLE: Matt Helders; Shayna -Texter-Bauman; Kyle Long; Cameron Smith; Loyal Prach; Chuck Dickenson; Gabrielle Hughes; George Price INTERVIEW: Cameron Smith PORTFOLIO: The photography of Scott Toepfer HAULER: 1979 Datsun 620 J15 pickup TRACK DATA: Lelystad, Netherlands EVENT: Grizzly Cup Asama TT; Mooneyes Hot Rod Custom Show PAGES: 116