RIP MAD BILL

Really sad news today. One of my motorcycling hero's lost his battle to make it to the start line in the 2010 season.
I loved Bill, and have known him since i first started riding. I was speaking to him when he came to watch the shorttrack at Kings Lynn earlier this year, he was saying he hadnt down as much riding as he had wanted to cos he stuggled bumping the JAP on his own. I asked him how is hip was and he just laughed.

Anyway for those who didnt now him here is a recent story about him

RIP Bill............................................

Visor Down Article on Bill

‘MAD’ Bill Barley is looking to become the oldest motorbike racer in the country after renewing his racing licence, aged 76.

Moving into his 60th year of competitive racing ‘Mad’ Bill, who competes in grass-track, got his nickname through a reputation for a fearless riding style during his prime, with instances which include landing his bike in a tree.

Bill races vintage grass-track bikes across the country and his greatest success came in 1988 when he won the Vintage Speedway Championship at the age of 56 on a 1934 Rudge, but he ranks his proudest moment of his racing career as winning at the Teterow circuit in the former East Germany, the year after the Berlin Wall came down.

In 1998, Bill had a hip replacement operation after coming off his bike. Within eight weeks he was racing a sidecar again. Speaking of his addiction to racing he said: "It's just the adrenaline off the start that keeps bringing me back every year, there's nothing like that feeling. Every year I think it'll be my last, then the forms drop through the door, and I think: well, one more year then.

Anti Nowhere League - So What

I have been ill for a week now with the flu. Anna's dad just poped over to drop of a new supply of tissues and suggested I listen to ANL. Its cheered me up for sure

Shorttrack doesnt need a forum

Sometimes I think it would be great to start a forum for shorttrack riders so people could discuss stuff and encourage new people to race.

Then I read the Grasstrack forum and think maybe not

For example read this (worth reading all the answers)
I am a member of a rallyraid forum no one bitchs on that so I guess it must just be oval racers. Anyway the GT forum is bitchy for sure. Surely they would be better getting on with racing before it becomes extinct.
Anyway here is a picture of Lew Coffin to cheer them all up.

Go West Young Man

Excellent Blog here

Busy Busy Busy

Thats us at Co-Built right now "extra busy". We are right in the middle of the build of 3 bikes. One Husaberg and two Rotax's all of which are spoken for (Ok one is for Geoff). We have enough parts for around another 2 at the moment so if you were thinking of getting one from us before next season starts now would be a good time to come forward so we can plan our work load.

Apart from Frames we also have a load of different bits and pieces on the go. 3 sets of pipes for different bikes, yokes and maybe very soon hubs. If you have a KTM 450 or 525 and want a low sweep pipe with a supertrapp (like the one in the picture) you should let us know in the next couple of weeks as thats next up. Also if you would like a set of forks for a KTM the set pictured above is for sale. They are R6 forks with a Co-built adjustable offset yoke. They are £550 as pictured or £600 inc a spindle and spacers to suit the wheel you wish to fit.

At this rate my streettracker wont be ready for the summer let alone our first 450 framer.

Baja 1000 time

I have been super busy this last few weeks but my Buddy Graham has keep the links flowing. I didnt even make a post about this years baja 1000 yet. So anyway i posted a vid from 2008 and here is a link from Graham about the Baja. And here is on I found.

Baja 1000

Sidecars thru El Muerto Baja 1000 2008 from Jose Luis Gomez on Vimeo.

Normal service is Resumed

Sorry for the Blog break I have been in the Far East for a while. I am back now and there is plenty to report.
Check out our Laser etched Logo for the new bikes

Euro Flattrack Results 2009

Dutch Brothers Euro Press release

Belli Wins last round & Boastie international flat track champion!

Fully recovered from his injuries sustained at round 3, there was no stopping Belli! Racing a classic Wood-Rotax for the occasion at the beautiful short track at Terenzano in sunny Italy, he finally found himself back in the top honor spot! Even though he had to miss several rounds, this result gained him third place in the championship! Jan-Willem Jansen and guest rider Jacopo Monti fought fierce battles all day, neither willing to give an inch. But at the end of the day it was Monti with the better over-all result, which secured him second place on the podium with Jansen third. Pete Boast, racing a special colored Suzuki, started the day with an 8 point lead in the cup and 4th place was enough to secure him the title. A big congratulation to the Englishman, who had already secured the British title a month earlier! Dutch ace Halbe Scheper was struggling all day and 5th place in the race dropped him back to 4th over-all.

Sensation of the day was local hero Massimiliano Andreotti on his beautiful Wood-Honda Flat tracker! Massimiliano was racing hard at the front until he went down in heat 1 and had to pull out with a damaged shoulder. Round 6 also saw the debut of rookie Ronald Shamier! Aboard a Honda CRF450 he managed to secure 7th place on the day, making this a very successful first race for him. We look forward to seeing more of him next year.

A great end to a fantastic season!

Round 5, Heusden-Zolder(B), Expert results:
1. #1 Marco Belli, Varese (I), Wood-Rotax
2. #5j Jacopo Monti, Tradate (I), Wood-Rotax
3. #15 Jan-Willem Jansen, Adetswil(CH), Dutch-Brothers KTM
4. #54 Pete Boast, Market Rasen(UK), team Suzuki
5. #28 Halbe Scheper, Emmer-Compascuum(NL), Honda

Championship positions: 1 Pete Boast 70pts, 2 Jan-Willem Jansen 62pts, 3 Marco Belli 60pts, 4 Halbe Scheper 60pts, 5 Henderik Mulder 51ptn,....

Next up:

4-6 December, Custombikeshow, Bad Salzuflen (D)

27 December, Indoor flat track, Towerlands centre, Braintree (UK)

2009 Shorttrack season from Steve Baldock

I got a CD of photographs from Steve today. I love the pack shots

Two good Links

No 1 Superbike planet page of Kocinski's Rotax Here thanks Geoff. His bike is pretty special

No 2 Loudpop Voyager Nice stuff Here thanks Graham

Weston Super Mare 2003

Here is a picture of me any Geoff at Weston in 2003. We finished 21st I think. After the first lap we had no barke pads left so we had to use the quads to slow down. By the end the front wheel was virtually square. The next year I found some better pads and we finished 12th. What a great bike!! Afterwards we built a nose cone for it and me and Phil rode it in Long Distance trials. I will find a picture for another post.

Dont Honk youll Disturb the Hulk

Would love that sticker. Our race van could do with some help from Iron Man.....

Nice Bikes

These guys have an interesting Blog and they make some nice bikes check out there website also. There is a chance I may get to ride a really special Triumph in the UK Thunderbikes next year. More on that (Operation Darling) very soon I hope.

Strip Down

A clean bike in a clean workshop what could be better??

5 xrounds of the Shorttrack Champs

2 x Euro Rounds

3 x Flattrack Friday

2 Practices

At least 5 slide's too the ground and a couple of proper crashes and the Co-built looks like its holding up OK. I had a lovely day today recovering from the pig flu. I cleaned out the workshop and then took my FT bike apart. Even the cat got in on the action. Anyway I have a list of stuff to do for the bike whilst I am still motivated. My plan is to get it out of the way in the next few days so its ready to go. What are the chances of that?

Billy Jackson

ACU British MMX Round 9 Culham from Billy Jackson on Vimeo.

Ive mentioned him on here before but you should check out Billy's Films. I am hoping to get him to an UK shorttrack meeting next season. I think he is really talented.

Top Triangles

Here are the next 3 Co-Built bikes during the first stages of production. Its can be done off the main jig with the help of the angle plates which the top unwelded assembly is in. The Bottom one in the picture is on the main jig now and will be a complete frame very soon. That one is already accounted for as is number two. Swing arms are all cut and currenlty being machined so things should move pretty quickly over the next few weeks. I love the look of the 'in frame oil tank' although I am thinking of using an external oil tank for our first Rotax streettracker. Hopefully I will have the motor out of the donor bike this week and work on the streettracker can start.

Co-Built KTM Parts

If you race a KTM in the UK or Europe you may be interested in a little project we have just started with Jan from the Dutch Brothers. We are about to produce a set of FT pipes for his KTM 450/525 bikes using a supertrapp end can the one with the tunable rings
.

They will be available with or without the supertrapp and will be somewhere around the £250 mark for the pipe without the end can (inc all fittings). Its going to depend on how many we can sell up front as to the exact cost.
They will look something like the one pictured above once finished (thats Jans current pipe), they will be manufactured from Stainless steel and supplied with all the fittings that are required. The standard KTM pipes bend tightly out of the ports so these should add some real usable power as well as looking like a proper FT bike. Let us know if you want one. The first batch will be available in Decemeber. Mail to info@co-built.net

Racing in France