sidecar cross - great racing!

have you ever done anything that was like deja vu on the one hand but it wasn't? you kinda saw the world tilted?

i have been going roadracing since 1977 so i'm used to sidecars, motorbikes, 2-wheels. i've also been to MX and dirt fields all my life and sucked on 2-stroke fumes.

i've been going stock car racing (not the USA type - ours is full contact) so i'm used to four wheels and drifting, roaring engines dust and more importantly - names, race numbers belonging to your favourite rider etc. but sidecar cross....never! tilt!

tilt - we had commentary
tilt - we had names and legends of the track
tilt - i've never seen such animated racing in my life!
tilt - we have riders with the same numbers

i was stunned by what a great spectacle it was. sure, it was a beautiful day in august and they're rare over here at present and there was no dust.

what a fantastic sight and sound these boys made. real colour, you could see what they were doing! you could see the work they were putting in!

i saw 'monkeys' patting the riders on the shoulders asking the outfit to stop and watched them fall to the ground crippled! the landings wree bone-jarring.

the air these guys were getting was unbelievable!

one thing that did come over was how undersold this type of racing is. it's quite criminal how nobody has ever got hold of it and marketed it better.

THE FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS HAVE GRADED ORDER STARTS LIKE THE STOCK CARS. MAKE THE BEST START AT THE BACK AND WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH.

anyway, husabergites! you wanna know what happened to the real big H?

well british championship leader stuart brown and passendger luke peters from macclesfield were there on No111 and they ride a VMC chassis, were running a zabel 700 but now a husaberg 700 put together i trust by JBS racing's ben ballard.

next are the millard brothers daniel and joe from frome? they ride as No99 on a WSP 630 husaberg.

the third outfit in the paddock was the No8 of Scott Balsille and neil bann of reading/glossop. they ride a WSP 650 husaberg.

there was also a brand new husaberg outfit for sale - unused and ready to go!

anyway, i introduced myself to the No111 and No99 teams in the paddock. stuart brown had just broken down in practice when the key on the crank snapped off and the engine stopped.

i also had a quick chat with a team member for the millards who run an essentially standard engine that gets rebuilt regularly and runs ball mains. i then disappeared to watch heat one and bumped into a bloke stood ther in a husaberg T-shirt, husaberg cap and a husaberg rucksack. i said i hadn't a clue who he was but i just had to say 'hello'! it turned out to be steve bann owner of the No8 outfit in which his brother is passenger.

i watched the first race from the trackside parc ferme and into an early lead went stuart broiwn - untouchable! the outfit produces masses of power everywhere and you can see it like all 4-strokes PUTS IT DOWN. it was pulling wheelies in 3rd 4th gear which nobody else could attempt methinks! second were the millard brothers who were having a ding dong doo with a 700 zabel (2-stroke) outfit of john lynne and peter girling. alas on the last lap brown stopped but this time it was a broken final drive chain.

the win still sent to husaberg though with millards 1 and 2 taking the flag just! ballsille i think did quite well with a sixth or so.

in the second heat, brown disappeared again and this time won while the zabel came second and the millards i think had a 4th? just didn't have enough to get past a KTM outfit but they were all over them.

in the last heat, brown got the holeshot again, the millards were second for half the race before the lynne outfit got them and balsille was about 8th at a guess. it seemd that balsille didn't have the confidence to pass outfits as he was always stuck behind someone trying to get bye!

so husabergs won all three races and as it was the last round i think that that makes stuart brown the british sidecar cross champion!

like i say, they should have graded order starts with the best at the back and then the racing would be simply unbeatable!

KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!
KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!
KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!
KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!
KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!
KTMs ate our sheeeeuuut!

hopefully i'll get some photos to eric and he'll add them...

regards

Taffy

ok phuqyall!!!!!!

just thought i'd get thios back to the top by mentioning that despite a huge radiator and an oil cooler, stuart brown had two mild seizures the previous weekend and got over it this week by adding another radiator!

as i say, he's producing some power! congratulations to ben ballard as well here.

regards

Taffy

Good post Taffy . Bye the way Neal riding with Scott is my Son . They were riding my bike due to problems with Scotts . When he rides his own he pushes harder ( didn't want to break mine nice lad ) And you are right sidecar cross does not get the recognition it deserves believe me it's hard work out there very physical especialy for the passenger . You certainly had some good info on parts which i am sure will help the sidecar boys . I was the first in Britain to run the berg in sidecar cross first used back in 03 with the help of the legend Mr Husaberg Dave Clarke and believe me i was given the usual stick !! Skodaberg and the other puns . And was told by a top racer they will never be any good not enough power ( he is a bit red faced now ) As i said to you my bike won a GP with Henk Soderqvist Std 650 .It will be interesting to see how Stuart goes in France at this weekends GP fingers crossed they have ironed the bugs now
Regards.
Steve Bann

thanks steve and nice to have met you. i ahve described your attire here to everyone so i think i can say that you don't just race - you race husaberg!

i never saw your son to make a judgement on his age and all ......

can i ask if you think the husaberg is genuinly producing more now than the zabel or is it down to the driver? i noticed that brown had the throttle open in places that nobody else did. he would splayyer the crowd in dirt when for all the other riders it had been a 'safe place to sit!'.

if you haven't seen it steve, i have produced a thing called 'the doc' which is on the left of your screen. i'm giving way too many secrets here....

i hope more teams look to husaberg over the winter. if they do it will put a lot of pressure on old 650 units and bikes etc being broken and whatever. and now they are selling very few and have even stopped production.....

i also now know stuart's mechanic to have been his old man.

regards

Taffy

huge non-original radiator doesn't get direct air through it. i'm not a believer in oil coolers but everone to their own right?



that exhaust system has been beautifully directed around the platform.



after all that perfection they put the battery in the middle of the platform! so where do the kids sit?



note the oil cooler feeds from the oil filter housing. also the airbox which is done dead-proper. this thing has got more bling than froggy could even begin to jerk off on!



now come on USA! how many of you have an immaculate bike and a shagged-out van! LOL!!!! get your priorities right here! and note the no-expense-spared 'for sale' sign!



what a beautiful machine! note the number is "126" which is the number oof john lynne - the only outfit to get among the Husabergs. is this a sign of husadomination?

the the scott balsille and neil bann team. owner is steve bann



stuart brown and luke peters, winners of the second and third heat. on this cormner they were the only outfit to shower the crowd, not with dust but each lump of dirt was over 2"!!!-some rider. some engine!



the millard brothers, winners of this the first heat.


here is an international site you can visit to pick up some more info.
http://www.sidecarcross.eu/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=10

i site full of photos of the meeting:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jonathonpan ... fieldHall#

and again. BTW, the three photos above are mine so i must have been stood next to the photographer!
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ChrisHelm ... ttisfield#

regards

Taffy

Hey Taff,

great post, I love sidecarcross! even at an amatuer level it is a very exhilirating sport, and the best thing is if you pull a great manouver, old mate in the chair or driving is there to witness it too.

I tried to post a reply the other nite, but the site has been a bit glitchy from my end.

I have a few pics from me and my mate Ralph riding his old man's and his 836cc Wasp, its awesome!

Azza.

Would give my leftie for that spankin' EML '08 (?) berg outfit!!

Taff,
In reply to your earlier post, I recon Stuarts Berg must be close now to the power of the WORKS Zabel world champion Daniel Wiliamson is running, The advantage Stuart should have is the forstroke can put the power down better out the corners pushing him forward as opposed to the switch like power of the 2 stroke, But don't get wrong the Zabel is a formidable beast especialy in the hands of Daniel, I think if you put him on a moped he would whip everyone's Butt !!! Nice to see our Aus friends are running old Wasps, I rode an 844 Yam Wasp back in the 70s/ 80s with my brother Terry , We won the British Amature championship on it back in 1980 I have added a pic of me and my son Neal on my bike he used to passenger for me but is now on with Scott a much younger chap and a bit faster ( but only just ) :wink:
Regards to all
Steve

did you know about any of this steve?

http://jbsracing.co.uk/

ben is an irregular contributor here. but he has put a great deal of info into this thread:

http://www.husaberg.org/index.php?name= ... in+bearing

you can follow it from the beginning but swedishahgrdwear does a pinfall and submission on about page 21+ so pick it up from there. he can really make a motor go so he is a great man to turn to. he's getting 75BHP when they come stock with 55RWHP.

i believe there's a GP the weekend afteer this isn't there? i'm sure he'll do well there!

steve how do scott and neil feel about the husaberg engine compared to the KTMs? the KTMs are heavier but that isn't reletave i wouldn't think? but i bet they rev a lot slower and produce less power right?

regards

Taffy

Taffy i have watched Ben Ballard develop his engines over the last few years , he has some good ideas and with the skill of Stuarts riding and Norman his Dad looking after them they should get better . By the way Norman and I used to race against each other way back and a good rider he was too many a battle I have had with Norm I have known the Brown family for many years they only live 12 miles away . The top 3 riders at the recent Ken Hall international were all on the new LC4 Kristers Sergis won all 3 races he's a 5 time world champion and i suppose has an advantage of being the second largest KTM dealer in europe so if he and his contacts can't make them go !! It was a great shame Stuart had those minor engine siezes at that meet because on last Sundays form I am sure he and the mighty Berg would have been up the front ( Stuart beat Sergis at the same meet 3 years back ) !!

Cheers.
Steve.

hi steve

factory race engines for the husaberg are available from mattinghofen as well. you have to have the cash of course. best you go into BERGOROADRACERS gallery and you'll get a feel for what you can have. takis is a valued customer to husaberg and is happy to pay for the best there is. he has the keys to the door!

now as for this LC4, i believe that at the end of the day there CAN't be that much difference between these bikes. so they should end up running about the same. but we run a 35mm big end (from '05 on) and they run a 40. they have a larger crank journal on the 640s but not the 560s (i believe).

the husey is a far lighter engine though. there is also so much you can do to them.

it's soon clear how well you all get on out ther, the difference between it and say stock cars is that there isn't an attempt to MAKE the racing more entertaining as a spectacle. a stock car driver knows he's the best but he might not win for a month! he is out every saturday evening and sunday afternoon entertaining the public and making the racing exciting.

you can go weeks without winning but in general you'll win 1 in 3 or so if you're the best. it's a case of the best 'giving away' to gain back later with better crowds and thus revenue etc etc. with 300-600 spectators there sunday there is no way you should not be getting what's called 'start money'.

regards

Taffy

Here's the Wasp 836, hope it sparks up some enthusiasm... yeah, we are riding without safety gear, hell were only punting it around, this thing has some serious mumbo.

Azza.

yeah, im the silly pharker swingin, thats why i keep my helmet on....

Azza.

another one on the cross country outfit 650 (custom frame - really chop shop job) this bike was fast and fun for enduroing, ralph and i used to do some crazy night runs on this when we were young(er) we'd do 40 odd km loops leaving home at midnight and getting back in the early morn, fullypumped, sometimes it was hard to sleep afterwards.

Azza.

you know azza.....i always thought you were phuckin nuts! and now i know!

regards

Taffy

well last weekend stuart brown got a 6th and a 7th in a GP event on a standard outfit.
it has a standard 650 engine which i think bodes well for the future.

my inside information tells me that the ben ballard engine snapped a rod in the second
lap of practice. so something was seriously wrong there. this engine went the week
before this report started as i understand it.

regards

Taffy

sidecarcross

Hello

Here some pictures from our AYR-Husaberg. An oil cooler was added later. But it's fun and building "the thing" keeps you from the street! For Taffy here the answer at your question in the post of the 700CC kit.

Greetings,
Stephan

Only 3 images, wel 2 more for the (off)road. :wink:
Stephan

i noted the other day that you had a sidecar stephan, looks veray nice and not a hint of swede anywhere in the colour scheme!

why a 550?

you know you could still turn that into a 650? with a bit of evil work!

anyway, i'm sure we've had a rising rate rear shock before but that must be a first on a sidecar.

regards

Taffy

uh? did some one say 650? i'm pressuming you can use 550 cases and use the stroked crank? whats that cost, not that i'm remotely interested, but more unusable power, phwoar.