Sideburn 48

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