But what stuck in my mind most is the six-wheel Amphicat all-terrain buggies the stars tore around in during the title sequence of the show. It was The Banana Splits and their buggies that inspired this 2003 Suzuki VanVan 125. At least in part. The other part was Sideburn, the magazine I edit.
Sideburn is heavily weighted towards dirt track, but has always found room for street trackers, art, photography, movies, road trips and adventure riding. Still, since becoming the official magazine of the American Flat Track professional race series in 2020, I had been thinking more about the pro sport, and how the mag looked to new readers who were picking it up at races in Texas or Ohio. This Suzuki was a reminder to myself, and potential readers, that Sideburn is about more than just racing.
With the look of Fleegle?s Amphicat tattooed onto my memory for over forty years, the first thing was to find another VanVan rear wheel, so I could have my own two-wheeled beach buggy with chubby rims front and rear.
It soon occurred that Suzuki were almost certainly going to spec the VanVan this way, but backed out late in the development process. The distance between the front forks, the width and shape of the front fender and its mounting all allow the same 180/80-14 balloon rear tyre and rim to fit straight in?and more naturally than the stock, more conservatively-sized 130/80-18 the bike was delivered with.

You might have noticed the defining element of the Sand Flea: the front bask...