New 'Kick' on the Block

Dave moved to Adelaide with his family at the end of last year, and has already made an impression in the local biking community. Dave got into the business of performance mufflers via a VFR400 he bought way back in 1997. That bike had a run-of-the-mill carbon fibre muffler. However, as it was held together in the most common way - rivets - they had worked loose over time and split the carbon.
Being a class 1 sheetmetal worker and fully coded welder, Dave decided to make a muffler that would improve on the common design. His muffler would be repackable, use no rivets, and each component would be made and developed by hand, then ground and polished to a mirror finish. Soon after creating that first example, a fellow rider asked Dave if he could make one for his Fireblade. The rest is history!
Starting his business from his Gran's 12ft x 10ft wooden garden shed, within 12 months Dave was in a factory employing 6 staff, and the only company with a computerised mandrel bending machine on the estate.
Ten years on and Dave still uses the same traditional techniques to produce a range of mufflers, each unit taking anything from three to ten hours to create. Dave says his exclusive designs have never been copied, due to the complexity and time involved to produce a quality product.

Determined to remain a craftsman rather than a manufacturer, Dave has no interest in mass production of what he describes as "mufflers with no thought or passion". The company name 'Sidekick' came from Dave's second passion, American Kenpo Karate. Dave has been a devotee of Ed Parker's Kenpo style since 1985, so with that in mind, 'Sidekick' (being one of the most powerful karate kicks) seemed perfect!

During the early days of Sidekick, Dave used the tiger motif off the Kenpo Karate patch as his first sidekick logo. Now, seen here for the very first time, is the new Sidekick logo. The "K" represents a kick and the chinese writing says 'Kenpo Karate'.
The price for the satin/polished muffler pictured in the main images is $595.00, inclusive of all brackets and clamps. Dave can also fabricate mufflers in carbon fibre, titanium, coloured stainless steel, or polished stainless, along with many other designs and shapes upon request at varying prices.

A stainless steel chain guard to suit the Ninja 250 is also available.
Dave is currently looking for Sidekick retailers, and invites any interested resellers to go to www.sidekickperformance.com phone 0450 805 778, or email: [email protected] for further details.