Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more. Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Ben Branch -
Tunnel of Love – Café Racer – A Free Short Film

This 12 minute short film has no spoken dialog, instead it employs clever visual cues to tell a story. It takes place in London and follows a leather clad racer on his 1968 Norton Commando.
Hawkized Triumph by Roland Sands Design

This “Hawkized” Triumph was built by the team at Roland Sands Design for a recent charity event organised by Tony Hawk. The Tony Hawk: DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks benefit hosted by the Tony Hawk Foundation was held in Beverly Hills and featured the musical stylings of The Black Keys.
Vintage Norton Commando Advertisements

The 70’s were an iconic time to be an advertising man, political correctness was unheard of and all that was needed for a successful advertising campaign was a product with women on, in, under or around it. Or all of the above.
Moto Guzzi by BAR Design

Luca Bar is the head designer at BAR Design, he is well known for producing stunning and unique motorcycle designs, largely based on pre-existing models from various manufacturers. His work with the V7 Moto Guzzi is greatly appealing to me, it seems to blend just the right amount of retro with more than enough modern engineering to keep even hard core super bike fiends happy.
Honda CB550 by Steel Bent Customs

This 1976 Honda CB550 Super Sport has been kept true to form by Steel Bent Customs, the addition of a few minor and very tasteful modifications have created a bike that would fit in perfectly in both the late-70’s and the present day.
eBay Find: Norley Café Racer by Santiago Choppers

Santiago Choppers have established themselves for far more than just raked-out chrome show bikes, this Norley Café Racer is a great example of their detail-oriented design style.
Ducati Flat Red

This remarkable custom Ducati was built by German garage JvB Moto, it initially started life as a 1:12 scale model and was entered into the ”Design your Dream Ducati” contest organised by Ducati in 2004. The design, called “Flat Red” went on to win the competition and was then built full scale by JvB Moto.
Dan Wheldon vs Jenson Button Circa 1989

This almost prophetic home video from 1989 shows Jenson Button and Dan Wheldon racing in a British kart series as children, Jenson is #14 and Wheldon is #1, Antony Davidson is on track as well although his number isn’t mentioned.
Saturn 5 Engines and Wernher von Braun

This photograph really puts the size of the Saturn 5 rocket engines into perspective. They were utterly, ridiculously large. That relaxed looking chap is Wernher von Braun, the greatest rocket scientist in human history.
Opel Rocket Motorcycle

In 1928 Fritz Von Opel set about building the world’s first rocket powered motorcycle, dubbed the Opel Raketen Motorrad, the bike was designed to use it’s internal combustion engine to reach 75mph at which point the rider would hit a foot pedal which ignited the 6 solid rocket boosters.
Bubble Visor from Dime City Cycles

Something about the classic bubble shield makes me nostalgic for a time before I was born, the visors were initially made famous in the 60’s and have been a popular helmet addition ever since.
W650 Flat Tracker by Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina have produced some of the coolest modern day flat trackers currently on the road and this W650 is no exception, something about the look of a classic flat tracker appeals to me greatly, I’m not sure if it’s the mud-flinging capabilities, the promise of long rides down empty beaches or the fact that the lack of a rear seat means I have an excuse not to lug the Mrs around with me (which I’m joking about if she reads this).