Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Back Street Heroes

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

EDITORIAL

Last year we were sweltering in the heat of a long, hot, baking summer – this year… mmm, not so much. Yeah, there have been some good days, I know, but July, traditionally one of the busiest months on the biker calendar, was one of the wettest on record, and a large part of August’s been a bit meh, too, hasn’t it? All these scientists talking about global warming… I feel slightly cheated. Let’s hope September makes up for it! I was over at a mate’s bike shop a few weeks ago (okay, so actually it was a few months, but I keep forgetting to write this bit), and while chatting, drinking tea, and generally stopping him from doing any paid work (yeah, sorry about that), I watched a succession…

4 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

BIKE SHED SHOW

The Bike Shed Show is probably Britain’s biggest custom bike event these days with in excess of 200 custom bikes (no stockers allowed!), and the best part of 20,000 visitors over the two-an’-a-half days it’s held over. It’s a huge, sprawling, diverse affair held over two floors, and it’s an absolute spectacle, it really is. Us BSH lot’ve been going now for… let’s see, this is our fifth year, and it’s one of our favourite events. We have a stand with two bikes, BSH merchandise, and boxes and boxes of magazines. This year, as with last, we scored the new bike from Destiny Cycles to grace the stand (and Vic and Lin, too, of course), and also Mutley’s dead ‘ard old-school Gixer streetfighter, and herein lies a tale; at…

4 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

MUSOS AT THE SHELLEY

Their annual bike show at the Shelley Arms in Broadbridge Heath, just outside Horsham in West Sussex, is one I’ve been to a few times now over the years – a few hours on a Sunday where folk gather in the pub car park, which it completely takes over, and show off their wheels (and the other bits of their bikes, too, obviously), meet up with mates, and generally chill as only bikers can. Meself and my mate Stu’d been at the South-West Chopper Fest the day before, as detailed elsewhere, and’d come back for the Musos. Stu’d fixed his broken frame that morning, and done some fiddling with the gear linkages on the 45 and, for a few brief minutes anyway, it was actually going into second when I…

2 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

BACK STREET HEROES Eee, hasn’t the world changed, eh? When I first started drinking (semi) legally, a beer (Younger’s Tartan bitter if you remember it) cost 79p in the local biker pub, and BSH was, I think, 95p. These days both a beer (well, round my way anyway) and a BSH cost a fiver each, but what would you say if we could do you a special deal, and do you a BSH at just £3.83 instead of £5? That’s a saving of (works out on fingers) 23% – nothing to be sniffed at! NIK SAMSON, EDITOR Call 01507 529529 and quote BSHDPS Online: www.classicmagazines.co.uk/BSHDPS or scan the QR code to go straight to our secure online store CHOOSE WHICH BSH SUBSCRIPTION SUITS YOU BEST 1. 12-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION BEST VALUE…

1 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

SIMPLE SINGLE

Sorry, sorry, this BSA bobber is a C11 – a pre-unit single-cylinder British motorcycle manufactured by the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) at its factory in Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, between 1939 and 1956. Developed before the Second World War from the sidevalve C10, it was fitted with overhead valves, and displaced 249cc. This particular one wot you see here is a 1948 model, owned by Andy Murray of the uber-cool diesel Enfield chop a few years ago fame, and was bought as a non-running unfinished project. He got it going, and put a four-inch stretch in the factory hardtail frame, hid a coil and a 7.2-volt remote-control car battery under the tank (it’s kicker only, of course, and so doesn’t need a big battery), and stripped off all…

2 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

MR BRIDGES’ MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

I did spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to arrange everything electrical in the space provided, which’s quite important as it’s one of those things where a little thought can often pay dividends. However, that’s only true if you’re thinking about it with the thing you’re thinking about in front of you so that the thing you think up doesn’t interfere with things you’ve already done, and as long as you don’t confuse thinking about it with overthinking it. I feel I might’ve been overthinking it a little and, after a few abortive attempts, I arrived at putting in a divider (Fig.1) so the battery’s accessible from the right side where it’d live with the solenoid (Fig.2), while the fuses, and the flasher relay, would be mounted…

8 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

OPENFACE products

LS2 DRIFTER HELMET Having crashed heavily in an LS2 helmet a few years ago, I can, hand on heart, recommend them. This Drifter is a new offering from them, and as well as looking particularly space-age (Halo Master Chief anyone?), it’s a four-way concepty thing; as the chinguard, you see, and the peak’re removable you can have it as, firstly, an adventure-style full-face lid or, with the peak removed, a conventional full-face lid or, with the chinguard and peak removed, an open-face lid or, with just the chinguard removed, a trials-style open-face. Both parts can be removed (and reattached, obviously) quickly and easily, and without tools, but, personally, I like the look as a full-face with peak, so I doubt I’ll ever remove owt, but the choice’s there, though. There’s…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 1st Sept: Ace Cafe Reunion Weekend Continental Run Ride-In at the Ace Cafe, London. More info from www.london.acecafe.com 1st Sept: Summer Event at Industry & Supply, Unit B2, Building 14, Ground Floor, The Depot, Weedon Bec, Northants (NN7 4PS). More info from www.industryandsupply.com 1-3rd Sept: Stormin’ The Castle at Witton Castle, Sloshes Ln, Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham (DL14 0DE). More info from www.storminthecastle.co.uk 1-3rd Sept: Wozwolf NRC’s Wozwolf Rally at a site near Matlock, Derbys. Tickets £20. More info from www.wozwolf.co.uk 2nd Sept: Ace Cafe Reunion Weekend Party & London Ride-Out at the Ace Cafe, London. More info from www.london.acecafe.com 2nd Sept: The Get the Ball Rolling Bike & Trike Show at the Silver Ball, A10, Reed, Royston, Herts (SG8 8BD). Tickets £5. More info from 07961 408138.…

9 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

SOUTH-WEST CHOPPER FEST

Mine and my mate Stu’s journey to the South-West Chopper Fest was one such epic. Seeing as we both run elderly and uncomfortable motorcycles, we planned to take them both in the van down to a place about an hour north of the site, unload them, and ride down – the South-West, y’see, is some six-plus hours each way from me, and a good three-an’-a-bit from him, and the thought, for me, of a twelve-plus hour round trip on an 80-year-old motorcycle that only does 50 just doesn’t bear thinking about. All went swimmingly until, just after unloading and packing up the bikes, we set off from the village of Priddy down Cheddar Gorge. I’d not long picked up the 45 from Alex and Nat, and Nick, from Dragon Soul…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI

Richard Clift, the owner, is a landscape gardener by trade, and says: “My engineering skills’re limited, having only a large hammer and a bent stick in my toolbox.” I think he’s kidding us, but I’m not entirely sure… The bike, a 650cc 1965 TR6 single-carb Triumph, was purchased back in 2019 from Recycle, the Staffordshire British bike importer, as a ‘spares or repair’ bike, but he instantly fell in love with the lived-a-hard-life, sorry state it was in (at some point it’d been on fire, and still to this day retains its melted clutch cable). He got it fired up (he’s an old hand at dealing with British bikes, and has several others in the garage alongside this… well, I say ‘alongside’, but what I actually mean is ‘a suitable…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2023

SO THAT’S IT – THE 2023 BSH CUSTOM CHAMPIONSHIPS, PROBABLY THE BIGGEST CUSTOM SHOW IN THE WORLD, IS DONE! For 2023, there were seven rounds (three online, and four real-world), and the real-world ones were: THE SCOTTISH MOTORCYCLE SHOW THE NCC LONDON DIAMOND DAY AT THE ACE CAFE, LONDON THE ROCK & BLUES, DERBYSHIRE NE MAG’S STORMIN’ THE CASTLE, WITTON-LE-WEAR, COUNTY DURHAM The online rounds were JUNE/JULY/AUGUST The winners of each round received a rather cool trophy, and all went on to be judged by an expert panel of people who really know what they’re looking at, and those five winners overall will be on display at our new Back Street Heroes Custom World display at the vaunted Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show, organised by our parent company Mortons Media, at…

1 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

His dad returned from the shop empty handed, though, as he’d asked the head mechanic there, Andrew Rosa, to give the 1340 Evo’ motor a bit more kick and, when the bike did finally arrive at Chez Cammarano, it sported an S&S 89 cubic-inch (1458cc) stroker kit; a four-an’-five-eighths-inch flywheel; an S&S Super E carb that sucked down fuel like a thirsty wino; and a set of Samson (no relation) drag ’pipes that thumped out noise so hard they almost split the pavement below them. Anthony, Tony to his mates, was impressed! Some time later, as his pop got a little too old to ride the beastie, it was passed on to him, and he smoked it about, changing bits and pieces here and there, but then years of partying…

2 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

INDIAN SCOUT ROGUE

A couple of issues back, we ran a roadtest on the new Indian Sport Chief, the latest incarnation of the renowned Indian Chief and its 1890cc Thunderstroke 116 engine, done by a real motorcycle journalist – you know, the world-weary, seen-it-all types who spend their lives flying from one exotic location to another to ride the latest motorcycling offerings, often in a manner that requires them to hold them up through corners using their knees. Mr Moss, Mr Christopher Moss Esquire, for it was he, is one such highly-respected gentleman who knows more about motorcycling ‘stuff’ than anyone here ever will, but he obviously isn’t aware of the effect said motorcycle TV series has had on us hairy-arsed types. Y’see, when SOA, as it’s colloquially known, first aired back in…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

REVENGE OF THE RISING SUN

The engine stopped. No forewarning, no slowing down, no coughing – it simply cut dead on him. He instantly declutched, disengaging the engine and, powerless, drifted into the next bend. Ahead lay a longish straight which he’d been looking forward to as a place to gain acceleration before the next set of bends. Instead, he used it to try to bump-start his engine again, dropping the clutch, and cursing. The cursing was not essential, but part of a ritual mantra known to all bikers since the dawn of two wheel transport, and consisted of a lot of: ‘Start you bastard… come on, damn you, start.’ The bike wasn’t having any of it and, reluctantly, he rolled to a stop, miles from anywhere, and got off to have a look…

7 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

ROADSKIN EASYRIDER HOODIE

I’m a month in with this new Easyrider hoodie from Roadskin, the well-known British armoured clothing company, and it’s turning out to be a real go-to for any day when it’s not absolutely pi… err, tipping it down. A lot of Kevlar hoodies’re heavy, protective, yes, but heavy, but this one’s made from a single skin of super strong Maximite that’s extremely tough, yet light, and has an internal waterproof membrane to keep the wet stuff out. There’s lightweight D30 Ghost removable armour in the shoulders, elbows and back that you can quickly whip in and out when you’re not on the bike, and a nice-looking bag to keep ‘em in, as well as a detachable hood. It’s also the only one in the world that’s been awarded a CE…

1 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

READERS’ LIVES

Send pics of your bike, your lady, your bloke (but not your dinner, this isn’t Facebook) to nik@backstreetheroes.com Send pics of your bike, your lady, your bloke (but not your dinner, this isn’t Facebook) to nik@backstreetheroes.com READERS' Lives Gibby's GIBBY SENDS IN SO MANY COOL PICS WE'RE STRUGGLING TO GET THROUGH 'EM, SO HERE'S FIVE AT ONCE) READERS' Lives Tatts…

2 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

LOOKING LIKE JOHNNY COOL PART TWO

“Look, there’s a Goldie,” I shouted, pointing at a beautiful BSA Gold Star DBD34, the 500cc single that ran rings around its competitors in most of the Clubman’s Classes as well as on the professional circuits. This one’d been done out as an extreme café racer with extended alloy tank; low clip-on ‘bars; rear-set footrest; a hard seat with a racing hump (no room for a pillion– the rider clearly had no place for a woman in his life); and a highly-polished megaphone exhaust. Archie made an approving sound, then grabbed my arm and pointed. “Look, that’s what I want – a brand-new Vespa SS 180. It’s as fast as any Lambretta.” “Err, how you going to pay for it then?” I asked. “Anyway, I thought you wanted one…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

STAINLESS STEEL RATS CHOPS!

Sorry, what on earth, you may be wondering, has this to do with the two rather fine HUC Wormburner framed Suzukis you see here? Well, as those of you familiar with the Rat’s escapades’ll know, the books were written by a gentleman by the name of Harry Harrison, while these two bikes, in a somewhat unlikely turn of events, were built in the workshops of Cruach Customs in Kildare in Ireland, owned and run by a gentleman called, yes, you guessed it, Harry Harrison. Coincidence, huh? Both of these bikes’re based around Hard-Up Choppers (now owned and run by Gasoline Ally Speed Shop) Wormburner frames, designed specifically for the oil-cooled Suzuki engines, Slabside and Slingshot GSX-Rs, and Bandits, and both run MK1 Bandit motors – the black ’un belongs…

6 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

POSH MINT

Y’see, when Simon from Mint originally built it, for himself, he had a very definite idea that it was going to be purple. No ifs, no buts, purple. He spoke to his painter of choice, Bully (or Michael, as his mum calls him), and told him: “Purple… but, apart from that, do what you like.” Bully nodded, took the tank away, and immediately painted it black with blue ghost flames. And do you know what? Si was delighted – “He’s done a killer flame job,” he says. Originally started, as I said, as a project for himself, the bike, based around a 1200 Sporty motor, was intended to be as low as possible (it was originally nicknamed Limbo) as he wanted a low bike with a punchy motor and decent…

4 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

BARE METAL (&) BONNIE

Iain C, the owner and builder of this ’ere bee-oo-tiful bare-metal Bonnie, Meriden o’ course, not Hinckley, doesn’t mess with any of that beeswax/linseed oil/’summat old n’ fouls melling found at the back o’ me garage that me granddad swore by’ – no, he goes for the simple, tried-n’-tested method of Scotch-Brite pads and an oily rag and, as you can see, it works just fine. As a time-served sheet-metal worker he’s no stranger to bashing and banging bits of metal so, after years of messing around with old Brits and Harleys, he decided to go for a full build of custom bike using the skills he’d gathered over the years. He picked up the donor for the bike that was to become this, a ’65 T120 Bonneville of…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

BIKER FEST INTERNATIONAL

The popularity and the reputation of Biker Fest International are based on what they call its ‘seven pillars’ – firstly, Family: The event’s organised by a passionate and cohesive family, the Persellos, who’ve always lived a lifestyle closely linked to motorcycles. Over the years they’ve created a big inclusive team which has expanded from cruisers, custom bikes, and American cars to include hyper-sport, touring, and off-road motorcycle enthusiasts but, at its core remains the bikers who choose the Village as their home for a weekend – they’re the soul of the party! Next, Heritage: The first International Rally for Bikers was organised by Moreno Persello in 1987. He’s an authentic old school biker, who’s turned his passion into a profession by becoming a publisher – since 1991 his publishing house,…

3 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

BOSTON BIKE NIGHT

Not having been before I wasn’t sure quite what to expect – I knew it was a town-takeover kind of an event, and kind o’ where it was held in said town, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite such a town-takeover! Based around the large Central Park in t’middle of town, most park there, and that’s where the stalls and the stage for the bands are, but the streets around fill up, too – the market place itself, for instance, is rammed with bikes from the outset, and when I left around 8pm, wasn’t showing any signs of clearing anytime soon. Having spent the day screaming (sometimes literally) ‘round obscure bits of Lincs on an insurance company satisfying riding assessment behind two guys far more accomplished than…

1 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

OPENFACE news

SOUTHERN UPRISING On Saturday, 23 September, at Lambhouse Lane, Shottle, in Derbyshire (DE56 2EE), the Southern Uprising is a celebration of all things Americana in support of the Children’s Air Ambulance. There’s an American vehicle custom show (go to the website at www.ssdevents.co.uk to get a free entry/pass for your relevant vehicle), live music from bands such as Direct from Dixieland (featuring former band members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and Blackfoot), Skinny Molly, Medicine Hat, Greyfox Conspiracy, Backwoods Creek, and Old Glory & the Black Riviera, and on-stage performances from the Reenies Rockettes dance troupe, DJ Mick Moonshine, a fully licensed late-night bar, food, and vendors. Tickets costs a very reasonable £27.50 including camping, and our Lauren’ll be there to photograph the event for posterity (and BSH, too, of…

4 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

LETTERS

STAR LETTERS This month’s Star Letter wins a Weise Drift Jacket. RRP £199.99. Combining the look and feel of high street fashion with the impact protection expected from a premium motorcycle jacket, the Drift is laminated for reliable waterproofing, too. Find out more at www.weiseclothing.com DEAR BSH, I’m pretty sure the mag saved my life! This is a thank you to all the lovely folks at BSH, and the readers who make this such a wonderful community. Earlier this year I can honestly say I hit rock bottom, which nearly culminated in me walking under a train. I was in a horrible job, and a worse relationship (the flaws of which I was blind to at the time), and genuinely didn’t see any way out other than off the census.…

7 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

Motorcycle Action Group

IN a foreshadowing of the book burning carried out by the Nazis on Hitler’s appointment as German Chancellor in 1933, supporters of the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola consigned to the flames thousands of books, fine artworks, sculptures, tapestries, and musical instruments. Even household items such as mirrors and sheet music for songs sung in taverns were condemned – anything Savonarola deemed immoral was marked for destruction, no matter how many hours of labour had gone into it; no matter what enjoyment it brought to the common people whose lives in those days were short, brutal, and lacking in much distraction from the daily grind, let alone actual pleasure. Well, Savonarola is back, and she’s Swedish. Everything you enjoy, she wants to take away. Now, if you’re happy for Greta…

5 min

Back Street Heroes|October 2023

QUID PRO QUO

For the benefit of younger readers, heavy engineering was a huge part of Britain’s industrial base before a psychotic megalomaniac called Margaret Thatcher destroyed British industry due to her paranoia that, left unchecked, working people might gain enough power to actually hold corrupt politicians to account. The factory’s main products were Medium Girder bridges (the sort of bridges military engineers assemble to cross rivers, then disassemble and remove), gun turrets for tanks, and monitoring equipment for the cooling systems in nuclear reactors for power stations (a goodly mix of the heavy fabrication and high-tech engineering that British industry was world-renowned for at the time). Being fresh from leaving a school that’d done little to prepare me for working life, going into a factory with a workforce of more than 4,500…

5 min