Back Street Heroes January 2024

Have you seen the film ‘30 Days of Night’? The one that came out a few years ago, about an Alaskan town, so far north that it sees no sunlight for a month each winter, that’s attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires? I’ve a bit of a thing about vampire films and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it has been preying on me mind for a little while now ‘cos… ‘cos… well, it’s just gone 6pm and I’m sitting here staring out of the window of the BSH Editorial Hovel searching for the inspiration to write this, and I’ve just seen a pale-looking geezer in an unfeasibly big coat wander past, and I’m not sure he reflected in the convex driveway mirror on the telegraph pole across the road……

I went to the 40th anniversary bash at Cublington, y’see, as editor of another custom bike mag, the now-defunct 100% Biker, and was absolutely blown away by the level of organisation that’d gone into it as, honestly, prior to this, with the exception of, perhaps, Faro, I haven’t seen such an impressive set up for just a long weekend. I’ve not been to Sturgis so I don’t know what it’s like there, but the NCC 40th it looked to me like something you’d see there at the Broken Spoke or the Iron Horse or similar. This year, on the Wednesday before, when I again made the haul over to the Club’s land to drop off the BSH banners (and set me tent up), they were still setting up and, again,…

Chopper and custom enthusiasts tended to meet locally, and had little chance to see what was happening nationally. The only magazines available at that time were Easyriders, Iron Horse, and other foreign publications. A guy by the name of Bill Gill, obsessed with this new style, had started to look for like-minded folk, and’d met several individuals thinking along the same lines and, by 1971, they were calling themselves the Kent Chopper Club. He knew that they couldn’t be the only ones in the country with the same passion, thinking there must be bikers out there doing the same. With some foresight, and a desire to unite chopper riders (at the time, pretty much all outcasts and loners), he put an advert in the Exchange & Mart (remember that?) asking…

He’s had a few builds in BSH over the last few years, mostly Bandit-based as he does like his oil-boiler Suzukis, including one he did for me that you’ll see in the spring, and each time he did one he learnt a little more so that the next one, then, was a little better. Initially they were just for himself and a couple of his (NCC) London mates but, as word got about, others started to get him to do stuff for them, too. This particular bike came about when, as he was doing the paintwork on the bike he did for me (home hydro-dipped in a kids’ paddling pool in his kitchen!), a work colleague, Chris, on seeing what he was capable of, asked if he’d build him a…

NCC London, y’see, have been running their Diamond Day custom show there since… since… well, since before I can remember anyway, on the first Saturday of July each year, and I’ve been going to it now for some time – some considerable time, actually. The expansion of Mayor Khan’s environmental fleecing zone, though, puts it at risk because, as I’m sure you’re aware, not that many of us want, or can afford, to build customs out of stuff that qualifies as ULEZ compliant – basically, anything registered after 2007 (and, somewhat oddly, weighing less than 3.5 tonnes… hmm, do you think that someone in TfL doesn’t know much about motorcycles perchance?). No, most of us, but not all obviously, create our automotive masterpieces (ahem) out of older vee-hickles, and that means…

Yes, it’s that time again. While we’ve become accustomed to Crimbo carols being played in shops and on the radio since before the clocks went back, the run up to that time when the big man pops down your chimney can nonetheless be a stressful time; in particular, in finding ideal gifts for your nearest and dearest, and the feeling of impending doom at receiving dozens of pairs of socks, outrageous aftershaves that smell quite unlike anything else you’ve ever experienced and enough chocolate and salty snacks to give your doctor heart palpitations. So, we’ve made your life a hell of a lot easier with our exclusive Christmas Gift Guide! Check out some of these must-haves and leave the magazine open on these pages for all your loved ones to…