Back Street Heroes March 2024

The trouble with writing editorials in winter (well, at any time really, but especially in winter), particularly table-thumping ‘those bunch o’ b*st*rds!’ type editorials, is that ‘cos it’s feckin’ cowd out there (and in ‘ere, too - I’m wearing two hoodies and fingerless woolly gloves as I sit ‘ere typing) I don’t tend to go anywhere to do much, and these days I try not get too riled about anything much ‘cos… well, it’s all a bit pointless really, isn’t it? (I think I’m becoming more and more nihilist as I get older…) I mean, some people seem to thrive on getting passionate, even angry, about, well, stuff, and I s’pose I was when I was younger (‘Eee, when I were a lad…’) ‘cos I went on the big demos,…

The closest thing to mountain events we have are, I s’pose, the Dragon Rally in Wales or, arguably, the 623MCC’s Pheasant Plucker in Derbyshire (which isn’t actually that high up really, but they have had snow there over the years when lower-lying areas haven’t). Cumbria MAG used to do the Glowing Lamb in the hills of the Lakes, and I remember sitting there one year on a hillside looking down into the valley (at least I think I do, but I was probably pissed so may be completely wrong… and I’m from East Anglia where we don’t have hills, and anything more than 50 feet above sea level gives me vertigo). CCW did a party back in the early ‘90s (’93, I think) that was on top of a hill…

“After selling my GSX400 hardtail chop, the first bike I rode after passing my test in 1993, I was on the hunt for another ride. After viewing a few with, how shall I put this, questionable history in my native Leicester, one finally came up through Phil Piper, the legendary Phil Piper, who knew of someone who’d just built a bike that was up for sale. I went round there and, a few cups of tea later in his kitchen, I’d already fallen in love with the silver GSX-R 750 hardtail that was sitting outside waiting to be viewed – I knew then this was the one. The frame’d been built for it by the now defunct Streetfighters UK, but it had no prior ‘history’, and was a fresh build…

It’s been going a couple of years now, and starts early on the Friday (last year, 14 July) at the uber-cool Albion Rooms guesthouse for coffee and breakfast before there’s a blast down the coast towards Dover, where there’s a quick stop at a beachside pub, then back to The Albion Rooms for pizza and music. Then, on the Saturday, the doors open at 10am in the Hall by the Sea at Dreamland, where there’s the main custom bike display, food n’ drink, vendors, tattooists, music, skateboarding and more. I was at the 2022 event, but’d arrived on the day of the show and therefore missed the ride-out. Last year, however, I got myself organised, and arrived the day before, and was there nice and early as my plan was…

Charlotte, the owner of this GS750, is his daughter-in-law, although she always called him ‘Dad’, and because of him she grew up around bikes and rallies. She’d ridden small-capacity machines for a while, until Bash, her other half, pushed her to do her full licence, promising that, if she did, he’d build her a bike her dad, Wally, would be proud of. She’d always loved his bikes, and this proved to be the impetus she needed to get on and get her test passed. As soon as she did, Bash started getting the bits together to build the bike you see here, based on a 1978 GS750 Suzuki he’d bought, originally, for himself, but which he signed over to her to have as her bike. He had at some point,…

Firstly, it’s worth clarifying that, unlike the MoCo’s own Owners’ Group, the Riders Club’s simply a bunch of bikers of all ages, shapes and sizes who ride Harleys of all ages, shapes and sizes, and who attend both mainstream and Riders Club rallies, are loosely ‘organised’ into Regions, and developed from a pub night at the White Lion in Egham, Surrey, in 1949. At present, there’re some 31 Regions, and upwards of 2,000 members whose main aim seems to be to ride hard, party hard, and encourage everyone else to do likewise regardless of whether you prefer cubic inches or centimetres. Regions 21 and 13 did a sterling job organising not only the 30-degree weather, but also well-planned morning ride-outs around the area, and talks by members of the Naseby…