Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Back Street Heroes

Those of you who actually read the drivel I spout here will’ve noticed a slightly recurring theme… okay, okay, so perhaps ‘slightly’ isn’t the word as I’ve probably talked about it every issue for the last ten years or so, and before that in another magazine, too, and that’s The Weather. There is a good reason for this… well, a couple of ‘em really. Firstly cos, well, I’m English and that’s what we talk about, isn’t it? I mean, normal English people, you know, normal ones, not like us, use it as a conversation opener, according to all the info’, but to us lot, as bikers, well, it’s less of a conversational subject, isn’t it? It’s more of a massive part of our lives than just a conversation starter, isn’t…

The first event in 2018 saw something like 1,500 attend, and raised £3,000, and they held it there in 2019, too, but then Covid struck and nothing happened for a couple of years as the world tried to stay away from itself. They relaunched it in 2022 but, due to opposition from locals who desired to maintain their peace and tranquility, they had to move it to the Supermarine sports ground, just outside Swindon. The opposition was kind of understandable as the show’s growth’d transformed it from a small event to a significant one and, obviously, lots of noisy motorbikes in a heritage village was too much for them, even if it was only once a year… Anyway, the new site, while slightly more remote, still offers a scenic journey,…

I’ll leave you to work out which’s which but, working on my usual plan of ‘fast way there, nice way back’, I chose the soul destroying one for the sake of getting there as speedily as possible, and so now I’m entirely safe from satanic temptation. NCC Lincs held their Custom Show back in May at the Black Bull on Lincoln Road in Welton, a village north of Lincoln – a nice-looking old inn, with a TARDIS-like car park at the rear, and it’s a good job it has ‘cos people flocked to the place in their… well, lots anyway. It was a lovely sunny day, and the sun’d brought out some very, very cool bikes. As I rode in and parked the silly-sider, there was a crowd around something…

It was already a custom then – it’d been built by Jimy, then NCC London and now NCC Somerset, for his good friend Terry, and’d been featured in BSH, and Ian heard it was for sale and travelled halfway round the country to buy it. As you do with any new bike, he rode it everywhere and really put some miles on it, attending as many meets and shows as he could, and even won Best Paint with it at NCC London’s Diamond Day, and he loved the bike, but it wasn’t his, you know – it was always Terry’s, especially around Terry’s native London, and this did annoy him a little. He lives over in Essex, not far from his good friend Knocker, whose not-a-digger Sportster was featured last…

YORKSHIRE ROCK &BIKESHOW This year’s Yorkshire Rock & Bike Show’s being held, as usual, at Squire’s Café Bar (as it’s now known) at Newthorpe, near Sherburn in-Elmet, in North Yorkshire (LS25 5LX), over the weekend of 8-10 August. There’ll be bands, a DJ, stalls, street and café food, a late bar, and a ride-in custom show with classes including Best Engineering and Best Paint, as well as Best in Show. Tickets cost £30 per person in advance (or £50 for two), or £35 on the gate, and there’re day passes available, too. Get yours, and more info’, from www.yorkshirerocknbikeshow.co.uk TOWN TAKEOVER The Norfolk town of Watton, south-west of Norwich, each year gets completely taken over by motorcycles when the Watton Motorcycle Weekend’s held. There’s camping Saturday night at Watton Sports…

AUGUST 2-4th Aug: MAP Events’ Yorkshire Pudding Rally at Escrick Park Estate, A19, Escrick, Yorks (YO19 6LB). More info from www.mapevents.co.uk 2-4th Aug: Northern Monkeys at the Breighton Ferry, Breighton, near Selby, East Yorks (YO8 6DH). More info’ from 01757 288407 or Facebook. 2-4th Aug: The Hook Up Chopper Show at a site near Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales. Tickets £70. More info’ from www.the-hook-up.co.uk 2-4th Aug: Wolf Fest at Binton Social Club Binton, Stratford upon-Avon, Warks (CV37 9TU). Tickets £10. More info from Facebook. 2-4th Aug: West Coast MCC’s Iron Ore Rally at Egremont RUFC, Bleach Green, Egremont, Cumbria (CA22 2NL). More info’ from Facebook. 3rd Aug: Worlingworth Bike Show at Worlingworth Community Centre, Shop Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk (IP13 7HX). 3-4th Aug: Kustom Kulture Belfast at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Queens Road,…

/dev.әlz’æd.vә.kәt/ A person who expresses an opinion that disagrees with others so that there’ll be an interesting discussion about an issue – teachers often play devil’s advocate to provoke discussion in the classroom. If that’s the case, then the chances’re also high that you possess more than a passing interest in custom motorcycles, but I do increasingly wonder how many readers of ‘The Original Custom Bike Magazine’ actually ride one? I suppose before anyone can attempt to answer that question, we must first try and decide exactly what constitutes a custom bike and, conversely, but just as importantly, what doesn’t. I’m certain there’ll be many and wildly varying ideas regarding that, but in situations where an absolute definition is sought, I feel that in order to minimise the potential for…

Okay, so according to that definition, I got me a custom bike… or have I? Is it just accessorised? I don't really care – it’s what you like and want, isn't it? A little context. January 2020 I went down with a bad cough, headache, joint pain, sleepless nights. “It’s just a bad case of flu,” I said to myself. Two weeks later I start to feel better, but continually drained. I shrugged it off and got on with stuff. March is my birthday, and we locked down (again) the day after – it was a crap and sad year for everyone. Over that year I found myself sleeping more, and generally feeling shit, and, to cut a long story short, on Christmas Eve 2020, at 9.12am, my left arm…

This’s great, and part of what it’s all about – no matter what life throws at you, you know you can turn up at a rally and have a great time in the safe and relaxing company of old mates. You might also be aware that we, until quite recently, are something of a dying breed and, sometimes in the rare lucid moments at a rally, you’ll’ve surveyed the scene and realised that everyone around you has either grey or white hair, and that there’re very few young ‘uns coming up behind us. Thank God, then, that a group of said young ‘uns’ve developed an interest in old-style choppers, and created a new scene – the vintage chopper scene. Now, I know some people call them hipsters but, having been…

ROADSKIN WATERPROOFS These new Roadskin waterproofs, Rainskins, are made from heavy-duty PVC and designed to withstand the occasional brush with a hedgerow; meticulously sealed to keep riders dry and protected even in the heaviest of rains; have reflective logos and piping for visibility at night or in low-light conditions; and’re equipped with a light mesh lining to enable airflow to make for a comfortable ride in any weather. The jacket has two front pockets with waterproof zips, while the trousers have cargo-style pockets. They’re designed to be easily folded, and’re a convenient addition to any travel kit. Available sizes from S to XXL, you can get them from the Roadskin stall at events orwww.roadskin.co.uk FREEDOM PERFORMANCE SPORTSTER EXHAUST These two-step performance exhausts are designed for anti-reversion, and offer full range…

Before heading off into The Trossachs, we had to find a local shop where I could buy some new waterproof over-trousers because I’d managed to rip the arse out of my current pair when taking them off the previous evening. Fortunately, we soon found Jim Allan Motorcycles in Falkirk, where they stocked some good quality ‘proofs. Our route for the day was to take the M9 to Stirling, then the A9 through the eastern end of The Trossachs National Park, past Pert, and on through the Cairngorms National Park to Inverness, where we’d finally join the NC500 route. Having been warned fuel stations can be few and far between in the Cairngorms and the Highlands, we had a 10-litre jerry-can in amongst the bin liner-covered cases and large wet-bag that…

Tucked away on a little industrial estate outside the village of Long Sutton, just north of both King’s Lynn and Wisbech, just off the A17, lies Unicorns & Riderz Bar & Grill, a cool little café run by Faith, that offers excellent food (their cheese omelettes’re particularly good!), and a chilled place for a ride-out, too. Her other half, Colin, keeps his bike in the café itself so you know it’s definitely biker-friendly! They do a Friday bike night, as advertised each week on the BSH Facebook Group, and a buffet Sunday brunch that people travel from miles around to visit, as well as an excellent Sunday lunch, and have an alcohol licence, too, so you can have a (cheap!) beer with your food. There’s plenty of parking, for both…

On this particular night we were sitting at the bar in one of our favourite haunts, watching the world go by in the mirror behind the bar, when the boy joined us. He wasn’t wearing leathers, wasn’t carrying a helmet and, at first, didn’t look at us, but was watching another patron seated at the far end of the counter. Eventually he turned to me, and said: “Is it just me, or does that guy at the end look like he’s sitting in his own shadow?” Without turning my head, I said: “You see it too? There’s not many that can. Do you know what that shadow means?” The boy turned to look at me, then he looked at the medallion I wear on a thong around my neck, and…

Star LETTER This month’s Star Letter wins a Weise Stealth Hoodie worth £119.99. A comfortable, heavy duty cotton fleece with a removable hood. Rated AA for protection, thanks to CE armour and an abrasion-resistant lining. Find out more at www.weiseclothing.com DEAR BSH, It was a joy to finally meet Nik at the Stratford show – if it wasn’t for him, and BSH, I probably wouldn’t be riding today! Y’see, I’m getting on now, and find most bikes a little too heavy for me, but I read his review of the new Kawasaki Eliminator 500SE in issue 480, and thought, when he talked about how light and low seated it was, that was the bike for me! I contacted my local Kawasaki dealer, and went for a test ride and loved…

From my point of view as a biker, though, committed to the defence of real internal combustion engine motorcycles, and utterly opposed to forced electrification, it’s the political equivalent of swapping Jimmy Savile for Rolf Harris. Labour says it’ll ban petroleum-powered private vehicles from 2030, whereas the Tories’d planned a 2035 doomsday, with an ever-tightening noose of quotas forced on manufacturers between now and then. With the LibDems and Greens promising more of the same, only worse, the LibLabGreenConTrickUniparty had nothing much to offer bikers at all. The late comedienne and actress Victoria Wood once said of the UK: “The only possible way there’d be an uprising in this country’d be if they banned car boot sales and caravanning.” That may be, but if you’re rich enough to buy a…