Back Street Heroes April 2017 PREVIEW

ISSUE 396 APRIL 2017 £3.99

editor:

NIK SAMSON

nik@backstreetheroes.com 07884 052003

62 JAWA 350

stunning home-built two-stroke twin

22 750 BONNIE BOBBER

editorial assistant:

FAZERDAZE

CHOPPER

just like they used to build them in the ’80s

(pictured)

one of the sweetest around!

28 IRONHEAD

lauren@backstreetheroes.com 07825 597793

68 Z750 KWAK 74

BOARD TRACKER

call for all personal, smalls and clubs & events listings

monster-fork home-made Harley

publisher:

JULIE BROWN

Dark Horse

GARETH WILLIAMS

one man’s (slightly kinky) affair with the smokiest of fuels

advertising contact:

RICK NICHOLS

rnichols@mortons.co.uk 01507 529357

40 SHOVELHEAD CHOP committing sacrilege to a classic chopper… with gorgeous results

46 BANDIT 1200 CHOPPER

steampunk sexiness from the flatlands of Lincolnshire

divisional ad manager:

BILLY MANNING

billy@backstreetheroes.com

52 TRIUMPH

subscription manager:

PAUL DEACON

SAINT CHOP

circulation manager:

it’s become part of the family

STEVE O’HARA marketing manager:

CHARLOTTE PARK

TO GET L A THE DIGIT SIMPLY APP, EDITIONS FOR ‘BACK SEARCH S’ IN THE APPLE T HEROE FOR iPAD E E R ST RE APP STO OOGLE PLAY OR ON G NDROID E FOR A OOK PAG

publishing director:

DAN SAVAGE

commercial director:

NIGEL HOLE

freelance contributors:

MIKE BOND, SIMON EVERETT, PAUL CARDY, LAURIE, LOUISE LIMB, GARRY STUART, SELINA LAVENDER, MR BRIDGES, RICK HULSE

H FACEB ES) O UT THE BS CHECK O ACK STREET HER (B K GROUP FACEBOO OES – H BS E AND TH CK STREET HER P U AT BA ICIAL GRO THE OFF

editorial address:

BACK STREET HEROES, MORTONS MEDIA, MORTON WAY, HORNCASTLE, LN9 6JR subscriptions:

01507 529529 website:

WWW.BACKSTREETHEROES.COM

Distribution by Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. Tel: 0203 787 9001.

Printed by William Gibbons and Sons, Wolverhampton.

ISSN: 02679841. BSH is copyright to Mortons Media Ltd 2017 and all rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

enquiries and back issues:

01507 529529 24hr answerphone

archive enquiries:

JANE SKAYMAN

jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423

Independent publisher since 1885

Member of the Professional Publishers Association

RU-

The publishers accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. If you send material to us for publication, you are strongly advised to make copies and to include an SAE. Original material must be submitted and will be accepted solely on the basis that the author accepts the assessment of the publisher as to its commercial value. BSH UK subscriptions £43.89, European subs £55.89, all other countries £67.89, from BSH Subs, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle LN9 6LZ. USA subs $60 per annum from Motorsport, 31757 Honey Locust Road, Jonesburg, MO 63351-9600 and additional mailing offices. Periodicals postage is paid at Jonesburg, Missouri, USA. Postmaster: send USA address changes to BSH, Motorsport, 550 Honey Locust Road, Jonesburg, MO 63351-9600.

– the Indian Chief

CUSTOM BIKE 88BSH BUILDING CHAMPS

glorious Indianbuilt bobber

– the details of the 2017 competition

90

XSR EVOLUTION – the Yam project bike moves on a little further

34 DIESEL CHOPPER

design:

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

(ALMOST A) ROAD 84TEST

ENFIELD BULLET

96PROJECT BUILD

– part one of our new project bike build

6

OPENFACED – all that’s

new and happening in the custom bike world

8PRODUCTS

– loads of good stuff for you to spend your hardearned on

100

MR BRIDGES’ MOTORCYCLE DIARIES – the start of a four-part series on paint

12

104EVENTS

14LETTERS 16READERS’ LIVES

RICK HULSE – the musings of one of the most eloquent thinkers in bikerdom!

COOL KIT – the hippest

and grooviest new things on the market!

– have your say about ... well, owt really!

– four pages of your pictures and our silly captions ... yeah, sorry about that.

20SUBSCRIBE TO BSH see here for the best subscription offers

58CENTRESPREAD 82MAG NEWS

–

– Louise Limb’s latest artistic offering

– our regular column by the MAG chairnongenderspecificperson

– our guide to the best rallies, shows, parties and runs!

114

So last year I days, or a sp did one of those naug hty boys’ d eed awaren rivi es also called, was quite so af ter a man s course as I believe th ng b on a very w with disco lig ey the assemb ering to see the effect h ite motorbik ’re hts on stop h led throng g carriageway ped me on e ot a very clea is words had as of what mig the side of and told me h r mental pic a t’ ve d my rate of p in u al happened no uncertai tu breaks 30 an er n terms that d 40mph lim . Even for me, who ra re regulations ambulation was contr re licence and it ly ar y to the la s put forward b ec au se (a (b ws

by Her Majes it was an ey ) I’m really sick of ridin ) I need my ty’s Govern and It was an in g e -o in ambulan ment. te ce drivers of ca pener; we, as riders o who very m resting experience, fro f motorcycle s, rs, do spend nted by two uch played s and o o f u o r it one thing th ur creation guys liv good cop, b es in a kind of bub where we’ e ad cop style, on the road ble me any way bad cop bloke said re , and it’s all re the most important ally hit hom and . He asked u to thing an o ea d e, s, to come up sh sy th to o e fo ck 15 r in it o g al r ly wrong. I m 16 l w riding I’ve h ean, in my 3 to go horribly having rece ith reasons why we’d sp of us in the room, ad two peo 4 years of ntly had a se ed and, af te p le fr o st n all quite lig ep off the ssion with g t of me bu r ht-hearted. weren’t hurt t, thankfully, as I wasn pavement in Various reas ood cop, we were ’t going fast .

It o re n al s were ly shoo among them th because, as my suggesti voiced, I’m sure we’ k me up when it happ ey o n ened ve reason peo ci th rc al at u l ex m th st p e er an ien ple ces, your head an everything goes into ced in these there’s little speed is because slow motion d you can se deterrent th there’s noth in e es from the po ing, absolute the accident coming, lice, and wh e days but it. As I said, ly nothing, en we’d all finished, yo n ei u bad can do abou bad about it ther of the two were h this bombsh cop hit us with t u fo el speeding an r ages afterwards – im rt, but I still felt do you thin l – “And what ag d ki in k the family lled them? e if I’d been of the person you So what am ki I tr ying to sa were speed lled while you here? Well, y in to those reaso g would say to I’m not enti be honest, ns?” re something ly sure – it ’s Now, I’m aw th ar e th at my offence my mind fo at ’s been on was commit ra te carriageway d on a dual now, probab little while where peop ly since I le don’t started lear walk, but m nin ost that whistleb g to drive (as sent because folk there’d been lower reveal they’d b last issue!); too fast in b een going the fact that ed uilt-up area fi I’ve n ally realised s where, as yo how much u know, responsibili ty people do, when you’r you have and it e behind th e wheel of a ca the ’bars of r, and behind a bike too.

Mind how yo u there, okay? go out

NIK

APRIL 2017

5

List’ cket m an u B ‘ fro by es’ Jon built ty Rod rtster; d Spor ing a e o t Sp mpor oms us me. i st fra e Cu oppers old his d u t t Atti and Ch d has years’ l n Fen ves it a t, in 26 ave it! o ha can h l t e n H dso , he gran time

Ace atmospheric shot stolen gratuitously from Rokker Clothing.

This is Rachel on Neil Jones’ Battistinis-built custom. Neil is keeping his hands behind his back because he’s not sure of his self-control…

(Dave J)

This is Vanessa and her Lexmoto Michigan 125. She says she’s only 5ft tall so it’s a great ride. You need a chop when you’ve passed your test, Vanessa!

16

APRIL 2017

RIGHT RI I HT: T Elsie Smith putting the stickers that came with the September issue of BSH to good use.

Her dad, Colin, said: “They’re excellent wax strips – my legs are so smooth.”

Jack S warm tone i up h ng dad is ’s G 1400 SX .

BELOW: Another cool pic from Trev Dowling – I want the summer back!

ABOVE: Twin turbos at the Pied Bull on Boxing Day. (Paul Hyde)

ABOVE: Wild & Sons (ww www ww.wildandsons. w

com) are American car specialists, but they also do some of the coolest pushbikes on the planet too. This is Trizilla, their hot rod trike!

APRIL 2017

17

WORDS: NIK PICS: SIMON EVERETT

IF YOU HAD THE TASTE AND REFINEMENT TO HAVE PURCHASED THE LAST ISSUE OF THIS AUGUST PUBLICATION THEN YOU’LL HAVE SEEN THAT WE ADDED, FOR YOUR DELECTATION AND DELIGHT, A FREE 32-PAGE CAFE RACER SUPPLEMENT. AREN’T WE GOOD TO YOU? APRIL 2017

23

ES INTO BIKAD USED TO N E E B E I’V HIS REVER; D OOL ON50 SINCE FO H C S O T TAKE MEECKETT-TUNED T2 ON TERRY B OM THAT POIN RED YAM. FROOKED. I RESTO FSIE I WAS H FE RACER’D ANRIX, AND CAPUCH GRAND P N AND A N EDDIE LAWSO ILT A BUILT A Z1000, AND BUWAS REPLICA-SIDED R1 THAT HTERS. SINGLE ED IN STREETFIGIS FEATURL THINKS ALL TH HE STIL ILDING LARK’S BIKE-BU FAULT...

NOT HIS

R DY PA U L C A W O R D S: ETT ON EVER PICS: SIM

28

APRIL 2017

APRIL 2017

29

WORDS: MIKE BOND PICS: SIMON EVERETT

34

APRIL 2017

IT ALL STARTED WHEN I HAD AN EX-ARMY ARMSTRONG MT350 BIKE AND PEOPLE KEPT ASKING IF IT WAS A DIESEL. I THEN DISCOVERED THE MILITARY JP8, A BIKE THAT USES A KAWASAKI 650 DIESEL AND DOES 120MPG AND 90MPH AND WONDERED WHY THESE ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THAT WAS THE SPARK; I HAD TO HAVE A DIESEL BIKE.

I

bought a Royal Enfield Bullet and fitted a Yanmar clone 406cc diesel engine in it – it’d do 130mpg and cruise at 50mph without a head wind. I rode it for 15,000 miles, and then decided I needed more power and speed. I was offered a Ruggerini 950cc engine out of a generator cheap, because it needed rebuilding as it had a misfire, so I set to – new rings, shells, gudgeon pins, valve guides, injectors, and starter motor, and I ported it a little too. When I finally fired it up I was quite satisfied because it ran beautifully and sounded much nicer being a twin.

Next I spotted a Hard Up Choppers Wormburner frame on eBay, an unfinished project with wheels, forks and brakes, in Kent. I loved the look of the frame so took a chance that I could squeeze the engine in, and

APRIL 2017

35

immediately set to, stripped it down and then forgot all about it. Now, I don’t know if this was because he’s getting on a bit these days (bless) or because Lakey commissioned it while he was having another bike built, and the Hairy Bush Bike Builders’ workshop is so crammed with Shovelhead chops that it’s easy to overlook one or confuse one for another but, whatever the reason, the build of this ’ere chopper wasn’t a particularly speedy one. So, bear that in mind if I get some of the timescale of the buiild wrong, won’t you?

42

APRIL 2017

At some point, probably near the beginning, it was decided that the bike would be reframed because the old ’70s-style frame wasn’t really conducive to the look Ben and Lakey wanted.

The new one is an Ultima hardtail with a four-inch stretch and 34-degree rake, converted so that it’d take the Shovelhead gearbox/primary and so that the primary can be adjusted to set the

HAIRY BU BIKE BUIL SH D ARE BASE ERS D STAFFS A IN N ANSWER D THE PHONE T H RINGS W AT H YOU DIAL EN 017224. S 07790 EE WORK ON THEIR AT W W W LINE .H BUSHBIK AIRYEBUILDERS.CO.U K

IF YOU DON’T WEIGH MORE THAN 15 STONE YOU WON’T BE KICKING IT OVER

primary belt tension.

Ben actually took the gearbox apart and welded studs on to the casing to be the same as a later Softail casing so he could mount the Shovel ’box on a slotted later Evolution-type gearbox mount, then welded on an adjustment bolt and locknut to lock it in place.

Up front there’s a set of two-inch over forks in Ben’s own yokes, and the chunky front wheel is an Ultima King Spoke with a 200 tyre and a JayBrake… err, brake. The ’bars are Roland Sands, bought off eBay, and the headlight’s an LED one and is very good for dazzling rabbits. Quite why you’d want to dazzle rabbits I’m not entirely sure, but there y’go. A matching and equal-sized Ultima King APRIL 2017

43

AVE COULD H H IS IT R B ONLY THE STEAMPUNK. NOE INVENTEDOPLE COULD HAVG SO OTHER PE WITH SOMETHIN CATIVE COME UPINING, FUN, PROVOE ENTERTA TLESS – ONLY TH P AND POINOULD’VE COME U G BRITISH C IDEA OF DUELLIN WITH THEING BISCUITS! basic idea now, the

BY DUNK o don’t k nolog y those wh at if tech

F

or “Wh eight of punk is: g at the h in of steam p lo e v e mpire p ed d British E had stop and the ra e uite a q n a ’s ri ” So there the Victo ? d rl o w d the st ill rule lved. k ing invo as a flatin th l ra te rted out la a f a h, st o i p k u z lea u S ught, “N o c c 1 20 0 nd and th tr y u ro to Nobby’s a t d n e a t he look efore. I w u b b s r, e bit e m a k c ti r tra ds of ened fo done loa ing happ spiration th in o , N g ” it ’s been in t. t k n g differe teral thin in la f th o e p m a so pic le an Oly m then, in