ISSUE 393 JAN 2017 £4.30
TO GET THE DIGITAL EDITIONS APP, SIMPLY SEARCH FOR ‘BACK STREET HEROES’ IN THE APPLE APP STORE FOR IPAD OR ON GOOGLE PLAY FOR ANDROID CHECK OUT THE BSH FACEBOOK PAGE (BACK STREET HEROES) AND THE BSH FACEBOOK GROUP AT BACK STREET HEROES – THE OFFICIAL GROUP
83MAG NEWS
– our regular column by the MAG chairnongenderspecificperson
DESERT 88PROJECT RACER
–last bits and bobs before the reveal next month
6OPENFACED
– all that’s new and happening in the custom bike world
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PRODUCTS – loads of good
stuff for you to spend your hardearned on
12LETTERS TO 34SUBSCRIBE BSH
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– see here for the best subscription offers
A) ROAD 44(ALMOST TEST
– the monstrously powerful Ducati XDiavel
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BRIDGES’ 92MR MOTORCYCLE DIARIES – randomly fixing fings wot are broken
97EVENTS
–our guide to the best rallies, shows, parties and runs!
100READERS’ LIVES
– four pages of your pictures and our silly captions ... yeah, sorry about that.
104SMALLS 112NEXT MONTH
– sell your bike here for free!
– what’s in the mag next month … obviously!
114RICK HULSE
– the musings of one of the most eloquent thinkers in bikerdom!
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28 BONNEVILLE STREET BIKE
so gorgeous it’s almost physically painful
36 Z900
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FLAT-TRACKER
taking the concept of the flat-tracker to the extreme
42 DUBS OF
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ANARCHY
VWs and custom bikes are unusual bedfellows
50 JESSICA LOVE
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cool chick on a cool Honda
14 XSR900
STREET MUTANT
our second project bike revealed
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THE CASTLE
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22 H-D SHOVELHEAD
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the massive north-eastern bunfight
CHOPPER
Simon Harris back in BSH
52 BSA THUNDERBOLT BOBBER
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CENTRESPREAD
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just like they used to be built in years gone by Louise Limb’s latest artistic off ffering f
NORTH MANCHES ESTER S CUSTOM & CLASSIC Fagin travels to the rainy city
HALF ON A HARLEY, HALF ON A HONDA
part two of the touring Scotland series
COPDOCK MOTORCYCLE SHOW
one of the biggest one-dayers gets bigger and better
SPORTSTER BOBBER
home-built… with considerable help from eBay
BRIGHTONA
oh we, and several thousand others too, do like to be beside the seaside
XS650 CHOPPER
long-forked and more traditional than Morris dancing and fish on Fridays (pictured) JANUARY 2017 BACK STREET HEROES
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N’ A Z E E D Y LA MAY , N E M L U GENN YOU O T T N E I PRES NT, A T U M T E – STRE THAT 0 0 9 R S X THE GAVE YAMAHA Y WITH US TO PLAUNE. BACK IN J 14
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his is the second of our three project bikes to be finished (for publication purposes anyway – the Herald was actually finished months ago), and follows on from last issue where we showed you the rat rod. As you can see, the two are markedly different animals…
NIK WORDS: ET T ON E VE R RIE L PIC S: S IM L’ VA N D ‘VA NDA K R A M RIDING:
WO R D
ONCE UPON A TIME IN A PLACE FAR, FAR AWAY (WELL, NUNEATON ANYWAY) THERE LIVED A GUY CALLED MARK NEWMAN, THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THIS TRIUMPH, WHO BOUGHT IT SOME 20 YEARS AGO.
HE
S: NIK PIC S: S IM
ON E VE R
ET T
got the bike as a standard 1976 T140 Bonneville, and almost immediately modified it with a JMC swingarm and a ZX6R rear wheel. He also stripped and rebuilt the engine, had the crank digitally balanced, the valves converted to run unleaded fuel, and fitted a Tony Hayward belt drive kit. Over the next few JANUARY 2017 BACK STREET HEROES
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I START IT’S SLOW ED THIS PROJECT LY E FIV IT’S TAKE VOLVED INTO WHE OR SIX YEARS AG NAW AT YO O, AN TOO BUS Y WITH THHILE BECAUSE, MOU SEE BEFORE YO D U S E – YOU MIG BUSINESS, DEBBET OF THE TIME I’M. N PER HT’VE YOU’RE IN HEARD OF US? E FORMANCE SP TO ZED-S ERIES KA ECIALLY IF WASAKIS …
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WORDS:
S TE V E D E BBE N PIC S: S IM ON E VE R ET T
IT
started w ith just a tank and frame, an d I wante d a very engine-a simple nd-two-w heels kin bike, but d of achievin g this loo actually k’s a greater the end re challenge sult look than s. Minim simple, b al bikes m ut they’r a e y look n o t simple to Starting construc with the t. e n g in e, because what we specialise that’s in , it ’s a mixtu of Z900, Z1000 MK re II, GPz110 Unitrak a 0 nd Z1000 J parts. T cases are he early Z90 0/100 but I didn ’t want to 0, use the early cra nk as the starter clutch is only held on with a fe eble 10m m bolt. The GPz1100 crank an d starter clutch ha ve a muc h better se t-up, so th e plan was to use on e of these (and a fe w other cho ice GPz parts too , more on that in a mo’). The only thin g is, it’s n ot a straigh tforward swap – to fit the GPz1100 crank an d HY-VO ca mchain in to the older crankcase s we had to machine them and fabricate a block to install th e correct te nsioner. I also had to modif y the
JANUARY 2017 BACK STREET HEROES
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WORDS & PICS: CHARLEY CHARLES
BIKER CHICK PAR EXCELLL E N C E
SHE SHOWED UP LIKE AN UNREAL FANTASY SCOOTER TRAMP AT THE NORRTÄLJE CUSTOM BIKE SHOW, AND WON THIRD PRIZE IN THE CHOPPER CLASS WITH A HONDA RAT BIKE AND A SIGN THAT SAID ‘I DROVE 1,750 KILOMETERS TO GET HERE’.
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HAVING ENJOYED LAST YEAR’S SHOW I WAS KEEN AND EAGER TO ATTEND THE NEW, IMPROVED VERSION AND SET OFF IN HIGH SPIRITS.
NORTH MANCHESTER CUSTOM & CLASSIC
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WORDS & PICS: FAGIN
ccess was definitely much easier, due to the stalls now being sited on the cricket field instead of the entrance. This meant no slow speed meandering between stalls, punters and other arrivals/departures – much easier for all concerned, I’d say. There were more stalls than last year too, plus a bucking bronco and what looked like an inflatable sheep to ride (insert your own Welsh jokes here). The stalls, together with the cricket clubhouse, provided ample opportunity for the 3,000-plus visitors to spend their hard earned, and there was plenty to entertain the young children many local families
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had brought h along. l S Some of them seemed especially delighted with Into the Void who played some excellent Sabbath tunes, which bodes well for future generations. Apart from shopping and music (an ideal day out for my lady), there was the opportunity to view endless two and three-wheel vehicles! These ranged from immaculate chops to serious classics, via ropey rats and smart scooters. There were many bikes worthy of being in the show that were just parked up, but the show itself had prizes galore in ‘Chop’, ‘Classic’, ‘Streetfighter’, ‘Paint’ etc., and prizes were presented by Dibs, vocalist of the ancient purveyors of space sounds, Hawkwind.
BRIGHTONA CHARITY RIDERS ARE WELL KNOWN IN THE SOUTH EAST FOR HOSTING THE MASSIVE BRIGHTONA EVENT EACH YEAR WHEN THEY TAKE OVER THE FULL LENGTH OF MADEIRA DRIVE IN BRIGHTON TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE SUSSEX HEART CHARITY. CHARITY
O
nce again they h had db beautiful tif l weather th and the crowds flocked in their thousands to the event. With dozens of trade stands offering every kind of biker apparel you might need, three stages of live bands, club stands, services, local trades and biker grub, not to mention the large custom bike show organised by Harrison Billet, plus fairground rides, ice cream and everything else the seafront and pier have to offer, you cannot help but have a great day out at this event. For those wanting to share in the camaraderie and showmanship, there’s a ride-out where you can ride along with the Brightona Charity Riders as they go and pick
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WORDS & PICS: FD
up the Mayor from Rottingdean, and then do a parade around the town before delivering him safely to the event. If you fancy this next year, places need to be pre-booked on the event
BY THIS POINT IN THE PROCEEDINGS, I’D MADE OR MODIFIED ALL THE BITS FOR THE HERALD DESERT RACER, STACEY AT ACE OF SPRAYS HAD PAINTED EVERYTHING, AND LESLEY AT LSD HAD UPHOLSTERED THE SEAT BASE I’D MADE, SO IT WAS TIME TO START BOLTING IT ALL TOGETHER.
FIG.1
FIG.2
THE FINAL CURTAIN
ddly that process started by unbolting even more bits because, having chopped off the pillion footrest mounts, welded on several brackets, and made and fitted a loop to the rear of the frame, there was quite a lot of the rear of the
O
frame that was devoid of paint. I removed the air-box (Fig.1), the rear wheel, the entire rear brake system, and the wiring loom, because not only are they difficult to mask, but they would be in the way when the frame was painted. With the back wheel removed and a pair of car axle stands under the footrests, I removed the front wheel too so I could take the wheels away to get the new tyres that Nik had sourced fitted to them, supporting the forks with a piece of bar and some more axle stands (Fig.2). With everything out of the way, Johnny set about preparing the frame for some paint. Arguably, preparing the frame for paint actually started when we were cutting things off and welding them on and using a sanding disc on the grinder, and not a stone,
FIG.4
to remove the remains of whatever we’d cut off as the sanding discs leave a much more presentable finish on the surface of the metal. A combination of hand files, an orbital sander, and elbow grease feathered the edges of the original paint out, taking care not to leave flat spots on the frame tubes. Once all the edges were feathered off, the remaining original paint was scuffed down with some
words & pics: MR BRIDGES
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PART EIGHT
Andrew Marshall recently finished this CB550 hardtail, and is understandably quite proud of it.
KE, YOUR LADY, YOUROK) TO SEND PICS OF YOUR BIER IS ISN’T FACEBO TH , NN DI UR YO T NO UT (B E OK BL NIK@BACKSTREETHEROES.COM Jon Sher CL77 fla idan’s damn ne t-tracker – at, innit?
ABOVE: Molly Pearson, Nidge ‘Chuff ff’ f Pearson’s daughter, is so confident on her dad’s bike that she can ride it onehanded with her eyes shut! RIGHT: Andy K’s girlfriend Andrea loves riding with him, and they’re looking forward to riding to Hungary, where she’s from, next year.
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