Back Street Heroes - April 2019 - Preview

UK OFFSALE DATE: 04/04/19

ISSUE 420

APRIL 2019

£4.20

14: PANHEAD CHOP

the cover bike in all its glory

20: STORMIN’ THE CASTLE

48: DRINK, DROP & DOSS RALLY

the Rejects Brotherhood’s excellent rally in Kent

Our Davie’s, and a lot of other folk’s too, favourite bike rally of the year

50: TRIUMPH SAINT

26: CX500 CAFE RACER

54: CB900 CHOPPER

stunning first build ‘Onda

30: ACE CAFE REUNION

thousands and thousands descend on Brighton

34: BANDIT TWELVE CHOPPER long-forked ‘n’ fast!

38: RACE THE WAVES cool bikes ear’oling down the beach

42: EN500 BOBBER

not the usual choice for a project build

46: NCC BUCKS CUSTOM SHOW

a sunny Sunday in September

like no police bike you’ve ever seen!

‘mate, we cut your bike up…’

62: SAND & MOTORCYCLES

the oddest named bike event in the land?

64: STRONG SURVIVE CUSTOM SHOW rain didn’t (quite) stop play!

68: GSX1500 BOBBER it’s a streetfighter really

72: SIX TOWNS CHOPPER SHOW

classic chops from all over Europe descend on Stoke

96: RAT BIKE

spooky fiction from the legendary Jim Fogg, with illustrations by Louise Limb

86: BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2019 this year's championship 6: NEWS all that’s new and happening in the custom bike world 8: PRODUCTS loads of good stuff for you to spend your hardearned on 12: LETTERS sound off, one, two, sound off, three, four!

58: CENTRESPREAD an artistic poster for you to put on yer wall 60: SUBSCRIBE TO BSH see here for the best subscription offers 76: TECH BSH’s resident spanner monkey twirls his implements… fnurk 80: MR BRIDGES the guru imparts more of his knowledge of mechanics 84: MAG NEWS our regular column by the MAG chairnon genderspecificperson

extends to a full six rounds

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

88: THE BIZ the third in a new series of interviews with leading figures in the custom world 92: (ALMOST) A ROADTEST the new Aprilia Shiver 102: EVENTS your essential guide to the best rallies, shows and parties

BE PART OF BACKSTREETHEROES

105: SMALLS sell your bike here for free!

112: NEXT MONTH just to whet your appetite…

113: RICK HULSE the musings of one of the most eloquent thinkers in bikerdomerd 114: BACK IN T’DAY retro choppers from the depths of timeeom

APRIL 2019

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editor:

NIK SAMSON

nik@backstreetheroes.com

07884 052003 staff writer:

The continuation of his love/hate affair with the Future Bike (it’s not the first time that it has bucked him off like a recalcitrant mule, and the tale of how it left him stranded in the wastelands of northern Scandinavia is a long and harrowing one) has left Nik with broken ribs, with some of the pointy-spiky bits doing some additionally nasty internal things. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in him being ensconced in hospital in Norwich during deadline week, leaving this editorial to yours truly. Although Nik will undoubtedly be back in the hot seat before long – and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing him well, heal quick mate!

Consequently, as Nik’s hospitalised, there’s no instalment covering his Katana project in this issue, and nor is there the continuation of his Croatia trip – with those two being replaced with coverage of Stoke’s premier custom bike show, and a muscle-bound bobber from the wild west, of London – but they will both be making a reappearance, along with Nik himself, in next month’s issue. ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱

As you’ll have already seen, this issue is replete with a 32-page supplement, Harley Life, which not only features five very cool custom bikes propelled by power plants from the Milwaukee MoCo, but also products and news pertaining to the same. It reflects the diverse array of custom bikes being built from Harley’s range of machinery, and proof, if any

were needed, that American V-twins aren’t likely to go out of fashion at any point soon. ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱

There’s also the news that the BSH Custom Bike Champs has now been expanded to be held at six locations for 2019, with the season kicking off at Bum In The Mud in April.

It’ll be followed by rounds at BMAD in Paignton, NABD in Cheshire, the Farmyard Party oop norf, Diamond Day at the Ace Cafe, and the Rock & Blues.

We’ve expanded the championships to not only cover more of the country, but also to allow more people a chance at getting their bike through qualifying for the big end-of-season bash at Custom Xtreme at Motorcycle Live at the NEC, at which those who’ve come through the qualifying rounds and have been voted best in their respective class will not only be getting a fat wad of sponsorship dosh, but also a night in a posh hotel close to the NEC, an expenses-paid nosh-up and the traditional day-after-the-night-before presentation with bacon butties and fizzy plonk.

There will be the same five categories as there’s been in previous years, being Best Paint, Best Engineering, Best Chopper, Best Custom and Best New Skool, with trophies being awarded at each of the rounds, plus those that are handed out for the finalists who make it to Custom Xtreme.

The advert showing all the rounds is on pages 86-87, so have a gander to see where your local round is, take your bike along and be in with a chance! And, talking of being in with a chance, don’t forget to have a look at the word search on page 100, where you have a chance of winning some rather cool prizes, including a pair of tickets to Rock & Blues. Maybe you’ve got a youngster in the family that’d like to have a go at finding the words (for a small fee).

So go on, why not enter... you’ve nothing to lose!

DAVE

dave@backstreetheroes.com

Pic by Alex

For our esteemed ‘ead ‘itter, the intro that he wrote to the feature on Michael’s CX on page 26 has become worryingly appropriate – go on, flick over the pages and have a quick look. Now that you’ve read it, you’ll find it a little ironic that, having penned those words in the first paragraph, Nik had the misfortune of being summarily jettisoned from the seat of the Future Bike, just a handful of days before the issue that you hold in your hands went to press.

DAVE MANNING

design:

GARETH WILLIAMS publisher:

TIM HARTLEY advertising contact:

RICK NICHOLS

rnichols@mortons.co.uk 01507 529357

group advertising manager::

SUE KEILY

divisional ad manager:

BILLY MANNING

bmanning@mortons.co.uk subscription manager:

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commercial director:

NIGEL HOLE

freelance contributors:

SIMON EVERETT, FAZERDAZE, GARRY STUART, WILL WEBB, DARRYL & ANNE LAMER, RUTHLESS PHOTOGRAPHY, PETE SAYERS, MR BRIDGES, SELENA LAVENDER, RICK HULSE editorial address:

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

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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 2019 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.

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NEWS

FARO 2019

The dates for this year’s Moto Clube de Faro Concentracion, their 38th, have been announced and they are 18-21st July at the usual site near the airport, just outside Faro.

The headline act this year is the heavenly-voiced Goth metallers Within Temptation, along with a host of incomprehensible, but strangely

watchable local bands, naughty ladies taking their clothes off (artistically, of course), a very good custom show full of some amazing bikes and the renowned Custom Village, tattooists, barbers, the Oasis bar with its on-site swimming pool, other very cool tiny little bars tucked away, a trade area so large it’s almost a whole event on its own, and much, much more.

The ticket price has yet to be announced, but it’s comparable with the bigger events in the UK, and includes four free meals, a badge, stickers, entry to a competition to win a bike, and entry to win a holiday to Daytona.

Get more info on the event from the website at www. motoclubefaro.pt

NEW TRIUMPH ROCKET III On pages 100-101 you’ll find a word search where you can win one of four prizes – two tickets for the Rock & Blues in July, a BSH subscription, Shiny Sauce bike cleaner or a Black Kat Kustoms wallet.

Closing date is 8th April and all the usual terms and conditions apply – check them out on the page. Good luck!

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APRIL 2019

Triumph Motorcycles has made noises about a new Rocket III – the Rocket TFC which will be launched on 1st May with full details and specifications.

According to the press blurb, the new bike will be an ultra-rare, ultra-premium Triumph Factory Custom with an incredible array of custom details, premium finishes and beautiful practical touches, including an interchangeable dual or single seat, and will be nothing short of the ultimate motorcycle, with world-beating performance, cutting edge technology, muscular presence and unique engineering innovations.

Check out www.triumphmotorcycles. co.uk for more info.

HELP HENRY Is your shed filled with automotive memorabilia? If it is, then it could be featured in a new TV series, due to be filmed later this year.

Motorbike-mad TV presenter Henry Cole, best known for his appearances on The Motorbike Show and Shed & Buried, is searching for unique items lost in people’s sheds, lofts, garages and barns, to fix up for a (i.e. his) profit. Mechanical curiosities are always a favourite, but all manner of vintage paraphernalia is of interest, including furniture, electrical items and tools.

To find out more and apply to be included in the programmes, visit www.henrycole.tv

Are you a young person with an interest in motorcycles? Here’s your chance to enter a motorcycle (or motorcyclerelated vehicle) building competition – Warrington Wheels at Woolston Brook School in Warrington, Cheshire on Friday 24th May between 11.30am and 2pm, with the presentation at 1.30pm.

Entrants can be individuals or teams, and must be aged 18 years or under, and you can enter as many vehicles as you can build – any type of bike, running or not.

All entrants will also be given the opportunity to enter their exhibits in the National Youthbike Competition (www. youthbike.com) which is held in Lincolnshire in June.

For further information contact Bob Towler c/o Woolston Brook School, Green Lane, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 4JL, ring 01925 818549 or email bobtowler57@hotmail.co.uk

STEVE MCQUEEN’S STUNT DOUBLE’S BIKE UP FOR SALE The late Bud Ekins was Steve McQueen’s stunt double for The Great Escape film and famously jumped the concentration camp’s wire fence on a Triumph. His ISDT-winning bike, a Husqvarna MX360 Viking, was up for sale

by H&H Classics on 2nd March at the National Motorcycle Museum with

an estimated price of £10,000-£15,000.

Bud and Steve were friends and bike buddies, and both feature in the iconic On Any Sunday film. It was Bud who introduced Steve to offroad motorcycles, and Bud rode his Husqvarna as part of the Team America in the 1967 Polish

THE TT AT STAFFORD

This year’s Stafford International Classic MotorCycle Show, 27-28th April, will have a spectacular TT theme, and will feature top riders and the famous machines that carried them to victory around one of the most famous race circuits in the world, including Ian Hutchinson, Tom and Ben Birchall, Charlie Williams, John Cooper, Steve Plater, Alex George, Tommy Robb and Jim Redman, and a 1926 AJS GR10, an ex-HG Tyrell-Smith 1932 works Rudge, a minuscule 50cc Honda CR110, a three-cylinder MV Agusta, a 1984 Ducati TT2 with TT history, and an ex-Joey Dunlop RC45.

Now in its 39th year, the show has already received hundreds of bookings from traders, clubs and exhibitors, with organisers working hard to deliver another stellar event. Deemed to be the largest classic bike show in the world, thousands of visitors flock to Stafford County Showground every year from all corners of the UK and Europe. It’s a must-attend event for any motorcycle enthusiast.

For more information, visit www. staffordclassicbikeshows.com

ISDT (International Six Day Trial) where they won and were awarded a gold medal. It’s been verified by Bud’s brother Dave, and has the correct numbers, has been restored in California to a high standard, and comes complete with lots of provenance, spares and a history file.

LEARNER AWARD AT BMAD

Nigel and Sue Brewer, whose CB750 chop won the Best Chopper class in the 2018 BSH Custom Champs and was featured last issue, have put up a new award at this year’s BMAD Bike Festival on 3-5th May – Brewer’s Choice for the best 125cc and under bike at the festival, plus £100 cash! To enter your bike, simply turn up at the event and enter the custom show on the Saturday – simple as that!

Get more info on the show at the website at www.bmad.co.uk

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ELEVEIT TRACKER BOOTS PRODUCTS

BORN-FREE, THE BOOK

Beautifully presented, and with very little in the way of text, this book certainly gives a pictorial view of what the Born-Free Show is all about.

In short, a super-high level of custombuilt motorcycles, predominantly of a traditional chopper style, although with a goodly number of diggers and lowriders too – lots of Pans, Knuckles, Flathead 45s, Shovels, and Triumph twins too, t long l g springers or girders types; pro oper choppers, in short.

As a co offee table book, shiny and big (400 pages!), it worrks a treat, and is great to leave lying around for th he occasional moment w when you need some in nspiration or ideas for a fu uture project.

Born-Free is available fro om www.gestalten. co om at €39.90.

O MOTO TATTOO TO FORCE RETRO HELMETS Moto Tattoo’s new retro-styled Force helmets come in a quite staggering number of designs, split into two style – the Blitz range, which has some amazingly cool, really quirky designs, and the military-themed Bomber range, with very cool fighter pilot-style designs.

Factory-designed schemes start at £170 for the Blitz and £200 for the Bomber, but they can also put any design you can dream up on to one of their helmets too, whether it’s a scheme supplied by you or designed inhouse by them for you. Full custom designs for the Blitz are £260, and for the Bomber £299.

To check out their huge range of designs or for more information, go to www.mototattoo.com

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FRANDO CLUTCH SLAVE CYLINDERS

These new Eleveit Tracker boots are made of stylish brown grain leather that is both durable and flexible. They have an E-Dry membrane to make them waterproof and breathable, with anatomically designed and fully replaceable insoles, laces and Velcro, CE protection over the shin, toes and heel, and a shift lever protector.

Available in sizes 2-14, they cost £149.99 from anywhere that stocks the Eleveit range – go to www.trimotive.ccom to find your nearest place.

Frando now offer clutch slave cylinders to convert cable-operated clutches to hydraulic systems.

Available in two different lengths, they’ll give a ligh hter, smoother, maintenance-free operation.

They’re compact (just 24x55mm with a piston diamete er of 12.7mm and a 10mm stroke), and the short ve ersion is adjustable from 35-42mm, and the long one from 56–63mm so they can be extended or shorr tened to sit perfectly on the clutch arm.

They retail at £105.12 from Venhill on 01306 885111 or at www.venhill.co.uk, and they can supply high quality British-made hyydraulic hoses to suit any bike or set-up too.

SYSBAG LUGGAGE SYSTEM SW Motech’s modular SysBag Luggage System combines the best features of soft and hard luggage with versatile and sturdy mounting options for adaptable carrying capacity.

There are 10, 15 and 30-litre bags, which can be used individually or together in more than 20 different assembly options and combinations. They can be attached to the bike’s passenger seat or a luggage rack using the integrated loop straps or side-mounted pannier-style using the ’oneclick’ solid mounting system

and SW Motech’ss discreet SLC rails.

They’re made from tough Ballistic Nylon with a do ouble PU interior coating (double poo?), an nd have removable,, waterproof inner bags, overlapping lids, roll-tops, integrated carrying handles, and shoulder straps.

Prices start at £79.95

(SLC mounting rails from £69.95 per side), and you can get more info from Motohaus Powersports on 01256 704909 or www. motohaus.com

CHOP, RIDE & PARTY Y GEAR PRODUCTS

We showed you the Chop, Ride & Party Yearbook last issue, and if you’d like to help support Beer to keep p going in his self-financed endeavo our then you can buy some off his range of Chop, Ride & Party merchandise.

T-shirrts are €24.95, ladies’ vests are €19..95, caps are €14.95, and patchess cost just €9.95 and you can gett them from the website at www.choprideandparty.com

WEISE MALMO GLOVES These new Malmo gloves from Weise are designed as winter gloves, but are light and slim enough to use all year round too. Constructed from a mix of full-grain leather (on the palm) and textile material, they have padding at the knuckles, palms, fingers and thumbs, a Chamude overlay panel with silicon print to give improved grip on the ‘bars, a waterproof, windproof and breathable liner, a Thinsulate G60 thermal lining, and a McFIT system with no uncomfortable stitching or seams to dig into the hands.

They cost £74.99 and comes in sizes S-3XL, and you can get them from anywhere that stocks the Weise range – ring 0117 971 9200 or visit www. thekeycollection.co.uk to find your nearest stockist.

OXFORD AQUA TANK BAGS tank bags attach to your These new small (eight litre) Aqua A tank magnetically, providing you y have a steel tank, and have aterproof roll-top, a compression a moulded carry-handle, a wa strap, an external pocket with a clear window for phones or GPS units, a small pocket with a esistant zip, welded seams and a water re hea adstock safety strap.

Available in black, grey/fluoro or khaki, they cost just £59.99 from Oxford O Products stockists – go to www.oxfordproducts.com w for the dealer d listing.

MOTORCYCLE STOREHOUSE CANVAS WEISE BOSTON SADDLEBAGS Canvas is probably the most Motorcycle Storehouse

JEANS

Weise W Boston biker jeans come in black or blue, in sizes to fit men and women, and retail for under £100.

They have a traditional semi bootcut fit, Aramid fibre panels at key locations, double-stitched seams, and CE-approved knee protection.

Available in men’s sizes S-5XL (3044 inch waist), and women’s 8-22, and they cost just £99.99 with a two-year warranty. For information call The Key Collection on 0117 971 9200 or visit ey www.theke n. collection co.uk

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widely used material when it comes to extreme durability, and these saddlebags come with an internal plastic backing plate for structural integrity, an important feature in saddlebag use, and will probably last longer than you may imagine. Universal mounting straps are included.

Available in two sizes (six litre and ten litre), you can get them from anywhere that stocks the

range – check out www. motorcyclestorehouse.com to find your nearest place.

Need to agree, or even disagree, with something you’ve seen in the mag? Heard a bloody awful joke you think we should groan at? Email nik@ backstreetheroes. com or send it snailmail to the address in the front (somewhere) of the mag!

Just thought to tell you of a get-you-home bit of kit for when your battery is flatter than a hipster’s cap.

Nekteck make a jump-starter pack small enough to fit at the bottom of your gear bag, and it starts my 110-inch twin no problem. It also has a flash light, phone jacks, etc. Saves cadging a jump-start off strangers. Cheers.

CLIVE There are a few on the market these days – I’ve got a Micro-Start one, and it’s been an absolute godsend. N.

Way too many years ago, when just starting out, I came off on gravel while not wearing gloves. Naturally enough I put both hands out to save myself, as I wasn’t wearing a helmet either (it was 1971). Fast forward to A&E and a kind young nurse is very cautiously trying to remove all the crap from my outstretched limbs. At this point, a very severe-looking matron comes over (think Hattie Jacques having a really bad day).

“How did you get your hands in such a state, young man?”

“Came off my motorcycle, Miss.”

“Your gloves must be pretty ineffective to leave your hands like that.”

“I wasn’t wearing any, Miss.”

“Oh, weren’t you? That was rather foolish.

Okay, nurse, I’ll deal with this.”

And so she elbowed the young nurse aside, grabbed the tweezers/nailbrush and proceeded to dig around in my palms with all the finesse of a woodpecker on acid. Twenty minutes and half a bottle of iodine (plus any other stinging substance she could legally use) later and I was gravel-free but with both paws throbbing like a cartoon cat.

“There, all done. Now I’m sure you won’t forget your gloves in future, will you?”

“No, Miss,” I said, with my bottom lip trying desperately not to quiver, and do you know what? I never have!

She did me a HUGE favour by being intentionally mean, and she probably helped numerous others with their ‘life lessons’ in that way by having a ‘no nonsense’ approach.

Sadly, today she’d probably be disciplined for breaking several lines of protocol. Sometimes we had to learn our lessons the hard way in an un-PC world, but we learnt them well and they stuck.

KEITH Yeah, I remember the iodine and scrubbing brushes only too well meself too... that’s the main reason I wear Kevlar these days. N.

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CATCH YOU LATER Don’t stand around looking thoroughly miserable You give us the excuse to put the fun into funeral We were friends since we were eleven Fly high freebird, on your stairway to heaven Nevermore will you be here Nevermore will we drink warm beer Nevermore will I see your face See you some more in the other place No more riding in the rain No more feeling any pain Until I meet with you again When I’m dead and laid 6ft in the ground And ascended to heaven, and your spirit I’ve found We’ll drink a toast to each other, sister or brother It’s your f’kin’ round!

E. C. WRITER (The barred of Lancashire)

In Nik’s editorial for the February issue he mentioned a statue of a brass monkey with its balls freezing off.

Well, this is the bit where I sound like a complete nerd; a brass monkey is a plate laid on the ground to stack cannon balls into a nice pyramid, so when it got really cold said cannon balls would fall off it.

I’m full of useless information like that… I’ll get a life one day.

LITTLE JIM, A happy biker from Norfolk The best letter each issue will now receive a free T-shirt from those lovely people, Laura and Mark, at Fat Maggot T-Shirts (www.fatmaggot.com) – get all your rally shirts etc. from them, they’re triffic!

I really enjoyed the 35th anniversary issue with the old articles, and now regularly get BSH ordered for me by my sister, due to the obvious difficulties due to my current address (prison).

Back in the ’90s you ran a Readers’ Lives father and son feature in the mag, which showed me on my little ape-hangered Honda, taken in 1970, alongside a pic, circa ’92 of my son Simon, who was just a teenager then, on our LS 650 Savage back home in Aberdare, Wales. Those old photos in the January issue brought back fond memories.

Even though bikes don’t feature much in here, bikes and bikers do, and as part of our ‘Penned Up’ literary festival, which encourages reading, writing and education in prisons, one of the guest authors we bagged this year was Charley Boorman.

I was delighted to hear from him that not only had he done all that round-the-world stuff with Ewan MacGregor, but that he had also actually ridden with Peter Fonda – yeah, Mr Easy Rider himself, as it was that old 1969 film which started many of our own lifelong biker odysseys.

I eventually realised my own lifelong dream aged 58, some 40 years later. After surviving my ENT cancer, I treated myself to an 883 Sportster in white, which I lightly customised. The bike in the January issue reminded me. I even had my own plate on it, L12 NED (me name backwards!).

Unfortunately, after falling over the cliff edge which recovery/ survival is, my boozing went into top gear to cope. Soon I lost my licence, got expelled into homelessness, and ended up the wrong end of an aggressive divorce solicitor. In 2009 it all went shite-shaped; violence led to arrest and imprisonment.

Anyway, I got awarded the bike in the divorce, but signed it over to our youngest daughter so that she could sell it and, hopefully, end up with an amount of money equal to what our older two kids’d been given towards their weddings. I kinda hoped my son would give her a better offer, and keep the bike himself, but being in jail I never knew. However, it seems the bike’s still on the road, taxed and insured, and still bearing my L12 NED number-plate.

After my illness and disappearance off the face of the earth, I think most people who knew me assumed that I’d died. Indeed, that’s what I’d expected myself, hence the last mad fling, but I didn’t so here I am!

DENZIL DAVIES

Just thought you might like a pic of my old man when he was 17 with his 1968 T120 Bonneville which he paid £350 for. He’s 67 years old now, rides a Harley Fat Boy, subscribes to BSH, and is known as Metalmicky in the Wrecking Crew HDC. He says your mag is the best in the world!

DAVE, Drighlington Man of exquisite taste, obviously. N.

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IT’S PROBABLY FAIR TO SAY THAT KEV CLUBLEY ISN’T THE ONLY CHAP WHOSE LONG-TERM DREAM’D BEEN TO OWN A PANHEAD CHOPPER, AND THERE’S LITTLE DOUBT THAT WATCHING EASY RIDER AT SOME POINT IN THE (NOT-SO) DISTANT PAST HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THAT FACT… WORDS & PICS: DAVE MANNING

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IT certainly was the starting point for his aspirations and, again in common with many of us, he spent a lot of time surfing a certain auction website, looking for bargains and rarities, before stumbling across this very bike in 2008. It was nigh on 150 miles away, but, after a chat with the owner, he was on his way to see it and a deal was soon done. “I’m going to get a lift up with my friend Rich after night shift at Royal Mail, and ride it home,” he said, somewhat optimistically.

Well, you can guess what happened next; some miles up the road the bike started misfiring, then died – the generator wasn’t charging, and the battery’d discharged.

He waited about eight hours for recovery, and then the following day he looked over the bike, charged the battery, and got it running. The wiring wasn’t that good, and there was a fair amount of oil outside of the engine instead of where it should’ve been so, wasting no time, he stripped it straight down to its constituent parts, all in the same day! So much for his initial “Run it as it is for a while!” plan…

On closer inspection of the frame, things didn’t seem to be quite how they should be, so it took a trip to Tony at B&I Engineering in Huddersfield for some new tubes, and to have the back end straightened, and a new brake crossover shaft and sleeve were made up by CE Fagg Engineering in Slough, and welded into the frame by Kev himself. With the frame back to fine fettle, the next job was mounting the rear mudguard and tank, and prepping them for paint. They went off to his mate, Kelvin, and were done in a metalflake candy apple red.

On checking the engine over, even though it’d been running, it was found to be very tired indeed – the flywheels were unusable, the crankcases had cracks, the cylinders were bored off-centre, and both

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heads had bad valve seat recession, cracks and stripped threads. Finding all the bits and pieces needed for the rebuild took a while, and resulted in a seven-year lull with the bike mostly in boxes (the frame stood in his living room for a while, while he demolished his old workshop and built a new one). During this dark time, it was also nearly sold as an unfinished project at one stage – a lucky escape!

Then one day he was rubbing dust off the frame and wheels, and the resulting gleam gave him reason to carry on, and he made up his mind to get it finished. The engine was taken over to Matt’s Machine Shop in Abercynon, who built the bottom end and bored out some used Panhead cylinders that Kev’d found, and it went back together over the next week or so, with some nice performance parts to hot it up added into the mix.

Thanks to that early Easy Rider fix, he’d already decided to create something that was period to the late Sixties/early Seventies – for many, the golden era for choppers, and a style that’s very popular right now too.

Careful studying of pictures meant that he knew exactly what he was trying to locate, although some parts were impossible to find, like the neat pillion footpeg mounts for instance – he’d seen pictures of choppers in the late ’60s and ’70s with them fitted, and he’d seen them in period catalogues, but couldn’t find any. By dimensioning them from a photograph (scaling against parts of a known size) though, his friend Wayne was able to reproduce them exactly on his lasercutting machine.

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Forty-eight Autumn 2018

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No. 330 October 2018 £4.30 UK Off-sale date 31/10/2018

MOTO MEMORIES // TECH TALK // MONTESA COTA 200 // BULTACO MATADOR

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