Back Street Heroes - May 2020

UK OFFSALE DATE: 07/05/20

ISSUE 433

MAY 2020

£4.40

12: ROCK & BLUES RETRO FEATURE LOOKING BACK AT THE SHOW IN THE HILLS OF DERBYSHIRE 18: BTW SHOW TRIKES, BIKES, AND BELTING BREKKIES 20: 125 CHOP TRANSFORMING A LITTLE BIKE INTO SOMETHING SO MUCH COOLER 24: STORMIN’ THE CASTLE THE LAST BIG SHOW OF THE YEAR! 28: SHOVELHEAD BOBBER RETRO, BUT NOT THAT RETRO!

32: MT-01 YAM HAND-BUILT AND HARD AS NAILS! 36: WARLOCKS SHOW SUNNY IN SCUNNY 38: SURVIVOR TRIUMPH SAME AS IT EVER WAS… THANKFULLY 42: FENLAND SPORTY ABSOLUTELY STUNNING ENGRAVING! 46: ALBIE THE ARTIST SHOW HIGH ART IN BSH, INNIT 48: XS650 YAM THE COVER BIKE IN ALL ITS GLORY 58: FAT-TYRE INDIAN A TWO-WHEELED JEEP… KINDA 62: ORKNEY RALLY TWITS TROT TO TWATT 64: TWIN-TURBO CHOP MADDER THAN A BOX OF SCHIZOPHRENIC FROGS! 68: ORANGE CHOP GLASS O’ JACK ANYONE? 78: SUZUKI CAFÉ RACER GT/KATANA HYBRID

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6: NEWS ALL THAT’S NEW AND HAPPENING IN THE CUSTOM BIKE WORLD 8: PRODUCTS LOADS OF GOOD STUFF FOR YOU TO SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED ON 10: LETTERS SOUND OFF, ONE, TWO, SOUND OFF, THREE, FOUR! 54: CENTRE SPREAD AN ARTISTIC POSTER FOR YOU TO PUT ON YER WALL 56: SUBSCRIBE TO BSH SEE HERE FOR THE BEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS 70: THE BIZ ANDY STEWARD OF ASE CUSTOM MOTORCYCLES 74: YAMAHA NIKEN LONGTERMER SAYING GOODBYE TO AN OLD FRIEND 82: PAINT FEATURE PART ONE OF OUR NEW HOW-TO SERIES

86: MR BRIDGES THE GURU IMPARTS MORE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF MECHANICS 90: JIM FOGG FICTION ANOTHER OF THE MASTER’S EXCELLENT WORKS 95: MAG NEWS OUR REGULAR COLUMN BY THE MAG CHAIRNON GENDER SPECIFICPERSON 96: READERS’ LIVES YOUR PICS, OUR CAPTIONS… YEAH, SORRY ABOUT THAT 104: SMALLS SELL YOUR BIKE HERE FOR FREE! 105: NEXT MONTH JUST TO WHET YOUR APPETITE… 106: RICK HULSE THE MUSINGS OF ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT THINKERS IN BIKERDOM

HELLO, AND WELCOME TO THIS ISSUE OF BSH! There’s really one topic on everyone’s lips, be they biker or Joe Public, and that’s the coronavirus that’s sweeping the world…

Despite the fact that, in the grand scheme of things, it’s reckoned not to be, so far anyway, as lethal as other threats to the human world (malaria, tuberculosis, cars), and that, according to the experts, most people who do contract it’ll get nothing more than a case of the flu, the planet seems to be in full-on panic mode, it really is.

As I write this around the middle of March, it had just been announced that the Isle of Man TT had been cancelled and, perhaps more relevantly to us lot, the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD)’s You’ve Been Nabbed rally too. I suspect that by the time you read this a lot more bike events’ll’ve been canned too, especially as the Government’s already announced that any events with over 500 people’ll not be allowed to go ahead for fear of spreading the virus far and wide. I completely get this, I really do, but it’s a terrible blow to not only the organisers of big events, and the charities that’re supported by them, but to the folk who organise smaller events too.

The problem is, you see, bike events, all bike events, no matter how big or small, cost money to put on, and while the smaller, sub-500 people ones might not get the kibosh from above in that they’ll still be allowed to go ahead, I suspect that many organisers’re going to have to seriously think about whether their events go ahead or not. If they do, and no one, or significantly fewer, turn(s) up, the people who put them on’ll still have to pay out the full amount the event costs, no matter whether they’ve taken enough money on the gate to cover however much the event costs to stage or not. Smaller events’re often run by individuals, couples or small clubs or groups of mates, and precious few of them can afford to take that sort of hit...

Take, for example, the Rat & Survival that I organise; it costs around £2,000 to put on when you take into account the cost of bands, PA, trophies, toilets, etc., and that means that I need to take that on the gate just to break even. For a small event, just the weather can make or break an event – if the weather’s good, it can add significantly more folk through the door, but

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if it’s a bit poo, or even just predicted to be a bit poo (whether it actually is or not), that can mean that significantly fewer folk turn up. For a small event even the loss of, say, 25 people can make the difference between breaking even or losing money you can illafford, and add to this the threat of contracting something potentially lifethreatening to either you or someone close to you and…

Yeah, so I’m over-reacting, probably, thinking into it too much – us bikers’re a hardy bunch, and famously don’t like being told what we can and can’t do, but on the other hand, as’s been mentioned before, we’re not getting any younger, and this bastard illness is most dangerous to older folk and those with certain underlying conditions already (lung problems, those suffering from long-term conditions, diabetes etc.), and too many of us qualify on both counts.

So what’s the answer? Absolutely no bloody idea – all that I can say is whatever you do out there for the next few months, be bloody careful, eh? ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱

Related to the coronavirus outbreak, if you think you may have to self-isolate at any time in the next few months, then this’s the ideal time to get yourself a subscription to Back Street Heroes, isn’t it?

Seriously, doing so’ll be a Good Thing on two counts. Firstly, you won’t have to run the gauntlet of potentially infected zombies at the local newsagent/supermarket/garage and, secondly, you’ll ensure that the magazine continues to be there for you to read in the future too – as has already been seen, public places’re already significantly quieter than they have been previously, and what I said above about the effect of fewer people turning up at events also applies to magazines, too. You lot out there are our life-blood, and we need you to keep getting BSH to keep it going through these troubled times, and a subscription not only gets you the magazine more cheaply than you can buy it in the shops (the current offer is six issues for £20 – that’s £3.33 an issue as opposed to the £4.20 it costs in the shops), and delivered straight to your door, but ensures too, that we’ll still be here for you, y’know?

See you next issue… I hope!

FREELANCE CONTRIBUTORS:

GARRY STUART, SIMON EVERETT, BOOTS, WOLF, NEIL HARRIS, ALBIE THE ARTIST, KEVIN BILLING, JOHN O’ HARA, MR BRIDGES, THE LATE JIM FOGG RIP, LOUISE LIMB, SELINA LAVENDER, RICK HULSE

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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 2020 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.

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 £45.00, 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.

WORDS: NIK PICS: SIMON EVERETT

WE HAVE, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, A LOT OF TIME FOR FOLK WHO BUILD THEIR FIRST BIKES, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DID THEM OUT OF LITTLE BIKES, LIKE 125s, BECAUSE, LET’S FACE IT, NONE OF US LOT’RE GETTING ANY YOUNGER, AND WE NEED PEOPLE TO CARRY THE FLAME FORWARD, DON’T WE? 20

MAY 2020

MAY 2020

21

WORDS & PICS: DAVE MANNING

THE TRIP NORTH TO WITTON CASTLE IN WEARDALE, THE VENUE FOR NORTH EAST MAG’S STORMIN’ THE CASTLE, HAS BEEN A FAVOURITE OF MINE FOR MANY YEARS, TRADITIONALLY INVOLVING A DIVERSE SELECTION OF ROADS THAT MEANDER THEIR WAY TO COUNTY DURHAM VIA SOME SPECTACULAR SCENERY, AND A DECENT TRANSPORT CAFÉ OR TWO.

26

MAY 2020

E FRONT BRAK LOOK O N H IT W E O BUILD A BIK G ABOUT THE I’D WANTED T THERE’S JUST SOMETHIN AL SPOOL FRONT – IM FOR A WHILE ET OF FORKS, AND A MIN N, AND THE WAY S O OF A SHAVED ING IN SUBURBAN LOND ORKING IV W WHEEL, BUT L I’VE ALWAYS STUCK WITH , I LIKE TO RIDE EALLY, TWO OF THEM! , ID BRAKES AND

WORDS: NEIL HARRIS PICS: SIMON EVERETT

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MAY 2020

don’t remember where I saw the Fab Kevin, a US-based fabrication shop, dual rear brake set up, which allows you to have two calipers biting on a rear disc, meaning that you can still have two separate braking systems to allow you to be legal and above board, but thought it’d be a good way of achieving the look I wanted without actually having no front brake… if you see what I mean. I couldn’t find anyone else that used the dual caliper set up to ask them how well it’d work (Attitude Cycles in Southampton’ve built a fair few bikes with twin rear caliper set ups. N.), but after I’d shaved a set of Evo’ wide-glide forks of all bracketry (mudguard and caliper mounts) there was no going back really. Worst case, I could always go back to a standard brake set up if it was dangerous.

I got hold of a donor Shovel, a ’70 1200, in March 2018, and got in touch with Briz at Custom Cycle Developments (CCD) up in Norfolk, and booked a slot for him to build me a traditional-style wishbone rigid frame (as used on Mo Co bikes from 1948-54) for a four-speed Shovelhead motor, with no stretch, a 30 degree rake, and to take a sixteen-inch wheel with a 5.00 tyre. This is actually the third frame he’s built for me, and it sits two inches lower than stock, and has a few classic touches to the rear axle plates, and neck, to suit the style of bike I wanted to build – something properly traditional, but not really styled like the retro-choppers so popular these days.

I collected all the parts I’d need (H-D wheels, an old-skool twin-cap teardrop tank, a Bates-style seat, a Panhead oil tank that also holds the battery, a Lowbrow rear mudguard, Shinko whitewalls, and more), and set to. My good friend Steve, who runs the Pied Bull in Farningham, where the long-established VMCC Boxing Day meet’s held, did all the welding I needed doing, but pretty much everything else was done by me. Lots of parts came from swap meets, including the alternator

I

MAY 2020

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