ISSUE 413
£4.20
SEPTEMBER 2018
UK OFFSALE DATE: 06/09/18
clothing
accessories PARTS AND ACCESSORIES FOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES SINCE 1979
A BIKER’S WORK IS NEVER DONE
Pick of the month Lejonkulan saddlebags from Sweden Get it at wwag.com
editor:
NIK SAMSON
nik@backstreetheroes.com 07884 052003 staff writer:
DAVE MANNING
dave@backstreetheroes.com
Pic by Alex
design:
GARETH WILLIAMS publisher:
TIM HARTLEY
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RICK NICHOLS
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freelance contributors: CHARLEY CHARLES, SIWER OHLSSON, WILLIAM SCOTT ARTUS, SIMON EVERETT, WORDS: COLIN STRONG, POPPY STRONG, ROSS MOWBRAY, IAN SHIPLEY, LUKE, FAZERDAZE, MR BRIDGES, SELINA LAVENDER, RICK HULSE editorial address:
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JANE SKAYMAN
jskayman@mortons.co.uk 01507 529423
Independent publisher since 1885 Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine? Why not just ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month? The Professional Publishers Association Member
The modern world seems to be going through an extended period of looking back at days gone by and wishing they were still there. It’s everywhere; everything is about being ‘retro’, isn’t it. Nobody’s looking to the future any more, only back at the past. I don’t know what’s caused this, whether it’s something to do with the political shagwittery of Trump, May, Johnson, Corbyn, Rees-Mogg et al, making folk look back fondly at the days when prime ministers, and their political opposites, weren’t incompetent self-servers, presidents weren’t oversized orange toddlers in expensive suits, and politicians in general weren’t such total buffoons; whether it’s something to do with the pace of technology increasing so fast that most normal people can’t get their heads around the complexities of modern life; whether it’s an underlying worry about the fact that we appear to have seriously buggered up the planet that we live on and no one seems to be, or is capable of, doing anything about it; or something to do with the fact that the majority of the world’s population are sheep, blindly believing and taking as read what the big PR and fashion houses are telling them about what they should wear, what they should like and what they should look like, but it seems that everyone wants it to be any time other than now. In biking, particularly, everything is retro; all the big manufacturers are doing, and selling, retro bikes, retro clothing is the biggest fashion trend, retro styles in customising are huge (cafe racers, flat-trackers, street scramblers, ’60s and ’70s chops), and retro events like The Bike Shed, The Trip Out, Flanders Chopper Bash and the Assembly Chopper Show are more and more being seen as the ones to go to. Retro, whether you like it or not, is in. One of the things I hear all the time these days is about how bike events, hairy-arsed biker events that you and I go to, shows and rallies, are getting smaller. Again, the reasons for this are myriad, but one that seems a likely candidate to me is the sheer number of events every weekend from about Easter to October. Y’see, back in the day, when this was all fields and you could go and leave your front door unlocked, there were only a few small rallies, frequented by slightly odd folk with a tankard fetish, and the four biggies; the Kent Custom Show, the Bulldog Bash, the Rock & Blues and the South & West. Back then, if you wanted to go to a bike bash, they were your choices and because of this they were the size you all remember.
As the years went by, though, more and more smaller bike clubs started to form and they decided to put on their own events, and soon rallies, once the sole preserve of people with beer towels sewn on to the back of their cut-offs, became a much more mainstream activity. The number of events continued to grow and grow and, as I said, there are now a huge number – 85 are listed in this issue for August alone (and that doesn’t include the ones that we haven’t been told about or arrived too late to be included).
And while that’s great in that it means there are events all around the country, and folk who live in the frozen wastes of the north or the mountains and valleys of Wales or the flatlands of East Anglia, don’t have to travel for hours and hours and hours to meet up with likeminded folk and get horribly pissed in a field with them, it also means that events get fewer and fewer people at them. There are, after all, only a finite number of bikers in the land, and when there are lots of events… you can see where I’m coming from, can’t you? To give you an example of what I mean, this coming Sunday as I write this, there are four bike shows within a 40-mile radius of me; one in Thetford, one near Bury St Edmunds, one near Wisbech and one in Ipswich. East Anglia is a good area for bikers and there are a lot of us (it’s the good weather the bit of Britain that looks like its bum gets, I reckon), but even so, there are only so many, so I can almost guarantee that attendance at them will be down as, normally, they don’t all clash.
So what’s the solution to this? Sorry, do I look like I know? I’m just a scruff-bag who likes motorbikes and is lucky enough to piss about with them for a living. Maybe it’ll be something along the lines of Darwinian evolution; a kind o’ survival of the fittest thing going on? The better events’ll survive and flourish, the not so well supported’ll perish? Me, while I can see that things are going to change, whether we like it or not, I’m quite happy that there are so many events on the biker calendar ‘cos it means there’s often one a suitable distance from me that my old Harley can make it to without breaking down… or isn’t too far away to get a lift home from to get the van if it does. See you next month!
NIK
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 2018 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.
TO THE D GET EDITIO IG N S A ITAL STREESEARCH F PP, SIMP LY OR ‘B T HER ACK OES’ APP IN OR O STORE FO THE APP NG LE R iP FOR OOGLE P AD CHEC L AND K OU ROID AY T THE (BA BS H CK ST AND REET FACEBOO TH K AT BAE BSH FAC HEROES) PAGE CK ST E REETBOOK GR THE O FFICIA HERO OUP L GRO ES – UP
THE BE PART OFHEROES BACKSTREET Y COMMUNIT
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BROUGH SUPERIOR BOBBER
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DIAMOND DAY
YES, YOU DID READ THAT RIGHT, A BROUGH SUPERIOR BOBBER!
NCC LONDON’S GRAND DAY OUT
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STEAMPUNK HONDA TRIKE
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STEAM & BIKES SHOW
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40 42 48 52 62
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MADDER THAN A BOX OF FROGS… BIKES AND OLD STEAM ENGINES, EACH AS COOL AS THE OTHER
GPZ750 CHOP
HOME-BUILT WITH LORRYLOADS OF INGENUITY
DOUBLE TROUBLE RALLY
ZIDER AN’ SUNSHINE IN ZUMMERZET
REVTECH CAFE RACER LAMB ENGINEERING PRODUCES ANOTHER MASTERPIECE
VMCC TRAINING DAY
RIDING OLD BIKES, VERY OLD BIKES!
BANDIT CHOPPER
MOST CHOPS WITH ONLY ONE BRAKE HAVE NO FRONT ONE, THIS ONE HAS NO BACK BRAKE!
(ALMOST) A ROADTEST THE NEW HONDA CB 1100RS
BUNKER TRIKE
TAKING SUMMAT CHINESE AND ’ORRIBLE AND MAKING IT LUVVERLY
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BIG BARN RALLY
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SOFTAIL H-D EVO
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ONE OF THE MOST LAID-BACK EVENTS ON THE CIRCUIT OLD’S COOL…
SEPTEMBER 2018
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 12: LETTERS SOUND OFF, ONE, TWO, SOUND OFF, THREE, FOUR! 58: CENTRESPREAD LOUISE LIMB’S LATEST ARTISTIC OFFERING 60: SUBSCRIBE TO BSH - SEE HERE FOR THE BEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS 80: KATANA PROJECT - OUR NEW BUILD IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE PROJECT BIKE BUILD… 84: TECH - BSH’s RESIDENT SPANNER MONKEY TWIRLS HIS IMPLEMENTS… FNURK
88: MR BRIDGES - THE GURU IMPARTS MORE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF MECHANICS 92: MAG NEWS - OUR REGULAR COLUMN BY THE MAG CHAIRNONGENDERSPECIFICPERSON 94: INDIAN LONGTERMER - WOR DAVIE’S BEEN PUTTING THE MILES ON IT 96: EVENTS - YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BEST RALLIES, SHOWS AND PARTIES 100: 2018 BSH CUSTOM BIKE CHAMPS - THE WINNERS FROM THE FARMYARD PARTY! 102: READERS’ LIVES - YOUR PICTURES AND OUR SILLY CAPTIONS... YEAH, SORRY ABOUT THAT 106: SMALLS - SELL YOUR BIKE HERE FOR FREE! 114: RICK HULSE - THE MUSINGS OF ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT THINKERS IN BIKERDOM
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!
Dear BSH,
I’ve read all of Selina from MAG’s articles in BSH, and I really enjoy them. I’ve had lots of bikes since I was 16, and also had driving jobs most of my life – lorry driving since I was 21. I still drive lorries, Class One and Class Two, ride a bike and drive a car, and reckon that, at the ripe young age of 68, motorcycling keeps you young! In July’s BSH, she hit the nail on the head – traffic light phasing actually causes congestion. I did the same journey from Hounslow to Earls Court, along Embankment, Westminster, Tower Hill, Bromley by Bow, and it took two and a half hours, what a joke! I keep seeing, on TV, control rooms where they’re supposed to control traffic flow, so what are they doing? Playing cards or on their smartphones on betting sites, porn sites etc.? The latest public information broadcast on the radio is saying London’s children are dying because they’re breathing in toxic fumes from traffic, the pollen is up above average, while our wonderful Mayor thinks nothing of jetting off halfway round the world to try and sort other countries’ problems out. He obviously doesn’t think we have got enough of our own, despite all the evidence to the contrary... Sorry for the rant… as Selina keeps saying, motorcycles are part of the solution, not the problem. I saw an article somewhere, it might’ve been from the MAG office, saying if you could get one person in every ten out of their cars and on to bikes, there wouldn’t be a traffic problem. Ride safe, ride free.
TED
Dear BSH, Xin Chao (hello) from Vietnam! I’ve just received a bundle of recent BSHs from home and it made me think it was about time I sent you some more pics for Readers’ Wives… err, Lives – just a few this time, including one that would have been good for the Lewd Landmarks of a few years ago. An’ another thing – when I was last in Blighty me and Nik had many speaks about a suitable jacket to deal with the extremes of weather out here, and neither of us could think of one? Well, a mate just brought me out a Wiese Airspin in black and neon, and it’s perfect for riding in a country where the temperature can drop to freezing in the northern mountains, and yet be over 100F in the south. It’s got loads of mesh panels, which help when I’m riding through 100% humidity, but it’s also got a warm removable thermal liner, and it’s waterproof which helps enormously with the tropical storms, floods and typhoons. It’s also got armour that feels thinner, lighter but stronger than my last jacket – useful if I have
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Dear BSH,
My name is Kristy-Lee Gallagher, daughter of Liam Gallagher – no, not that one, the original one! I’m writing to you on behalf of my mum, my younger sister and myself to thank Nik for his editorial in BSH 411. Nik, reading your article about our dad/our Liam both moved us to tears and made us smile – there’s been a lot of that over the past couple of months, I can tell you! We have enjoyed hearing stories of Dad over these past six months or so, and yours was another that we had the pleasure of reading. I know that Frank Thomas informed you of what happened; Dad was diagnosed in January with a tumour in the spine. He fought extremely hard, and his bravery astounded us all. Ironically enough, even though he was the sick one, his courage and his headstrong attitude guided us through this, and led us to believe that our small family of four was strong enough to get through this. We are a very close family, in fact we were known for our ‘mad choices of holidays’ to the German Alps, French Pyrenees and remote islands off the coast of the Baltic, along with many others. Mum and Dad enjoyed many weekends away on the bike at rallies and many travels to foreign places such as Paris and Portugal, and as we grew older we loved hearing stories of their many travels. This is when we realised our Mum and Dad were not only husband and wife, Mum and Dad, but each other’s best friends too. Amy and I came later and from as far back as we remember, Mum and Dad took us to many different countries – they never let having children stop them from their travels, they simply took us along too. Dad introduced us to so many places and so many cultures, and from a young age Amy and I began to dream big, all the while knowing we had our home to come back to at 13 Annesborough Park. We had amazing adventures together, and we will forever cherish them. Not forgetting to mention our trips on Dad’s Harley – I know Frankie enlightened you on the many fights between us as to whose turn it was next on the bike! I think you were right when you said that Dad’d had engine oil in his veins because everything he said and did was filled with such a passion; his excitement and lust for life was simply inspiring to us and to many others I’m sure. As his daughter, I’ve learnt many lessons from my Dad – don’t talk to strangers, don’t drink too much, always do your homework etc. – but I think I, and anyone else who knew Dad, have learnt to live like he did; with his passionate and fiery nature, he made the most of every ounce of life. So thank you again for sharing your story about our dad to all of the bikers who read Back Street Heroes, we really appreciate it. It’s nice to know that they all now have our dad in their hearts, and will continue to think of him when they ride, just like we will. “It’s not the years in our life, it’s the life in our years.”
THE GALLAGHERS It was a privilege to have known him. N.
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!
an off in the chaotic city traffic or on the slippery jungle trails. It may even help in a close encounter with a water buffalo! And one final thing, it looks so damn cool! If this sounds like an ad it’s not meant to be, but I thought it would be useful for anyone planning a trip to somewhere with extreme climatic fluctuations. Anyway, perhaps one day you’ll finally get out here, failing which I’ll see you when I’m next in Europe. Cheers! THE HAWK (Senior tour leader, Hoi An Motorcycle Adventures) One day, mate, one day… N.
DEAR BSH, I’d like to place a note in your mag to say that a club member, and brother, of ours, Pete Welland, passed away recently following a long battle with liver cancer. I’d like to say a very big thank you to all of the UK MC clubs who’ve supported and knew Pete – a massive thank you from all at The End MC and Dawn, his wife. MARK, The End MC, Hampshire Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend and brother. Condolences to his family and friends from all of us here at BSH. N.
IF YOU THINK EVERYDAY LIFE IS TOO BORING, YOU CAN ALWAYS ESCAPE TO YOUR OWN PRIVATE ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE...
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SEPTEMBER 2018
ES Y CH A R L C H A R LE : S D R O W SO N ER OHL S PICS: SIW
SEPTEMBER 2018
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HE RODE IT JUST 50 METRES TO CHECK EVERYTHING FUNCTIONED PERFECTLY, THEN ROLLED IT INTO HIS MUSEUM . . .
ENGINE: 1986 Honda CBX750, one-off exhausts FRAME: Modified 1986 Honda CBX750, one-off trike back end FRONT END: 1980s H-D wheel, modified Honda CBX750 forks/ yokes, one-off steering mechanism REAR END: Oneoff trike conversion, unknown wheels BODYWORK: All one-off by owner ELECTRICS: Owner PAINT: Yes POLISHING: Some ENGINEERING: Owner
invented in the 1920s by the Soviet scientist Professor Léon Theremin, which is played by moving your empty hands in the magnetic field above the machine itself. Among those who’ve tried playing the theremin are such luminaries as Jimmy Page, Brian Jones and… err, Hannibal Lecter. Petri’s signal generator is activated by a motion detector created with the help of a company called Olegtron.
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If there was ever a dude who’d rather build bikes than ride them, it’s Petri; when he was finished spannering, he rode it just 50 metres to check everything functioned perfectly, then rolled it into his museum with the rest of his big collection to start the next project. After our photo session it’ll probably never eat asphalt again. “Riding my motorcycles is so boring!” he comments in his heavily accented English. Hmm, I think there are a few out there who might disagree…
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accessories
clothing
CAFE CULTURE 2018
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