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NIK SAMSON

nik@backstreetheroes.com 07884 052003 staff writer:

DAVE MANNING

dave@backstreetheroes.com

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JANE SKAYMAN

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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

You know how you joke about stuff with your friends and loved ones, but actually mean it at the same time? Me, I’ve always said that there’re three things that I’ll never do, as to do so would be an admission that I’ve got old, and until I do so I’m still young… even if the creaks and aches in my knees, hips and back are a constant reminder that, as they say in a thousand Tolkeinesque fantasy novels, 50 summers’ve come and gone. Those three things are, in no particular order, wear slippers, listen to Radio Two and, I’m sure this next statement will cause a number of folk to see their arses big style (to use the vernacular), own a Harley. No, don’t throw the magazine down in disgust, let me explain… Y’see, when I was a kid, before I got into bikes, only old people wore slippers. I wasn’t an old person so I wasn’t going to wear them (and so I spent a lot of time with very cold feet as we lived in a lot of old cottages without much in the way of heating…). Similarly, as I got older, I listened to Radio One cos that’s what young people did, never Radio Two cos only old people (as in my mum and dad and anyone over about 35) listened to Radio Two.

broadened away from the proto-fighters of the early ‘80s towards more ‘custom’-styled bikes, helped no end by the influence of this new magazine that we were all buying; Back Street Heroes, I think it was called? And, as the years went by, BSH had more and more of an influence on me, and while I did, and still do, like bikes that went/go fast, terrifyingly fast, I also started to more appreciate choppers of all kinds. The pinnacle of chop building was, and always has been as far as I’m concerned, the simple and straightforward minimalist Harley, and while I’ve never really had an inclination (well, until the last couple of years anyway) to own a stock example of the MoCo’s output, there’ve been a number of H-D customs over the years that I’ve absolutely lusted over.

And Harleys? Well, it’s to do with my getting into bikes One of these was the little ’42 Flathead 45 that in the early Eighties and the influences that acted upon Caz Carroll, the guy who was editor of BSH when me. My local bikers’ pub, the sadly long defunct Rising I first started full-time back ‘in 94, built with the Sun in Newmarket in Suffolk, was a hot-bed of Jap fours, help and knowledge of a host of the luminaries of plus a few old Brits and only the occasional Ironhead the time (including a Mr P. Piper Esquire… wonder or Shovelhead Harley. Us spotty yoofs with our ‘peds whatever happened to him?). It was done as a and, later, 125s who hung around the periphery looked magazine project bike over a number of years, and up to the guys with the big Zeds and GS Suzukis, and the finished bike was a cracking little beast with a dreamt of the day when, having passed our tests and classic black ‘n’ flames paint scheme. scrounged together enough money to buy one, we too could walk proudly into the Sun with ‘Z1000 MKII’ or A few months ago, Caz, who I’ve been Facebook ‘Z1000J’ or GS1000E’ or ‘CB1100’ painted in white on friends with for years, announced to the world that the bottom of the back of our leather jackets. he’d found something he desperately wanted to buy and needed to sell off a few of his toys to fund the Films like Stone and the original Mad Max helped too, purchase, and one of these was his Harley. My hopes and we read Superbike magazine and Performance soared cos I’d dearly love to own that little chop, but Bikes for their devil-may-care attitude (in the days suspected it would be way out of my price range, and before mainstream mags became obsessed with after agonising over it for a couple of days, sent him 600cc group tests and dressing in fluorescent leather a message asking how much he wanted for it, figuring baby grows) and, in PB, the Back Page Specials (the that if it wasn’t too heart-stopping, I might be able forerunner, if you like, of Streetfighters magazine). to do some serious credit card juggling. We spoke Bike magazine had Ogri, which was a bit Seventies back and forth on Messenger for a few days, and the for us, but then it also had Bloodrunners which, with upshot was that he very kindly agreed to let me have its turbo/nitrous fantasy superbikes and sex ‘n’ drugs it for a very reasonable sum on the condition that (a) ‘n’ lawlessness, was much more up our street. I promised to keep it and love it and hug it and call it Harleys, when they did appear, were, in our eyes, ‘George’ (well, okay, maybe not actually George), and old-fashioned, oily things that didn’t go very fast (b) put it back on the road and use it. He quite liked and broke down a lot. Harley chops, on their even the continuity of an ex-BSH project build going from an rarer appearances, were cool though cos they ex-BSH editor to the current BSH editor, and I’m only were different, weird with their long forks, no rear too happy to stick to those conditions. suspension and intricately painted tanks, but cool So that’s how 34, nearly 35, years after I got my first nonetheless, and ridden by gnarly-looking older bike on the road (a Suzuki X1, if you were wondering), guys who were a little bit scary. I’ve now got my first Harley. By the time you read this, it Then, with the launch of the Evolution engine should be running and MoT’d, so if you see a short, fat in 1984, H-Ds started to become more bloke wobbling along on a black ‘n’ flames Harley chop plentiful. They were out of our price range, (hand-change and foot-clutch!), giss a wave? (You won’t though, way out, and we continued to ride the necessarily get one back – as I said, hand-change and Japs that our pockets could afford, and left foot-clutch!) the Harleys to the older generation who Guess I’d better buy some slippers now then, eh? could. As we got older our interests

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 £40.00, 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.

S&S EVO BOBBER

AGNELLOTREFFEN

24 34 36

THE FINE ART OF BUILDING A BIKE BY BARTER… (pictured)

CAMPING UP AN ITALIAN MOUNTAIN IN WINTER!

125s THE LAST PART OF OUR ROUND-UP OF THE BEST NEW 125s DEVON KNOWS HOW THEY MAKE IT SO GROOVY…

1200 BANDIT CHOPPER BUELL CAFE RACER ADDING TO ITS INHERENT BUELLNESS

JUNE 2018

DUCATI FLATTRACKER

CAPABLE OF GOING FECKIN’ FAST… AND SIDEWAYS

YER TIZ RALLY

RIDDEN HARD, DAMNED HARD!

COPDOCK MOTORCYCLE SHOW

BUMTOBERFEST

DID JOHN FIX THE PIRATE’S PENIS MUZZLE?

MAD MAX FAT BOB

REVTECH BOMBER BIKE

MOTs

BRIGHTONA

112 BOSUN’S BIKE BASH

A TRIBUTE TO BRITAIN’S FINEST

GPZ750 CHOP

GIRDERS AND ATTITUDE BY THE BUCKET-LOAD!

EVEN THE RAIN DIDN’T REALLY DAMPEN THINGS

SMALLER, BUT JUST INTIMATE

BONNIE BOBBER

A CLASSIC IN EVERY WAY

SHINY AND CHROME… WELL, BRASS ANYWAY

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING YOUR BIKE MOT’D! SUNSHINE AND SICKLES IN SUSSEX ON THE FIRST SUNNY SATURDAY OF THE SEASON

BACBE PA KS RT CO TREE OF TH M M T HE E U N RO I T Y ES

6 OPENFACED

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

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96 MR BRIDGES’ MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

106 READERS’

102 MAG NEWS

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TO G THE DIGET IT TAL EDITION S SEARCH APP, SIMPLY FOR ‘BA STREET CK HER APP STOOES’ IN THE AP PLE R E FO OR ON GOOGL R iPAD E PLA FOR AN DROID Y CHECK OUT TH (BACK S E BSH FACEBO O TREET H AND TH EROES) K PAGE EB AT BACKSH FACEBOOK G S THE OF TREET HEROE ROUP S FICIAL G ROUP –

104 2018 BSH CUSTOM 122 RICK HULSE BIKE CHAMPS

ALL THE GEN’ ON THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION

THE MUSINGS OF ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT THINKERS IN BIKERDOM!

JUNE 2018

FARMYARD PARTY The big news for this year’s Farmyard Party is that the Big Top is back! The Farmyard, held at Duncombe Park in Helmsley (which, I don’t really need to tell you, is in Yorkshire), is held on 80 acres of pastureland separated into three huge grass fields (two for camping, one with campfires and one without, and the main entertainment field) with four large marquees playing different types of music; the Big Top main stage, the Riders’ Right marquee, Crusties bar (open until 4am), and the Blues Tent. More than 30 bands and acts will be performing, and there’s the usual Smacked Arse comedy show on Saturday afternoon with some of the country’s best up-and-coming comics. There’s also the BSHsponsored custom show on Saturday afternoon too, including a round of our Custom Bike Championship (see the ad towards the back of the mag). Tickets cost £37 in advance (plus an extra fiver if you want to arrive on the Thursday night), and you can get them, and more info, from the event website at www. magicactiononline. g co.uk

The Malle Mile, the combined custom and hill-climb event held in the grounds of Kevington Hall in London, billed as ‘the greatest and most inappropriate motorcycle race in the country’, is back for the weekend of 29th June-1st July. It’s a celebration of the motorcycle in all forms, with a non-stop programme of very inappropriate motorcycle racing, including a sprint, a hill-climb, and motopolo, and there are classes for novices, lightweights (scooters, mopeds and bikes under 200cc), vintage scramblers, classics (pre ’76), electric bikes, ladies and customs. There’s also live music, a custom exhibition, brand retail/exhibitions, and the now legendary Mile after-party. Tickets cost from £40 for a day pass or £75 for a weekend, and you can get more info from www.mallelondon.com

2018 WEMOTO IOM T-SHIRT

BREAKFAST AT THE BREWERY Breakfast at the Brewery is a new car and bike meet that’s being held on the third Sunday of every month (until September) from 9am till 1pm at Lymestone Brewery, Mount Road, Stone, Staffordshire (ST15 8LL). All are welcome… except perhaps grumpy gets who shouldn’t be up that early.

RAW STEEL BANDIT/GSX-R FRAMES Raw Steel Choppers are offering a new budget hardtail frame to suit Suzuki Bandit/GSX-R engines. The new frame accepts large fuel tanks, has good ground clearance for under-frame exhaust pipes, ample chain adjustment, and enough room to get the engine in and out with ease. It’s made in-house from seamless CDS tube, jig built, and TIG welded to a high standard, and will be a great chassis for shed builders who want to build a minimal-fuss chop. The frame will be sold at £595 (excluding delivery), plus another £80 for engine mounts if you need them, and will be made as soon as they receive a batch of 10 orders.

JUNE 2018

Wemoto has raised more than £48,000 for the Manx Grand Prix Supporters’ Club, a charity which helps to fund the life-saving helicopter ambulances on practice and race days during the Manx Grand Prix, and supports injured riders and their families, as well as donating money to help with medical equipment, through the sale of its Festival of Jurby T-shirt each year, and this year, it wants to raise more. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Mike Hailwood’s ood s comeback to mainstream motorcycle racing and remarkable e win at the Formulla 1 TT on the Isle of Man, an nd this year’ss T-shirt design celebrattes his achieve ement. Theyy’re available to buyy for just £10 fro om www. wemo oto.com or in limited numb bers at this year’s festival.

A 50% deposit is required when ordering with full payment due on completion. To get yours ring Raw Steel Choppers on 01371 870907 or go to www.rawsteelchoppers.co.uk

Triumph is pleased to announce the UK OTR (on the road) pricing for the new Bonneville Speedmaster at £11,650 with a Jet Black tank as standard, and £125 extra for the Cranberry Red, and £300 for the Jet Black/ Fusion White option. Get more info from your local Triumph dealer or www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk

The Airbrush Company Ltd is offering a valet service for your airbrush, to help keep professionals’ airbrushes in tip-top condition and recondition any old airbrushes you may have laying around in a drawer that need cleaning and servicing. Simply send your airbrush to them for a professional clean

and service to get it ready for use like it’s new again. Your airbrush’ll be returned to you with after-care instructions, helping you to keep it clean and ready for action. Prices start at £40 plus parts, and you can get more info from The Airbrush Company at www. airbrushes.com

PRESCOTT RESCHEDULED The Prescott Bike Festival, which was due to take place over the weekend of 14-15th April, was postponed due to adverse ground conditions. The event is the biggest annual fundraiser for the charity Blood Bikes, and so has been rescheduled for 16-17th June. All advance ticket holders, Run the Hill entries, competition

winners and exhibitors will be contacted by the organisers directly via email, but if you have any queries in the meantime, use the Contact Us form on their website at www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk If you’d like to attend, you can buy prebook tickets via the website (see it for prices) or you can buy one (or as many as you like really) on the gate too.

As we said last issue, the biggest display of custom motorcycles in the land, Bike Shed London, is being held on the last Bank Holiday weekend in May, at Tobacco Dock, Wapping Lane, St Katharine’s & Wapping, London (E1W 2SF). The show attracts more than 200 stunning customs – choppers, bobbers, flat-trackers, cafe racers, streetscramblers, streetfighters, and more – from all over the UK and Europe, all displayed in a manner that’s relaxed and conducive to having a good poke round. There’s also art, photography, live music, 35,000 Miles is a new attempt by a young rider to beat the record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the world on a motorcycle. Henry Crew is just 22 (the previous youngest person was 23 years and 365 days… isn’t that 24?), and is using a Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled for the attempt. He’s also raising money for The Movember Foundation, the only charity in the world that deals with men’s health issues (prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention). You can follow his progress on his website at www.35000miles.com and you can donate to The Movember Foundation there too.

bars, lounges, a whisky bar, a cigar lounge, a barber shop, tattooists and much more. There’s a press/VIP preview event on the Friday from 7pm until 11pm with limited public tickets available (£30 in advance, includes entry for the Saturday and Sunday too), and the show itself is open from 10am to 8pm Saturday and 10am to 6pm Sunday and tickets cost £20 prebook for the weekend or £23 on the door. You’ll probably need to come both days to be able to see everything at a relaxed pace cos, judging by last year’s event, there’s just so much to see (I was there for three days last year and I’m still not convinced I saw it all…). And, as we said, us lot at BSH are going to be there too with a couple of suitably funky custom bikes (Destiny Cycles’ incredible Rose Tattoo and the newly finished GSX600 project bike that Mr Bridges has been building in the mag) and a range of goodies and offers. We’ll have a stand at which we’ll be lounging about all nonchalant-like, and we’ll be taking pics for the mag too so come up and say hello. For tickets or more info on Bike Shed London surf on over to the website at www.thebikeshed.cc JUNE 2018

CABERG DROID IRON

CUSTOMIZING G YOUR MOTORCYCLE Customizing Your Motorcycle – ShedBuilt to Show Bike by Chris Daniels is a new 176-page hardback book with 409 colour photographs that provides clear and practical advice, and introduces the reader to the techniques and processes needed to customise any motorcycle. Projects demonstrate how to make custom parts, while examples of custom bikes built by the author show how they are designed and put together. The book has an introduction to the main styles on which today’s custom scene was founded, and covers choosing a suitable bike and how to make decisions when buying second-hand, workshop setup and tools, components of a bike and custom part, basic improvements and the essential maintenance to make a safe and usable bike, modifying frames and building seats, tanks and other components, and welding, cleaning and preparation for painting. It costs £25 from all good bookshops or online retailers.

BILLYBOY PRIMARY COVERS The Billy Boy primary cover for selected Harley-Davidsons moves your bike back to the past with a vintage steel tin appearance. It fits Softail Evo and Twin Cams with mid-controls (1989-2005), Softail Twin Cams with forward controls (200717), and Dyna Twin Cams with midcontrols (2006-17), and comes in a choice of raw or in

black finishes (raw versions come with a chromed derby cover, black versions are all black). Get yours, or more info, from your local Custom Chrome dealer or www.customchromeeurope. com

Motorworks have developed this turntable after years of struggling to find a robust and effective one on the market. It uses a fully serviceable 46cm ball bearing race and has a 42cm diameter tread-plate platform; heat-treated replaceable feet keep the solid base off the floor so minor irregularities are not a problem, and overall height is only 25mm so lifting your bike on to the stand is straightforward. It’s advisable to check the width of your centre-stand (it’s actually intended for older bikes with centre-

JUNE 2018

The Droid Iron is the latest flip pffront nt helm helmet from Caberg, and is both up-to-date d t and funkyfu looking, and built to the usual high Caberg standards. Finished in a colour scheme that’s reminiscent of patina’d metal (not so much rusty as bare

and slight scuffed), it has a dropdown sun visor, an anti-fog visor, internal pockets for Bluetooth or musical headphones, an easy-touse flipper button, and a quickrelease strap catch, as well as all the usual modern-day helmet wossnames. It looks pretty damn cool too, and is very comfortable, and not particularly noisy for a flip-front. Available in sizes X XS-XL, it costs £224.99 from m anywhere that stocks the Caberg range or www. caberg gcarre es. co.uk k

OXFORD JERICHO HIGH-TOP TRAINERS These new Jericho high-top trainer-style boots from Oxford are comfortable, protective and stylish, and are made from leather and wax cotton, and constructed with a waterproof membrane and lace closure to help keep your feet dry. They have a reinforced sole, toe and heel for safety too. Available in three colours (brown/white, brown, and black), they cost £79.99 from anywhere that stocks the Oxford Products range or www. oxfordproducts com oxfordproducts.com

stands, but the more enterprising of you will easily work out how use with it with a side-stand) before ordering, but there aren’t many bikes it won’t accommodate, and it makes turning a bike round in a limited space a doddle. It costs £135 from Motorworks on 01484 340123 or www. motorworks.co.uk

Designed and made in Italy, the Bitubo WME series nitrogen-filled hydraulic shocks improve riding comfort and vehicle control, and are

Motherwell’s luggage rack for rear mudguards is available in black or silver, and is about six inches long – ideal for bungeeing a tent or bag on to. The sleek style follows the contours of the mudguard, and its simple, easy-on, easy-off mounting system means there’s no need for expensive mounting hardware.

fully adjustable for spring preload and rebound. Shock spring covers are available as an accessory too. They fit most Dyna and Sportster models and are available at your local Zodiac dealer or from www.zodiac.nl

It’s d designed d to fi fit the h H-D Dyna Low Rider S, but there may be other applications too, or you could use it as part of a custom project. Get yours, or more info, from your local Custom Chrome dealer or www.custom-chromeeurope.com These billet aluminum LED lights are only 2cm in diameter and just 3.7cm wide and long, and are available as either turn signals (indicators) or combined turn/tail/brake lights. Sold in sets of two, they’re available at your Zodiac dealer or through www.zodiac.nl

BATES BAJA HEADLIGHTS S

If you’re building a scrambler-style bike, then this could be just the headlight for you. These new Bates Baja a headlights are avvailable in matt black or chrome, b and come with lamp insert, stoneguard mesh and mounting block. They use an H4 bulb, and measure e 168mm (6.6 inches)), and you can get the a em frrom anywhere that sstocks the W&W Cycles range e– check out w www.wwag.com to find your nearest stocckist.

JUNE 2018

MAGURA 167 MASTER-CYLINDER Origiinally introd duced for offf-road use, tthe Mag gura 167 is now available with a larger diameter 13mm piston, suitable for road bikes with single piston calipers. Its modern design fe eatures a compact one-piece aluminiium cylind der and reservo oir, with a forged alloy lever blade and impro oved reach adjustment. dj A rubber cap protects the cylinder and lever blade pivot against the elements, and the lever is break

optimised, so that, even if it’s damaged in a crash, it will still be operable. Simple to fit, with a ffolding ldi clamp, l the 167 th is designed for use with mineral oil or brake fluid, and it costs from £203.78 (clutch cylinders start at £156.95) from www.venhill.co.uk or 01306 885111.

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,

As a biker, subscriber and long-term reader of BSH living in Norfolk, I was just reading Nik’s editorial in issue 408 about him crossing everything regarding the blanket of snow over the country at the beginning of March. Well, it’s the last day of February and I’ve probably no need to tell you how deep the snow is, but my wife has just pointed out that technically he’s okay as March isn’t here until tomorrow.

TONY

Dear BSH, Just felt like sending a few words while on my four days off. Had to giggle at the first few lines of Nik’s editorial in issue 408; good save at the end of the paragraph though, mate, “the country isn’t under a blanket of snow”, while I’m sat on the settee reading the mag with two pairs of thick socks on, thermal long johns under my jeans, and various layers on the top half. Outside is around 1.5 inches of hardened snow, and a few drifts now due to winds of around 35mph. I actually ventured to the garage yesterday

– that lasted around two minutes until my aching 54-year-old body decided bollox! Mind you, being honest, sitting here layered up is because, basically, I’m too tight to turn the heating up – that’ll happen when the wife comes home and will make it so bloody warm it’ll be tropical! Second giggle came from Grumpy Old Git’s letter on (unlucky) page 13, regarding ‘hipsters’. Quick add-up of their apparel cost – £710! I’m not even looking to spend that on my next project build!

ANDY, SNOWY CUMBRIA

Dear BSH,

I’m so glad to see a part in issue 409 about 125cc bikes and learners. I did my CBT at 34 years old, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve been riding for a year now, and it’s also brought me and my son closer, working on my bike. It’s only a Sinnis Cruisestar, but we’ve done a lot of work, and I love it. (The word ‘DAMP’ on the tank stands for my children – Demmi, Abbi, Miles and Phoebe.) Thanks again to everyone at BSH for looking out for us learners.

JOHN BURKE

Dear BSH,

Sadly, bikers of the West Midlands have lost a lifetime disciple in Steve ‘Kim’ Gough, who left us early in January 2018 – he was taken early in his prime to pursue his need for speed along the highway of the skies. He leaves a brokenhearted family; Alison, Craig and Teri, and a load of friends, but the Pocket Rocket, fuelled by tea, will smile down, free from pain, on us all, steering his metal steed into Valhalla and beyond. The lad is a sadly missed biker but, above all, one of the good guys who lived bikes all his years. An icon to all who knew him, he also was an accomplished banger driver, and to know the grumpy git was to love him. Sadly Kim joins John Warr, another local icon to leave us when a higher power called, and I must thank BSH for doing them proud in the publication.

CHRIS NEWTON

JUNE 2018

DEAR BSH, I just gotta reply to your Star Letter in the April issue… Hello Grumpy Ol’ Git. I’m on my third 20th birthday this month, and I’ve been riding since ’74 (11 years of those without a car) so, like you, I’ve been around the block. Like you I wore and still wear checkshirts etc. Now I agree, that popularity pushes up prices (just look at the prices them greedy ol’ buggers are asking for half knackered Brit bikes!), but you can still get cheap tees at Primark, cheap boots at army surplus, and cheap check-shirts on the market stalls – no one forces you to buy Dickies or Deus Ex Machina stuff. It’s our age group that seem to be rockin’ (sorry, I mean wearing) the ear plugs and hi-vis. Anyway, that’s your business, not mine. Young folk speaking in Americanisms, really? There are worse things, buddy (sorry, I mean ‘mate’). Just wanted to say that, apparently, the Buddha said your environment reflects your outlook, so be happy, dude! (Sorry, I mean Mr). Anyway, a recent trip to Royal Marines Lympston convinced me just how awesome (sorry, I mean great) our young people can be; polite, welcoming and happy. So here’s the thing; next time someone, young or old, posh or poor, pays you respect and compliments your bike, don’t think ‘prat’. We plant seeds without realising. I found out that a kid watching me rebuild my bike grew up to become a Harley engineer and drag racer in Australia, and he said it was because of watching me. I did that rebuild with the help of the old Jaguar bloke across the way giving me advice that wasn’t in the Haynes manual. Wouldn’t you like to be remembered as that tough ol’ bastid with a heart of gold who was always on hand with a friendly smile and some help, rather than Victor Meldrew on a bike? Anyway, I’m off to get a decent coffee (who’d have thought barristers would have to work in cafes to make ends meet?). Hope I don’t ride off the edge of the earth, I’ve been told it’s flat. By the way, my first bike was a twist-n-go Puch Maxi, but if we ever meet (partly because I’ve got the feeling you’re my old English teacher) I won’t pop a cap, or anything else, in yo’ ass, I’ll buy you a beer. Peace and love.

SAUSAGE, 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!

Dear BSH, I’ve just purchased a copy of April’s BSH and I’m pleasantly surprised to see that the magazine’s as good as it was many years ago when I was an annual subscriber and regular face at all the shows and rallies before my family duties changed, and the bikes had to take second stage for a while. Now being stuck in HMP Berwyn for a few years, thanks to West Mercia Police Force, it will be a bit longer, but shit happens. Anyway, back to BSH; I thought the article on the 125 learner bikes was shit hot, and I’m sure if these were about when I was that age, there’d be a lot more bikers about now. There’s been a massive decline in the interest of young blood coming into the motorcycle world, so I think that any help addressing this problem is a good thing. Just in my local town of Shrewsbury, you can see the lack of leather jackets in pubs, and the Yorkshire House, which always had rows of bikes outside, doesn’t have them now. Have we all got old and boring? I think not, so come on, let’s get it sorted. The magazine and the articles

were shit hot and a good read, and it’s been handed around the veterans’ wing more than this month’s Razzle. But where are the smalls ads? Have they gone online or just not about? I bought and sold several bikes in there, and there were all the other strange ads as well. The other good thing to see was that all the classic shows like the Rock and Blues, Stormin’ the Castle and many others are still going, and new ones’ve popped up. I was a regular at all these, and I was a regular at the TT every year. I was at the Lido when BSH had the custom show, and I won Best Rat with a shitty Honda 250 Dream, to most people’s disgust. I still have the trophy and sweatshirt in a cabinet; sad, aren’t I? Anyway keep up the good work, you have a good magazine and you’ve made several old bikers’ day. Cheers!

SLUG & ALL THE ‘VETS’ AT HMP BERWYN “…it’s been handed around the veterans’ wing more than this month’s Razzle…” – that’s probably the best compliment we’ve had in years! Cheers! N.