ISSUE 397 MAY 2017 £3.99
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GOOD DAY, ALL WELL WITH YOU, I HOPE?
S
tanding at a bus stop in Rome the other day (kinda glamorous, this BSH life – I’m in Rome, but I’m having to go on a bus), watching the traffic go past, it occurred to me that, for the day or so I’d been in Italy, I’d not heard a single person use their horn to indicate discourteous or dangerous driving by someone else or impatience at other people’s driving – the two reasons car (and bike) horns are used in most cases. And that got me thinking (look, I was waiting for a bus, what else was there to do?) about how often horns are used in this country in big cities – all the blummin’ time. The Italians are, by nature, a hot-blooded and passionate people where men are real men and women are there to be leched at, yet their driving (which I’d been told was terrifying) was nowhere near as bad or inconsiderate as the average British car driver’s. We Brits are, on the other hand, polite and restrained, yet when we get behind the wheel of a car Dr Jekyll turns into Mr Hyde and we’re no longer polite and restrained in the slightest. Do humans then do the opposite of their nature when they drive? Hot-blooded types become calm, and the mild-mannered become psychopaths? Or was it just because there was a taxi strike in Rome that day? ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱ Quite a few years back I was heading up the A11 in Norfolk to visit Chris Ireland in Great Yarmouth. I was on a borrowed ZX-9R, and as I knew the road quite well and traffic was very light, I thought I’d see how fast the big green Kawasaki went. On a stretch with no junctions I wound the throttle right out, tucked down behind the screen, and hung on for grim death. Flat stick in top, the speedo seemed to hang at… well, quite a high number actually so, satisfied that I’d topped it out, I backed off to a more reasonable speed and carried on with my journey a little more sedately. A few miles later, at the junction of the A11 and the A47, there was a very serious police presence, but I wasn’t that concerned as within radar-shot I’d been perhaps only a smidge over the legal limit and so not worth trifling with. I was quite surprised then to be flagged down and waved over to the side where a series of officers were standing about looking particularly stern. The two guardians of all that’s good and lawful who dealt with me were a young
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chap and a much older, more senior, gentleman who looked as though he was quite annoyed that he couldn’t place a black cap on his head and have all these heinous criminals summarily executed on the spot. The younger guy went through the procedure of charging me with the crime of going very fast when I really shouldn’t’ve through a hidden speed trap in a 70mph limit (which, I admit, was a bit of a relief that they hadn’t got me a little further down the road), and I resigned myself to a period of public transport because, as we all know, anything over 100mph is an instant ban. As he finished up the paperwork and prepared to allow me to go, he said: “If it’s any consolation, you’re not the fastest we’ve had through here today.” Knowing that I couldn’t really get in any more trouble than I was already in, I smiled and replied: “Give me ten minutes and I’ll have another go.”
The older copper, who up till this point hadn’t really said anything, absolutely exploded at me. He got so, so angry that spittle started to form at the corners of his mouth, his face turned a very alarming red/purple colour, and then he started clutching at his chest. “Oh expletive deleted,” I thought, “Sod speeding, I’m going to get had up for feckin’ manslaughter!” Thankfully another officer came over at this point to see what all the commotion was about and he and the younger copper managed to get him to sit down in the front of a car and pacify him a little, and the new officer, with a face that’d freeze Hell over for 50 miles in every direction, waved me away on to the road again. I don’t know quite what happened after that, but I did, just to be on the safe side, keep an eye on the regional newspapers, dreading the headline ‘Elderly police officer dies in roadside check, motorcyclist sought for questioning in relation’.
See you next month!
NIK
Di t ib ti b Distribution by M Marketforce k tf UK Ltd Ltd, 5 Ch Churchill hill Pl Place, C Canary Wh Wharf,f LLondon d E14 5HU 5HU. TTel:l 0203 787 9001 9001. P Printed i t db by Willi William Gibb Gibbons and d SSons, W Wolverhampton. l h t ISSN: 02679841. BSH is copyright to Mortons Media Ltd 2017 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 £43.89, 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.
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MAY 2017
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H-D SHOVELHEAD retro Seventies coolness
30
BENELLI CAFE RACER
22
six-cylinder stunner!
36
IRISH BIKE & SCOOTER SHOW
30
the best customs on the Emerald Isle
42 48
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KA KAWASAKI A KII VN750
steampunk vee-twin from the east
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RADICAL BIKE SHOW
the best in Europe gather on the flatlands of France
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AUDI V8 TRIKE terrifyingly powerful, terrifyingly fast!
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YAMAHA FJ1200 CAFE RACER a more modern take on the genre (pictured)
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MOTO GUZZI CHOPPER
steampunked to the max!
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HONDA CX500 CAFE RACER
it might have a brown seat, but don’t hold that against it
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EXCEL LONDON SHOW the first big custom show of the year
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– all that’s new and happening in the custom bike world
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96
a four-part series on paint
–our guide to the best rallies, shows, parties and runs!
114RICK HULSE
– the musings of one of the most eloquent thinkers in bikerdom!
– the details of the 2017 competition
MAY 2017
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Vanguard was set up in 2013 by Edward Jacobs, the lead designer for Confederate Motorcycles from 2005 to 2011 and his business partner, former management consultant Francois-Xavier Terny, who served on Confederate’s board of directors. The company unveiled a running prototype of its first bike, the $30,000 Roadster, in December at the International Motorcycle Show in Manhattan, and expects to start production in 2018 and eventually offer two other models built on the same power-train; the Cruiser and the Racer. Powered by a modified S&S X-Wedge engine, a 117cu in V-twin that, they say, will generate 110ft-lb of torque, using the engine as a stressed-member structural element that enhances the bike’s rigidity and helps keep the weight down. That’s all the info we have at the moment, but you can get more from www. vanguard.nyc
NEW HONDA CMX500 REBEL Honda have unveiled the Rebel – a bobber aimed at younger riders with an A2-friendly 471cc parallel twin engine. The heart of the Rebel is taken from the CBR500R, and retuned for more bottom end torque (44.6nm at 6,000rpm, 44bhp at 8,500, ideal for A2 licence holders), and Honda say the linear power delivery and strong bottom end torque makes it perfect for city riding. Style-wise, the Rebel has been blacked out where possible, with the minimum amount of paint used. It has a low 690mm seat height and mid-mount
controls, and the slim frame has been designed to be as narrow as possible between the rider’s legs. Completing the bobber look is a steeply raked 11-litre fuel tank and fat tyres rolling on 16” cast aluminium wheels. The pillion pad can be taken off easily, the rear footpegs come off too, and there will be a range of tailor-made accessories too. The Rebel will be available in three colours: black, matt silver and red. There’s been no word on UK pricing or availability yet, but you can get more info from www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles
Mudslide Morris and the Revelators play rocking slide and harp-driven blues and boogie, and are fans of Rory Gallagher, RL Burnside, Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. Their brand of rootsy juke joint blues and boogie is equally popular both with folk who know their blues and folk who like to dance. Above all, the Revelators know how to put on a show, whether that’s by executing the kind of toe-tapping boogie that makes you get up and dance, or by Mudslide wandering into the crowd to borrow people’s beer glasses to play slide with. His idiosyncratic guitar collection also excites punters’ interest – this includes cigar box guitars, National Steels, lap steels and one-string Diddley Bows! Get more info on them from Facebook or bairdtothebone@yahoo.co.uk or 07790 646028.
in the friendliest little shop it must have been the stomers cu r me for s, nd frie red land, and over a hund tly when to say farewell recen and neighbours came draising fun al fin e on h shop wit Alli sadly closed the goodbye party in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust. All of us at Back Street Heroes would Matlock Bath ture at South Parade, fea a en be like to wish Alli s n ha ha ox ou Bikers Gearb Alli and Puttie Ch r. be em st rem can ers od friend all the very be for as long as most bik , then Alli and her go ars ye xt 20 n ne ’s tha life re for mo w ran it together for ars ago. Reviews sho Puttie’s death five ye adventure. Helen have run it since
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MAY 2017
BMAD FESTIVAL The BMAD (Bikers Make A Difference) Bike Festival is held on the seafront at Paignton in Devon on 28-30th April, opening at 6pm Friday and 10am Saturday and Sunday, with all the bikes, beer (other refreshments are available) and bands you could wish for. There will be trade stands, two music marquees and all the entertainments this busy seaside resort has to offer, and the highlight of the weekend (for us) will be on Sunday with the BMAD
Bike Show from 11am to 1pm, which this year will also be hosting the first round of the Back Street Heroes Custom Bike Building Competition, so you get two shows in one! There will be a total of ten trophies up for grabs – five categories with cash prizes from BMAD, and another five trophies with the chance to progress to have your bike on display at the NEC in November if you get voted through the Championship. All the information you need about BMAD can be found at www.bmad.co.uk and the info for the Championship can be found elsewhere in the mag.
INTO THE VALLEY
Last issue we told you that Into The Valley was moving for 2017, but we weren’t allowed to tell you where it was. Well, now we can! The new home for the rally will be Home Farm, Sledmere, near Driffield (YO25 3XO), and tickets and more info is available from 0800 988 3199 or www. intothevalley.co.uk
Europe’s best independent annual motorcycle show, on the last Bank Holiday weekend in May, celebrates the creativity of the new-wave and cafe racer custom motorcycle culture, with more than 150 curated custom motorcycles, plus live art, photography, and handmade accessories, alongside selected brands, retailers and exhibitors. Set in London’s historic and beautiful Tobacco Docks, the event is also famous for its superb hospitality with high quality, healthy street food, barista coffee, several proper bars, cigar and whiskey lounges, live music, multiple live tattoo artists, and
Ray Zolla runs Dip Print Hydrographics/Custom Bikes, a new shop down in Truro in Cornwall that does both hydro-dipping and custom bike building, and this is their latest project, built to show off both their hydro-dipping and bike building skills – the Crazy Clown. If you’d like them to do something similar, or completely different, contact them on 07584 622506 or Facebook. They also have access to an excellent photographer, Helen Gadd of Mad Spaniel Photography, so they can offer top-class pics of your pride and joy too. Check out her work on Facebook too.
The National Motorcycle Museum wants to remind you that there’s still time to buy tickets for their unbelievable winter raffle draw. They’re offering a brand new Triumph Thruxton R with factory-fitted Track Racer Kit which will be registered new to the lucky winner in April. Second prize is pretty impressive too – a matching-numbers 1954 AJS Model 18 500, while third prize is a luxury classic weekend break for two people. The draw takes place on Sunday, April 23rd at the International Classic Motorcycle Show, Stafford, and tickets cost just £2 from the museum on 01675 444123 or ordered securely online from www. thenmm.co.uk
a multi-chair traditional barbershop. This is NOT a motorcycle trade fair. You’ll want to hang out all weekend, with plenty of space to chill out and enjoy the crowd, the entertainment and the vibe. Bring your camera, bring your mates, your better halves and the kids too. Every element of this unique and privately run event is hand-picked by the organisers, The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club in Shoreditch. The exhibited bikes are ‘Invitational’ selected from the best bike builders in the UK and Europe, plus special guests from the US, without ropes or barriers to obscure the view or spoil your photos. Every brand, retailer and exhibitor is selected and approved by The Bike Shed – every barista, bartender, burger (or salad-box) and coffee bean is tried and tested, and the organising staff are mostly bike-loving volunteers and members of the BSMC. The event is sponsored by Ohlins, and supported by Rev’It, Triumph, Indian, Ducati, Yamaha and BMW, all exhibiting alongside other manufacturers, probuilders, amateurs and shed-builders alike. For more information and tickets go to their website at www.TheBikeShed.cc
CAN-A AM PROMOTION BRP are launching a new promotion which will provide savings of up to around £1400 for customers buying either a comfort, sport or touring kit from the official accessories line-up for Can-Am Spyder F3s and RTs.
There are six new customising kits available – four for the F3 and F3-S and two for the touring RTs – and details of them all are available from Can-Am dealers or their website at www.uk.brp. com/spyder until 30th April.
C Critically acclaimed tribute act Limehouse Lizzy will headline t he evening entertainment at Santa Pod’s Race, Rock ‘n’ Ride – a high-speed, tyre-screeching weekend of action on the famous h quarter-mile strip. q The weekend-long festival of motorcycling is back for its second yyear at the Bedfordshire track on 20th-21st May, and the worldre enowned Thin Lizzy tribute act is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Adding to the Saturday evening attractions in the Fuelers Bar – all of which are included in the price of a weekend ticket at just £23 – are o West Midlands four-piece alternative rock band Anchors and Alibis, W plus TotalRock DJ Tina Saul. To add to the stellar evening line-up, p Race, Rock ‘n’ Ride boasts an action-packed two days also featuring R the ACU National Drag Bike Championships, death-defying stunt bikes, 270mph rocket bike and club displays. You can grab a bargain or two from trade stands as well. And we at Back Street Heroes will be there playing host to the custom show and the second round of our Custom Bike Building Championship – an awe-inducing array of beautifully crafted machines. For a full list of what’s on over the weekend,, visit racerockride.com.
an riders from America, Jap Two hundred and thirty e rid l wil e, as all over Europ and Australia, as well erda, like Taurus, Ganna, Lav es bik lian legendary Ita rini in Mo d an i nch Bia L, VA , MI Guzzi, Devil, Perugina roads r no mi ng adventure alo a six-leg, 2,000km-long zo. ruz Ab d an a bri Um a, Pugli ite through Tuscany, Lazio, bs we its the run through Keep up to date with to.it at ww w.milanotaran
gest, most exciting, emoration of the lon mm co ic tor his st 31 The ran until 1956, will be cycle marathon, which back-breaking motor a journey on historic ly; the Milan -Taranto, held from 2nd-8th Ju r Italy. motorbikes to discove
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MAY 2017
Freeride is the name of Caberg’s new range of cool open-face helmets with a stylish and vintage look. Made in Italy, they have five rivets on the rim, steel air intakes on the neck, leather details and a goggle holder. A clear visor is included or you can use Caberg vintage goggles which are available as an extra, and the helmets are ready for Caberg Bluetooth devices. There are now two new versions; Rusty and Iron, and this is the Rusty which looks just that – rusty! Made with a tricomposite p shell (Kevlar, ( , fibreglass, g , carbon)) theyy sell for £199.99 from anywhere that stocks the Caberg range or www.cabergcares. co.uk
This new lightweight goggle from Davida is compatible with w all types of open face, jet-style helmets, and the small fra ame of these goggles fits well with the narrower aperture of low-profile helmets, such as the Davida Speedster V3 and Ninety 2, as well as the XS and S sizes in Davida Jet helmets. The clear lenses have anti-fog and scratchresistant coatings, and the high-density comfort foam surround crea ates a dependable wind-tight facemask. The Davida a PMX goggle retailss at £32.20 excluding VAT T, and replacement lenses l are available iin Clear, Yellow, Smoke, Smokke Silver Mirror and Smoke Re ed Revo Mirror. For F more information and to find yo our nearest stockiist see www. davida-helme ets.com
Indian Motorcycle (that’s right, Motorcycle, not Motorcycles) has released a new range of ‘Man Cave’ items to make your garage or living room a more pleasing place to be. There are three designs of metal sign, a wooden barrel sign, a wall clock, six different posters and a garage mat, and all are available to order from your local dealer or www.indianmotorcycle.eu
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MAY 2017
The new Pilgrim Grande has an oil-distressed leather outer with a Hipora lining to keep things dry while TPU ankle support, heel and toe reinforcements, a hard-wearing gearchange pad, and a hard shank sole keeps you solid on the bike. A lug sole, zip and lace fittings and stylised front strap buckle keeps you comfortable and looking good off the bike too. They retail for £129.99 and you can get them from anywhere that stocks the Spada range or www. spadaclothing. co.uk
The F1 range from Oxford Products has improved styling and more expensive materials, and boasts a semi-rigid construction, which both looks and works better on the bike, and allows much easier access to the various compartments. The new rip-stop-style fabric is harder-wearing and is supported by a removable waterproof lining. Every bag also comes with five colour swatches, so you can match the luggage to your bike, and the range has expanded to offer two sizes of pannier, two sizes of tail pack, and four sizes and types of tank bag, including magnetic and strap-on. Prices still start at just £29.99, and you can get them from anywhere that stocks the Oxford products range or www.oxprod.com
T These 43mm upside-down forks are available in mid glide (220mm) and wide glide (252mm), and m are delivered ready to fit, perfectly matching the fe eatures of the model of bike and year. They’re made from CNC’d aluminium billet, a nd have stock rake yokes, and are available for s ingle and dual disc models. They have caliper mounts integrated in the fork leg and accept m s tock 1984-99 calipers, the tubes are available in n chrome or total black, and headlight brackets are included. Get yours from anywhere that stocks the Custom Chrome range or www.customC cchrome-europe.com hrome europe.com
Thesse new alarmed disc locks have e loud (110dB), motionactiva ated sirens, and are availa able with either a Sold Secure e, Motorcycle Gold level 14mm (Alpha XA14), 10mm (Quart z XA10) and 6mm (Quartz XA6) lo ocking pins. Availa able in stainless/black as well ass hi-vis yellow, they cost from £49.99 from anywhere that stocks the O Oxford products range or www.oxpro od.com
Th his superb, professional quality, he eavy-duty tool chest and cabinet is perfect for keeping too ols tidy. The CBB209B 9 Drrawer Chest and CBB217B 7 Drrawer Mobile Cabinet (sold separately from only £137.99) fea ature extra double wall steel co onstruction, big 5” industrial chrome spoked wheels with foot bra akes, rubber grip side handles, exxtra-large chrome steel side handles for easy movement, exxtra-large drawer pulls with
protective anti-slip drawer liners on ball bearing runners for supersmooth sliding action, and safety ‘push-lock’ drawers that stop drawers accidentally opening when tilted. All the drawers lock simultaneously when the top lid is closed too. Available in a range of colours including blue, red, black and gold as well as Clarke Contractor yellow, you can get them or more info from your local Machine Mart or www.machinemart.co.uk
Ogri, the motorcycling anti-hero whose adventures entertained bikers for more than 30 years, is back and bolder than ever, in T-shirt form. Created by cartoonist and illustrator Paul Sample in the early 1970s, the Ogri cartoon strip ran in Bike magazine until 2008 and then in Back Street Heroes until Paul’s retirement in 2012. Sadly, nearly all of the original Ogri artwork was lost but, by borrowing enthusiasts’ shirts to work from, designs have been restored and ‘Stuff Everything – I’ve Always Got My Bike’ is the first of these to be completed and released. Printed in the UK in high quality full colour on a 100% cotton, traditional crew neck, slim fit T-shirt, it’s available in sizes M-XXXL and costs £25 from www.nippynormans.com ppy
These ladies’ bike jeans are comfort-fit cut with slim legs and button/zippe er fly, and an outer made of finest 8.5oz stonewashed stretch denim and a 100% Schoeller-Dynatec abrasion-resistant, windresistant, water-repellent inner. They’re made without rivets which could scratch the bike, and easilyy washable (ironing after increases the water repellence). Delivered in a leatherettte handbag with a free T-shirr t, you can get them from anywhere that stocks the Rokker range or direct from m Rokker themselves at www w. therokkercompany.com