Back Street Heroes October 2016 preview

ISSUE 390 OCT 2016 £3.99

REGULARS 6OPENFACED

– all that’s new and happening in the custom bike world

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LETTERS – have

your say about ... well, owt really!

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SUBSCRIBE TO BSH – see here for the

best subscription offers

– checking your bike over before the MoT can save a lot of grief

DESERT 92PROJECT RACER – cutting down exhaust cans for beginners

96EVENTS

–our guide to the best rallies, shows, parties and runs!

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100READERS’ LIVES

Billy rides the Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber

– four pages of your pictures and our silly captions ... yeah, sorry about that.

78MAG NEWS

– our regular column by the MAG chairman

105SMALLS

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113NEXT MONTH

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114RICK HULSE

(ALMOST A) ROAD TEST – Our

PROJECT STREET MUTANT – part three

of our new Yamaha XSR900 project

PROJECT RAT ROD – tanks (plural),

seat (singular), gear-change (plural) n’ stuff!

TO GET AL IT THE DIGP, SIMPLY P A S EDITIONH FOR ‘BACKHE SEARC EROES’ IN T AD IP TH STREE PP STORE FOR Y A LA APPLE ON GOOGLE P OR DROID PAGE FOR AN OK CEBO ) ES E BSH FA OUT TH T HERO P CHECK(BACK STREE K GROU CEBOOROES – FA H S EB HE AND THACK STREET GROUP AT B FICIAL THE OF

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MR BRIDGES’ 88 MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

BACK STREET HEROES OCTOBER 2016

for free!

– sell your bike here

–what’s in the mag next month … obviously!

– the musings of one of the most eloquent thinkers in bikerdom!

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550 ZEPHYR CHOPPER

the cover bike in all its glory!

FARMYARD PARTY

30 years of partying like there’s no tomorrow!

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T140 BONNIE BOBBER

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HONDA SHADOW & 883 SPORTSTER

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the first of the two Red Max Speed Shop bikes we’ve got for you

home-built and glorious

REVTECH 125

horror-themed Harley

BIG BIKE SUNDAY

classic and custom bikes in West Yorkshire? Eee, it were grand!

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DIAMOND DAY

NCC SUFFOLK SHOW

it might be a backwater, but the bikes are class!

W650 KAWASAKI

the first full build from a new shop that’s going places

ROCK & BIKE FEST

twenty seven bands over one weekend? And fifteen bike show categories? That’s a lot to cram into one weekend!

THE BSH CUSTOM BIKE BUILDING CHAMPIONSHIP vote for the best bikes in the land!

BULLFROG BASH

old show gets a new name and a makeover

the NCC’s major London bunfight

THE RIDE (pictured)

Sailor Jerry’s custom bike competition for 2016

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WORDS & PICS: FD

THIRTY GLORIOUS, SUNNY, MUDDY, FUNFILLED YEARS… AND THIS ONE WAS NO DIFFERENT! A BIT OF DRIZZLE, SOME NICE SUNSHINE, CRACKING BANDS, A SIDESPLITTING COMEDY SHOW AND A MASSIVE TURNOUT FOR THE CUSTOM SHOW!

FARMYARD PARTY Y

ou’ve got to hand it to the guys and gals at Magic Action Promotions who create the Farmyard Party – and that’s what they do; from a bare grass field they create a massive party for a long weekend in the middle of June each year. Thirty years they’ve been doing this, all for your pleasure and enjoyment, and to raise valuable funds to support MAG, of course.

Crustie’s Bar opened to pull the first pints at 11am on Friday and the first music started to drift across the site from the Blues marquee, setting the mood for a lovely chilled weekend of drunkenness and debauchery. I did my usual zig-zagging around the site trying to see a bit of everything, starting with Phoenix Rising who were belting out all my classic rock faves on the BSH stage, then Steve

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BACK STREET HEROES OCTOBER 2016

Fulsham’s guitar lured me into the Blues bar, back across the site to catch Rubicon, then back again for Slade UK. There is just so much good music at this event it’s almost impossible to choose.

Once the sun had burned off the morning

WORDS: NIK PHOTOS: HORST R OSLER

e as o a e

o

This year, and to confuse everybody, it was both, more than once, and in the same hour. Cheers Michael Fish, you bastard. Keeping the faith was the order of the day and eventually, the sun, yet again, shone on the righteous.

There were a few bikes especially that caught my attention, and one was a stunning little Jawa 350 which, unfortunately, didn’t enter our show as he didn’t realise that he had to let us know that he wanted to enter. Luckily, and I’ll explain later why, he entered the BSH competition. Another was a blue and white hardtail Triumph, which did enter but didn’t win. Finally, a stunning

little TriBSA was a serious contender for Best Classic which, sadly, didn’t win either. Just proves, what the hell do I know?

The judges did their job, had a good think and chose the following as winners: Best Trike went to Tony from NCC Northants on his gorgeous Destiny Cycles creation; Best Streetfighter to Andy K from NCC South Bucks on his Bandit; Best Engineering to Roy Gilbey on his potty white XV1000; Best Paint to Frank from NCC Herts with his amazing Iron Maiden-inspired ‘Prisoner’ Harley; Best Classic to Damen on his Knucklehead; Best Chopper to Buster’s Harley; and then there was another double winner again this year – the young, virile and short, terribly short, Grub, from NCC Lincs with his bronze, big-wheeled Sportster-based behemoth, who won our unique Best New Chop section and Best in Show too. Both trophies were well deserved.

After we’d given out our trophies, Nik reappeared and presented the

magazine’s awards to its also worthy recipients. These were judged separately, by BSH itself, and were won

by Grub (Best Custom), Buster (Best Chopper), Frank (Best Paint), Matt with the Jawa (New School), and Roy (Best Engineering). Four out of five the same as us – the man obviously has similar taste.

We’d like to thank all of the other NCC members for their continued support, the London Old Ladies for their help, Mark and Nick from The Ace for their prize giving, and BSH for enabling us to be involved with the event. It was a cracking day!

OCTOBER 2016 BACK STREET HEROES

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OM ING CUSTE IV R H T A TL NS MES OW D THE LIT OWEN JAPONTYPRIDD AN N THESE SHOP IN THAT YOU SEE O IT OF STUNNERAS THE FIRST FRUP. IT PAGES W UR IN THAT SHO AT HIS LABOLL START OUT THD DIDN’T A UGH; HE NEEDE P WAY THOE TO TAKE A LEA SOMEON FOR THAT TO OF FAITH. HAPPEN ied

H

ud av in g st nd desig n a t c u pr o d n e v a M sta r ted ies, he Indust r sed in specia li in g a nd n e d r pe ga l n d sca la o y u n ger s in h is k itc hen g of in er t ir d ays a ft h es a n d c r to g desig n in h ich ushes, w t ot h b r to p m os t a be a t r to s s m e e s esig ner r o d uc t d e v lo you n g p t s . His fi r ffa ll into veh icles y s been a d lw a has ap p ea r e is so h e d , in g h h g u tc a o h w t ia a fter n r n fo a li ic a tto C A mer li n’, t he e c a e r e O verh au wh V show ers n ig rea lit y T s e d n ique ics a nd s into u mec h a n t ju n k ca r t ud ied a m s r d fo n s a t ra n worked d n a , s c ustom

ol. r o d sc h o ia n hot n il ls r k s fo li w a e C fu l of n rem ier k p c a e s ry h t u a , b h K w it h in New Wyotec to t he U ed shop d in g e d il p e u s n b r a u r, r t e He re n fu r t h orked fo e w v s, e d e n g ls a a il s d h is sk nd roll-c a nd idea stem s a e refi ne y h s e t r s e u h a w s ex h h o ps. sta in les pin g g r o of c a go, kee a nd doin e y ea rs v s, fi ie d r t n s u u A ro Ind e M av en t he n a m

Milling the tank mount

Offered up and in place

AS A

ES AGO, BR ND ILD (THE THIS FOR TO TUR A CUSTO e at part ame want ard ive e

ca ar th

Both edges folded…

olk s to ple tion with ith. , t g ndew e/

ju o c

Folding the under-tray seat/tailpiece, a new headligh air scoops, and fit the new Con on/off-road tyres, to make a kind street scrambler that looks... well, something Steve McQueen’d ride i alive in the 21st century and quite li Mad Max films. Last issue we started sub frame area and, removing the stock made an alloy one that would, when paint match the shape of the main frame spars. Th

WORDS & PICS: PHWF

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BACK STREET HEROES OCTOBER 2016

PART THREE

SO THE FRAME’S DONE THE FRONT END’S

O EN

The chain’s top tensioner in place

Cutting down the fence stake to make the brake rod

The useful bits (for our purposes anyway) of a Transit engine from ers the front han a ant, d to new p of you

pac spac

red g

e s…

ex and s right.

Transit ‘ba day job, an – ta da! Just bollocks. A vis t order for a camch there we found a we stole the camch (and some CDs, a p really nice gear cha the owner thought van and found his e AND someone’d ha After lining the c mounts up for the te d i the stin

And for our next trick, this will be twin fuel tanks…

k

PART 4 WORDS & PICS: JIM & LUKE

BACK STREET HER

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BACK WHEN PEOPLE RODE BRITISH MOTORCYCLES BECAUSE THEY WERE CHEAP, THEN IT WAS FAIRLY STANDARD PRAC I T A E THE HANDLEBARS AND THE EXHAUST – A OME FOR OF ‘ YOU

FIG.2

FIG.1

EXHAUSTING THE POSSIBILITIES... t rs’ y

o di w

ey

to achieving what for the desert race a high-level exhaus was an exhaust sys inexpensive and no Oddly, after a rec there was a pile of and, as tends to ha o add to it for you. my pile was a very r haust, which was pro R400. Th a tainl l can at r i pection, it e rged haust pipe h r n. vin

. l

FIG.3

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.

words & pics: MR BRIDGES

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BACK STREET HERO

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PART FIVE

BELOW: Kirk Widdowson’s dad’s 1600 W Star chop – lean, mean and very black!

Kym Hallaway’s Bros – that’s very pink indeed!

ABOVE: Craig Smith’s finally got his old Virago 535 back on the road after some low tech modification and tinkering – now he just has to decide which bike to take out on the one sunny day they get in Scotland!

Cheeky!

Coventina’s with Spud’s KTM, pic by Dave J.

Susan’s beloved tinkering with his Yamaha XS650 Heritage Special yet again! “It’ll be finished soon and we’ll have intelligent conversations again... hopefully!” she says!

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BACK STREET HEROES OCTOBER 2016