Back Street Heroes

Back Street Heroes is the UK’s biggest-selling and best custom bike magazine. We cover all styles of custom bikes and the custom biker lifestyle.

EDITORIAL

THE DOUBTER • THERE’RE MANY REASONS FOR BUILDING A BIKE, AS I’M SURE YOU KNOW, AND SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS A DARE…

RACE THE WAVES • AFTER A COVID-ENFORCED HIATUS OF TWO YEARS, THE EAGERLY-AWAITED THIRD RUNNING OF RACE THE WAVES, ON BRIDLINGTON SANDS, RETURNED THIS JUNE. THIS QUIRKY CLASSIC AUTOMOTIVE EVENT’S QUICKLY ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A MAJOR TOURIST DRAW FOR THIS SEASIDE TOWN ON THE EAST YORKSHIRE COAST, WITH TENS OF THOUSANDS LINING THE PROMENADE FOR A VIEW OF THE ACTION.

GREEN MONSTER • ‘ERE DID YOU KNOW THAT THE NAME OF THE MOST FAMOUS SWORD IN BRITISH ‘ISTORY’S ACTUALLY FRENCH?

NCC LONDON’S DIAMOND DAY • GOING TO A BIKE EVENT, UNLESS ONE’S BROKEN OR OTHERWISE UNABLE TO GO ON TWO, OR THREE, WHEELS, IN A CAR OR A VAN IS, IN MY BOOK, A NO-NO – SOMETHING THAT YOU ONLY DO WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES REALLY DEMAND IT.

BURNING BRIGHT… • THE STORY OF THIS BIKE, THE IDEABEHIND IT, GOES BACK A LONGTIME… A LONG, LONG TIME, SOARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? THEN WE’LL BEGIN…

SHOW BIKE AQUITAINE • LIFE’S NOT ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS, IT’S ABOUT LEARNING TO RIDE IN THE RAIN – AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE 20,000-PLUS BIKERS WHO ENJOYED MONTALIFORNIA, AND TURNED VENDAYS-MONTALIVET INTO THE FRENCH DAYTONA BEACH.

'72 74 • MANY (MANY!) YEARS AGO, AT THE START OF MY FREELANCE CAREER FOR THIS ‘ERE MAGAZINE, ONE OF THE FIRST BIKES I EVER PHOTOGRAPHED WAS A BIG-INCH (AS IN TUNED AND TWEAKED) SHOVELHEAD HARLEY THAT’D HAD THE BEST PART OF A FECKIN’ FORTUNE SPENT ON ITS MOTOR.

BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2022 • Well, that’s it, the first five rounds of the 2022 BSH Custom Champs (the biggest custom bike show in the world! More than 1,700 entries!) has been done, and the winners were:

NICE PAN, EH? • SOMETIMES THERE NEEDS TO BE A KEEPER OF LEGEND AND HISTORY, BUT IT’S NOT ALWAYS CLEAR WHO’LL END UP WITH THAT TASK, OR HOW IT’LL COME TO BE…

MUSOS AT THE SHELLEY • IT’S BEEN A FEW YEARS SINCE I MANAGED TO GET MY ARSE DOWN TO THE SHELLEY ARMS IN BROADBRIDGE HEATH, NEAR HORSHAM, IN WEST SUSSEX (OKAY, TWO OF THOSE WERE ‘COS O’ COVID BUT…), WHICH IS A SHAME ‘COS IT’S USUALLY A GOOD EVENT.

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BACK STREET HEROES

LUCKY 13 • JOHN LENNON ONCE SAID: “WHEN I WAS FIVE YEARS OLD, MY MOTHER ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT HAPPINESS WAS THE KEY TO LIFE. WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL, THEY ASKED ME WHAT I WANTED TO BE WHEN I GREW UP. I WROTE DOWN ‘HAPPY’. THEY TOLD ME I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT, AND I TOLD THEM THEY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND LIFE.”

ROCK AND BIKE FEST • HAVING MISSED A FEW OF THESE, I CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS EVENT WAS EVEN BETTER THAN I REMEMBERED IT. THE WEATHER WAS A GLORIOUS 24 DEGREES THE WHOLE WEEKEND AND, WITH SO MANY HAPPY PEOPLE AROUND, YOU COULDN’T DO ANYTHING BUT RELAX, ENJOY YOURSELF, MEET UP WITH OLD FRIENDS, AND MAKE NEW (BACON BUTTY) ONES.

UNIQUE! • ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS, AND I KNOW MANY OTHERS’, TOO, TO DO AT A BIKE EVENT IS PEOPLE-WATCH – TO POSITION YOURSELF SOMEWHERE AND JUST WATCH THE EBB AND FLOW OF FOLK AROUND YOU, WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE, HOW THEY’RE DRESSED, AND WHICH BIKES THEY LOOK AT.

SUZUKI GSX-S 1000 • LAST ISSUE I INTRODUCED YOU TO OUR PRESS TEST BIKE FOR THIS YEAR – SUZUKI’S GSX-S 1000. THIS TIME, AS PROMISED, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT IT’S LIKE TO RIDE…

MR BRIDGES’ MOTORCYCLE DIARIES • LAST MONTH I THINK I MENTIONED THAT REGULAR READERS WOULD’VE BEEN SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT I HAD, IN FACT, MANAGED TO DO WHAT I SAID WAS THE NEXT PART OF THE JOB WITH THE GIRDER FORK BUILD.

IN FRANCE • THE CURTAIN WAS THIN AND CHEAP. THERE WAS A PATTERN ON IT, GREEN AND BLUE, POSSIBLY YACHTS, SAILS AND WAVES. HE PULLED IT ASIDE AND LOOKED DOWN...