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.

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THIS ISSUE OF BSH!

THE TRIP OUT • FOR SOME REASON, I’D NEVER BEEN TO THE TRIP OUT… DON’T KNOW WHY AS IT TICKS ALL MY BOXES: CHOPPERS, CUSTOM BIKES, HOT RODS, AMERICAN MOTORS, DRINK, BANDS, CAMPING. I ATTEND MOST OTHERS AND ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT TIME SO MAYBE IT’S JUST BECAUSE, FOR ME, IT’S A 400-MILE ROUND TRIP AND BY SEPTEMBER THE WEATHER’S TURNING – IT’S THE LAST CHOPPER CAMPING EVENT OF THE YEAR.

BASIC BLACK • OVER THE YEARS SO LOW CHOPPERS, THE FATHER AND SON TEAM OF CLIVE ‘HIP’ RANSOME AND HIS SON JAY, PLUS OTHERS, BASED IN STANTON NEAR BURY ST EDMUNDS, EARNED THEMSELVES A SOLID REPUTATION FOR BUILDING, REFURBISHING, AND GENERALLY BEING GOOD WITH ‘70S-STYLE LONG FORK CHOPPERS.

STORMIN’ THE CASTLE • IN THIS ‘ERE COUNTRY OF OURS (AND I’M SPEAKING ‘ERE ABOUT BRITAIN AS A WHOLE, NOT JUST ENGLAND), WE DON’T REALLY HAVE MOUNTAINSIDE MOTORCYCLE EVENTS IN THE SAME WAY AS THEY DO OVER IN EUROPE, MOSTLY BECAUSE… WELL, WE DON’T REALLY HAVE IT’S BEEN, WHAT, SEVEN YEARS SINCE I’D LAST BEEN TO STORMIN’ THE CASTLE DUE TO ONE THING OR ANOTHER BUT, LAST YEAR, I’D ARRANGED WE’D DO A ROUND, THE LAST ROUND IN FACT, OF THE 2023 BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS THERE SO THAT WAS ME AWAY UP THE A1 AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER LAST.

BARREL BIKERS’ FIRKIN O’ BITTER RALLY • TWO BARREL BIKERS’ EVENTS IN CONSECUTIVE ISSUES? YET ONE WAS IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, AND THE OTHER SEVEN MONTHS LATER IN FEBRUARY OF THIS… THE VAGARIES OF MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINES, EH?

SOVEREIGN RAVEN • WE’VE FEATURED A COUPLE OF ROUGH CRAFTS BIKES OVER THE YEARS; BIKES CONCEIVED, DESIGNED, AND BUILT BY A GUY CALLED WINSTON YEH FROM TAIPEI IN TAIWAN. THEY’RE ALWAYS EXQUISITELY THOUGHT-OUT, AND EXQUISITELY MADE, AND ALWAYS VERY, VERY BLACK.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING RALLY • WITH STORM ANTON ABOUT TO HIT YORKSHIRE, ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD’VE BATTENED DOWN THE HATCHES, MADE A CUP OF HORLICKS, AND SETTLED DOWN IN FRONT OF THE TELLY TO WATCH RERUNS OF LOVE ISLAND, BUT WE’RE NOT EXACTLY NORMAL PEOPLE, ARE WE?

high n’ cold • BACK IN THE DAY, BARNEY LAWRENCE’S BROTHER HAD A TRIKE AND, AFTER HAVING A GO ON IT, BARNEY REALISED HOW MUCH FUN THEY COULD BE SO, AS AN AVID BIKER HIMSELF, HE’D PROMISED HIMSELF THAT, ONE DAY, WHEN HE WAS READY, HE TOO’D HAVE ONE.

TANK ART • ART IS, AS ALL ARTIST TYPES’LL SAY, SUBJECTIVE - BASED ON OR INFLUENCED BY PERSONAL FEELINGS, TASTES, OR OPINIONS, AND OVER THE NEXT FEW ISSUES WE’LL DEMONSTRATE THAT. HERE’RE A FEW MORE TANKS AND MUDDIES SPOTTED LAST SUMMER.

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new BLOOD • IT’S AN OFT-REPEATED THING THESE DAYS WHEN BIKERS GET TOGETHER, “WE’RE ALL GETTING OLD – WE NEED NEW BLOOD COMING INTO THE SCENE…” AT LEAST I THINK, NAY HOPE, THEY’RE BIKERS – COULD JUST AS EASILY BE VAMPIRES; I MEAN, NOT ALL O’ THE UNDEAD WEAR CLOAKS – HAVE YOU SEEN THE FILM ‘NEAR DARK’?

MBP C1002V POWER CRUISER • IT’S A RARE THING THESE DAYS WHEN A NEW, AS IN BRAND-NEW, CRUISER IS LAUNCHED, ESPECIALLY ONE FROM A BRAND-NEW MANUFACTURER, TOO.

LITTLE BOBBER • IT’S BEEN A FEW YEARS SINCE WE LAST HAD ONE OF THE BIKES BUILT BY SEB KUSTOM MOTORCYCLE, THE NAME UNDER WHICH SEBASTIEN VERNAISON BUILDS, OVER IN FRANCE. SEB’S A YOUNG GUY ABSOLUTELY DEDICATED TO BUILDING ONE-OFF MO’BIKES. YOU MAY REMEMBER HIS SLAMMED FULLY-FAIRED Z650 CAFÉ/ENDURANCE RACER?

Mr Bridges’ Motorcycle Diaries • AS A YOUTH I USED TO DROOL OVER PICTURES OF CHOPPERS IN ASSORTED MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINES, MORE THAN LIKELY STARTING WITH THE OCCASIONAL COPY OF MOTORCYCLE MECHANICS WHERE, FROM TIME TO TIME, THEY’D FEATURE A READER’S CHOPPER.

CEMMY GOES TO THE PUB • THE FOLLOWING SCENE IS ONE THAT MAY BE FAMILIAR TO MANY, AND IS CERTAINLY ONE I REMEMBER WELL...