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

SOUTH WEST CHOPPER FEST • If, like me, you’re a bit of a dinosaur and been attending rallies and gatherings getting your first bike, you’ll know it great to meet up with old friends, some of who you’ll only see at the same rally each year as their rally circuit overlaps with yours.

NCC KERNOW • IN THE FIFTY YEARS SINCE THE NATIONAL CHOPPER CLUB (NCC) STARTED, THERE’RE NOW 45 COUNTIES, OUT OF A POSSIBLE 48, IN ENGLAND, FROM THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE COUNTRY TO THE VERY TOP VIA (NEARLY) ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN.

WLHR ST GEORGE’S DAY BIKE SHOW • It is to my eternal shame that, while I’ve been to a lot of rallies (a lot!) over the 30-plus years I’ve been doing this, I’ve yet to get to the West London Harley Riders (WLHR)’s Burning Budgie Rally that they hold each year on the last weekend of July

PYSOHO SIDECAR • THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS A PURPOSE-BUILT YAMAHA R1-ENGINED SIDECAR OUTFIT BUILT BY A GUY BY THE NAME OF GAVIN BISHOP UNDER THE MONIKER OF TOUCHWUD CYCLES… TOUCHWUD? I’D’VE SAID, WITH A 147BHP R1 MOTOR, TOUCH CLOTH MIGHT BE A BETTER NAME.

FAIRYTALE ENDING • FOR US LOT ‘OO RIDE MOTORBIKES, THE WORD ‘ARIEL’ IS, OBVIOUSLY, THE NAME OF A NOW DEFUNCT BRITISH MARQUE FROM THE FIRST PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY, BUT TO THE REST, THE UNENLIGHTENED, IT’S ASSOCIATED WITH EITHER A BRAND OF WASHING POWDER OR A DISNEY MERMAID.

STONE CIRCLE BIKE SHOW • Originally held in Avebury (hence the name), the Stone Circle bike show’s both a tribute to, and a fundraiser for, Stuart Vinter who was left paralysed and reliant on a wheelchair after a bike accident.

JAYBIRD • THE BIKE YOU SEE BEFORE YOU MAY BE SITTING PRETTY IN THE BRIGHT FINNISH SUNSHINE, BUT WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE FROM THE PICTURES’S THE FACT THAT WHEN I DID THE ORIGINAL PHOTOSHOOT ITWAS-25 DEGREES C, AND THAT MY CAMERA ACTUALLY FROZE UP, AND DIDN’T WORK PROPERLY. UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN’T FIND THATOUT UNTIL IGOT BACK TOTHE UK, MEANING AFRANTIC SERIES OF EMAILS BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN HERE AND FINLAND RESULTING IN, THANKFULLY, THESE PICS BY AN EXCELLENT PHOTOGRAPHER OVER THERE, SAMUEL FROM ALIENS MC.

UNICORNS &RIDERZ BAR& GRILL • No 7, Hoddins Ways, Long Sutton, Lincolnshire PE12 9JB

NCC LINCS' CUSTOM SHOW • When you live out ‘ere in East Angular (which’s kind o’ round in shape, not remotely angular), there’re two ways to get up into Lincolnshire, and they’re the A17 or the A14/A1 – one of which’s merely dull, while the other’s utterly soul-destroying…

A TOUCH OF CLASS • THEY SAY, DON’T THEY, THAT THE PERFECT CUSTOMER FOR A BIKE BUILDER’S ONE WHO HAS AN IDEA OF WHAT THEY WANT, BUT’S HAPPY TO LEAVE SAID BIKE BUILDER ALONE TO WORK THEIR MAGIC OVER IT, USING ALL THEIR CREATIVITY AND SKILL. THE BIKE YOU SEE HERE, LADIES N’ GENNULMEN, IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE DOES JUST THAT…

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RAT-BOB • IAN EVANS, THE OWNER OF THIS COFFIN-TANKED VN800 KWAK, HAS ALWAYS BEEN HEAVILY INTO THE CUSTOM BIKE SCENE, BUT HE’D NEVER REALLY HAD ONE UNTIL HE BOUGHT THIS BIKE A FEW YEARS BACK.

HONDA CL500 • IF YOU’VE EVER SEEN THE SEMINAL MOTORCYCLE FILM ‘ON ANY SUNDAY’, STARRING (ALTHOUGH THAT’S NOT REALLY THE RIGHT WORD…) FILM STAR STEVE MCQUEEN AND LEGENDARY RACERS MALCOLM SMITH AND MERT LAWWILL, THEN YOU’LL KNOW THAT THE PARTICULARLY US SPORT OF DESERT RACING HAD, AND CONTINUES TO HAVE, A HUGE INFLUENCE ON MOTORCYCLE STYLING AND DESIGN.

2024 BSH Custom Champs! • THE BIGGEST CUSTOM SHOW IN THE WORLD RETURNS FOR 2024, AND IT’S GETTING EVEN BIGGER!

SUZUKI GSX-8S • WE, AGAIN THE ROYAL ‘WE’, ARE NOW TWO MONTHS IN WITH THE LOAN OF THE GSX-8S NEKKID STREET BIKE LOANED TO US (AND AGAIN…)...