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.

AWRIGHT ALL, COLD AND DAMP ENOUGH FOR YOU?

PEDIGREE FLATTIE • WE’VE FEATURED A NUMBER OF BIKES BUILT BY RENOWNED PERIOD-CORRECT CHOPPER SPECIALIST VINCENT (VINCE TO HIS MATES) SUMMERS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, MOSTLY MACHINES BUILT FOR MATES/CUSTOMERS. THIS ONE, THOUGH, IS HIS OWN BIKE – A BIKE HE’S BEEN AFTER FOR 20-PLUS YEARS, AND IT’S A BIT SPECIAL.

SOUTHWEST CHOPPERFEST • BIKE RALLIES, THESE DAYS, HAVE ALL MAKES AND TYPES OF BIKES MIXED TOGETHER: CRUISERS, ADVENTURE BIKES, RACE-REPS, BOBBERS, CHOPPERS, STREETFIGHTERS, AN’ ALL, AND THIS’S THE TYPE OF RALLY THAT IS, IN THE MAIN, WHAT WE THINK OF WHEN THE WORDS ‘MOTORCYCLE’ AND ‘RALLY’ ARE PUT TOGETHER.

SWAN SONG TRUMPET • DID YOU KNOW (READ THOSE FIRST THREE WORDS AS THOUGH (A) YOU’RE WEARING AN ANORAK, (B) CARRYING A THERMOS FLASK, AND (C) YOU’VE NEVER HAD SEX IN YOUR LIFE) THAT THE PHRASE ‘SWAN SONG’ IS AN ANCIENT GREEK METAPHORICAL PHRASE FOR A FINAL GESTURE, EFFORT, OR PERFORMANCE GIVEN JUST BEFORE DEATH OR RETIREMENT?

FLY FREE LARRY • INDIAN LARRY, FAMOUS US CUSTOM BUILDER AND WINNER OF THREE OF THE US TV SERIES BIKER BUILD-OFF ROUNDS, YOU START TO UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU READ EVEN JUST HIS WIKIPEDIA BIOG, AND EVEN MORE SO IF YOU READ THE BOOK HIS WIFE BAMBI WROTE ABOUT HIM, INDIAN LARRY: CHOPPER SHAMAN, WAS ONE OF THOSE RARE PEOPLE WHOSE ATTITUDE BOTH TO LIFE AND TO BIKE BUILDING INSPIRED, AND CONTINUES TO INSPIRE, PEOPLE TO THIS DAY.

FIRST BUILD? REALLY? • LIKE MANY READERS OF THIS FINE PUBLICATION I’D HARBOURED A DESIRE TO CREATE MY OWN CUSTOM, AND’D SPENT MANY A DAY ADMIRING OTHERS’ BUILDS AT SHOWS. I HAD THREE OBSTACLES PREVENTING THIS, THOUGH. FIRSTLY, I HADN’T THE TIME (WORK, ETC.); SECONDLY, I HAD NOWHERE TO BUILD; AND, THIRDLY (AND MOST IMPORTANTLY), I HADN’T A CLUE HOW TO BUILD.

NCC SUSSEX’S INNIT TO WINNIT • GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE – THAT’S A SUBJECT THAT COULD BE DESCRIBED AS ‘DIVISIVE’, ISN’T IT? I MEAN, A LOT OF FOLK, PERHAPS THE MAJORITY, HAVE ACCEPTED THE SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF IT, WHILE OTHERS, THE MINORITY, BUT STILL A GOODLY NUMBER, ARE WONT, AS THE VERNACULAR’D HAVE IT, TO LOSE THEIR SH*T WHENEVER IT’S MENTIONED.

Y’IGGER • THE LATE TERRY PRATCHETT ONCE SAID: “PARTICLES OF RAW INSPIRATION SLEET THROUGH THE UNIVERSE ALL THE TIME. EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE ONE OF THEM HITS A RECEPTIVE MIND, WHICH THEN INVENTS DNA OR THE FLUTE SONATA FORM OR A WAY OF MAKING LIGHT BULBS WEAR OUT IN HALF THE TIME. BUT MOST OF THEM MISS. MOST PEOPLE GO THROUGH THEIR LIVES WITHOUT BEING HIT BY EVEN ONE. SOME PEOPLE ARE EVEN MORE UNFORTUNATE. THEY GET THEM ALL.”

SANZARU BREACH OF THE PEACE RALLY • THEY SAY MOVING HOME’S ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL EVENTS IN A PERSON’S LIFE SO, AFTER A WEEK OF MOVING BOXES AND STUFF FOR MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, I WAS IN NEED OF RELEASE. WE ALL KNOW LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE SO AN INVITE FROM SANZARU TO THEIR BREACH OF THE PEACE RALLY, WHO’D BOOKED THE EXCELLENT SMACKED ARSE COMEDY SHOW, WAS VERY WELCOME.

Christmas Gifts that last all year! • If you’re looking for gifts for your friends or family this Christmas, look no further! A magazine is the perfect pressie for loved ones (or yourself!) … and not only that, subscribe for one year and we’ll send you this terrific T-shirt.

BACK STREET HEROES

GASOLINE ALLY SPEEDSHOP • PRETTY MUCH ANYONE IN THE CUSTOM BIKE WORLD THESE DAYS HAS HEARD OF HARD UP CHOPPERS, HUC, FRAMES AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE INFAMOUS WORMBURNER – THAT EXTREMELY COST-EFFECTIVE HARDTAIL TRELLIS DESIGNED FOR SUZUKI’S MUCH-USED, OIL-COOLED GSX-R AND BANDIT ENGINES.

SOCIAL DISTANCE • RADICAL BIKES, BIKES THAT PUSH THE BOUNDARIES, THESE DAYS ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. BACK IN THE ‘70S, ‘80S AND ‘90S THERE WERE MANY BUILT BUT, AS...