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

MOTORFEST RACALMUTO • IT’S BECOMING A TRADITION, EVEN A PILGRIMAGE, FOR A GROWING GROUP TO TRAVEL TO THE BEAUTIFUL ITALIAN ISLAND OF SICILY FOR AN ANNUAL MOTORCYCLE EVENT HELD AT THE AUTODROMO VALLE DEI TEMPLI CIRCUIT NEAR RACALMUTO – MOTORFEST.

Barbie The gold (leaf) diggen • THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY (SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF) “JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING DOESN’T MEAN YOU NECESSARILY SHOULD” AND, OFTEN, ESPECIALLY IN THE MODIFIED MOTORCYCLE WORLD, THEY’RE RIGHT. ON THE OTHER HAND, IF WE ALL DID WHAT IS THE ACCEPTED NORM* THE WORLD’D BE A MUCH DULLER PLACE, WOULDN’T IT?

REAPER’S ACE • ALTHOUGH NOT SO MANY, IF ANY, ARE BUILT THESE DAYS, CUSTOM Z1300 KAWASAKIS REALLY HAVE A CERTAIN SOMETHING ABOUT THEM, A CERTAIN PRESENCE, A CERTAIN JE NE SAIS QUOI, DON’T THEY?

UN POCO LOCO • “I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BUILD SEVERAL ONE-OFF MOTORCYCLES OVER THE YEARS, CUSTOMISE LOADS OF HARLEYS, AND RESTORE MANY CLASSICS, WHICH’S GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN A LOT ABOUT WHAT I REALLY LIKE IN A MOTORCYCLE, AND WHAT SUITS MY NEEDS.”

FLAME & THUNDER • LADIES AND GENNULMEN, I MUST BEGIN THIS ARTICLE WITH AN APOLOGY – FLAME & THUNDER AT SANTA POD LAST YEAR WAS HELD ON 25 OCTOBER, BARELY TWO WEEKS AFTER I LOBBED THE BANDIT UP THE ROAD, AND DESPITE BEING DOPED UP TO THE EYEBALLS ON PAINKILLERS, STANDING ON THE START-LINE ALL DAY, AND ALL EVENING, TO GET PICTURES WAS A BIT TOO MUCH FOR ME.

NOTHING JUST LIKE NOOY’S!* • “I BOUGHT MY LE VELOCETTE 200, OF 1961 VINTAGE, ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO ON A WHIM AS FLAT-TWIN ENGINES’D ALWAYS INTERESTED ME. IT DID ACTUALLY RUN, BUT NEEDED A MASSIVE AMOUNT (MASSIVE!) OF TLC TO BE A DECENT BIKE.”

The Kingsman • SO, LAST ISSUE I SAID, AND I QUOTE*: “IN A COUPLE OF ISSUES’ TIME WE’LLSHOW THE OTHER ONE OF THE THREE STAND-OUT BIKES ON THE ROYAL ENFIELD STAND (THE FIRST WAS THE PHOENIX TECHNO-BAGGER IN ISSUE 499); THE QUITE, QUITE WONDERFULLY MAD KINGSTON CUSTOMS’ KINGSMAN STREAMLINER… WATCH THIS SPACE!” BUT I DECIDED IT NEEDED, JUST NEEDED, TO BE SEEN ASAP, SO HERE IT IS.

THE PRODIGAL SON • I PARKED THE BIKE IN THE DRIVE AND WALKED SLOWLY UP THE PATH TO THE FRONT DOOR, KNOCKED, AND WAITED. EVENTUALLY THE DOOR OPENED, AND I WAS USHERED SILENTLY THROUGH THE HALL AND INTO THE KITCHEN. MY PARENTS’ HOUSE HADN’T CHANGED IN ALL THE TIME I’D BEEN AWAY. THIS WAS WHERE I’D GROWN UP, WHERE, AS A CHILD, I’D PLAYED ‘COWBOYS AND INDIANS’ IN THE GARDEN AND WHERE, ALONE IN MY ROOM, I’D DREAMED OF BIKES I’D ONE DAY OWN AND THE PLACES I’D ONE DAY GO.

NO SHOW PONY • HOW FAST CAN YOU BUILD A BIKE? TALENTED PEOPLE, IF THEY WORK REALLY HARD, CAN DO IT IN ABOUT THREE MONTHS, INCLUDING WIRING, PAINT, AND POLISHING, BUT AROUND A YEAR IS A MUCH MORE REALISTIC TIME SCHEDULE FOR MOST, I’M SURE YOU’LL AGREE? THE BIKE YOU SEE HERE, THOUGH, WAS CREATED IN JUST TWO-AND-A-HALF WEEKS…

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The Chief! • RIDING SOMEONE ELSE’S MOTORCYCLE IS, FOR MOST OF US, JUST A PLEASANT MOMENT IN OUR LIVES – THE CHANCE TO RIDE A BIKE THAT YOU’D PERHAPS NOT’VE THOUGHT TOO MUCH ABOUT BEFORE. FOR OTHERS THOUGH, IT CAN BE SOMETHING OF AN EPIPHANY…

BENDA LFC700 • OKAY, OKAY, LET’S GET THE NAME OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, SHALL WE? THE COMPANY WHO MAKE THIS BIKE, THIS BLOODY GOOD BIKE, IS, YES, BENDA (WELL, BENDA MOTO STRICTLY) AND, IN THIS COUNTRY THAT’S A WORD WITH CERTAIN SOMEWHAT UNFORTUNATE CONNOTATIONS, ISN’T IT?

A(NOTHER) YEAR OF CUSTOM BIKING… • I WAS HOPING THIS MONTH TO SHOW YOU THE FINISHED (FOR IT IS) HARRIS BUT, AT THE TIME OF...