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

BIKE SHED MOTO SHOW • IT’S A LONG TIME SINCE I’VE BEEN TO A BIG BIKE SHOW AS, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, A CIVILIAN, IT REALLY IS.

SEE YOU ON THE ROAD, SKAG(S)! • OF THE TWO ICONIC BIKER FILMS, EASY RIDER AND MAD MAX, SURPRISINGLY, THE ONE THAT SEEMS TO ATTRACT MORE THAN ITS FAIR SHARE OF NERDS ISN’T, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW, EASY RIDER…

DAVID SILVER SPARES OPEN DAY • DAVID SILVER SPARES, THE LEGENDARY HONDA AND SUNDRY OLDER JAPANESE MOTORCYCLE SPARES BUSINESS, STARTED TRADING BACK IN LONDON IN 1986, AND MOVED TO LEISTON IN SUFFOLK IN 1988. IN 2016 THE DAVID SILVER HONDA COLLECTION WAS FIRST OPENED TO THE PUBLIC, COVERING MACHINES FROM MODIFIED BICYCLES FROM THE LATE 1940S UP TO 1992.

ST GEORGE’S DAY BIKE SHOW • FOR MANY IN THE MOST EASTERLY REGION OF THE UK, THE BIKING SEASON OPENS EACH YEAR WITH THE ANNUAL ST GEORGE’S BIKE SHOW AT THE BELL INN IN KESGRAVE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF IPSWICH.

RHAPSODY in GREY • “A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS A FEW YEARS AGO MY PHONE RANG WHILE I WAS AT WORK. A LADY AT THE OTHER END INTRODUCED HERSELF AS A MEMBER OF A PRODUCTION CREW THAT WAS ON A HUNT FOR A CHOPPER BUILDER TO FEATURE IN A NEW REALITY TV SHOW – SOMEONE’D TOLD HER I KNEW A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE SCENE, AND SHE WANTED TO KNOW IF THERE WAS ANYONE WITH A PROJECT WHO’D BE WILLING TO TAKE PART IN THE SHOW.”

NO BULL, JUST BEER & BIKES • SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER ME COVERING LAST AUGUST’S NO BULL, JUST BEER & BIKES RALLY A FEW ISSUES AGO (ISSUE 501, TO BE PRECISE)? NOW, I’M SURE SOMEONE’LL KNOW OTHERWISE BUT, AS FAR AS I KNOW, NO BULL, AS IT’S COLLOQUIALLY CALLED, IS THE ONLY RALLY THAT RUNS TWICE A YEAR AT THE SAME VENUE.

YOUR BEST PHOTOS START HERE

A SITTING SHOCK IN THE TALL • “I STARTED THIS BUILD WAY BACK IN 1992/3 WHEN I WAS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AL SMITH OF NOTTS CUSTOM CYCLES,” SAYS RAT LEE, THE OWNER AND BUILDER OF THIS VERY CLEVER BSA, “AND AL WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO LOOK AFTER THE BASIC FRAME, TANK, AND WHEELS (NOT USED ON THIS BIKE) I MADE WHILE,” HE SMILES, “I WENT WALKABOUT.”

PARIAH • WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, NAMING A MONSTER V8 TRIKE ‘PARIAH’ IS PARTICULARLY APT, IT?

HELL HATH NO FURY • IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, HE FILLED THE SKY WITH STARS, RAISED MOUNTAINS SO THAT THERE WOULD BE HIGH PLACES, AND FILLED THE LOW PLACES WITH OCEANS AND LAKES. HE CREATED ALL MANNER OF BEASTS AND PLANTS AND, ON THE SIXTH DAY, HE CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE. AND HE CALLED HIM ADAM. AND THEN, WELL AND TRULY KNACKERED, HE WENT TO BED.

OBSESSION • ACCORDING TO THE CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY, THAT FONT OF ALL KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM PENNED, PROBABLY, BY GENTLEMEN IN EVENING DRESS ABOARD BICYCLES (YOU’VE NOT REALLY SEEN CAMBRIDGE, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU’VE BEEN THERE, UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN A MAN IN A TUX’ PEDAL BY, TRUST ME), AN OBSESSION ‘IS AN UNCONTROLLABLE, PERSISTENT PREOCCUPATION WITH A SPECIFIC IDEA, DESIRE, OR PERSON. IT CONSUMES YOUR THOUGHTS, OFTEN INTERFERING WITH DAILY LIFE, AND IS TYPICALLY DRIVEN BY INTENSE EMOTION RATHER THAN PURE LOGIC.’

SPREAD

GET ONE YEAR OF BACK STREET HEROES FOR JUST £52.99 • THE ORIGINAL AND BEST MAG FOR CHOPPERS, BOBBERS AND ALL KINDS OF CUSTOMS!

A KIND OF MADNESS • “FROM ZERO TO ONE HUNDRED IN LESS THAN A SECOND,” LAUGHS JEROEN VAN DEN BELT OF VDB WORKS IN KUINRE (THE NETHERLANDS), AS HE LIFTS THE BODY OFF HIS PRO-STREET DRAG RACER. IN HIS WORLD, TURBOCHARGERS AND NITROUS OXIDE ARE A GIVEN – THEY SIMPLY BELONG. IT’S NO SURPRISE, THEN, THAT HIS YAMAHA XS650 CUSTOM BIKE PROJECT RUNS WHAT THE POSH AMONG US REFER TO AS FORCED INDUCTION.

ROYAL ENFIELD BEAR 650 • THOSE OF US WHO WRITE THE ARTICLES...