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

DRAGSTALGIA • AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, DRAGSTALGIA CELEBRATES WHAT SOME CONSIDER TO BE THE HEYDAY OF BRITISH DRAG RACING AND WHILE MAKING MY WAY THERE LATE THURSDAY NIGHT, I BEGAN TO CONSIDER HOW I WAS GOING TO WRITE IT UP. WHAT WAS MY ANGLE AND APPROACH GOING TO BE?

CROSSOVER CHOPPER • “I’VE HAD MANY CHOPS AND TRIKES OVER THE YEARS,” SAYS GUFF, “BUT NEVER REALLY THE ONE I’D ALWAYS WANTED SO I DECIDED TO, FOR THE LAST CHOP I’M EVER GOING TO BUILD, BUILD IT.”

PIL FETISH FUN & FROLICS • THE LAST WEEK IN MAY SAW THE TWENTY-FIFTH HOLDING OF THE PERVERTS IN LEATHER RALLY CLUB’S FETISH, FUN & FROLICS RALLY IN RURAL DERBYSHIRE.

Pifostio • I’D IMAGINE THAT THE NAME HIERONYMUS BOSCH DOESN’T, TO A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE BSH READERSHIP, MEAN A HELL OF A LOT, ALTHOUGH IT WILL, OF COURSE, TO THE MORE AVANT GARDE, THE MORE LEARNED, THE MORE ESOTERIC. I’D LIKE TO SAY THAT OF COURSE I’M AMONG THEM, BUT THE TRUTH IS, REALLY, I ONLY KNOW THE NAME BECAUSE OF A THROWAWAY LINE IN ‘GOOD OMENS’, BY TERRY PRATCHETT AND NEIL GAIMAN: “THAT HIERONYMUS BOSCH. WHAT A WEIRDO.”

PINEWOOD CUSTOM SHOW • IT’S BEEN A FEW YEARS SINCE I’VE ATTENDED THIS SHOW, WHICH ALWAYS BRINGS OUT A FEW INTERESTING MACHINES - SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WATER IN BERKSHIRE, I BELIEVE.

BULLDOG BREED • THEY (WHOEVER ‘THEY’ ARE) ALWAYS SAY THAT ONE OF THE SIGNS OF A GOOD STREET FIGHTER IS THAT IT HAS A STANCE LIKE THAT OF A BULLDOG – BIG SHOULDERS AND NARROW HAUNCHES (WIDE AT THE FRONT, TAPERING BACK TO A THINNER/SMALLER SEAT AREA). IT ALSO, TO A LESSER EXTENT, APPLIES TO CHOPS, TOO, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH THREE-OR-FOUR-CYLINDER ENGINES, AND THE BIKE YOU SEE HERE IS VERY DEFINITELY ONE OF THEM.

FINISHING WHERE HE STARTED… PART 1 – END TO END • WORLD-FAMOUS TWO-WHEELED WORLD TRAVELLER NICK SANDERS, I DON’T KNOW IF YOU KNOW, HAD HIS FIRST TRAVEL ARTICLES IN BSH BACK IN THE EARLY 1990S AND NOW, OVER THE WINTER AND SPRING OF 2026/2027, HE’S DECIDED TO DETAIL HIS LAST SERIES OF BIKING ADVENTURES IN BSH, TOO. OVER THE NEXT HOWEVER MANY MONTHS WE’LL BE BRINGING THEM TO YOU AS HE DOES SOME OF THE GREATEST RIDES IN THE WORLD, STARTING WITH LAND’S END TO JOHN O’ GROATS.

THE LAST RUN • THE EARLY MORNING MIST ROSE SLOWLY OFF THE WINTER GROUND AS THE SUN TRIED TO WARM THE FROZEN ROAD. THERE WERE THIRTEEN OF US HERE – ALL OF US THAT REMAINED FROM THE ORIGINAL CLUB. THIS’D BE OUR LAST RIDE – THERE’D BE NO MORE. AND SO WE WAITED SILENTLY ASTRIDE OUR BIKES, ALL WAITING FOR A SIGNAL – A SIGNAL THAT’D BEGIN THE END.

TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING… • “ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, AFTER SELLING MY FIRST HARLEY, I FOUND MYSELF ON EBAY LOOKING FOR MY NEXT VENTURE AND, AFTER A COUPLE OF MONTHS OF UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCHING, I CAME ACROSS AN ALMOST STOCK 900CC 1966 XLCH (COMPETITION HOT) IRONHEAD WITH A SIX-INCH OVER SPRINGER FRONT END. I INSTANTLY NEEDED IT IN MY LIFE.”

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ECHC KL CREW CUSTOM SHOW • BACK AT THE END OF MAY THE EAST COAST HARLEY CLUB’S KING’S LYNN CREW (THE OTHER LOT WHO LIVE MILES AWAY FROM THE MAIN ECHC LOT OVER ON THE NORFOLK/SUFFOLK BORDER) HELD ANOTHER OF THEIR ESTEEMED CUSTOM SHOWS JUST OUTSIDE THE TOWN THAT WAS THE BIRTHPLACE OF ROGER TAYLOR, THE DRUMMER WITH QUEEN, MARTIN BRUNDLE, THE F1 RACING DRIVER, AND MICHAEL CARROLL, THE FAMOUS LOTTERY WINNER KNOWN AS KING OF THE CHAVS/THE LOTTO LOUT.

SUZUKI GSX-8TT • CONSIDERING HOW ‘RETRO’ AS A TERM IS SO POPULAR THESE DAYS, AMONG BOTH US PLEBS*-IN-THE-STREET AND THE MANUFACTURERS OF MODERN TWO-WHEELED AUTOMOTIVE MACHINERY, IT’S QUITE STRANGE THAT MOST OF ITS ESSENTIAL...