Back Street Heroes Issue 459, July 2022

ONUF MXSBsER SNWOESRDTTIYOSLHNE- BHENE-DAGURTAIVFUEDLLY £4.70 FEBRUARY 2021 1



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ISSUE 459 12 6TWO XS YAMS – 22 42 INCLUDING THE COVER BIKE IN ALL ITS GLORY 42XS650 CHOP – LONG FORKS AND 12NORTON CHOP – NO FRONT BRAKE! GORGEOUS ISN’T A STRONG ENOUGH WORD 54NCC EASTER RUN – NIK COUNTED ‘EM 16KICKBACK – THE OUT AND COUNTED ‘EM FIRST OF THE TWO BACK IN AGAIN KICKBACK SHOWS THIS YEAR 60BANDIT BOBBER – KNICKERDROPPER 22750/4 CHOP – A BY NAME, SURVIVOR REBUILT KNICKERDROPPER BY IN A RETRO STYLE NATURE… THE BIKE WE MEAN 287/52 OPEN DAY – EARLY MORNINGS, SUNSHINE AND BIKES 30ENGRAVED H-D – A RARE EXAMPLE OF THE MASTER’S ART 36FESTIVAL OF POWER – THE FIRST BIG MEETING OF THE YEAR AT SANTA POD TO GET THE DIGITAL EDITIONS APP, SIMPLY SEARCH FOR ‘BACK STREET HEROES’ IN THE APPLE APP STORE FOR iPAD OR ON GOOGLE PLAY FOR ANDROID CHECK OUT THE BSH FACEBOOK PAGE (BACK STREET HEROES) AND THE BSH FACEBOOK GROUP AT BACK STREET HEROES – THE OFFICIAL GROUP 4 JULY 2022

G’DAY, AND WELCOME TO THIS, THE NEW ISSUE OF BSH! So the first few events of the season’re now under our collective belts, and I don’t know about you, but it feels so good to be back out there again in the biker world. Yeah, I know there were a few events (okay, quite a few actually) during the latter part of last year, 30 but they felt a little removed, kind o’ distant, 54 as we were all still a little wary of each other because of Covid – now, though, the first few 60 of 2022’ve kind o’ given everyone I’ve spoken to a sort of warm, fuzzy feeling to be back amongst our sort. At the NABD’s You’ve Been Nabbed Rally, for example, which’s the first big one of the year for many, I lost track of the number of folk, including uber-compere, Mr Rick Hulse, who were almost emotional about being back within our brethren. Everyone was smiley and happy, and pleased to see the people you may only see a few times a year but, over the years, have become genuine friends – you know how it is, I’m sure; people who, although you may only bump into them once or twice a season, it’s like you only saw them the day before yesterday. It’s (PIC BY PHIL) funny really; I’m a wee bit cynical when it comes to concepts like brotherhood, and biker fraternity, but the first few events of this year’ve been just some of the best I’ve been to because those feelings, brotherhood and fraternity, have been like an all-enveloping blanket, a hug almost. It’s kind o’ weird, but in a good way, y’know? 46 2022 BSH CUSTOM HARD-EARNED ON There is, it seems, still some confusion about which bikes can use the new blends of CHAMPS – INFO 80 LETTERS – READERS fuel, and it can be a little confusing because, basically, fuel manufacturers didn’t really ON THIS YEAR’S WRITE, AND NIK take us two (and three)-wheeled individuals into account when they started adding CHAMPIONSHIP STRUGGLES TO shi… sorry, sorry, ethanol into petrol to oxygenate said petrol to reduce air pollution. 50 SPREAD – AN DECIPHER THEIR ARTISTIC-TYPE POSTER HANDWRITING It’s always best, if you’re in any doubt as to whether your bike or trike can run FOR YOU TO PUT ON 82 EVENTS – THE on E10, or needs the more expensive E5 (basically, Super Unleaded), to check with YER WALL LISTINGS FOR 2022 either the manufacturer via their website or www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol 52 SUBSCRIBE TO BSH 88 READERS LIVES For example, for Suzuki motorcycles it says ‘2002 model years and onwards – all – SEE HERE FOR THE - YOUR PICS, OUR motorcycles can use E10 with no problems. 1992-2001 model years – some models BEST SUBSCRIPTION CAPTIONS… YEAH, can use E10 fuels, and some models cannot. The user should contact their national OFFERS SORRY ABOUT THAT importer for clarification. 1991 model years and earlier – RON 98 (no bio-fuel content) 65 MR BRIDGES’ 91 MAG NEWS – THE E5 must be used’, and for Harley-Davidsons, ‘All Harley-Davidson models from model MOTORCYCLE LATEST COLUMN year 1980 are compatible with E10 fuel. All models before this model year should use DIARIES – THE GURU BY THE NEW MAG RON 98 E5 fuel.’ A basic rule-of-thumb I was told a while back by someone far more IMPARTS MORE OF CHAIR-NON-SPECIFIC- learned in these things than I am is this: if you’re at all concerned, then think about it HIS KNOWLEDGE OF GENDER-PERSON like this – if your bike has fuel-injection, then it can use E10, if it has carbs, use E5. MECHANICING 96 REMINISCING – 70 FICTION – THE THIRD MEMORIES OF THE Probably more importantly, whichever fuel you’re using, E5 or E10, especially in PART OF THE POST- DISREPUTABLE YEARS carbed bikes, if you’re going to park your bike up for more than three weeks without APOCALYPTIC TALE OF BIKING starting it, drain your carbs before you do so (how you do it’s up to you – I turn 76 NEWS – ALL THAT’S 97 NEXT MONTH – the fuel tap to the ‘off’ position, and run the motor ‘til it dies) ‘cos the new fuels NEW AND HAPPENING JUST TO WHET YOUR seem to have a detrimental effect on their internals (and they’re not that nice to the IN THE CUSTOM BIKE APPETITE… gnomes I told you about last month either). You’ve seen those adverts on Facebook WORLD 98 RICK HULSE – THE Marketplace that say ‘carbs need cleaning’? Guess what causes that? 78 PRODUCTS – LOADS MUSINGS OF ONE OF OF GOOD STUFF FOR THE MOST ELOQUENT Afore I go, I thought I’d explain to you, in a kind of a BSH public service kind of a way, YOU TO SPEND YOUR THINKERS IN BIKERDOM what some common engineering terms mean. A lot of you’ll already know them, but for those of you that don’t… Percussive maintenance – I hit it with an ‘ammer an’ it started working again Cycle power to the panel – Switch it off an’ switch it back on again High impedance air-gap – I forgot to plug it in Organic grounding – It electrocuted me Terminally reconfigured – It melted Kinetic disassembly – It blew up Thermal shock – it caught fire Don’t say you don’t learn anything from this magazine, eh? See you next month! NIK

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JUST LIKE BUSES, YOU WAIT FOR AGES TO SEE A WELSH XS650, AND THEN TWO TURN UP AT ONCE! WELL, ACTUALLY, NOTHING LIKE BUSES – THEY’RE SINGLE-SEATERS, NOT 56-SEATERS; THEY’RE TINY AND LOVELY-LOOKING, NOT MAHOOSIVE AND FUGLY; AND THEY’RE NOT COVERED IN DIRT, OLD CHEWING GUM, AND SPIT. I’LL LET LEIF AND TONY TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR BIKES. N. JULY 2022 7

I bought the bike from an eBay seller in The carbs are Mikuni VM 34s with extended boots to stick them out October 2017 – it looked a cool bike, and I’d away from the engine, ’cos I think that looks cool, made from pieces of been toying with building a bobber for a few pipe tubing welded on to the flanges, and drilled/tapped to 5/16 UNF to years. Most of the major things’d been done be able to balance/sync the carbs. The exhausts look to be the originals, for the seller by a bloke who worked in a hot- but cut to look like slash-cuts, but were badly rusted so I took them off, rod shop. It was advertised as all-new, but wire-wheeled them, polished the tips, and wrapped them. turned out to be pretty worn out when I got it, blowing fuses all the time (especially if you used the lights or back brake), I then went about putting my own ideas on to the bike. I’d already and the number-plate fell off; the ’plate itself actually broke bought a cheap spray gun but, starting in February, it was a task unto – where it was welded to the frame was still intact! itself – it was freezing, and the paint kept reacting, and I had to rework Then, while I was up the garage, I noticed there was a leak on the tank and tinware three times due to problems, but I learnt along the tank which’d lifted all the paint. I did originally think I’d just the way. I like the old ’70s-style paint schemes so decided on a stipple have a go at respraying it but, one fateful February day, I came and lace effect so laid down silver, then black, then mother-of-pearl lace home from a night shift and decided to take the tank off. Then I which’s so subtle you can see it up close, but just blends into black and looked at the number-plate hanging off and, by about 11am, it was silver from a distance. I finished it, and it looked good but, while being all stripped down to its bare bones. I went to bed for a few hours, transported in the van, a mate’s BSA slipped over and scratched the tank and then set in motion what’d been floating about in my head. First thing was the engine. I didn’t have to do anything much to it, other than change the oil and filters; tighten the cam-chain; have a look at the clutch (the last owner said it dragged in top gear so I took it apart, and did the old trials bike trick of cleaning all the glue from the friction plates – it took a few hours with a needle file, but was totally worth it as, with 20/50 oil back in, no clutch slip; it’s since had a new one-piece pushrod and a new nylon cable, and is now lovely and light); and check/set the points (it’s running old- style points with a PMA charging system), but it’d previously been rattle-can’d… and by that I mean all of it – barrels, head, cases, nuts, bolts, washers, pipes, etc. I decided to take everything off to degrease and polish, and then spray properly. In fact, I didn’t just do the motor, I did the fork legs and, basically, anything I thought should shine. I rebuilt the brakes; fitted a new speedo drive; drilled the front disc to get more bite, and to vent it (didn’t like the solid look); replaced the mismatched levers with ASV stubbies; sorted two new coils; ran new wiring wherever I could; and tidied up the battery box. It now doesn’t blow fuses! 8 JULY 2022

LEIF’S SPEC: Yamaha XS650 engine (rebuilt top end, one-piece clutch pushrod, painted gloss black, polished head fins/tappet covers/cases, angled inlets, Mikuni VM34 carbs, pod filters, PMA ignition, standard exhausts (slash-cut/wrapped), Boyer electronic ignition)/frame (hardtailed)/front wheel/brakes/ forks (modified), unknown slab yokes, Shinko tyres (19-inch front, 16-inch rear), ‘Frisco ‘bars, ASV stubby levers, Sportster tank, Bates-style seat, welded- on rear ‘guard/sissy-bar, one-off electrics box, Yamaha XS400 wheel (modified)/brake, one-off loom, aftermarket headlight/ tail light FINISH: Black/silver/mother-of-pearl paint by owner, polishing by owner ENGINEERING: Owner THANKS TO: “Dave Norris at Wired Iron (07710 276 047 or www. wired-iron.co.uk) for the loom; my mam & dad for letting me take over the garage; & the wife for understanding that bikes come first…” right down to metal. I stripped it, and the front mudguard, and then saw that the rear mudguard, which’d been welded on at some point previously, had cracked, so that had to be cut off, dressed back, rubbed down, and repainted, too, to fall in with the rest of the bike. I wanted to keep it along the lines of what it was like prior to the damage, but also to better the design, so I went with what I felt at the time, and the result is what it is now. I also took it, after a year or two, to a buddy, Dave Norris at Wired Iron, who does a lot of new looms (and repairs an’ stuff) for British bikes and Harleys, as the old loom was probably the original, sliced and spliced to death, and really needed to be renewed to accommodate the new 12v Boyer electronic ignition unit – the new, blue, Boyer box just caused trouble after trouble (basically a massive pain in the arse), so I sent it back to be replaced with the older red one and, with a new regulator/rectifier, and battery, it now fires up first kick, even after being laid up. JULY 2022 9

MY dad got me into customs in the ’60s - he worked nights on the telephone exchange in a hospital and, to fend off boredom, he’d buy American bike and car mags (like Chopper and Hot Rod!), and pass them on to me. This was the start of a very long obsession! I bought a new pushbike at age 14, had 12-inch apehangers fitted, and sprayed it with metalflake and candy from rattle-cans. Then I moved to 125s and then 250s, and all were either cut down in some way or custom painted. One of my mates had an XS650 and, as he worked in a chroming place, everything he could get chromed he did. I loved the way it looked, and sounded, and one was always on my to-get-one-day list. Fast forward a few years and, after playing with cars, I wanted to get back into bikes. In 2018 I sold my last custom/drag car, and started looking for a good base for a chop or bobber. After searches on fleaBay, etc., I got it down to three in my price range - an 883 Harley bobber, and two XS650s. The Harley sold quickly, and the XSs were a choice of a hardtail or a softail and, as I’m not getting any younger, I decided to go for the softail, arranged to go and see it, and three hours later the bike was mine. I had to leave it here for a while until I could pick it up but, a few weeks later, a mate took me up in his van to collect it. I’d already decided I wanted to make it mine so over the next few months I changed a good few parts. The seat and rear ’guard supports went when I made a new sissy-bar (and altered the ’guard to suit), and I also put a side-mount ’plate on. I bought a new King Sportster tank from B&H Motorcycles, and they threw in a set of T-bars (it had wide beach-bars that I wanted to change) which weren’t a straight swap as the mounting holes in the slabs didn’t line up. I dropped the top ’un off at my friend’s machine shop, and he plugged the old holes and drilled new ones. The headlight had a few dings so I changed that, and the speedo cover looked like a bean tin so I bought a small one to replace that. The frame’s a Santee gooseneck with a Harley Softail rear end, and a Sportster front. I tried getting some 4-inch over forks, but couldn’t, so opted for 4-inch slugs with a good inch going into the tube, clamped top and bottom. They’ve never moved! I bought some stainless tube, polished it, and slid it between the yokes to hide the join. Engine-wise, it’s a standard ’79 XS650, and had standard BS34 carbs, but also an aftermarket PMA and ignition system and, to be honest, it was a killer – not only on the back of my leg, but it also took the teeth off first gear when it kicked back. The lights were rubbish as well, and it was a nightmare to ride in the dark with only 55 watts to play with – I had to use LED bulbs. I tried a To everyone’s amazement I scuffed the brand new tank with a flap single-carb manifold and a new VM34 Mikuni, but it’d still take wheel, masked off some scallops, and a 55, and with the help of my mate sometimes half-an-hour to start and, being kicker-only, I was Jon laid first gold flake, then about 10 coats of candy apple red, and worn out by the time it did. Thinking it was the carb and inlet, I another 20 odd coats of clear. Once done, and with new tulip exhausts, it bought twin VM34s – same problem. I was about to give up when was starting to look how I wanted it, but a couple days later my under- Ant Beynon (Pipes and Stuff on Facebook) started selling his own bar mirror came loose and, the first time I did a tight right turn, took PMA and ignition system. I knew him from car shows, so I bought a chunk out of the new paint. Then a few weeks later, while closing the a 200 watt PMA, and his CDI unit (which fits in the old points gate while going for a ride, the bike fell over and took out another chunk cover – no other box to find a place for), and now not only does the (and snapped the clutch lever). Fast forward a year and, after seeing the bike start first time every time, but I can see in the dark, too! paintwork on my mate Steve’s dragster in the style of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, I had an idea – I wanted mine to be black-based, though, so I 10 JULY 2022 swapped the colours around. It took three attempts to do (so much went

TONY’S SPEC: wrong!), but it was worth it – it has about 10 coats of lacquer, and’s 1979 Yamaha XS650 engine never been mopped or polished, but has a great shine and ‘feel’ to it. (VM34 Mikuni carbs, aftermarket pod filters, wrapped headers, In the meantime I bought a new trailer ’guard for the rear aftermarket short straight- and, getting fed up with getting soaked/a face full of grit when it through turn-outs, Pipes & Stuff wasn’t raining, bought a wideglide front face-full ’guard, too, and 200 watt PMA/CDI ignition), arranged with another mate to get them powder-coated. I did buy Santee gooseneck softail frame, a pad (seat) for the back, but it doesn’t really fit so I bought a little unknown forwards, Continental rack so that, when I’m allowed to start going away again, I have 19-inch front tyre, H-D rims/ something to hang a couple of bags off. brakes/forks (extended)/front mudguard/front brake master- I’ve always said the XS’ll never be a show bike and, now that cylinder/rear hub, one-off fork lockdown’s over, I intend to ride it around the country as much as I shrouds/wide-glide yokes, mini can, and not worry about polishing it all the time! speedo, aftermarket T-bars/ clutch lever, Lucas-type dip/ LEIF & TONY horn switch, King Sportster tank, PICS BY TONY aftermarket rear mudguard (modified), one-off stainless JULY 2022 11 battery box, one-off sissy-bar, H-D Heritage Softail swingarm, under-frame shocks, one-off rear sprocket, Avon rear tyre, one-off loom, aftermarket headlight/ side-mount tail-light FINISH: Tank painted reverse Piet Mondrian style by owner/ Keith, frame in rattle-can satin black, mudguards/sissy-bar powder-coated by Sovereign Steel Services (01443 676900 or sovereignsteelservices.co.uk), polishing by owner ENGINEERING: Owner & friends THANKS TO: “Daughter Lesley & partner Tony for use of garage; Jon Paine; Keith; Ant at PipesandStuff (07761 140060 or Facebook); Anthony at Sovereign Steel Services; Gareth & Craig at CAM-C Engineering; H at B&H Motorcycles (01726 824256 or www.bnh-motorcycles.co.uk); & Linda, my wife, for putting up with me for so long...”

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, IN A CAFÉ RACER SUPPLEMENT, WE RAN A FEATURE ON A GLORIOUS NORTON BUILT BY SWEDE DANIEL ANDERSSON, BASED AROUND A PARALLEL TWIN ENGINE THAT HE’D BOUGHT FROM STUART GARNER’S NORTON COMPANY BACK IN 2018. 12 JULY 2022

R egardless of your opinion of that Swedish chop that’d be usable yet still retain the purity iteration of the famous brand (or and clarity of a traditional long-forked chopper with of Garner’s nefarious financial the aesthetically-pleasing lines of that Norton parallel operations), the 961 engine was twin engine. Essentially, the bike of his dreams! actually a superb powerplant, not only in its looks, but also in the way He started the build in his usual way; chilling in his it performed. Daniel’s ‘Darton’ gained him numerous garage on a Friday night with a good pint, drawing accolades at the shows he took it to, and even gained the bike, full scale, on the empty white wall. With the him entry into the AMD World Championship design finalised to suit the wheel sizes and forks he (although that show was actually cancelled thanks to had in mind, and all the geometry sorted, he could Covid). While it was successful, and he really enjoyed start bending tubes. riding the bike, he felt that he could do more with the engine, and swapped it out for a Honda motor so that The frame’s a twin downtube affair, in the classic he could use the Norton lump in something else. The chopper style, with a straight line from the top of the bike you see here is the ‘something else’. steering head through to the rear wheel spindle. The As you can see, he’s moved away from the café steering head’s a little like a Norton Featherbed frame in racer style to the other end of the custom spectrum that it has the frame downtubes crossing over the tube with a bike that befits his home country – this is to the bottom of the ’head, thus kicking out the steering a true Swede! It’s not his first chopper either, angle to 46 degrees to suit the long forks sourced from as he’s previously built a very clean Suzuki the famous Tolle Engineering, in Täby just north of GSX1100-engined example, as well as the Stockholm. Further Tolle products include the ISR four fully rigid blue BSA B31 that we also piston callipers (two at the front, and another at the rear featured a while back. While the – this is one chop that’ll definitely stop!), and the brake Beezer was primarily a show bike, and clutch master-cylinders, while the front wheel (and and the Suzuki a big bore blaster, its matching rear) were both built up using Morad rims he wanted a bike that sat and spokes from Central Wheels here in the UK, laced on somewhere between the to hubs made by Daniel himself. As you’ll have realised two – a classically-styled from the fact that he not only made the frame, but also machined the aluminium wheel hubs, and the very nice yokes, too, he’s a clever fella who’s pretty handy with JULY 2022 13



SPEC: yokes/’bars, ISR FINISH: 2018 Norton 961 front callipers, Tolle Candy apple red/ engine (Mikuni forks, handlebars silver/black/white flatslide carburettors, by owner, Tolle/ paint by Bosse Jensen, one-off exhausts, ISR controls/master polishing/plating by Ignitech custom cylinders, Motogadget Bålsta Metallsliperi ignition), one-off switchgear, Avon ENGINEERING: twin down-tube grips, one-off tank/ Owner frame, aftermarket seat (covered by THANKS TO: side-stand/forward Sybo)/oil tank/ “Bosse for the paint; controls, Avon sissy-bar, Tolle rear Sybo for the seat; & Cobra tyres, Central calliper, one-off loom, everyone else who Wheels (UK) wheels, aftermarket headlight/ helped...” one-off hubs/discs/ tail-light flinger, Bosse Jensen, applying the black and red scalloped panelling, separated by ultra-clean white pinstriping, and a pinstriped Norton logo aside the tank, too. The polishing and plating were done by Bålsta Metallsliperi (Bålsta is an area on the outskirts of Stockholm, and regarding the rest of the company’s name, I’ll let you guess at machine tools. He’s none too shabby at forming sheet metal either, the translation!). With the as the rear mudguard (actually, the one and only mudguard), the parts back under his roof, oval section oil tank, and the Sportster-style fuel tank were all by Daniel could set to with him, too. reassembly and wiring before what is probably His home-brewed fabrication continued with the fully-floating both the most exciting brake discs front and rear, the drag-style handlebars on short risers, and, simultaneously, the and the stainless steel sissy-bar/’guard support. He also made up most nerve-wracking the staggered shotgun exhaust pipes, with the combustion process part of the build – the balanced by a pair of Mikuni flatslide carbs on the inlet side. fire-up! Fortunately, there Adding fire to the fuel is an aftermarket ignition system built by were no issues and, from Ignitech, a Czech company that makes aftermarket ignition boxes start to finish, the bike that can be configured to suit the application, and can be fettled, was built within a year, via a laptop, by the owner, and have become a viable alternative and’s now being used (and abused), and collecting trophies virtually to American aftermarket ignitions, particularly among the older everywhere it goes. sports bike and streetfighter fraternity for the likes of the Suzuki DAVE MANNING GSX-R, Yamaha FZR, etc. PICS BY DANIEL ANDERSSON With the dry build complete, the bike was stripped to its JULY 2022 15 constituent parts and sent to paint, with his favourite pigment



THE LAST TWO YEARS’VE BEEN A STRANGE TIME FOR THE WORLD OF CUSTOM BIKES (NOT THAT YOU NEED ME TO TELL YOU THAT), AND THE FOCUS OF HAVING A SHOW TO USE AS A DEADLINE FOR WHICH TO BUILD A BIKE HAS, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, BEEN LOST.

T hat’s not to say there haven’t been a A bright weekend brought out plenty of visitors on large and varied number of customised bikes, although the chill set in overnight (several folk with motorcycles built (as you’ll know from bikes in the show had little in the way of kip on the Friday the content of this magazine over the night, thanks to plummeting temperatures!), and the buzz months), and that was a point very ably of bikes coming in and out alongside the show halls gave presented by the bikes on display at a ‘happening’ edge that static venues don’t have. The this year’s first Kickback, held at the Three Counties ‘halls’ I mention aren’t really that as, being an agricultural Showground on the outskirts of Malvern Wells, on the showground, they’re effectively just cattle sheds although, eastern side of the beautiful Malvern Hills (quite rightly with the show bikes mounted on plinths (can anyone designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), actually say that word without pronouncing it as ‘plimpfs’?), in Worcestershire. some good lighting, and a variety of trade stalls scattered 18 JULY 2020

around, the atmosphere wasn’t so much bovine auctions as Studio, Kuntry Road Kustoms, Crazy Toys Workshop, a much a trendier vibe. And, with a concrete area outside The Biker Company, Oily Rag, and more. And, unlike suitable for the Two Brothers Stunt Team to smear with some other custom shows, Kickback’s very much an burnout rubber, and howling exhausts echoing off the walls, inclusive show that welcomes all forms of custom bikes, you couldn’t get any further away from the thoughts of whether they be chopper, lowrider, bobber, streetfighter, livestock, and ol’ boys chewing stalks of grass, muttering café racer, drag bike, and anything (and everything) in about the price of fuel, and how the weather’s always bad. between. It’s always been thus, with the show bringing in categories for Young Builder, Female Builder, Best Cub, Kickback has gained something of a reputation as etc. – undoubtedly not only a good thing for the custom being supportive of, and by, the custom bike industry, bike scene in general, as it gives showgoers a wide which was ably reflected by the sponsorship of Lamb variety of machinery to see, and to gain inspiration from, Engineering, Hard Up Choppers, and Here We Ride, and but it also brings together the differing niches within the retail presence of the likes of Flakey’s Custom Paint

the niche market of custom bikes. Aside from giving us bonkers (which may not be the politest way to describe all lots of inspiration, and insight into how builders of the Kuntry Road chopped Honda Cub, or April‘s ‘Shake different styles take on varying challenges, it also brings Appeal’ XS, but’s certainly accurate!). a more cohesive feel to the custom motorcycle fold and, when we’re still being threatened with legislative, and The Sunday afternoon prize-giving was compered by legal perils and pitfalls, we all need to be on the same Kickback head honcho Lorne Cheetham, and presented page and able to pull together. by that Henry Cole bloke off the telly. While he may not be everyone’s favourite TV star, he has put motorcycles The variety of bikes on display, custom bikes and a on the television where so many others’ve failed, and selection of classics, too, was indeed wide and varied. he’s much more amenable in person, and makes for an From the sublime, such as Mick O’Shea’s ‘Kubo’, and entertaining speaker. As an aside, while talking to one the show-winning Krom Works’ ‘Icarus’, to the frankly of the Kickback staff (no names, no pack drill), who was 20 JULY 2020

looking after a freshly-cooked burger for Henry while that did have signs out. These’re niggles though, as he was doing a bit of camera work, I suggested that he otherwise the venue works really well – after all, county could lick the burger, or maybe run his willy around the showgrounds’ve become a staple for numerous shows edge… at which point he said: “This young gent sat over the years: Kickback at Stoneleigh, the Stafford opposite is Henry’s son.” Oh, how we laughed… Shows, the Southwest Custom & Classic (now the Bristol Classic Show), etc., and there’s plenty of room It’s fair to say that there were a couple of issues with for expansion if required. Having said that, the next the first running of the show at this venue; the campsite Kickback’ll be at a slightly diverse location – HM Prison didn’t have direct access to the showground, meaning Gloucester, on 18th September, as a one-day show, a long walk on busy roads, and the lack of signage to rather appropriate given that, as motorcyclists, we all like the event definitely caused confusion, especially given to spend a day behind bars… the fact that there was a ‘classic vehicle’ event in a different part of the venue on the same Sunday, and DAVE MANNING BEST IN SHOW – Keith Edney’s ‘Icarus’ Royal Enfield, built by Krom Works BEST IN SHOW (WOMAN) – Cheyenne ‘Shiny’ Keogh’s BMW RUNNER-UP – Rachel Truman’s Honda budget custom FREESTYLE Ist – Neil Bobbet’s Yamaha XS650 2nd – Slobodan’s H-D Flathead bobber 3rd – Keith Hovvel’s Yamaha XS650 digger BEST CUB 1st – Mick O’Shea 2nd – Brian Ricketts 3rd – Keifer Price BEST UNIVERSAL CUSTOM 1st – Tony Fishlock’s Honda FMX650 2nd – Gareth Palmer’s Harley flat tracker 3rd – Tony Fishlock’s Honda SLR650 BEST PERFORMANCE RACER 1st – Danny Ellis’ Buell (built by the late Kip Brown) 2nd – Andy Underhill’s Yamaha RD350LC 3rd – Colin Chapman’s Kawasaki GPZ900R BEST MODIFIED CLASSIC 1st – Ian Jeavon’s Kawasaki Z1327 turbo 2nd – Jerry Missin’s Suzuki GT550 3rd equal – Alan Cunnington’s 1943 Norton/1949 Norton BEST CHOPPER/BOBBER 1st – Simon Butler’s 883 Harley board-tracker 2nd – April’s Yamaha XS650 chopper 3rd – James McLaughlin’s Triumph Thunderbird chopper

“A CHASSIS WITH A HARDTAIL FRAME, LONG FORKS, COOL CHOPPER TANK, AND SOME LOOSE PARTS – A BEAUTIFUL ‘FUN PACKAGE’ FROM A LONG-GONE ERA WAS OFFERED TO ME FOR A DECENT PRICE BACK IN 2012. IT WAS A LONG DRIVE TO COLLECT IT, AS IT WAS FAR FROM WHERE I LIVE, BUT I SAW POSSIBILITIES (AGAIN), AND COULDN’T RESIST BUYING IT.” 22 JULY 2022

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Now I had an almost complete motorcycle, albeit in bits. I spoke to Short Cut Choppers, and we put everything together there. Almost immediately, an acquaintance of mine offered me an amazing one-of-a-kind set of wide-glide wishbone springer forks so, without hesitating for a moment, the heavy, but oh-so-cool, fork was taken home. Tjeerd at Short Cut sighed deeply when I walked into his shop with the colossus under the beginning of the Eighties, Europe was my arm. “This is really the most AT overrun by a wave of choppers – more and SPEC: insane fork for this chopper!” he more companies imported not only parts and 1973 Honda CB750 K3 engine said. They might’ve been a sod to accessories, but also complete motorcycles. (K&N air-filters, aftermarket drag fit but, thankfully, they’d come out Wholesalers appeared on the scene, and more ‘pipes), unknown rigid frame, of another CB750, and that made and more were manufactured in Europe. It homemade forwards, Avon tyres, assembly a lot easier. Oh, and with became easier to import parts from America, and the chopper spoked wheels (21-inch front, 16- them on, the bike’d only just fit on magazines were experiencing golden times. inch rear), dual disc front brakes, the lift in Tjeerd’s workshop! It was an inspiration for us here in Europe to see guys from the 14-inch over wishbone springer forks, one-off 12-inch risers, narrow drag-‘bars, stock switches/controls, Zodiac Streamliner grips, single- Part of the plan was always going States building amazing creations and, every month, magazines cap Mustang tank, Drag Specialties to be to keep the bike in its original like Easyriders, Choppers, Supercycles, Hot Bike, etc., were colour – Deep Pink Fuchsia. It’s King & Queen seat, chromed custom oil tank, aftermarket flat devoured. Even Dutch builders, such as Prudon, Dik’s Paints, rear ‘guard, Drag Specialties sissy- striking, to say the least! Pink was Janton and more, started building choppers and customs. The bar, stock drum rear brake, one-off a popular colour for chops back in world on two wheels became louder, more colourful, and more the Eighties, and it’d’ve been wrong loom, Dixie twin rectangular chopper headlights, cat’s-eye extreme – it was a wonderful tail-light to change it as it’s period-correct, period in which more was FINISH: and really stands out. It also gave possible and allowed. After Fuchsia Pink by unknown painter, the bike its name – my daughter growing up with little Tomos used to love the girl group K3 and mopeds, the roads suddenly graphics by White Lightning so, because the bike model’s a stretched out in front of you, ENGINEERING: CB750 K3, and the colour is as pink Owner/Plug at Short Cut Choppers THANKS TO: opened up to you, and you Tjeerd Plug at Short Cut Choppers; as K3 (the band), the ideal name could ride all over Europe on Annelien for modelling; & Fam. was ‘K3, The Lady in Pink’. a chopper, without a mobile Buijs, Bilthoven for the photo ’phone, without GPS, even location…” Richly patinated (read as ‘old and rusty’) drag pipes were without a credit card. It was scored, the carburettors cleaned, and the old donor engine could be adventure and freedom! started for the first time. To our great relief it started okay, and ran It was a feeling you never very smoothly without a tap or rattle! The rear wheel was refurbished, forget, and I longed to feel it the drum brake checked, and fitted with a new fat Avon tyre to match again. I’d picked up an old the one on the front. The chopper was up and running, and on its feet! CB750 project chopper from Forward controls were modified to fit by Tjeerd as the original highway the Seventies a while back and, bar (remember them?) and brake-n’-shift pedal didn’t fit properly, and as it was a very popular bike to made riding downright miserable, and a set of 12-inch one-off risers, chop back then, wanted to get it back on the road. I also had an old with a set of drag-’bars were added to the wishbone springers – the ‘sky’s King & Queen saddle on a shelf, but I didn’t have an engine. After the limit’ look was born! a lot of searching, and a lot of patience, I found a donor bike with Riding such a bike is, I admit, quite a handful, as we soon found a ‘good engine’ (according to the man who sold it) that I could buy out, but the long forks and the narrow, high handlebars complete for not too much money. Upon arriving at his place, it turned out the Easy Rider experience. The build-up of a cool chopper actually to be a horribly converted bike, but the engine was, as he’d said, became a restoration with a period-correct appearance – a restoration good, and, to my astonishment, when I advertised the rest of the done without using new parts, without new paintwork, without even parts I didn’t need, they sold for far more than I expected. Long polishing or cleaning a part. live the Internet! Choppers forever! ONNO ‘BERSERK’ WIERINGA 26 JULY 2022 MADNESSPHOTOGRAPHY.NL



SEVEN FIFTY TWO CUSTOMS’VE BEEN BUSY TOILING AWAY, CREATING MODERN CUSTOM BIKES, AND SOME GOOD FEW BIKE RESTORATIONS, FROM A TARDIS-STYLE INDUSTRIAL UNIT IN SEVENOAKS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW.

S tarting with adapting some of their own other folk did, too, including several large bike groups bikes, they’ve also turned out some as part of organised ride-outs, and all sorts of bikes from stunning builds, from café racers to a sports to classics. lovely fat Sportster which was just sitting in There was a very steady flow of bikes, and the sheer the shop screaming ‘Ride me’. number surprised all (not least the poor fellow trying to As with many shops, though, they’ve marshal and keep some sort of order). There were cool Brits, made it a place to visit, too, with their own range of a slightly confusing BMW (how the exhaust stayed on is merchandise, and also catering on a Friday and a Saturday, beyond me), a smattering of Harley bobbers, and more than when the shop’s open for customers to revel in the modern, a few classics – a good way to spend a sunny morning. quirky interior and café bar-style fittings. They then thought Seven Fifty Two can be found at Unit 11, Chaucer a Spring Bike Day’d be a good idea, too. Business Park, Watery Lane, Kemsing (Kent), and their And it wasn’t only them who thought this was a good postcode for your sat-nav is TN15 6PL. Look ‘em up on line idea – never having visited before, and at the end of an at www.sevenfiftytwocustom.com unseasonably warm March week, meself and many, many BOSUN JULY 2022 29

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WHEN I WAS A KID I SAW JOHN REED’S GOLD YAMAHA IN A GERMAN BIKE MAGAZINE, AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ENGRAVING DON BLOCKSIDGE’D DONE (I HAD EVERY CENTRESPREAD OF EVERY BIKE MAG WHICH SHOWED IT ON MY BEDROOM WALLS), AND PROMISED MYSELF THAT, ONE DAY, I’D HAVE A BIKE ENGRAVED BY DON. JULY 2022 31

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Parts in Aachen in Germany, and they had one! It was delivered in record time, and changed just as quickly. Sorted! The back wheel, though… I realised it was losing air, very slowly, but losing it nonetheless. After a nightmare journey back from London, I took the wheel to a local tyre place, and found the rubber seal for the spokes’d disintegrated, and someone’d filled the tyre with foam/gel/ slime/whatever to seal the leaks – I don’t know how many cans they’d used, but it was a right bloody mess. I got a 280-section tube (not cheap or easy to come by), only to find out that the rim didn’t like the tube, and it still constantly lost air – from where we never found out. I needed someone to reseal the rim, but that turned out to be a nightmare in itself – no one’d do it, or those who would wanted so much I could’ve bought a new set of wheels for the price! SPEC: Eventually, though, with encouragement 1991 H-D FLHS Electra from my daughter Chayanne, I found a video of a guy in Mexico doing hot-rod Glide Sport 1340 spoked wheels – finally, after nearly three engine (Andrews EV 27 months, an answer. Nearly three years later, and at a grand total of £31(!), my cam, Keihin CV carb, wheel’s never lost the slightest ounce of air. retro fly-eye mesh air- cleaner, Barnett clutch, That wasn’t the end of my trials, Baker right-side-drive though. The bike rode okay, but the RH gearbox, Crane Hi Intensity single-fire coil, Roland Sands Designs Short Shot exhausts), one-off Custom Cycle ’peg was forever grinding on the road, Developments frame/ and the fork seals leaked for a pastime. I did the seals – they still leaked. It turned swingarm/oil tank/ battery box, Demon Cycle forwards, billet out the stanchions were badly worn, so T hirty-eight years later, I was looking for a comfy ‘pegs, Avon tyres I had to order some new ones, which old Evo’ Electra Glide, and went with my mate (140/70/18 front, came as 2-inch overs (the forks were Grant to see Russ at Bretton Motorcycles in Chester. It was Grant who spotted this bike first 280/35/18 rear), 18-inch five-spoke Fat Spoke and pointed it out. I’d seen it on Russ’ online wheels with billet hubs, already 4-inch over so that made six), site, but hadn’t really taken a lot of notice of it as and they lifted the front of the frame and it was just a somewhat boring-looking, silver bike with a monster Zodiac Rev’o’lution stopped the ’peg grounding. Now riding’s wide (300) arse-end (I’d never really liked big rear tyres that 11.5-inch front discs, enjoyable, and cornering’s doable without much). We had to climb over other bikes to see it, as it was bunged H-D front callipers/ leaving marks on the Tarmac! in a corner, and that was when I saw the engraving for the first master-cylinder/controls/ time. It looked vaguely familiar, and seeing the engraving, and the switches, 6-inch over A couple of minor engine gremlins 41mm forks, billet wide- were sorted, too, and then, as I had the glide yokes, aftermarket bike apart, I thought to get it resprayed. mudguards, stainless A good friend of mine, Lee, who’d done brake lines, 2-inch risers, my other bikes, originally promised he’d 16-inch high 1.75-inch do it, but his health deteriorated and old Evo’ engine, I was kind o’ taken by it, but wasn’t in the mood apes, GPS mini speedo, to buy, as it wasn’t really what I wanted. Monster can surround, old-style cola bottle On the way home, Grant, being Grant, constantly kept on at grips, H-D FLH Electra so, again encouraged by my little girl, I me that I really wanted/needed it and, no matter how much I told Glide tank (chromed), found some old spray cans in black, gold, him I wanted an Electra Glide, he just carried on… and on… and bronze, and brass and, quite fancying a on. To shut him up, I told him I’d call Russ (I had in my mind to High End Products rust-effect on the rear ’guard (the tank’d make an offer he’d refuse), rang, and left a message, not expecting Inc seat, one-off rear been chromed), used them to get the a return call. Five minutes later he rang back, saying the seller’d struts, Pro-Tech shock, look I wanted. I’m not a sprayer, but a accepted it. Although I really didn’t want it, I don’t like going back aftermarket floating quick lesson on YouTube and 24 hours on my word, so arranged to go and have a proper look. A few days polished 11.5 rear disc, later the masterpiece was done using the later we went back, and I was able to look around it properly for aftermarket four-pot cans, a sponge, and a cloth (and lots of the first time. The engraving fascinated me, and I got more and calliper, one-off loom, swearing). It looked really good. All that 6-inch Bates headlight, LED tail-light FINISH: Rust-effect paint by owner, lots of plating more interested at the sheer amount that’d been done, and that by unknown painter, with a bit of leftover paint and £30! was when I saw Don’s signature on the primary. That was why the engraving by the late I’d just finished the bike when the work seemed so familiar – my childhood dream of getting a bike Don Blocksidge RIP unbelievable happened – I was going on with Don’s work on was about to become reality. ENGINEERING: the first real run with the guys, when A week or so later she was at mine. The frame’d been done Briz at Custom Cycle some idiot crashed into us. Luckily, no originally by Briz at Custom Cycle Developments in Norfolk Developments (01366 one sustained serious injuries, but my bike back in 2016 as a dual-linkage monoshocker, set up for a right- suffered – trashed rear ’guard/foot-rests/ side transmission and the wide rear tyre, and was really good, 500662 or www. forks/’bars/levers, etc. The guy hit it so and the detail in Don’s work was phenomenal, but the wheels ccd-briz.com) & Bill hard he broke the rear axle but, of all the really annoyed me – it had a beautiful 80-spoke chrome front, Price at Billcar Precision damage, the part which hurt the most and a black 48 fat-spoke rear, and they just didn’t look right. Engineering (01743 was that my engraved clutch lever bracket Maybe I have OCD, but I just couldn’t live with a bike with broke – irreplicable. Nevertheless, a few two different rims, so I decided one’d have to go, and kept 450044) weeks later it was back up and running. It’s with the fat-spoker (a decision I’d later regret). It turned out THANKS TO: a kid’s dream come true and, having this to be completely impossible to find an 18-inch 3.5j dual discer “Grant for making me once-in-a-lifetime chance, it can cost as anywhere in the UK or on eBay, etc. – everything dual disc buy the bike; Russ from much as it wants. was either 16- or 19-inch. Then, by pure luck, I found US Bike Bretton Motorcycles (01244 660774 or www. brettonmotorcycles. co.uk); Briz at CCD; Bill Pryce; Little Dave; The Mexican Guy on YouTube; US Bike Parts; & my little (big) girl MICK GLAUB 34 JULY 2022 Chayanne…” PICS BY SIMON EVERETT

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IT’S BEEN A FEW YEARS SINCE I’VE BEEN TO SANTA POD, AND EVEN LONGER SINCE I’VE BEEN TO ONE OF THEIR NATIONAL MEETINGS, AND, DO YOU KNOW, I’D KIND O’ FORGOTTEN HOW GOOD THEY ARE. JULY 2022 37

I mean, I could remember (vaguely) that spectators sit, it’s enough to make you have to cover your ears, the top-class cars, and the top-class bikes, and it makes the very air, and ground, shake – from the start- too, are bloody loud when they go, but I’d line area, where us snappers point our digital Box Brownies, forgotten just how bloody loud. Loud, you it’s so much more than that. It’s physical, literally physical; the see, isn’t really an adequate term – in fact, I noise, if that’s the right word, pushes you about – not enough don’t really know what is because the noise to make you take a step, but enough for you to very definitely that comes out of the back of the Top Fuel cars and bikes, feel it, and the sheer volume goes way up past what even we, Nitro Funny Cars, Nostalgia Funny Cars, and Pro Mod cars as riders of noisy-arse motorcycles, can comprehend. I live goes beyond the term ‘sound’. If you’ve ever been to see the under the flight path of two USAF air bases and, when the big boys run at the Pod (as Santa Pod’s affectionally known) or fighters’re doing practice take-off-and-landing loops, they during the demonstration runs at the late, lamented Bulldog often come over my house so low that conversation, either Bash, you’ll know what I’m trying to say; if you haven’t, or on the ‘phone or in real life, is impossible, and sometimes so you’ve only ever seen them on telly, then you can’t really get low that cups an’ plates an’ stuff in the house rattle on the your head around it. From the stands, or the bank, where shelves. This, though, is so far removed from that there’s

really no comparison. If you’ve not got ear-defenders on, you the area between the ‘stands and the bank’s filled with the can’t take pictures – the sound is too intense and, even with most incredible rushing noise; the heat from the engine(s) so them, the silence that follows a launch is a very tangible thing. intense that you have to turn away, much as you do when too It is an (and you have no idea how much I loathe the word) close to a big bonfire. At the Festival of Power over the Easter awesome experience being down on the ‘line when the high- weekend, we were treated to the spectacle of a succession of end stuff burns-out or launches, and one which I feel I’ve been jet car passes, and even a couple of side-by-side passes, too, privileged to be allowed to experience. and I’d defy anyone not to have a smile on their face at the sheer f**koffness of ‘em. The stand-out for me, though, was The same can be said for the jet cars, too, but in a the Oklahoma Willy jet bus – an utterly pristine 1958 split- different way. The noise isn’t, at first, quite so intense, as screen VW pick-up with a 1986 Rolls-Royce Viper jet engine they’re reasonably quiet as they bring the jet engine(s) up on the back which, although too heavy to set any records, was to temperature, blowing out clouds of smoke that turn in a real crowd-pleaser, and still went so, so much faster up the a series of ‘pops’ so loud they make you jump even though strip than any old Splittie has any right to. you’re expecting them, to concentrated tongues of flame that start off yellow, and get shorter, and closer to pure red, This is a bike magazine, though, and while the cars are, with every pop. Then, when the temp’s right, they go, and perhaps, the ultimate spectacle, it’s really the bikes that I JULY 2022 39

was here to see. I’d arranged with Bod from Boden’s Custom (filters, ‘pipes, re-jetted carbs, wheelie-bar) 750 Teapot motor, Cycles to meet him there to photograph his lad, Jake, and and so they’d decided on a target time of 12.58. I was only the hardtail GSX750 they’d built for him to race in ET Bike; there Friday due to having to be at Cublington the next day a class covering a wide range of machines from road-legal for the NCC run you can see elsewhere this issue, but he got stockers through to purpose-built drag bikes that’s a real faster and faster each run, and closer and closer to his dial-in, game of strategy – you set yourself a time that you think’s and was, when I left at the end of the day, seventh qualifier achievable and then try to get as close to it as possible without (out of 16). By the end of the weekend he’d run a 12.61, but going under it (‘breaking out’). Effectively, this means that red-lit (jumped the start – really easy to do when you’re what’s in the lane next to you’s neither here nor there – it’s waiting for the lights, pumped full of adrenaline) in the first yourself you’re racing against. The way the class works is kind round of Eliminations, and so was out. Shame, definitely, but it o’ complicated – reaction time’s taken into account, as well was the first meeting of the year so not as bad as it could be. as how close you get to your dial-in, and so that means that you can be really close to it but, if the other guy(s)’s reaction Wandering the pits, I came across another, very similar, times’re quicker than yours, they get a higher qualification/ hardtail, this time powered by a turbocharged Bandit 1200 elimination/finals rating. Jake’s bike’s running a standard-ish motor. It belonged to, and’d been built by, Matt Jones (and kind o’ copied by Bod and Jake – imitation is, as always, the

sincerest form of flattery). He had an ET of 9.00, and eventually well-turned-out Born To Be Wild bike. And, at the risk of ran a very respectable 9.27 at 147mph (his personal best), sounding like a condescending sexist, it was good to see but’d already broken out on an earlier run. As he’d set his best more female riders than I was expecting to see: Margot time, though, he wasn’t too upset about that. I photographed Schmidt in Super Street; Jasmine Cordell and Stacey his bike, as well as Jake’s, and you’ll be able to see them both Reed in 8.50 Bike; Anna Sasiak in ET Bike; four girls (Casey in the mag’ fairly soon. Holgate, Meg Talbot, Lyra Humber and Maggie Smallman) in the wonderfully-named Rugrat Racing Junior Drag Bike Elsewhere, the Funny Bike, Comp Bike, and Super Street team; and Hollie King in Junior Drag Bike. too. classes had a host of names that may (or may not) be As I said, I had to leave late Friday afternoon, but it familiar to those with an above-average interest in drag was such a good day that I made up me mind to get back to racing: Steve Woollatt aboard The Dealer; Neil Midgeley the Pod at least once more this yeah – maybe I’ll aboard the Cannon Engineering bike (crewed by the big see you there? man, Cannon, himself); ex-GPz750 Turbo campaigner NIK Lorcan Parnell; Len Paget running in Comp Bike; Graham Dance; and Mark Dainty in Super Street (ex-head honcho of FOR A FULL LIST OF MEETINGS AT SANTA streetfighter specialists Polygon/PEST) aboard the very- POD IN 2022, GO TO SANTAPOD.CO.UK JULY 2022 41

ALTHOUGH HE CALLS IT ‘SPINE CRIPPLER’, THE LEGEND ON THE TANK OF JASON WILLIAMSON’S XS650 READS ‘DEATHWISH’ – SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF FOLK MAY AGREE WITH WHEN THEY REALISE HIS BIKE’S SERIOUSLY LACKING IN THE FRONT BRAKE DEPARTMENT… 42 JULY 2022

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the years buying bikes so advertised, but I also know I’m not that lucky – what’d be just pooey carbs for them would, no doubt, be a full feckin’ engine rebuild for me…). Jase was a bit in the middle – yes, his engine was in good order, but it took him three weeks, three long weeks, of skinning his knuckles (and losing his voice screaming at the b*st*rd to start) to work out that the timing was massively out. Once he had, it started straight away, and’s run beautifully ever since. It’s a very simple chop. The frame’s been hardtailed using a TC Bros (www.tcbroschoppers.com) weld-on hardtail (I suspect the front’s been raked slightly, to, to kick the front end out further); one of their rear ’guards, and one of their oil tank- style electrics boxes (or one of their oil tanks converted to an electrics box, I’m not certain), and the wheels’re both stock XS items (albeit with the front brakes removed), as are the forks (although they’re fitted with longer stanchions) and yokes. The ’bars’re 10-inch apes with Lowbrow cola bottle grips; the tank’s a Sportster; and the seat was on it when he got it, as was the sissy-bar. Proper ’70s-style triangular spotlamps’ve been wired up to act as headlights, and there’s a neat little period- reet tail-light, too. Engine-wise, the carbs run sans filters, after being suitably jetted, of course; there’s a Boyer electronic ignition to give big fat sparks; and the high-level shotgun ’pipes, with their *expletive-deleted* Hot shield is just funky. The satin black tank, with its graphics, was like that when it made the long haul up from the land of white stilettos and blokes called Barry; and the white ’coated frame n’ rear muddie are as was, too. With the chop up and running (and, he says, sounding the mutt’s nuts), he jumped on and rode off ‘feeling like Peter e’ve run features on bikes without front stoppers Fonda, looking like Catfish Cooley’. This lasted for a while, W in BSH before (and I suspect we probably will but then the inevitable happened – he ran out of fuel. “Gotta again) but, in the main, they’ve been twin love the peanut tank,” he says, “that was a long walk to the rear calliper affairs that, while technically not petrol station.” Now that the weather’s getting better, and having an anterior anchor, do actually have two more and more places’re opening as we get back to normal, independent means of retarding one’s forward he’ll be out on her a bit more often motion via said callipers on the rear disc. They’ve also, pretty much, so if you’re from around Manchester been on much more modern-in-design bikes. Jase’s, though, is on SPEC: you’ll probably see him pushing it to an old school retro chopper – a very different style of mo’cycle to 1979 Yamaha XS650 the petrol station because, he says, he the aforementioned tektros. engine (open carbs, always forgets to check! Not having a front brake on a retro chopper is, it appears, de later clutch, Boyer NIK Micro Power ignition, PICS BY SIMON EVERETT rigeuer for the purists these days and I, personally, have mixed feelings about ’em. I do like the look of a spool hub, as they’re one-off shotgun *This is because I’ve had far too many near-misses known, in combination with a set of springers on the front of an old ‘pipes, Hughes that, without a front brake, wouldn’t’ve been ’Arley, Triumph or, yes, XS Yam, but I can’t help feeling that you’re Hand-Built oil cooler/ misses at all. Mind you, this, in turn, is probably lines)/frame (TC Bros ‘cos I ride like a twat… hardtail)/wheels/rear just making life difficult for yourself running one in this day and brake/forks (longer age. Y’see, the golden age of spool hub choppers was, really, the ’60s stanchions)/yokes, TC and into the early ’70s, and back then there simply wasn’t the traffic Bros forwards/rear we have today, there really wasn’t. (I’d also hesitate to say that there ‘guard/electrics tank/ probably weren’t as many shagwits on the road back then as there battery tray, Firestone are today, too, but not for very long…) These days, running a spool tyres, aftermarket 10- hub on the congested streets of our sceptred isle, and having to bob inch apes, Lowbrow and weave to avoid said shagwits as often as we seem to have to do, Customs cherry red you’re taking your life in your own hands. Don’t get me wrong, I’m cola bottle grips, not slagging off the folk who do run ’em, ’cos they do look the part, Sportster tank, it’s just that, like incest, Morris Dancing, and gooseberry yoghurts, unknown seat, one- off sissy-bar, one-off loom, twin 1970s triangle headlights, aftermarket ‘70s tail-light they’re not for me.* FINISH: Anyway, Jase’d been looking for a chopper, an old school Satin black tank chopper, that floated his boat for years as, although he’d never paint/graphics by ridden one, he’d always loved the look, and one day the XS unknown painter, appeared on his radar. It was four-odd hours away from his white powder-coat native Manchester, somewhere down in Essex, and was advertised frame/rear ‘guard complete, but non-running. He spoke to the bloke, and was told the by unknown ‘coater, only real thing stopping it going was that the carbs needed cleaning polishing by Busted out, so decided to take a chance on it. Personally, that always sets Knuckle Custom & Performance Motorcycles (07826 614451 or Facebook) off alarm bells in my head – if you’ve gone to all the trouble of ENGINEERING: building a chop, why wouldn’t you just clean the carbs and get it Original owner/ running? (I know lots of people’ve had some real bargains over 45 builder JULY 2022

ANBOSHTHCEURSTYOEAMRC, HAANMOTPHS!ER I’m guessing you already know how it works, but just in case… the BSH Custom Champs runs over six rounds: MAY (ONLINE VIA FACEBOOK) 28-31st ROCK & BLUES JUNE (ONLINE VIA FACEBOOK) CCUOSNTEOYMGRSHEYOW 3rd JULY NCC LONDON’S SHOWGROUND, DACIAEMCOONRNDEDR,ANYOARCTEHCAFE, PCEHNETSRTIECRHF,IEDLEDRBRYOSAD, CIRCULAR RD, LONDON JULY (ONLINE VIA FACEBOOK) AUGUST (ONLINE VIA AT EACH ROUND FACEBOOK) THERE’LL BE SIX CLASSES: YOU CAN ENTER THE ONLINE ROUNDS BY GOING TO ANY OF THE 1. BEST CHOPPER FOLLOWING FACEBOOK PAGES: 2. BEST CUSTOM Back Street Heroes 3. BEST NEW SKOOL Back Street Heroes – The Official Group CUSTOM (CAFE RACER, Streetfighters Magazine Hooligan STREET SCRAMBLER, ETC.) Underground 4. BEST PAINT Butchered Classics 5. BEST ENGINEERING and simply posting a pic of your 6. BEST BUTCHERED bike on the relevant thread. CLASSIC (PRE-1990) Simple as that! The winners of each of the rounds’ll be, in September, judged against the other winners in their classes, and the six overall winners’ll go on to be the stars of the BSH Custom Heroes stand at Motorcycle Live in November (19-27th), where there’ll be trophies, prize money an’ stuff! Next issue, we’ll show you the winners of the first round – good luck! 46 JULY 2022



Gus Spence has been vandalising bikes since he was 13… so 40 years in total. Whether it’s chopping up frames, painting, or playing in bands at bike rallies, it’s not seen as a job, but a way of life. It’s been a living, breathing passion that’s inspired him to try many innovative ideas, one of which is the world’s first use of electric paint design [see pic, right]. As he progressed from vandalising his own bikes and others, it brought with it countless awards worldwide, from Daytona to Faro, Stormin’ to Thunder in the Glens, Ireland to Hamburg, and features in many magazines, and his work’s now recognised in the UK as some of the best in the business. If you want to find out more about Muddy Beach Customs, their designs and products, you can find info on Facebook or at muddybeachcustoms.com I’ve always been passionate about painting motorbikes – I’m self-taught, painting my own machines, and those of friends, to improve my techniques. I think it started when I was about 12 years old, when I found out how to take bicycles apart and repaint them in bright colours, then spray cans from Halfords and American bike magazines gave me the ideas to start on motorbikes and, after three attempts at starting up in business, mortgages, children, and a divorce, 45 years later I have a dedicated workshop with all the equipment I need. I can paint anything and everything, from classic British bikes to modern race bikes to streetfighters and customs, in any and every style from original colour schemes to one-off custom finishes. All graphics are painted on, not stickers or decals, and I’d like to think this’s become one of my business strong points.

Hilary left art college in 1984, and began her artistic career concentrating on watercolour landscapes. This led her down the road of combining her love for bikes and painting to where we see her now – custom airbrushing and creating beautiful, bespoke designs. Over the years she has perfected her technique, and’s mastered several different airbrush disciplines, ranging from single colour tins to wonderful pieces of art that owners’ve requested. Hilary’s particularly adept at taking the ideas an owner has for their beloved machine, and turning it into something special. Awards continue to flow as the years role on, and her passion for airbrushing never seems to wane. The Benelli digger-style chop she painted recently’s further evidence of her work, with an intricate gold leaf design that took a lot of concentration to complete to this very high standard. The bike won Best Paint at the Copdock bike show last year, and’ll have been presented at Tobacco Dock for the Bike Shed Show in May this year. Hilary is the full package, and can do everything from ground-up repairs through to completed art if required. Give her a shout if you want your bike transformed or refreshed at [email protected]

PIC BY NIK