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.

NOCTURNAL UNICORN • WHILE, OF LATE, THERE’S BEEN A VERY NOTICEABLE SWING IN CUSTOM BIKE STYLING BACK TOWARDS BIKES BUILT IN THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES, WITH LONG FORKS, CLOUD-SCRAPING SISSY-BARS, AND DUAL SEATS TO MATCH, THERE’RE STILL THOSE FOLK WHO ARE CREATING BESPOKE MACHINERY FROM BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLES.

PANOREXIA • IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN CUSTOM HARLEYS, AND I’M ASSUMING YOU HAVE GIVEN THAT YOU’RE READING THIS, AND YOU’RE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THEN THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE YOU’LL BE AWARE OF THE WORK OF THUNDERBIKE IN GERMANY.

HARLEY Lives

H-D SUPER RALLY

ZODIAC MICRO LED TURN SIGNALS

VITY’S BILLET INSTRUMENT HOUSINGS

BITUBO REMOTE ADJUSTABLE SHOCKS

DK CUSTOM ROCKER LOCKERS

OXFORD SINGLE LAYER JEANS

ODC FORK CARTRIDGE KITS

HEAT SHIELD INSULATION LINERS

HARLEY EVENTS • BY NO MEANS AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST, BUT A FEW AIMED AT THE DISCERNING H-D RIDER THROUGH THE SUMMER.

ZODIAC GIGA NUTS

CHALKY PONY RALLY

MERLIN BANDIT BOOTS

OXFORD TYRE REPAIR KIT

CAPTION LARRY • AS AN ODE TO THE YEAR ZODIAC, THE FAMOUS PARTS SUPPLIERS, STARTED, 1969, THIS COOL CHOPPER WAS BUILT IN THE ZODIAC WORKSHOP. THE COMPANY IS NOW 52 YEARS OLD, AND IS A MANUFACTURER AND WHOLESALER OF CUSTOM AND REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON, OTHER AMERICAN V-TWIN MOTORCYCLES, AND CUSTOMS.

G’DAY, AND WELCOME TO THIS, THE NEW ISSUE OF BSH!

FLAMES & FLAMES • ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA, ‘FIRE IN THE HOLE’ IS AN EXPRESSION INDICATING AN EXPLOSIVE DETONATION IN A CONFINED SPACE IS IMMINENT. IT ORIGINATED FROM US MINERS, WHO NEEDED TO WARN THEIR FELLOWS AN UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIVE CHARGE’D BEEN SET, BUT IT’S SINCE BECOME MORE WELL-KNOWN AS A THROWAWAY SMART-ARSE LINE USED BY MILITARY PERSONNEL IN FILMS WHEN THEY LOB A GRENADE INTO A ROOM FULL OF SOON-TO-BE VERY EX-BAD GUYS.

CLASSIC CAFF’ • THE IDEA TO BUILD A CAFE RACER BASED ON AN XS 650 CAME TO ME AFTER I MOT’D ONE ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO - I NOTICED HOW CLOSELY RELATED THE XS MOTOR IS TO A SIXTIES BRITISH ENGINE, BOTH IN LOOKS, AND THE SOUND THEY MAKE.

SAVAGES MC BIKE & HOT ROD SHOW • ON A GLORIOUS LATE SUMMER/EARLY AUTUMN DAY THE PERFECT WAY TO SPEND A DAY, FOR ME, IS TO RIDE WEST THROUGH SURREY AND HAMPSHIRE TO ANDOVER, AND THE SAVAGES MC CUSTOM BIKE & HOT ROD SHOW.

STEAM’D SHOVEL • WITH, SADLY, ONLY A FEW EXCEPTIONS, MOST OF THE BIKES YOU SEE HERE IN BSH ARE BUILT, IN THE MAIN, BY, HOW SHALL I PUT THIS, GENTLEMEN OF A CERTAIN AGE. IN FACT, IT’S NOT JUST CUSTOM BIKES, BUT BIKES IN GENERAL – AS A SUBCULTURE, BIKERS ARE, REALLY, MORE TOWARDS THE ‘WRINKLY’ END OF THE AGE SPECTRUM THAN WE ARE TO THE ‘BRIGHT YOUNG THING’ END.

BANTAM BOBBER • PERHAPS THE MOST ARCHETYPAL OF BRITISH MOTORCYCLES, UP THERE WITH THE TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE, THE NORTON COMMANDO AND THE VINCENT, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BSA BANTAM’S ACTUALLY GERMAN?

GOOD MOTO MARKET • TOWARDS THE END OF LAST YEAR, WITH LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS STARTING TO LIFT, THE CHANCE TO GET TO A SHOW, ANY KIND OF SHOW, WAS HIGH ON MY TO-DO LIST. I’M PRIMARILY A BIKE PHOTOGRAPHER SO THE LAST TWO YEARS’VE SEEN ME TRYING ALL SORTS OF OTHER GENRES WHICH, WHILST QUITE CHALLENGING AND REWARDING IN DIFFERENT MEASURES, AREN’T BIKES.

WAGNER’D BE PROUD • THE HONDA F6C VALKYRIE, IN ITS 1500CC AND 1800CC VARIANTS, IS A VERY UNDER-RATED MOTORCYCLE. IT IS TRULY ENORMOUS, YES, AND HEAVY AT 327 KILOS, WITH ITS GOLD WING-DERIVED FLAT SIX ENGINE (THE F6C STANDS FOR ‘FLAT SIX CUSTOM’), AND THAT’S WHAT PERHAPS PUTS A LOT OF FOLK OFF A LITTLE.

2022 CUSTOM BIKE Championships • ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS!

SILVER MACHINE • DON’T YOU JUST LOVE...