UK OFFSALE DATE: 05/03/20
MARCH 2020
ISSUE 431
£4.20
12: BULLDOG BASH, THE EARLY DAYS WE LOOK BACK AT ONE OF THE MOST FONDLY REMEMBERED EVENTS OF THE BRITISH CUSTOM SCENE 18: H-D SHOVEL BARE METAL BRUISER!
6: NEWS ALL THAT’S NEW AND HAPPENING IN THE CUSTOM BIKE WORLD 8: PRODUCTS LOADS OF GOOD STUFF FOR YOU TO SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED ON 10: LETTERS SOUND OFF, ONE, TWO, SOUND OFF, THREE, FOUR! 54: CENTRE SPREAD AN ARTISTIC POSTER FOR YOU TO PUT ON YER WALL 56: SUBSCRIBE TO BSH SEE HERE FOR THE BEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS 66: YAMAHA NIKEN LONGTERMER BACK TO THE REALITY OF WINTER… 74: TECH BSH’S RESIDENT SPANNER MONKEY TWIRLS HIS IMPLEMENTS… FNURK
78: MR BRIDGES THE GURU IMPARTS MORE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF MECHANICS 86: EVENTS YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BEST RALLIES, SHOWS AND PARTIES 94: MAG NEWS OUR REGULAR COLUMN BY THE MAG CHAIRNON GENDERSPECIFICPERSON 95: READERS’ LIVES THREE PAGES OF YOUR PICS... AND OUR SILLY CAPTIONS 104: SMALLS SELL YOUR BIKE HERE FOR FREE! 105: NEXT MONTH JUST TO WHET YOUR APPETITE… 106: RICK HULSE THE MUSINGS OF ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT THINKERS IN BIKERDOM
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22: NCC MERCIA CUSTOM BIKES IN ALCESTER... AND NOT ULSTER AS I THOUGHT THEY SAID… 24: VT500 CHOP MATT BLACK, BUT COOL AS HELL
28: BARREL BIKERS’ CUSTOM SHOW GENUINELY BORN IN A BARN… WELL, OKAY, AT A BARN 30: HINCKLEY TRIUMPH INSPIRING STORY, AND AMAZING PAINT! 34: LLAN BIKE FEST DOWN IN A VALLEY, LOOK YOU! 36: VN900 KWAK RUSTY, BUT IT AIN’T NO RATTER! 42: YORKSHIRE PUDDING RALLY WOR DAVIE’S ENJOYING HIMSELF FAR TOO MUCH AGAIN 48: NESS-STYLE DIGGER THE COVER BIKE IN ALL ITS GLORY 58: Z550 CHOP DARK AND MYSTERIOUS! 62: MALTA HARLEY PHIL PIPER BUILDS ANOTHER STONKER! 70: 350 ENFIELD OLD SCHOOL AND PROPER COOL!
Welcome to the new issue of BSH, hope you’ve got your woollies on? As I sit here typing this, last night over ‘ere in East Angular we had our coldest night of the winter so far – a smidge under minus 4 degrees C. Now, I know that doesn’t really compare with the temperatures in certain parts of the country (Scotland, for example), where it’s been so cold polar bears’ve started thinking about migrating south, but it’s cold enough to make even the thought of riding a bike, to me anyway, a not very attractive one. Maybe I’ve got nesh in me old age? I’d better get me head together though ‘cos, not long after you read this, meself and a couple of mates’re off to the most hardcore British rally there is – Conwy MCC’s Dragon Rally, up in the mountains of North Wales. In February. Me, a bloke who doesn’t really like the cold much. Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you I’m a smart cookie, will you? (I know they’re unlikely to, but…) ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱ Anyway, plans for 2020 are well underway, and it looks like this year’s going to be a doozy. We’ve confirmed two of the three venues we need for the free BSH custom shows we’re planning this year (well, actually three of four if you include the one at the Ace Café in September), and the list of events we’ll be attending is growing almost daily (and it’s only feckin’ February!) so if you’d like us to come to yours, please get in touch (but do it asap as the list is, as I say, filling). Similarly, despite the fact that we were a little over-enthusiastic in bike shooting last year (if we’ve got pics of your bike and it hasn’t been in yet, please bear with us – it will!), as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer we’ll be back out on the road taking pics of the best custom bikes in the land so, if you’re building something cool for this year, please let us know and we’l do our best to come and see you. Drop me an email at nik@backstreetheroes.com or come up and buttonhole me at an event, yeah? ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱ There’s been a lot of talk about car headlights getting brighter and brighter as technology moves on, and how these days they’re so bright that they’re quite literally blinding (and don’t get me started on them feckers with the blue ones that, on bumpy roads, look like police blues-and-twos in your mirrors…
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bastards, they’ve taken years off my life, I’m convinced of it). Apart from the obvious, that they’re stupidly bright, there’re another couple o’ things I’ve noticed, both of which affect bikers. Firstly, the fact that they’re so dazzling means that it’s often very difficult to see the indicators of cars coming towards you as they’re lost in the glare, meaning you’re never quite sure if the car’s turning or not. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been sat at the end of my road, waiting to pull out, only to have car after car turn into it, their indicators lost in the searchlight-like beams of the headlights. You have to assume they’re not turning, don’t you, and just patiently wait until you’re sure, or risk being mown down by two tons of speeding steel. Me, I’m quite happy to wait until I’m quite certain but, judging from the horns being sounded behind me, other people’s attitudes to road safety aren’t quite as relaxed as mine, obviously. Secondly, since the inception of daytime headlamps on bikes in 1987 (yes, I know the law doesn’t say you MUST drive with your headlight on, but for all vehicles first used on or after 1st April that year the regulations in the UK stated that all new vehicles have to be equipped with a ‘dim-dip’ device that, effectively, is a daytime running light, and bike manufacturers found it easier to just do away with the switch that turns the lights on and off), we’ve kind o’ got used to seeing bikes with their lights on. Now, leaving aside the arguments that say that having your lights on changes the onus of responsibility, from the driver having to actually look where they’re feckin’ going to the motorcyclist to make themselves more visible, the fact that most cars have their lights on all the time, and the fact that new headlights are so bloody bright, bikes’ve become almost as ‘invisible’ again as they were prior to 1987. In fact, bikes now are probably more difficult to see than they were back then because the brightness of the new car lights completely drowns out the light from a bike’s headlamp – prior to ’87, people who said the classic ‘Sorry, mate, I didn’t see you’ were generally just myopic numpties, but now they genuinely can’t see us ‘cos (a) everyone has their lights on, which makes bikes difficult to distinguish from other traffic, and (b) they’re feckin’ blinded by the brightness of car headlights! What the answer to this is I don’t know – all we can really do is try to be extremely careful out there, y’know? See you next month!
FREELANCE CONTRIBUTORS:
SIMON EVERETT, ZIPPY, BILLY LUDLAM, GARRY STUART, PHIL PIPER, ALAN CARVILLE, JAY RANSOME, MR BRIDGES, SELINA LAVENDER, RICK HULSE
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The Herald Motor Co. recently launched their new Brat 125, the latest addition to their range. Available in military green, iron grey, and copper, it comes with a digital dash, LED lights, monoshock rear suspension, and a premium stainless steel exhaust. The Brat 125 is now available to purchase from Herald’s network of authorised dealers, and comes with a two-year parts, and one-year labour, warranty, as well as two years' RAC breakdown cover, and has an RRP of £2,999 (plus OTR charges). Get more info from their website at www. heraldmotorcompany.com
ASE Custom Motorcycles is a custom builders based in the West Midlands who’ve made a bit of a name for themselves over the last few years, building some very nice examples of new skool customs (café racers, scramblers, etc.). They recently finished a minimalised Kawasaki KLR650 scrambler, with a Z400T tank, which was raced at the Bike Shed
Festival at Lydden Hill, and this very, very nice XV920 Virago café racer, which was good enough to qualify for a place at the Bike Shed show in London last year. As soon as the weather gets better, we’ll get along and get some pics of the Yam, but until then you can contact them on 07800 932577 or at www.asecustommotorcycles.co.uk
Late last year, Mitas Tyres launched their new custom bike tyres – the new Custom Force range, and they’re available in sizes 130/90/16, 100/90/19, and 80/90/2 21 fronts, and 170/80/15, 130/90/16, and 140/80/16 rears. Get more info from your local tyre supplier or www.mita asmoto.com 6
MARCH 2020
Needles & Pins UK Ltd, based in Somerton, hand-makes bespoke protective covers for all types of modern and classic bikes. Their covers are made-to-measure in-house by talented seamstresses using traditional methods, as well as the latest technology such as laser 3D scanning. They’re perfect for fitting unusual shapes, are long-lasting and tight fitting, and they can be made in a range of colours. Anyone wishing to have a bespoke cover made can contact Needles & Pins UK Ltd by calling 01458 272057 or visiting www.needlesandpins.uk
THEY SAY THAT LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE. THAT, LADIES AND GENTS, IS UTTER COBBLERS...
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