BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER & BEST IN SHOW - BEST CHOPPER
Back Street Heroes|January 2021
WHEN IT CAME TO JUDGING ‘BEST CHOPPER’ THE WINNER WAS ALMOST A WALK-OVER, WITH THREE OUT OF THE FOUR JUDGES PICKING LAYLA LEATHAM’S BSA. I’LL LET HER TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT. N.
LAYLA LEATHAM
BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER & BEST IN SHOW - BEST CHOPPER

This bike was inspired by its handlebars, found in a job lot of closing-down junk in a small bike shop. They’d never been fitted to a bike, and still had the Wassell sticker on them, and accustomed mainly to selling Chinese pit bike spares, the shop guys thought they were robbing me at £30 – I’d’ve paid much more just to rescue them because... well, where else’ll you find the real thing NOS? They reminded me of a Triumph chop a friend’d built in his bedroom back in the day – he’d saved his giros for ages to buy a set of 12” over springers and pull back ’bars. For me, stuck with no money and a GT250 on L-plates, about to start university, such a build had to remain a dream.

I tried them on various bikes, and they just looked wrong – they needed the right forks. Then, one day on eBay I found a set of dainty, narrow springers that were allegedly 40 years old, for just £500. I went along, cash in hand, expecting to be let down, but they looked fabulously long and slender, square section, with great chrome, and twisted legs too. They were also still as straight as a die, and as soon as the ’bars were fitted the way forward was clear. Now it was simply a case of which bike were they going on?

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Esta historia es de la edición January 2021 de Back Street Heroes.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE BACK STREET HEROESVer todo
THE SLED
Back Street Heroes

THE SLED

I’M A SEMI-PRO SHED BUILDER, WHO BUILDS UNDER THE NAME DIRTY DICK’S… I SAY ‘SEMIPRO’ BECAUSE I’VE ONLY, AT THE TIME OF WRITING, SOLD TWO BIKES (AND, USUALLY, I GET PAID IN BEER FOR ANY OTHER WORK I DO).

time-read
2 minutos  |
May 2021
THE CHIEF
Back Street Heroes

THE CHIEF

I BOUGHT MY ENFIELD, A 2001 350 BULLET, IN SHROPSHIRE IN JUNE 2019, WITH JUST 11,000 MILES ON THE CLOCK. IT WAS IN TRIALS TRIM, BUT I ALREADY HAD IN MY HEAD WHAT I WANTED TO DO WITH IT – MAKE IT INTO A ‘50S-STYLE CUSTOM, BASED LOOSELY AROUND AN INDIAN SCOUT THAT I’D SEEN PICTURES OF.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
MADE O'GUBBINS
Back Street Heroes

MADE O'GUBBINS

OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO, MANY OF US’VE HAD TO FOREGO THE JOY OF SEARCHING FOR PARTS AT AUTO-JUMBLES, SHOWS AND BREAKER’S YARDS, RELYING ON EITHER THE HIT-AND-MISS OF INTERNET AUCTION SITES, OR TURNING TO OUR OWN STOCK OF PARTS, WHEN LOOKING AT BUILDING OR MODIFYING A BIKE.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
BUDGET BOBBER
Back Street Heroes

BUDGET BOBBER

PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY CUSTOM BIKES’RE EXPENSIVE, THAT ONLY THE RICH CAN HAVE ‘EM, BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT ONE THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY…

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
LEAF IT OUT
Back Street Heroes

LEAF IT OUT

THE SUZUKI LS650 IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR HAVING ONE OF THE LEAST SUITED AND MOST RANDOM MODEL NAMES IN MOTORCYCLING HISTORY – THE SAVAGE.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
SIZE O
Back Street Heroes

SIZE O

I DECIDED I NEEDED A BIKE FOR MYSELF AS A KEEPER (RATHER THAN THE USUAL BUILD IT, SELL IT, FUND THE NEXT ONE), BUT TIME AND FUNDS WERE GOING TO GET TIGHT. I WANTED A ‘60S/’70S-STYLE HARDTAIL WITH A DECENT-SIZED MOTOR, SINGLE OR TWIN, AND SOMETHING I DIDN’T HAVE TO DO ANY FRAME MODIFICATIONS TO.

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3 minutos  |
May 2021
LITTLE VICTORIES
Back Street Heroes

LITTLE VICTORIES

SOME FOLK SAY WORK’S A NECESSARY EVIL, OTHERS MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR SITUATION. A GOOD FRIEND ONCE SAID TO ME THAT IT’S THE LITTLE VICTORIES THAT COUNT WHEN AT WORK, USING THEIR MACHINERY TO MAKE BIKE PARTS, BLAGGING FREE STATIONARY, OR JUST HAVING A POO ON THEIR TIME…

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4 minutos  |
May 2021
BACK TO THE EIGHTIES!
Back Street Heroes

BACK TO THE EIGHTIES!

AFTER THE STYLISTIC EXCESSES OF THE 1970S, THE 1980S SAW A KIND OF DIRECTION CHANGE IN CUSTOM BIKE BUILDING – ONE WHICH RESULTED IN NO SMALL PART FROM THE ABUNDANCE OF FAST, RELIABLE FOUR-CYLINDER MOTORCYCLES FROM THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
APPLE
Back Street Heroes

APPLE

MY GOAL WAS TO CREATE A CAFÉ RACER WITH STYLING FROM THE FIFTIES – ROUND CURVES THAT’D MAKE IT POP.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021
3 DIRT DIGGERS
Back Street Heroes

3 DIRT DIGGERS

OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS DIRT DIGGERS, HELD AT THE EDDIE WRIGHT SPEEDWAY STADIUM IN SCUNTHORPE, HAS BECOME THE NUMBER ONE, ALL-COMERS-WELCOME BIKE RACE IN THE UK.

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2 minutos  |
May 2021