BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST CUSTOM
Back Street Heroes|January 2021
PICKING THE WINNER OF THE BEST CUSTOM CATEGORY IN THE 2020 BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS WAS SOMETHING I REALLY WOULDN’T’VE RELISHED DOING AS ALL THE BIKES (DANIEL’S IRONHEAD, GRAHAM’S XS, MARK’S TRIKE, AND MATT’S SPORTSTER) WERE ALL SO DAMN GOOD THEY WERE ALL, IN MY EYES, IN THE RUNNING. THE JUDGES, THOUGH, WERE UNANIMOUS IN PICKING MATT’S.
NIK
BSH CUSTOM CHAMPS 2020 OVERALL WINNER - BEST CUSTOM
His Sportster, built for him by Tom at Slinky Bint Customs in Derbyshire, is the only probuilt winner in the true sense of the word – yes, some of the others’ve been created by guys for whom bike building’s what they do, but they’re their own bikes, built by them for them, not for anyone else. Tom though, just as he was for the Evo’ we featured last issue, was commissioned by Matt to build this Sporty after he (Matt)’d seen a pic of a very similar, kind o’ modern-day board-tracker, bike from the States. As Tom’d done such a sterling job of the Evo’, Matt had no qualms whatsoever about getting him to take on another build, especially as the Evo’d been sold and there was a custom bike shaped space in his garage.

He’d scored a 1200 Sportster engine at a point previously and, once he and Tom’d formulated a plan of what was going to be used, it was taken up to the estimable String at Raw Steel Choppers with a picture or two and a set of very definite instructions, and he handcrafted a suitably skinny rigid frame exactly as Matt required. It has, at the front, a set of specially commissioned springers by Dragon Soul Customs in Hurst in Berkshire (rapidly becoming the go-to guys for springer forks in this country) that cradle an Ultima Manhattan 23” wheel that matches perfectly the one a twixt the rear rails (they also do these in 26”, but they cost £1,000 more than the 23s!). These were one of the must-haves of the build – Matt’d seen them on the ’Net, and knew that they’d look just perfect on the bike he had in his head.

Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av Back Street Heroes.

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Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av Back Street Heroes.

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FLERE HISTORIER FRA BACK STREET HEROESSe alt
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).

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2 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
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 mins  |
May 2021