Although Gulf Oil started back in the early part of the 20th Century, it wasn’t really until the 1960s that the distinctive blue and orange livery became famous. The first cars to wear the colours were the Ford GT40s and Porsche 917s raced at Le Mans; the car driven by the legendary Steve McQueen in the film ‘Le Mans’ was a Gulf Porsche 917, and other famous names who piloted Gulf livery cars included Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. Other marques associated with the brand were/are Audi, Aston Martin, McLaren, and Lamborghini, and the Gulf Oil scheme's been copied on to a large number of road cars and bikes too over the years.
The latest bike we’ve seen wearing the famous design is this one: Neil Ormston’s 125 Rebel Honda, built for him by a talented outfit called Twin Thing Custom Motorcycles down in Waterlooville in Hampshire who specialise, as you can probably surmise, in bikes with just two cylinders, and’ve built a fair few very cool bobbers and street-scramblers, a large proportion of which are based on learner-legal 125cc bikes.
Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Back Street Heroes.
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Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Back Street Heroes.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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).
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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…
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.
APPLE
MY GOAL WAS TO CREATE A CAFÉ RACER WITH STYLING FROM THE FIFTIES – ROUND CURVES THAT’D MAKE IT POP.
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.
