Yorkshire MAG’s annual shindig, held over the closest weekend to the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, at Duncombe Park in Helmsley, may well be big, in fact probably the biggest traditional weekend biker bash in the British Isles these days, but one thing you can say about it is that it’s not impersonal. Yes, it is busy, that’s why it’s big, but you can most definitely relax – in fact it’s… well, not compulsory exactly, but very difficult not to.
I always find that, from the moment you turn off the main road that runs right through the middle of Helmsley and your wheels kiss the concrete of the Duncombe Park access road, the change in sound that your tyres make as they leave the tarmac, is the signal for you to leave your cares, your woes, your concerns, behind, throw responsibility to the wind, and just concentrate on having the best time you can among several thousand other like-minded souls.
The organisers, and their crew of volunteers, are well aware of this, and it’s in fact exactly what they’re aiming for. Old hands at rallies themselves, they know exactly what it is that makes a good ’un, and so go all out to make sure theirs is exactly that – a VERY good ’un. As well as big, level and well-drained camping fields, two of (one that you’re allowed to have campfires in, still unique among all British rallies as far as I’m aware), they lay on excellent facilities (including toilets that don’t make you almost bring up last week’s dinner when you open the door) that include security (sadly, as we need it these days), good food (not just yer normal run-of-the-mill burgers and ’ot-dogs), proper real ales (and proper pissy lagers too just to be all-inclusive), and enough entertainment that you really need to clone yourself to take in even a quarter of it, y’know?
This story is from the October 2019 edition of Back Street Heroes.
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This story is from the October 2019 edition of Back Street Heroes.
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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.
