Back Street Heroes

Back Street Heroes is the UK’s biggest-selling and best custom bike magazine. We cover all styles of custom bikes and the custom biker lifestyle.

Editorial

THE FARMYARD PARTY • THIS’S GOING TO BE, PROBABLY, THE SHORTEST WRITE-UP OF AN EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF BACK STREET HEROES EVER – THE FARMYARD PARTY WAS EPIC! IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW…

A7? A10? A9! • WHILE BRIZ, THE MAN BEHIND THE RESPECTED CCD (CUSTOM CYCLE DEVELOPMENTS), MAY’VE RETIRED FROM WORKING FULL-TIME, HE STILL DABBLES WITH THIS AND THAT IN HIS WORKSHOP ON THE EDGE OF THE FENS, FETTLING THE BIKES HE HAS AND, NOW AND THEN, BUILDING A NEW ONE. AS WELL AS HARLEYS, HE HAS, AND ALWAYS HAS HAD, A SOFT SPOT FOR BSAS, AND I’LL LET HIM TELL YOU ABOUT THIS ONE…

CHOP, RIDE & PARTY • FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON’T DO SOCIAL MEDIA (THAT’S YOU, YOU, AND YOU, ISN’T IT?), YOU MAY NOT’VE HEARD OF CHOP, RIDE & PARTY – THE SERIES OF HARDBACK BOOKS ON, PREDOMINANTLY, THE EUROPEAN 2%* CHOPPER CULTURE. THEY’RE THE BRAINCHILD OF A DUTCH GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF BEER, AND I’LL LET HIM TELL YOU ABOUT IT.

DOIN’ IT OLD-SKOOL… • TONY SMITH, OCCASIONAL WELSH FREELANCER OF THIS PARISH, LAST HAD HIS XS650 IN THE MAGAZINE IN 2022, IN ISSUE 459 TO BE PRECISE, ALONGSIDE LEIF’S XS IN A TWO-BIKE FEATURE. IT WAS, THEN, FINISHED IN A MANY-COLOURED KIND O’ GEOMETRIC PAINT SCHEME, AND WAS RUNNING A WIDE-GLIDE FRONT END AND, AS HE SAID AT THE TIME, WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE A SHOW BIKE. “NOW THAT LOCKDOWN’S OVER, I INTEND TO RIDE IT AROUND THE COUNTRY AS MUCH AS I CAN.”

STONHAM MOTORCYCLE SHOW • STONHAM BARNS PARK, ON THE VERY PICTURESQUE A1120 TOURIST TRAIL RUNNING FROM STONHAM ASPALL TO YOXFORD, IS A LARGE PLACE A FEW MILES UP ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE AS YOU LEAVE THE A140 STOWMARKET TO DISS ROAD.

YOUNG BLOOD • IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU ALWAYS HEAR IN ANY GATHERING OF THE TWO-WHEELED BRETHREN, ISN’T IT; THAT THERE AREN’T REALLY VERY MANY YOUNGER PEOPLE COMING INTO BIKING, ARE THERE? AND, YES, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT THAT’S TRUE – THERE AREN’T ANYWHERE NEAR AS MANY COMING INTO BIKING AS THERE WERE, AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING EVEN OLDER THAN I FEEL, WHEN WE GOT INTO BIKING. THERE ARE SOME, THOUGH, AND SOME OF THEM’RE BUILDING COOL BIKES, TOO.

SHAAN • LADIES AN’ GENNULEMEN, YOU ARE LOOKING AT WHAT’S BEEN VOTED AS THE BEST CUSTOM ROYAL ENFIELD IN EUROPE - MOTORRAD-BLÄSING (W&B CUSTOM BIKES)’S LATEST CREATION, SHAAN, THE WINNER OF RE’S 2026 BUSTED KNUCKLES BUILD OFF (BKBO).

THE WRONG RIGHT TURN • I WOKE UP ACHING AND TIRED WITH THE SORT OF TIREDNESS THAT COMES FROM TOO MUCH THINKING AND TOO MANY MILES.

LOVE RIDE LOVE REPEAT • “I’D LOVE TO SAY THERE’S SOME ELABORATE STORY BEHIND HOW THIS BIKE CAME TO BE,” SAYS JESS, “BUT THE TRUTH IS I SIMPLY WANTED TO BUILD MY FIRST PROPER CHOPALONG SIDE JAY, AND END UP WITH A BIKE I’D LOVE RIDING.”

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SUSSEX STOMP • THE THIRD SUSSEX STOMP WAS BLESSED WITH A WHOPPING 80+ DEGREES (FAHRENHEIT) BLAZING DOWN ON ROWS OF SPOTLESSLY POLISHED CHROME – A TRULY SPLENDID SIGHT.

SORRY, HOW MUCH?!? • SCOTT, THE OWNER AND CREATOR OF THIS ‘ERE (ER, WELL, IT’S NOT REALLY A BOBBER, IS IT, MORE A ‘TRACKER… ISH, SORT O’ THING) SPORTSTER, TURNED UP WITH GUFF, WHOSE LONG FORK GS SUZUKI YOU’LL SEE NEXT ISSUE, AND AS IT WAS QUITE A PRETTY LIL’ THING I THOUGHT I’D DO SOME PICS OF IT TO SHOW YOU LOT.

DGR GUILDFORD • I DON’T THINK THAT WHEN MARK HAWWA FIRST CONCEIVED THE IDEA OF A CHARITY RIDE WITH RIDERS ALL DRESSED IN WHAT’S SINCE BECOME KNOWN AS THE ‘DAPPER’ STYLE BACK IN 2012, HE’D’VE GUESSED THAT, FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, IT’D BE A GLOBAL PHENOMENON WITH RIDES IN OVER 121 COUNTRIES, AND MORE THAN $60M USD RAISED FOR MEN’S CHARITIES.

A(NOTHER) YEAR...