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.

HELLO, AND WELCOME TO THIS NEW ISSUE OF BSH!

NCC SOMERSET’S SHOOTIN’ THE BREEZE • THE PICTURESQUE TOWN OF CHEDDAR IN SOMERSET REVERBERATED WITH THE THUNDEROUS ROAR OF MOTORCYCLE ENGINES AS THE NATIONAL CHOPPER CLUB SOMERSET HELD ITS ANNUAL CHEDDAR SHOW ON SATURDAY, 15 JUNE LAST YEAR.

LONG-TERM LOVE AFFAIR • TUCKED AWAY ON A LITTLE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE IN LEICESTERSHIRE, SO WELL HIDDEN THAT EVEN SPY SATELLITES CAN’T FIND IT (PROBABLY), IS RALFY CUSTOMS – THE CHOPPER-BUILDING WORKSHOP RUN BY RALFY OF NCC NOTTS.

NCC LONDON’S DIAMOND DAY • WHEN LONDON, AS IN NCC LONDON, ANNOUNCED THEY WERE GOING TO HOLD THEIR RENOWNED DIAMOND DAY SHOW AT THE ACE CAFE AGAIN IN 2024, I HAVE TO ADMIT I WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED.

DEATH BLING CHOPPER • CERTAIN BUILDERS, AS I’M SURE YOU KNOW, BECOME KNOWN FOR A STYLE OF BIKE PARTICULAR TO THEM, EVEN IF THEY GO ONTO DO, OR HAVE PREVIOUSLY DONE, OTHER STYLES, TOO. FOR EXAMPLE IN THE STATES JESSE JAMES IS KNOWN FOR HIS HIGH-HEADSTOCK WEST COAST CHOPPERS BIKES, RUSS MITCHELL FOR HIS SATIN BLACK N’ DULL ALLOY EXILES, AND RICK FAIRLESS, OF STROKERS DALLAS, FOR HIS EXPLOSION IN A PAINT FACTORY TIE-DYE CHOPPERS.

NCC BEDS’ BACK TO BASICS • THE DAY AFTER NCC LONDON’S DIAMON DAY, THE FIRST SUNDAY IN JULY, IS, TRADITIONALLY, NCC BEDS’ SHOW, BACK TO BASICS, AT THE WHITE HORSE AT HUSBORNE CRAWLEY, NOT FAR FROM JUNCTION 13 OF THE M1 AND BUT A STONE’S THROW (IF YOU HAVE A VERY STRONG ARM) FROM MILTON KEYNES.

CORNISH LONG-FORKER • WHEN, NEARLY THREE YEARS AGO, I WENT TO THE CHOPPER CLUB’S EASTER RUN, EVERYONE KEPT ASKING IF I’D SEEN MO FROM KERNOW’S NEW BIKE? “NO,” I SAID, “I DON’T KNOW HIM, WHAT’S IT LOOK LIKE?” “OH, YOU REALLY WON’T MISS IT,” THEY SAID…

NCC SUFFOLK’S CUSTOM & CLASSIC • HOW DID I, OF ALL PEOPLE, DESPITE HAVING BEEN THERE A NUMBER OF TIMES, NOT KNOW THAT THE RIVER THAT RUNS THROUGH THE TINY SUFFOLK VILLAGE (POPULATION AROUND 1,000 APPARENTLY) OF RATTLESDEN, HOME FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS FOR THE NCC SUFFOLK CUSTOM & CLASSIC SHOW, IS CALLED THE RIVER RAT?!?

DERBYSHIRE DIVA • FUEL-INJECTED BMWS AREN’T A COMMON SIGHT IN THE CUSTOM BIKE WORLD, BUT THERE’RE ALWAYS THOSE MAVERICK SOULS WHO LIKE TO BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US, AREN’T THERE?

NCC SURREY’S FREEWHEEL BURNING • I REALLY DON’T KNOW HOW THE CHOPPER CLUB DO IT – THEY MUST HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO THE WEATHER GODS, FOR WHEN THEY HOLD A ONE-DAY SHOW IT’S NORMALLY SUNNY (ALTHOUGH LISTENING TO CLUB MEMBERS, THEY NEED TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH SAID CELESTIAL BEINGS AS THEIR BANK HOLIDAY RUNS’RE USUALLY VERY WET).

ONE AND ALL • I DON’T KNOW HOW GOOD YOUR CORNISH IS (AS IN THE LANGUAGE, NOT AS IN THE QUALITY OF YOUR PASTY) SO I’VE PROVIDED YOU WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE PHRASE PAINTED ON STEVE THE NCC KERNOW REP’S TANK. IT REFERS, OF COURSE, TO THE NATIONAL CHOPPER CLUB’S STRONG BROTHERHOOD, ESPECIALLY AMONG MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN COUNTY, I GET THAT, BUT IT PUTS ME IN MIND OF THE THREE MUSKETEERS, AND NOW I CAN’T GET RID OF THE MENTAL IMAGE OF CHOPPER CLUB GUYS, ESPECIALLY THE KERNOW LOT, WEARING CLOAKS, AND BIG HATS WITH FEATHERS IN, JUMPING ON TABLES WITH RAISED SWORDS, GOING “HA-HA!”

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NCC MERCIA’S CAR & BIKE SHOW • YOU KNOW THOSE DAYS WHEN THE WEATHER’S NOT REALLY A FRIEND TO ANYONE? YEAH, THE DAY OF NCC MERCIA’S SHOW AT ALCESTER RUGBY CLUB WAS ONE OF THOSE…

TIME ENOUGH… • THE PHRASE PAINTED ON JIMY FROM NCC SOMERSET’S TANK,‘I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD’, IS, I DON’T KNOW IF YOU KNOW, THE TITLE OF ASONGWRITTEN BY WARREN ZEVON, THE GUY WHO ALSO WROTE THE FAMOUS ‘WEREWOLVES OF LONDON’ - A SONG WHICH HAS A PIANO RIFF SO SIMILAR TO THE GUITAR ONE IN LYNYRD...