Cruisers Archives Page 3 of 12 - Back Street Heroes

Simple silver sporty

27th August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Over the years I’ve learned not to put my lid on before I get the motor running, ’cos if my bike decides to be a bastard I can get pretty warm kicking and kicking, and I have, in the past, still been out of breath when I get to the

Got bite!

26th August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Every so often a bike lands here on the BSH desk that, no matter how much we try, is almost impossible to find out any info about. The XS650 you see is one such bike… Words: Nik Pics: Garry Stuart Our Garry found it at Northwest Customs in Warrington (01942

Fit for a king?

25th August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

After growing up watching his old man building bikes in the kitchen, Anthony Pearson always wanted to build his own one. Words and pics: Nik After a couple of years of spraying bikes for other people, he decided it was time, and got advice from an old friend who knew

Little ‘n’ large

24th August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

No, not the two almost terminally unfunny ‘comedians’ off the telly, but the wheels on Phil Jones’ trike… Words: Nik Pics: Simon Everett Phil, from deepest, darkest (well…) Cornwall, started building trikes after losing his left leg in an accident back in 2010. He was a committed and lifelong biker,

All the fun of the fair

23rd August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Selling a custom bike that you’ve poured your heart and soul, your blood, your sweat, and often your tears over, can be a very traumatic experience, and one that can haunt you for years. Words: Nik Pics: FD Dave How built a Triumph TR7 (the bike, that is, not that

Chain reaction

3rd August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Some people’s design criteria are really easy – Richy wanted his next chop to have black spoked wheels, and a ‘beep-beep’-style squeezy bulb horn. The rest of the design was up to me… Words: Ger Conlon Pictures: Ian Shipley This is the second fancy chop I’ve built for him (the

Manic mechanic

2nd August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Juha ‘Raiza’ Raitio from Turku, Finland, works at a friend’s custom bike shop, but often goes there in the middle of the night to work on his personal projects undisturbed. No wonder he usually creates half a dozen new bikes every year! Words: Charley Charles Pictures: Siwer Ohlsson Some people

The final Farewell

2nd August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Cast your minds back to last summer, and the issue of Back Street Heroes in which we ran a bike built by the father and son team of Norman and Louie Hartley of Deathgrip Custom Cycles – the stunning purple Panhead that they took to Born Free in California. Words:

Blast from the past!

1st August 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

Too many stunning custom bikes seem to just disappear off the face of the planet as soon as they’ve been featured – bikes that you’d give your eye teeth (and any other ones required too) to own seem to vanish without trace after having their few minutes in the sun.

Lawnmower man

26th July 2019 Pauline Hawkins Cruisers

You can build custom bikes out of almost anything. Most people, though, don’t start with a lawnmower… Words: Dave Manning Pics: Simon Everett Lawnmowers amuse me; partly because of the contrast between extreme reliability (always starting, never any issues) and extreme pain-in-the-arse unreliability (never ever starting when you really want