Back Street Heroes April 2025

I don’t know about you, but I really, really, REALLY can’t wait for the year to roll around a bit further and temperatures to rise. I know, of course, that one shouldn’t wish one’s life away, as the old saying goes, and maybe it’s the fact that I live in an old, cold house that’s affecting my perception of things, but this winter of 2024/2025’s really dragging on, isn’t it? January ’25, they say, was the warmest January since records began (in 1813, would you believe?), but if that’s the case why was my electricity bill the highest it’s ever been since I moved into the Editorial Hovel fifteen-plus years ago? This isn’t what I expected of global warming, I can tell you – I mean, did I puncture all…

During those forty years the Rock & Blues’s resided at three sites – born on a patch of land in Long Eaton, and initially run by Road Tramps MC, with bands setting up on the back of a lorry trailer (as did many rallies back then), in 1985 it moved to Coney Grey Farm, now known as the Coney Grey Showground, with a short sojourn to Donington Park during the Foot & Mouth crisis which severely affected the use of farmland in 2001. At its height, attendance figures were around 15,000, and big headline bands included Hawkwind, Suzi Quatro, Motörhead, Bad Manners, The Stranglers, Jethro Tull, The Commitments, The Specials, The Levellers, and Bob Geldof. Then, as big bands became less and less affordable, tribute acts rose in popularity –…

She lived in Switzerland at the time, and although the country offered incredible scenery for riding, its strict vehicle laws made owning a rigid chopper challenging. At the time, she had an Evo Sportster custom, but longed for something older and cooler so, after doing some research, decided on a Fifties Pan because to build and own a rigid-framed bike in Switzerland, the rules stated it needed to be pre-1957… and ’cos it’s a Panhead, too, of course. Eventually a suitable one was found and purchased but, due to the pandemic, it took several months to arrive. Once it did, she realised it’d need a complete rebuild to pass the Swiss inspection laws, and to make it the bike she wanted it to be, so she, and an older biker…

While some planned events went off to pubs and farms, the Wabbits found another social club not too far away in Fishbourne (not far from the Roman villa), made a slight change to the date, and all systems were go! Thankfully, there were no worries about finding the venue, as there were great direction signs to a village hall tucked away down a tiny lane. A quick hello at the gate, and I was directed to park my faithful steed on an already packed field, not far from Layla and April’s stunning chops (Layla later picked up the award for Best Chop). I’ve always liked the Wabbits as they’re very much a social club with a bike habit, and also seem to turn up at many events across the south…

Normally a 20 (nearly)-year-old bike, no matter how well one looks after it, looks, after the best part of two decades, a little shabby round the edges, but it’s a testament to the fact that he absolutely loves this bike and looks after it, isn’t it? Back in 2002 (on 18 December to be precise), he saw a Suzuki hardtail rolling chassis for sale and, quite fancying such a beast, spoke to his good mate Dave about coming with him to have a look at it. The pair of them set off, in an Astra van, from the wilds of the east, bound for Worcester, and when they got there, Dunny knew it was the bike for him. After stripping it apart and cramming it into the van, he and…

Held inside a deconsecrated church called Left Bank Leeds in, unsurprisingly, Leeds, it was probably the most impossibly cool venue for a motorcycle show of any genre anywhere, and was therefore exclusively invite-only (you had to apply in advance) as, both internally and externally, there wasn’t a huge amount of room. Each bike was displayed on a low plaque borrowed from The Bike Shed Show and, nicely, provided with a small, movable LED spotlight that owners could position to show off their creation to its best effect (a very neat touch) and while, just like at The Bike Shed Show, nothing was roped off, people took great care as they moved between the machines. There almost seemed to be an air of reverence about the place, possibly because it was…