STRING RAW STEEL CHOPPERS

There can’t be many folk out there who haven’t heard of Raw Steel Choppers – anyone asking for a frame builder or fabricator on just about any social media platform will have them recommended at least a couple of times, for instance. They’ve developed a good reputation for quality work at reasonable prices, and’ve built a few bikes that’ve been featured here in BSH, so we thought we’d have a chat with Stuart Thompson, ‘String’, the main man.

THE TRIP OUT

IT ONLY SEEMS LIKE A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN I SAW THE ADS APPEARING FOR A NEW CHOPPER THEMED SHOW.

SUZUKI KATANA LONG-TERM TEST

IT’S A FUNNY OLD WORLD, ISN’T IT? LAST YEAR I HAD ONE OF SUZUKI’S NEW KATANAS TO PLAY WITH FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, AND WHILE I DID ENJOY RIDING IT (IT’S A STATE-OF-THE-ART NEW BIKE FROM ONE OF THE BIG FOUR JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS AFTER ALL), IT WASN’T QUITE RIGHT…

RAT LOOK MONSTER

USUALLY, WHEN PEOPLE TALK OF AIR SUSPENSION, AND HUGE POINT WHEELS, THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT US-STYLE BAGGERS - USUALLY, BUT NOT ALWAYS...

MILITARY SPEC...

SOME BIKE BUILDS GO BACK YEARS, AND SOME JUST TAKE YEARS TO GET FEATURED. THE TWO FIT BOTH THOSE CATEGORIES…

CTHULHU LIVES!

I DUNNO, YOU'RE MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS AT A BIKE SHOW, AND SOME DREADLOCKED WEIRDO COMES UP AND STARTS RAVING ABOUT YOUR BIKE...

Retro Brown

AS YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED ROM THE ARTICLE ON MY RED SHOVELHEAD (LAST ISSUE - BACK ISSUES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE BSH WEBSITE AT WWW.BACKSTREETHEROES.COM), I'VE BEEN BUILDING CUSTOM HARLEYS FOR A GOOD WHILE NOW.

DEDICATION...

IF YOU READ ISSUE 431 A COUPLE O’ THREE ISSUES AGO, YOU’LL’VE SEEN THE REALLY RATHER GORGEOUS FENLAND CHOPPERS-FRAMED TRIUMPH SPEEDMASTER BUILT BY MELV EXTON. WELL, THESE TWO BIKES ARE ALSO HIS, AND THEY WERE BUILT BEFORE THE BOBBER SO LET ME TAKE YOU BACK IN TIME… CUE THE WORLD GOING ALL SWIMMY AND WHOOSH-WHOOSY NOISES.

CLUB: FORTYFIVERS MC

THE FORTYFIVERS MC IS AN INVITATIONAL CLUB OF OWNERS, RIDERS AND BUILDERS OF VINTAGE H-D FLATHEADS FOUNDED IN THE UK, BUT WITH A GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP REACHING AS FAR AS JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, ARGENTINA, THE USA AND EUROPE.

Just Like Arlen's!

AS ANYONE WHO HASN’T BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK (OR IN DEEPEST, DARKEST NORFOLK) FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS’LL KNOW, THERE’S BEEN A HUGE RESURGENCE IN 1960S AND ‘70S CHOPS – AN ERA OF BIKE BUILDING WHEN ‘PRACTICALITY’ WAS CONSIDERED ALMOST A DIRTY WORD, AND FORM WAS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN FUNCTION.

TO HELL & BACK...

THERE’VE BEEN A FAIR NUMBER OF ARTICLES OVER THE YEARS IN WHICH BIKES, AND BUILDING CUSTOM BIKES, HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED BY THE OWNER/BUILDER AS BEING A KIND OF THERAPY THAT’S KEPT THEM GOING THROUGH THE DARK PERIODS OF THEIR LIVES.

STRIIIIKE... UMM, MANY

THEY SAY THAT LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE. THAT, LADIES AND GENTS, IS UTTER COBBLERS...

STEALTH...

IT ALL STARTED BACK IN 2003 WHEN A MATE NEEDED TO BORROW SOME GARAGE SPACE FOR HIS ONE-OFF HARLEY SIDE-CAR OUTFIT. IT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THREE WEEKS, BUT ENDED UP BEING THREE MONTHS, SO TO SHUT ME UP HE LET ME BORROW THIS LOVELY LITTLE CHOP FOR THE SUMMER.

MYSTERY KWAK

WHILE I’M NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO SO SNOBBISHLY DECLARES THAT IF YOU DIDN’T BUILD YOUR BIKE YOURSELF IT DOESN’T COUNT, EVEN I CAN SEE THE (SLIGHT) DOWNSIDE TO THE LIKES OF EBAY, GUMTREE AND OTHERS…

FTW A CHOPPERS'S TALE!

WHAT IS A CHOPPER? EVERYBODY HAS THEIR OWN DEFINITION AND PREFERENCE, BUT I GUESS THE HISTORICAL ONE IS THAT OF A STANDARD MOTORCYCLE THAT’S BEEN ‘CHOPPED’ TO CHANGE ITS APPEARANCE, AND PERFORMANCE.

BEER BUILDS BETTER...

GROWING UP RACING MOTOCROSS, I ALWAYS RODE SPORTS BIKES, YES, LIKE A KNOBHEAD, AND I KNEW I COULDN’T CONTINUE DOING THE STUPID SHIT I USED TO, SO I DECIDED TO RESTRICT MYSELF BY BUILDING A CUSTOM, AND THAT’S WHEN THE BUG BIT.

SMALL, BUT PERFECTLY FORMED

AS ANYONE WHO’S BEEN READING BSH FOR ANY TIME NOW’LL KNOW, WE’VE BEEN GOING TONCC LONDON’S ANNUAL DIAMOND DAY CUSTOM BIKE SHOW AT THE ACE CAFÉ IN LONDON AT THE BEGINNING OF JULY EACH YEAR FOR A FEW YEARS NOW.

SIXTY TIMES ROUND THE SUN

ANDYWRIGHT’D ALWAYS WANTED A GENERATOR SHOVEL SO, AS HE TURNED 60 AT THE END OF JULY LAST YEAR AND HADN’T GOT A BUILD ON THE GO, IT MADE PERFECT SENSE TO TREAT HIMSELF NOT ONLY TO A NEW BUILD, BUT ALSO TO A SIXTIETH BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO HIMSELF AT THE SAME TIME!

KWAK IN A 'BED

SINCE MY TEENS I’VE LOVED CAFÉ RACERS, THE MINIMALIST FOCUSED LOOK, THE PERFORMANCE, THE NOISE, THE WHOLE PACKAGE. THAT LOVE CONTINUED THROUGH MY 20S, 30S, AND 40S, AND I’VE HAD MANY BIKES, BUT NEVER A CAFÉ RACER.

COOL TWIN THING

OF ALL THE AUTOMOTIVE PAINT SCHEMES THERE’VE BEEN OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS OR SO, SOME’VE REACHED ALMOST LEGENDARY STATUS – MARLBORO, JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL, SUBARU, CASTROL, MARTINI RACING, THEY’RE ALL INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE. THE MOST FAMOUS, THOUGH, IS PROBABLY THE GULF OIL BLUE AND ORANGE.

SEAGULL

CALLING IN TO SEE PEOPLE WHO BUILD CUSTOM BIKES FOR A LIVING IS ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT PLEASURES; NOT ONLY DO YOU GET TO CHAT WITH PEOPLE WHO LIVE AND BREATHE CUSTOMS, AND DRINK THEIR TEA, BUT YOU ALSO FIND BIKES THAT YOU MAY NOT’VE COME ACROSS OTHERWISE.

DUCKIN' GORGEOUS!

ONE OF THE MOST OFTEN ASKED QUESTIONS WE HEAR IN REFERENCE TO CUSTOM BIKES IS ‘WHERE IS IT NOW?’

ADORED

ROCK STARS, IT HAS TO BE SAID, AREN’T GENERALLY REALLY KNOWN FOR THEIR EXQUISITE TASTE… THEIR EXUBERANCE, YES; THEIR EXTRAVAGANZA, DEFINITELY; THEIR ‘GET THE BIGGEST AND BEST’ ATTITUDE, CERTAINLY; BUT SIMPLICITY, REFINEMENT AND MINIMALISM AREN’T USUALLYWORDS THAT CAN BE LINKED TO THEM. THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULETHOUGH…

Rock & Blues Old School Weekender

The 35th anniversary rock & blues lurched from baked to drenched, but were we bothered? Not for a minute!

RESURRECTED

ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? I HAVE QUITE A STORY ABOUT MY TRIUMPH CHOPPER...

WEST COAST MIDLANDS CHOPPER

WHILE THE FASHION FOR THE US-STYLE BILLET CHOPPER MAY’VE PETERED OUT A LITTLE IN THESE DAYS OF BOBBERS AND 60s/70s CHOPPERS, THE BIKES THEMSELVES DO STILL HAVE THAT CERTAIN JE NE SAIS QUOI, DON’T THEY?

OLD CODGER

THIS BIKE WAS ORIGINALLY BOUGHT OFF EBAY AS A FIXER-UPPER FOR A BIT OF FUN OVER THE WINTER OF 2015, READY TO RIDE IN 2016, BUT AFTER IT’D BEEN SENT OFF TO HAVE A SET OF FORWARD CONTROLS FITTED, THE FRAME WAS FOUND TO BE UNSAFE – VERY UNSAFE!

NIKEN LONG-TERMER

SO, AFTER LAST MONTH’S WONDERFUL SILLINESS OF MR DAVE COATES ESQUIRE RIDING THE NIKEN LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ONE RIDDEN BEFORE, AND PROBABLY WON’T AGAIN, THIS ISSUE IT’S BACK TO THE REALITY OF A COLD, WET BRITISH WINTER.

KAWASAKI W800 CAFE

WHEN, BACK IN 1999, KAWASAKI LAUNCHED THE W650, IT WAS ARGUABLY THE VERY FIRST PROPER RETRO TO BE OFFERED BY ANY OF THE BIG MANUFACTURERS AND, IN 2001, WHEN TRIUMPH (HINCKLEY) LAUNCHED THEIR FIRST, 790CC, BONNEVILLE, MORE OF A BONNEVILLE THAN THE TRIUMPH.

MIKE CHADWICK CUSTOM CRUISERS

A look at the people who live and breathe custom bikes