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Before we go any further, let mehold my hands up and say that this is not quite the featurethat it was supposed to be. Actually,
make that ‘features’ in the plural. Here at Back Street Heroes, we’re proud of the fact that we’ve published articles on every bike that Vic Jefford of Destiny Cycles has built in the last ten years, and even prouder of how much acclaim his skills and talents have brought him, both at home and in Europe. So, when Vic and his wife, Lin, suggested they undertake a build project that the magazine would run over several consecutive issues which would unveil some of the mysteries of custom bike building,
and, perhaps, encourage people to build a bike themselves, we snatched their hands off. Well, to be precise, if I remember rightly, it was more a case of me saying, “Yep, great idea,” while I lounged around in their sitting room, annoying Millie the Wonder Cat.
Up to that point, it was indeed a great idea. The plan was that I would pop in to the Destiny Cycles’ workshop now and then, take photos of the ongoing project, drink tea, eat cheese and, a few weeks, later repeat the process. Yes, a fine idea. In theory. And then I fucked up. I’d reckoned without a couple of fairly crucial things. Firstly, I live 250 miles away from the workshop, so ‘popping in’ wasn’t going to be quite as easy as it sounded (quite how I managed to overlook this point is beyond me – Vic and Lin have always lived 250 miles away from me). Secondly, I should have known that, once he had the bit between his teeth, Vic would want to get on with work, and hanging around for me to get my act together would drive him – and, more importantly, Lin, whose bike it would be – to the point of exasperation and potentially homicidal thoughts. In fact, he did get fed up with waiting on me, and had built his own Indian ‘Jack of Hearts’ chop between that day in the Jefford living room and my appearance to take the first lot of photographs. To give Vic his due, he never moaned at me about it, which shows considerably more patience and tolerance than I would have had should our roles have been reversed.
While there is no way on this earth that this bike could be called a ‘bitza’, I think that it’s fair to say that the BSH Buell was built, if not out of parts lying around, then certainly from many items that the Jeffords had been hoarding for just the right project. I have to point out in my defence here that the project ended up being just a tad more radical than had originally been planned. Then again, I’d forgotten that Vic’s idea of ‘not that radical’ tends to differ from that of everybody else. The only one of his own bikes that doesn’t merit the ‘R’ word is his little Sunbeam, and that’s simply because Lin only let him work on it on Sundays and wouldn’t allow him to spend any money… From the beginning, the intention was to use a Buell X1 Lightning as the basis of this build, the main reason – well, the only reason, really – being that Vic already owned an X1 which he’d been riding around for a couple of years. It’d come into his possession via the good old-fashioned system of bartering, which is a far more acceptable method of business transaction to a Yorkshireman as it doesn’t involve the sight or, rather, the relinquishing of, actual hard currency. In this case, Vic had swapped his Suzuki lowrider (featured on the cover of BSH 213) for his friend Jonno’s Buell. Jonno, incidentally, still has the Suzuki, although it had changed colour the last time I saw it. Thus, with a donor bike and a ‘not too radical’ concept, it should have been full steam ahead. But once Lin had put in her own ideas, it became increasingly obvious that modifying the existing Buell frame would actually be more work than building a new chassis completely from scratch. And, as this was to be Lin’s personal ride, it was important that she would be happy with it; trying to mod the Buell frame would have been a compromise. Lin doesn’t do compromise… By the time I saw the project for the first time (and, look, it wasn’t that long – okay?), it was already recognisably a motorcycle. Vic had built a phenomenal curved frame that used the X1 engine as a stressed member, a frame that I would have been quite happy to have had polished up and put on display in my house as a piece of sculpture. I suggested it. Apparently, it wasn’t an option, for some reason. If you cast your mind back to the article on Jack of Hearts in BSH 284, you may remember that, despite being a rigid frame, the seat incorporated some neat little shock absorbers to provide a modicum of suspension (yes, Vic and Lin do ride their bikes). Thus, it seemed only fair that Lin’s bike should also be as comfortable as possible, and the ideal solution was to utilise the original Buell underslung suspension unit. The seat pan was then suspended from the rear of the top tube and, as Lin is only a slender scrap of a thing, it’s more than capable of supporting itself and rider. Perhaps because of the Buell engine and its associated racing connotations, I’d expected the mocked-up bike to be shorter, but, by then, Vic and Lin had been through the process of having Mrs Jefford sit on the bike to see exactly where her feet and hands fell (I do know one of the big secrets of how Vic gets the attitude of his bikes just right, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy on pain of death. Let’s just say that it’s on the low-tech side…) But, once that massive-tubed frame was in place, it was clear that a long front end was in order, a job that was admirably acquitted by a pair of four-inch over American Suspension forks. The handlebars were fabricated by Vic to Lin’s specification and they feature integral risers, as well as a one-off mirror by Woody, the young gentleman who has contributed a number of wonderful and innovative touches to Vic’s recent builds. He has the rare talent to be able to understand what Vic wants of a component (even when, I suspect, Vic isn’t quite sure himself) and then give it an additional stylish twist. The forks are crisply matched by the RevTech T-3 three-spoke wheel, one of a pair that had been gathering dust in the cupboard since 2003, the prize for Destiny Cycles’s triumph with ‘Saracen’ at the Bulldog Bash Custom Show of that year. Its compadre at the rear nestles in the big tube back end that has become one of the firm’s many distinctive trademarks, while a Bellwether mudguard was reshaped and integrated into the frame, which, with the sleek moulding around the seat bracket, keeps everything as streamlined as possible. The forward controls were another surprise to me, but the use of an open belt drive governed that choice. Oh, and the fact that Lin likes forwards – after all, the genesis for her multi-show-winning ‘War Horse’ chopper was a set of Technoplus controls. They also alter the stance of the bike – and exactly how would you categorise this bike? Chop? Lowrider? Streetfighter, even? I believe that the reason why the BSH Buell has not had more success in shows is because people don’t know exactly how to describe it. The closest I’ve managed is ‘street racer’, but even that doesn’t seem quite on the nail… Seeing the frame in its natural state had made me wonder if Vic might opt for a tank fitted between the two top rails, as seems to be the trend in Europe at the moment. It seemed such a shame to have to hide those curves, but it must be admitted that the large tank of the BSH Buell balances the lines of the bike better than trying to incorporate what is essentially retro styling. What’s the tank? I haven’t a clue. However, I didn’t feel quite so dim when it transpired that Lin couldn’t remember, either, only that it was a custom tank which she’d bought from America some time before. It’s immaterial, anyway, because its original owner would no longer recognise it. To accommodate the battery and electrics, as well as the fuel (although not all together, even I know that would a Wrong Thing), Vic cut the tank apart and stretched it by five inches. A huge two-into-one Destiny Cycles exhaust system echoes the frame’s dimensions, the only surprise being that it’s not particularly pointy, Lin’s previous machines having been renowned for their spikiness. This is a lady who likes her bikes to bite. By the time that the tank, frame, mudguard and oil tank were shipped off to Percy Badbrush at Badbrush Dezigns, Vic and Lin could have been forgiven for ditching the whole Back Street Heroes concept entirely. After all, at that point, I’d been to see the build exactly twice, and that’s only if you count walking into the workshop, out again and then back in again five minutes later as ‘twice’. But the Jeffords are folk true to their word, and this was always going to be the Back Street Hero Buell. Lin briefed Percy on what she wanted, which was a combination of the BSH logo, chequers and racing graphics. In green and orange. She rang me up to tell me the colour scheme. “That’s nice, dear,” I said, which was code for, “Lin! Are you completely and utterly mad?! It will be horrid!” Yes, yes, wrong again (it is one thing at which I excel). The only thing that Lin had told Percy that she didn’t want was any pink. That’s as in no pink at all, zilch, nada, zip. In retrospect, this was a red rag to a bull (or, rather, a pink hankie to a mischievous calf). Go ahead, spot the pink… Fortunately, Lin was so pleased with the sleek ‘fast-while-standing-still’ paint job that she forgave Percy. Well, at least she says she did… One of the final touches was the seat cover, the work of Gordon Brown (yes, he’s heard them all) at Buckskin Leathercraft, a craftsman whose work Vic rates so highly that Gordon’s seats have become an obligatory component of his bikes. For the BSH Buell, Gordon created a hand-tooled and braided saddle, inlaid with a stingray hide insert. I’m not too sure how comfortable stingray hide is (though it doesn’t seem to be a problem for rays, or not until someone skins them, anyway), but I bet it does wonders for getting rid of cellulite. The finished product (and here I hang my head in shame again, because it’s been completed for well over a year) has surpassed Lin’s expectations – and she, more than anyone, is aware of what her old man is capable. It has rapidly become her pride and joy; when I casually mentioned that I wasn’t really absolutely sure I liked the headlight, she didn’t speak to me for the best part of a ferry crossing. A thirteen-hour ferry crossing. She loves how it handles (extremely well, as you ask, and this from an ex-sidecar racing passenger noted for her ability to sling a road bike about) and how it looks (even with the pink paint). Back at BSH Towers we are, despite not being efficient enough to bring you its history as a blow-by-blow build, and not contributing a penny to its build, immensely pleased to be associated with the Back Street Hero Buell. I still think I had a point about the headlight, though… words: BLUE MAKE and MODEL: 2007 Destiny Buell: ‘Back Street Hero’.ENGINE: Buell X1 Lightning with Mikuni 42mm carb and bellmouth and Crane Hi-4 Single Fire ignition, Destiny Cycles two-into-one exhaust system.FRAME: |
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