50 YEARS OF BIKE: WEIRD AND WONDERFUL

That chopper from the cover of the very first issue.

Want weird? Just as new-fangled Japanese bikes were teaching British riders about roadholding and reliability, a movement sprung up where handling, ride comfort and safety were of zero importance. Choppers hit London, and the new Bike magazine embraced these wild customs with both oil-stained hands.

It was Mark Williams’ fault. While initially disturbed by the bendy forks and teapot tanks on Easy Rider’s two-wheel stars, the iconic 1969 movie steered our founder towards US mags such as Cycle World. Mark discovered exotic machinery, bright colours and compelling stories that ‘weren’t the mealy-mouthed nonsense’ that masqueraded as journalism in British mags. So he created a title to meld the glitziness of the embryonic UK custom scene with the rapid advances of 1970s motorcycle technology.

American rock journalist Chris Hodenfield delivered the inside story on stretched-out customs for our first issue, revealing how the first eager Brit builders, ‘generally had no concept to their designs and glued things together all slap-dash and hurdy-gurdy’. But now, in 1971, things had got serious, thanks to properly-built bikes by the likes of Ray Leon. Described as, ‘a jovial face in a world of sneering bastards,’ Ray was one half of Leon Wallace Customs, a grubby shop on Putney Bridge Road (just down the street from Dresda). ‘His bikes stand out primarily because they are authentic,’ reckoned Hodenfield. ‘They are also well built and tolerably safe.’ The gold masterpiece on the cover was built around a sidevalve Harley-davidson 45ci (750cc) with tank-mounted shift, suicide foot clutch, trashy springer forks, low-riding solid rear end plus LWC’S skills with fibreglass and spangly paint. It was cutting-edge. Famous builder John ‘Uncle Bunt’ Reed was working in the UK at the time, but as his bikes took on greater West Coast influence Ray’s builds were widely seen as the truly British choppers. Machines with LWC on their tiny tanks would headline UK bike mags throughout the ’70s, but Bike was all over their wonderful creations from the start. And c’mon, admit it – they look just as wonderful today.