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one denies or decries the positive influence of what seems like a thousand
and one television shows focused on custom V-twin motorcycles, but
for every machine built from the ground up in TV land there are literally
thousands more that rolled out of a factory and into a real-world private
garage.And for most, that’s where customization begins; not with a blank sheet of paper, but with an OEM machine ripe for personalization. That’s where the symmetry of purpose shown in the unique and creative ideas of a company like GP Designs, one of the newest lines added to the Drag Specialties voluminous FatBook catalog, comes in. “I design parts for OEM machines, for the bolt-on applications. For us, that’s really what it is all about—the guys who are going to modify and customize their bikes a little at a time,” says George Pacheco, founder and namesake of the company. “There aren’t really that many people out there who are going to spend $70,000 to $80,000 for a custom from the ground up, but with our products they can bolt a custom look right on, and continue to customize a piece at a time.” The custom look of the wide array of chrome and billet available from GP Designs is evident at a glance. Less apparent is the first and foremost aim of providing the once-a-paycheck bolt-on bike part buyer not just a custom look, but also an ease of fitment that doesn’t require a plasma cutter and a really big hammer. “Everything that we make is easy to install and fits right on OEM machines,” Pacheco says. “We want to offer both simple installation and a really nice custom look to our customers.” And, having been recently added to the pantheon of product distributed by Drag Specialties, both of those attributes will be available to many more customers than ever—and the opportunities provided by that distribution only fuels the fire of the crew at GP Designs. “I’m very, very happy to be affiliated with a company like Drag Specialties—to offer more shops my product than we could have ever reached on our own. We feel like the parts that we make sell themselves, but we couldn’t begin to get it out there to the dealers across the country the way distribution through Drag will,” Pacheco says. “We’re very excited to have our product go into more and more shops through the catalog and sales channels that a group like that has. You know, you set goals as a company, and to have our product carried by a company of that caliber is really great for us, it helps to keep the dream alive, and growing.” The GP Designs line up consists of several patent-pending grips, triple trees and other custom parts—all featuring a unique style that sets GP Designs apart from its competitors. “George and his company produce some very high quality and high-gloss products that we think can be a very lucrative addition to our product line,” says Jim Matchette, national sales manager for Drag Specialties. “The pieces are perfect for the continual customizer demographic—the guy that likes to drop by his favorite shop once a week or once a month for another bolt-on for his self-customized ride. And that’s one of our favorite kinds of customer.” Check out what GP Designs has to offer in the FatBook 2004 Update, or call your Drag rep.  |
The
Low-Profile Oval Mirrors have a chrome-plated aluminum housing. 
