e normally focus our magazine on parts and accessories for Harleys and other related V-twin machinery. In this issue you’ll find plenty of that, but we also wanted to point out behind-the-scenes stories about some of the people who bring these products to market. One thing they all have in common is a true passion about motorcycling.
     Our two Drag Specialties FatBook project bikes on the cover were built by people that I’ve know for a long time. I can tell you that you won’t find people who love their motorcycles more than Denny Berg and Tom Motzko. Berg has been around motorcycles virtually his whole life and in the last few years has been the styling inspiration for Cobra Engineering. He’s does lots and lots of custom bikes for Cobra, but this was the first time they just handed him a Drag Specialties FatBook and asked him to build a bike. I think everyone would agree it came out great. Tom Motzko is another “lifer.” In this case here’s a guy with only one employer on his resume: Drag Specialties. That orange Dyna on the front cover is his personal ride at the moment and he built it at home in his garage.
     Inside this issue you’ll also learn how Gerald Rinehart got started making exhaust pipes for the leading NASCAR teams and parlayed what he learned there into one of the hottest exhaust pipe lines in the motorcycle market. When we went to press, Kurt Busch was leading the 2004 NASCAR point standings with a car outfitted with Rinehart exhaust pipes.
     Bert Baker and his wife Lisa, both engineers, have a pretty good story too. Bert had his Harley stolen about ten years ago, and when he got his insurance check he decided to build a custom bike instead of just buying a stocker. In the process, he discovered that a stock-type transmission couldn’t really deliver the performance that he wanted. So he decided to design one himself. He and Lisa went into the business of making an all-new 6-speed transmission for Harleys, Baker Drivetrains.
     We also did a profile on two of the hottest custom builders in the business today: Jim Nasi and Matt Hotch. In an era of custom builders turning into industry celebrities, these two will stand alongside anyone when it comes to making a really unique custom bike. Earlier this year Hotch won the overall Biker Build-off competition at Laughlin that was taped for a Discovery Channel television program.
     The Drag Specialties FatBook is chock full of products made by people just like Berg, Motzko, Rinehart, Baker, Nasi and Hotch. Yes, these are people with a passion for motorcycling. And they make their products for people with a motorcycling passion…people like you.
     Ride safe,