s it possible that another year has passed? The answer is obviously yes, which means that it’s time to get ready for the upcoming riding season. And what better way to get ready than a trip to Cincinnati for the V-Twin Expo by Easyriders magazine? This show was born when those with the courage to create a new venue for the leading makers of parts and accessories for Harley-Davidsons and related American V-twin motorcycles did so and is now firmly on the map.
     We’ll be there and hope you will be too. To assist those attending we have complied a special section in this issue with some handy details about the show. Check it out starting on page 18 and you’ll know right where to go when the doors open.
     Another sign that it’s a new year is that a new edition of the Drag Specialties FatBook is off the press. You’ll note the great looking sidecar on its cover is the very same machine we have featured on this month’s magazine cover. We have the full story of how this machine came to be in the workshop of custom builder Don Hotop. With everyone working on the latest ideas in stretch, “old school,” or other style choppers, it’s refreshing to see someone come up with something so unique.
     What Hotop achieved with his project was the look of an old Harley-Davidson “Delivery” sidecar of the 1920’s, but with a modern S&S powerplant. Sidecars were really popular back then with riders hauling both people and packages. You have to know that you’d get around town pretty quick with the 100 cubic inch S&S motor, a major step up from what riders of the day would have had when they sped off to deliver a package.
     Of course, products don’t get delivered in sidecars much anymore, but Hotop’s machine supports the spirit of what Drag Specialties is all about. While the UPS drivers handle the actual deliveries in most cases nowadays, the people at Drag Specialties work constantly to add suppliers who have some hot new product, and of course, the FatBook keeps getting fatter.
     If you don’t see yourself riding around with a sidecar, this issue also features a top-of-the-line V-Rod conversion by Randy Aron of Cycle Visions in San Diego, California. What Randy has achieved is converting a standard Harley-Davidson V-Rod into a great looking, and functional, touring machine. Aron calls the machine the Road-Rod, and while this example is pretty tricked out, the standard kit is available through Drag Specialties.
     In addition to Don Hotop and Randy Aron, there are lots of other people making great stuff nowadays. People like Jesse Jurrens, Steve Seidner, Billy Lane, Lee Wimmer and Russ Wernimont.
     Jurrens is inventor and maker of the Legend Air Suspension system. That product has been a big success and has now led to even more products. Seidner’s family has been involved in the motorcycle business for many years and his Pro One company knows a thing or two about what motorcycle riders want. Billy Lane has been riding and building motorcycle customs for many years, but he really came into his own in the past year or so when he was featured on the Discovery Channel’s series of motorcycle builder competitions. Wimmer and Wernimont are also old hands at fabricating special parts and pieces for custom bikes and have now turned their talents into products that can be sold in volume by Drag Specialties.
In fact, all of the guys we feature this month have their own pages in the FatBook. And that brings us back to the whole concept of Hotop’s FatBook Delivery bike. When it comes to the latest and greatest in motorcycle custom accessories Drag Specialties delivers the goods.

Happy New Year, and ride safe,