Lee Wimmer with one of his many stunning custom creations.

rag Specialties is really about having the best and getting the best products to their dealers and customers. The goal is simple, but in the world of customs, not always easy to obtain. So they scout the top builders and designers even if it is just to add one part that can’t be found anywhere else. Not just anybody can become part of the Drag team. Talent, dedication and quality are prerequisites.
     One such talented, dedicated and quality-minded company that has joined Drag is Wimmer Custom Cycles. Wimmer Custom Cycles designs intake assemblies and manufactures custom motorcycle parts for the American made V-Twin motorcycle industry and custom choppers.      Wimmer Custom Cycles makes these billet aluminum components for everyone from the professional bike builders to the novice riders who like to do their own work. They offer many easy to install trick units that are very cool looking as well as functional. Wimmer loves custom choppers. Their specialty is High Performance Intakes; you can choose velocity stacks, air filters, or both because their parts are interchangeable. Wimmer Custom Cycles designs their parts to fit almost every carburetor on the market. And they have some of the best and most helpful customer service that can walk you through your setup. Wimmer Custom Cycle parts, from their patented Top Breather Setup to their horse power enhancing SuperSuckers, are very trick, extremely high quality and gorgeous to look at.
     Wimmer design capabilities are endless with the use of CAD and CAM (Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Machining). Plus they maintain state of the art CNC machines for exacting quality. Wimmer Custom Cycles has even done aerospace and defense contract work. Always innovative, Wimmer Custom Cycles is constantly designing and fabricating new components and welcomes feedback and ideas from their dealers and customers.
     The good folks at Wimmer Custom Cycles took some time out from their day to answer a few questions for Drag Specialties. Their answers reflect their commitment to motorcycling and the custom arts.

Drag: What is your company philosophy, what is Wimmer Custom Cycles all about?

WCC: Our company philosophy is total customer satisfaction; we go the extra mile to make all our customers happy. We offer such a large number of choices in our intake product line that we like to get to know our customer and his exact needs. We try very hard to get it right the first time so we always have several questions to ask.

Drag: How did you get started in the “Custom” business?

WCC: Well, to be honest it all started after having my 1993 Softail Springer stolen. When the insurance money was finally received it still wasn’t enough to get a new bike. So I decided to buy another used bike and do a total custom. In the process I realized that our CNC machine shop was capable of making anything that was not readily available. Soon I was designing new parts and improving on others. After designing some new parts and a couple of patents later we really decided to go full bore and keep on designing new and different parts. We now have a very niche market in our line of custom high performance intakes as well as gauge mounts and our line of billet oil coolers.

Drag: You’ve done aerospace and defense contract work, which is very interesting and unusual. Can you elaborate and offer some more details about that?

WCC: We have been machining parts for almost 30 years, and we have been a subcontractor to several prime military contractors. We have made components for cruise missiles, the Hughes telescope, Adcap torpedoes, Raymond Engineering, Raytheon and more. Today we have turned these skills into the private sector. We also produce a very large quantity of water treatment components, as well safety related components such as toxic and combustible gas detectors.

Drag: Great! You help keep our country safe and our water clean and you enhance the scenery with your beautifully engineered motorcycles and components. How long have you been part of Drag Specialties and what made you join Drag?

WCC: We just came on board in August of 2004. We have had some dealings with other distributors and were less than satisfied, Drag Specialties seems to be the leader and we are very excited about the new relationship. Drag isn’t just another catalog that will take anything. Drag will take only the top components and we’re proud to be part of it.

Drag: Anything else you’d like to say to your dealers and customers?

WCC: I’m sure the dealers and customers will be very satisfied with our complete product line and the support we will offer. We’re committed to every product and will be continuing to come up with new and exciting products for the future.

Look for Wimmer Custom Cycles products in the FatBook or contact your Drag Specialties rep for more information.

Lee with some other members of the talented Wimmer Custom Cycles team.

Another brilliant masterpiece from Wimmer Custom Cycles.

Billy Lane checks out Denis Manning’s BUB Streamliner at the 2003 V-Twin Expo.

     It is no secret that motorcycling, particularly “Custom” building of motorcycles is currently very popular on cable television and one of the hit shows is the “Great Biker Build-Off” on Discovery. Many great builders have participated in the “contest” to create, deliver and be judged in the build-off. Of the many who have been on the show, win or lose, almost everyone agrees that there is a guy who stands out from the rest, a guy named Billy Lane.
     Billy Lane is a bit of a character, long dreadlocks, tattoos and a perpetual smile especially when he’s looking at motorcycles and inventing new ways to customize them in his head. Recently, Drag Specialties took on his line of amazing products, including the Billy Lane signature “Six Gun” Series.
     Billy is one of the most educated custom bike builders out there. Born and raised in Miami, Billy holds an associate of science degree in mechanical engineering from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Florida International University.
     His father got him interested in cars and hot rods early on, so Billy had quite a bit of mechanical knowledge before going to engineering school. Then, in 1989, he bought his first bike while in college. The bike was basically in pieces so he had to learn how to put it together. But with the help of some old-timers, he learned a lot - and fast.
     After college, Billy got a job with his brother working on bikes and then went out on his own. He started making custom parts as gifts for his friends. When he couldn’t afford to buy them birthday gifts, for example, he’d make them a part. Eventually, a demand built up for these “six-gun” parts outside of his peer group, which led to the 1995 formation of Choppers Inc. in Melbourne, Florida.
     Billy credits his success to getting into the chopper scene ahead of the curve, before the motorcycle industry really started to recognize them as relevant. Now that custom bikes are a huge industry, Billy is building a few high-quality bikes each year, which allows him time to develop new parts and ideas for new products and styles. Billy has great respect for other builders and calls Arlen Ness “a legend in every sense of the word.” He is heavily influenced by the old school chopper scene as well as hot rods and even the old west as evidenced by the Six Gun series of parts he has developed. As a result, Billy currently holds seven U.S. patents on the Choppers INC parts line: Six Gun Handlebar Riser Clamps, Six Gun Shift Knob, Six Gun Oil Cap and Six Gun Foot Peg, Six Gun Handlebar Grip, Tumbling Dice Light and Loaded Dice Shift Knob. These are beautiful parts with the Six Gun series looking like the loaded cylinder of a Colt six-shooter.
     Billy’s bikes and parts have been featured on numerous magazine covers, including The Horse, Street Chopper, Hot Bike, Easyriders and Kopteri (Finland). He’s also received numerous awards from his peers including the 2002 Easyriders Best Bike Builder of the Year and 2002 Easyriders Invitational Class—First Place Best in Show for his “Psycho Billy Cadillac” bike, which features a hub-less wheel.
     “Extreme” is the only way to describe Billy’s inventiveness. The hub-less wheel on the “Psycho Billy Cadillac” bike is a good example. He did it because he wanted to see it done, so he made it happen. Billy says that he has more surprises coming, like a totally hub-less (both front and rear wheels) custom, as well as a lot more he won’t divulge until their unveiling. He’s also just published a new book, Billy Lane: CHOP Fiction, It’s NOT a motorcycle baby, it’s a CHOPPER!      The last line of the book title movie fans should recognize as uttered by Bruce Willis in the classic film Pulp Fiction. And Billy is now designing shoes and was just signed by Bel Ray Oils. Like factory riders, builders have the star power to attract major sponsors and Billy has star power in cubic and metric tons.
     Billy has been featured on several television shows, including a segment on Speed Channel’s Corbin’s Ride On! which aired in September 2003. Billy can also be seen on several episodes of Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-Off series, which has been airing since 2003. Discovery Channel’s new show BIG! brought Billy in to guest host their fourth episode, in which the team built a 26-ft long motorcycle. Billy’s episode of BIG! aired in June 2004. Billy got his start with The Discovery Channel on the first episode of Monster Garage. Since then he has become one of the most popular builders to appear on the show and is constantly asked to make more appearances.
     So, a lot is going on for Billy Lane right now, including fame, expanding business, publishing and diversity. But he seems to be handling it all very well and with his usual good humor and “I’m just here for the party” attitude. He stays grounded because his focus, as always, is on motorcycles. Billy actually likes to ride the bikes he builds, not around the block, but across the country. Building, riding and inventing, and all that goes with it, are his favorite things. Whether he’s ever on television again or not doesn’t matter. First and last, Billy Lane is a builder who loves choppers and is willing to share his vision, parts and art with all of us. That is something we can all be grateful for.

Billy Lane recently published this new book, Billy Lane: CHOP Fiction, It’s NOT a motorcycle baby, it’s a CHOPPER!. This entertaining read recounts the history of how Billy got started building bikes, the forming of Choppers Inc., and many great stories of Billy’s wild life on the road. Billy’s book provides a revealing “behind-the-scenes” look into the rapidly growing world of custom bike building. Available through Motorbooks International

eadlights, taillights, triple-trees, fork lowers–Russ Wernimont, the guy whose name is just about synonymous with fenders and gas tanks, has been busy. All those custom parts, with more to come, are now in the Wernimont lineup. Making it happen – not to mention to keep up with that ever-growing sheet metal side of the business–Wernimont Designs is packing up and moving into a brand-new 22,000 square foot building just about a mile down the road from the present facility in Murrieta, California.
     Now, coming from Wernimont all those new bits are pretty tricky. That license plate frame and taillight, for instance, is a high-quality aluminum casting, and the cateye LED light and the turn signals are built right in. There are a number of different mounts and adapters available, too, so the same basic frame and taillight can be used in any number of applications. There’s a weld-in bucket for a custom flush mount, there are bolt-in buckets, and there are accessories available to mount that light in a stock-bike situation where it completely covers the OE mounting holes in the fender. There’s also a weld-on bracket allowing the same light to be used on a rigid or custom softail. It’s a great looking accessory, and with so many possibilities from just one part number the stocking is easy.
     The new Wernimont headlight is unique in the market, too. It’s a three-dimensional Iron Cross, also an aluminum casting, highly polished and chromed. It’s wild and it comes complete, ready to bolt on (with a universal bottom mount) and plug in. And those new Wernimont triple-clamps and lower legs evolved from pieces Russ made for his own bike. As you’d expect they’re extremely high quality. They’re beautifully designed and beautifully finished. The trees are a four-degree raked assembly, angle-cut for a really clean and flowing look. The trees complement the lines of the gas tank and the bike’s frame, lending a nice transitional line. The Wernimont lower legs continue that same angle-cut theme. The top of the lower, the cap carrying the oil seal, is styled to match the look and line of the triple-tree. Completing the coordinated look the leg-bottoms are pointed to match the points on the top of the triple-trees. Cool stuff.
     Russ Wernimont has more in the works, too. He’s producing a line of stock-replacement gas tanks, custom tanks that’ll bolt right onto OE Harleys. It makes perfect sense. Ride around and take a look. On any given day you might see a few aftermarket customs wearing swoopy sheet metal, but you’ll see thousands of stock Harley-Davidsons just begging for it. Russ is developing prototype tanks for the Road Kings and Road Glides right now, so stay tuned.
     “We’re constantly developing new things,” Russ says. “We’re determined to make nice pieces, offer the best quality and keep the prices reasonable.” That’s sure true with Wernimont sheet metal. Russ Wernimont’s been in the motorcycle business for 10 years now, but he’s built race cars and worked with sheet metal for 25 years. Drawing on that automotive background Russ has all the blanks for his tanks and fenders stamped in Detroit, stored in a 10,000 square foot warehouse until he needs them. It works out great. “Those Michigan shops,” he explains, “are used to supplying the ‘Big Three,’ and they have plenty to offer. They have all the new technology and employ all the newest manufacturing techniques. I’d never see any of it if I didn’t have my foot in the door back there.” The result is that when Wernimont’s parts come out of those presses they’re so smooth they’re ready for paint. There’s minimal body work required, if any at all. “What we look for,” Russ says, “is what’s called an ‘automotive stamping finish.’ That means a part that’s ready to paint. That’s what the auto manufacturers demand.” That’s what Wernimont gets, too. Most often all that’s required with a Wernimont tank or fender set is just a prime coat and then color.
     Working with those specialty shops in Detroit has more benefits. Russ Wernimont gets access to the test labs. He’s able to do stress analysis on his tanks and fenders, and Wernimont Designs is the first motorcycle sheet metal company in the aftermarket to do real vibration tests. The results prove telling. In one test the vibration cycles actually cracked the motorcycle frame before they broke the gas tank, which speaks volumes for the quality of a Wernimont part. “We’ve even done crash tests with our tanks,” Russ says. All that sheet metal is fashioned from hefty stuff, too, stamped from 14-and 16-gauge drawn steel and then hand-formed and finished into those signature Wernimont-custom shapes in California.
     And that Wernimont “signature” has expanded. It isn’t just sheet metal any more. Headlights, taillights, triple-trees and fork lowers are in the mix, too. Drag Specialties carries it all.

Russ Wernimont is hands-on in the development of his product line.