rag Specialties has a long history in the motorcycle industry. Throughout that time, hallmarks of Drag have been quality, honesty, commitment and credibility. This ideal permeates through the whole Drag family from vendors to dealers, and is most prevalent in Drag’s sales rep force. The guys and gals who visit your dealership are not just mere salespeople, they are riders, builders and enthusiasts themselves who really do love the industry and want nothing more then to be an asset to their dealers. Following are a few great examples:

     Stephanie Feld is relatively new to the Drag family of reps, but her enthusiasm for motorcycling and product knowledge has already made her a stand-out performer. “I don’t know why you want to do a story about me,” says Stephanie. “I’ve been with Drag for less than a year. It’s a dream job for me; it’s actually the best job I’ve ever had.” A dream job that Stephanie is really good at. A big part of her success as a rep is her love of motorcycling and need for speed.
     “I currently have two bikes,” says Stephanie, “a 1990 Harley-Davidson FXRP Police Bike I bought new and did some modifications to myself. I had to jump through some hoops to get that bike. Harley just won’t sell police bikes to civilians. I had to write an essay as to why I wanted a police bike and send it to Harley-Davidson. I basically said that I really liked and needed the luggage rack and floorboards and sponge seat and I loved the look. They gave my dealer permission to sell me one. The California Highway Patrol had just stopped using Harleys so I think they were happy to get rid of one. I love that bike; it’s just not pretty so I never take photos of it.”
     “My other machine is a 1997 Buell S3T,” says Stephanie. Why would Stephanie want a machine like a Buell, you might ask? Does she use it for sport-touring or canyon carving? Well, yes, but she really bought it for the racetrack. “I started doing track days with a Sportster,” she says. “A Sportster is a great motorcycle, but I was destroying it on track days, just grinding everything off the bottom of it in turns. I wanted something I could have fun on the track with. So I looked at Ducatis and some others but then I found a brand new 2-year-old Buell for $8,000 and I knew that was the machine for me. I like track days because I like passing people in the turns even though it doesn’t happen often (laughs). It’s great to not worry about traffic, or deer, or soccer-moms in SUVs. It’s a lot safer to go fast on a track, though I had a squirrel run out from under a log and almost kill me once.”
Stephanie loves to ride and work on own her machines, which gives her great credibility with her dealers. “I can relate with them,” says Stephanie. “We’ve got things in common and they know I like to ride because I sometimes do my rounds on one of my bikes, though that depends on the weather and how big my samples are. The big luggage rack on the Police Bike helps with that. Plus, there are a lot of products that I try out on my own bikes and I can tell the dealers how well they work. When I find a great product I always let everyone know how it well it works.”
     Stephanie got started as a rider the same way a lot of people do, through a friend. “I had a boyfriend who bought an old Harley,” says Stephanie, “and he would never take me along on rides, so I had to go get my own bike so I could ride. I don’t have that boyfriend anymore, but I still love to ride.”
She keeps her machines for a long time and has owned six motorcycles so far, but she is planning to assemble her own custom in the future. “I’d like to build a “Chopper Guys” FXR frame with a twin-cam engine, and a 6-speed tranny while we’re at it.” She says it’s her dream machine. “The FXR is really the best big-twin model and you can get more power out of the twin-cam then an Evolution with a lot less work.”
     Stephanie has been in the industry for a long time, but feels she has found a home at Drag Specialties. “I love Drag,” she says, “this is the best job I ever had. There is always something to do. I worked for Harley-Davidson dealerships before this and I’m no good at sitting around trying to invent something to do. At Drag Specialties, there is always something going on!”

Drag rep Ken Caves’ passion for motorcycling began at an early age and he has managed to turn that passion into a great career. An avid builder and rider, Ken is ideally suited to represent Drag Specialties.

     “Some of the greatest people I’ve ever met and most of my closest friends are in the motorcycle industry,” says Ken Caves, Drag Rep #246. There are a lot of nice people in the motorcycling community and Ken is one of the friendliest, which is probably why he has so many friends who also happen to be his dealers. This is a big reason why Ken loves his job so much. “I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world,” he says. “I like the road and my job is to go out and call on five, six or seven friends a day. It’s one of those jobs where you get up and look forward to going to work.”
     Like a lot of us, Ken didn’t just fall into his dream job by accident. It was a journey through the world of motorcycling that began when he was 12 years old. “My brother and I would see choppers going down the street and we couldn’t wait to make our own,” says Ken. “So we started making choppers out of sting-ray bikes. Then when I was 13, I got my first motorcycle, a Suzuki TS125 and turned it into an MX bike by removing the injector, tearing the lights off and setting it up for racing. Once I started racing, I would buy almost any junk bike I could find and fix it up. I had a 1959 AJS, a 1956 BSA Gold Star, a 250 Zundapp, and a Sachs MX bike. My first Harley-Davidson was a 1959 Pan-Head I got when I was 18.” By then, Ken was a local hot-shoe, racing both motocross and dirt track on different bikes, racing on the weekends and working during the week.
     “I was on the road at an early age working for a company that sold engine rebuilding equipment,” says Ken. “My brother and I also had a business together where we built bikes and motors. He did it full time and I was part-time. Then I lost my job and went to work for a builder in Rochester, NY. It was a nice job, but I felt stuck in one place. The Parts Unlimited rep used to come in the shop and I was envious of him and wanted to get back on the road again. So I sent an email to Drag Specialties and Brad Petersen responded. It took a few months, but I was lucky and I got the territory covering Buffalo to the Pennsylvania border.”
     Ken has quite a stable of bikes, but his favorite is a ‘74 Super-Glide he customized himself. “I love heavy metal music,” he says. “Iron Maiden is one of my favorite bands. I love their music. So I decided to build a bike in tribute to Iron Maiden. I completely customized the bike. Then I brought the bike and the album cover “Live After Death” to Kram. Kram is a legendary painter and has done a lot of cover bikes on several magazines. Then, when Iron Maiden came to a local amusement park for a concert I rode up with some buddies and said we were with the band. Security let us in and the band came out to look at the bike. We ended up back stage for the whole show and they put my bike on their website. That bike got hit a few years ago and Dan and Tom at Phayer’s Sales and Service helped me get it back in shape. It still gets me into Iron Maiden concerts. I can still pull into a parking lot and attract a crowd mainly because of that paint job by Kram.”
     Ken’s experience as a builder and rider helps him be an outstanding rep for Drag. “I’m always studying what Drag can do for these shops,” he says. “I don’t pass myself off as an expert, but I like it when someone asks me to help diagnose a problem with a bike. I still like to get my hands dirty because I don’t feel like a salesman, I feel like I’m visiting friends. I’m very close to some of these guys now. Plus, the quality of Drag Specialties products lets me feel confident about our products. I know Drag has got products that will be an asset to my dealers and that Drag will back up everything they sell. Being a Drag rep is great for anyone with a passion for motorcycles who enjoys talking to people. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”