Kuryakyn underwent a major warehouse expansion in 2005.

om Rudd, the man behind Kuryakyn, says he likes to keep a low profile. It’s not easy. Tom Rudd, you see, is the man who actually founded Drag Specialties way back in 1968. And Kuryakyn? Have you ever added up everything Kuryakyn has listed in the FatBook? Have you seen their giant show trailers at the runs and rallies? With a company like this, and a background like that, a low profile is pretty much out of the question.
     In the beginning Tom’s version of Drag Specialties, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was primarily a race- and high-performance engine building operation. Hence the name Drag Specialties. Tom quickly saw a need in the Harley-Davidson aftermarket for a number of custom bits and pieces that he couldn’t find, and, figuring that no one else could find them either he switched his emphasis from engine building to the manufacturing of parts and accessories. The very first Drag Specialties custom part was a Maltese Cross taillight, quickly followed with the exhaust systems that catapulted Drag Specialties to become one of the largest aftermarket companies in the entire exhaust-system field. Bike Week 1969 sealed the deal. Tom brought a number of his prototype parts to display and found dealers from all across the country hungry for it all. “That’s how we went from a strictly retail shop to almost totally wholesale,” he says.

Tom Rudd and his now wife Patricia Furlong started Kuryakyn in 1989, initially running the business right out of his garage.

     In 1987 Tom Rudd changed directions again. He sold his last interest in the company he had started to a group of investors who subsequently sold the business to Lemans Corporation, who runs it to this day. Under Tom’s guidance Drag Specialties had become perhaps the largest parts supplier in the Harley aftermarket and he was thrilled to see Fred Fox and his company take over. Casting about for a new project, Tom tried a few things before realizing that motorcycles were his true love. In 1989, along with Patricia Furlong (who’s now his wife), he started Kuryakyn, initially working the company right out of his garage.
     Did you ever wonder about that name, Kuryakyn? It comes with a story. When Pat Furlong was a student at the University of Minnesota she was a certified lifeguard and a very strong swimmer. As one of her credits at U of M she spent about a year in the outreaches of Alaska teaching Eskimo children swimming and coldwater survival. While there she learned of a fabled tribal leader among the Eskimos named Kuryakyn. The name clicked. “I wanted to make sure that the name for our new company meant nothing in any known language,” Tom says, “because, quite frankly, at the start I wasn’t sure what the company would evolve to become.” At first Kuryakyn offered add-on product strictly for the Honda Goldwing, the old GL1500. But a Harley rider at heart, Tom’s Kuryakyn lineup quickly grew to include all the Harley products he never got a chance to finish at Drag Specialties. The Hypercharger and Iso Pegs were the first two products made for Harley-Davidsons, both still popular today. It wasn’t long before Harley-related accessories became the major part of the Kuryakyn lineup, a lineup that today includes more than 4,000 different part numbers…almost 70 percent of which is available through Drag Specialties. “Initially I wanted to keep Kuryakyn small,” Tom says, “but I couldn’t do it. It grew by leaps and bounds.”

Also new this year is the Skull Air Cleaner Cover, a replacement for the standard teardrop cover on S&S E or G series air cleaners.

New from Kuryakyn–ISO Flame Grips.

New Kuryakyn Saddle Shields help deflect and re-direct engine heat away from the rider.

New for 2006: Kuryakyn Stiletto Pegs.

     Right from the start Kuryakyn was set up to be dramatically different from most aftermarket companies. “The philosophy,” Tom says, “was to be a design company first and foremost. I wanted to come up with unique products that would be purely Kuryakyn rather than just re-sell what others already had on the market.” This year the Kuryakyn objective is to design and begin production on one new product every working day. That’s something way beyond what most companies would even dream of attempting, but Kuryakyn is right on schedule. How is that possible? “With the help of a lot of really good designers,” Tom answers. “We have some of the best, we think, in the world and they’re all motorcycle people who understand the market.”
     Establishing that product wish list is straightforward. “It comes from the two show trucks we take out on the road to all the major events,” Tom says. Everyone at the shows keeps track of the products they’re asked for the most but don’t have. Those lists are tallied up, with the most-asked-for parts at the top, and back in Somerset, Wisconsin, they just work their way down that list–keeping the company philosophy in mind at all times. “We don’t want to be involved making anything that anyone needs,” Tom says, an answer that requires some explanation. “We don’t sell tires and batteries and spark plugs,” he goes on. “We’re only interested in supplying the things riders dream about having, the chrome bolt-ons and those lusted-after accessories. Not only is it a less stressful business, you’re not in a dog-eat-dog competition with everyone else selling the same thing, it’s also a lot more fun because we get to design and make fun things!”
     Lately that fun emphasis has been on “theme” parts; skull air cleaners and mirrors, new spider foot pegs and grips–products, Tom says, that are somewhat of a niche piece but still have widespread appeal. “And it’s kind of funny,” he notes, “but aesthetically the Harley custom world is returning to what it was in the ‘70s. Choppers, fueled by guys like Jesse James and Orange County, are back in a big way. Remember that Maltese Cross taillight, the very first product I made at Drag Specialties? We’re selling plenty of them today at Kuryakyn.” That, and 3,999 other things, too, most available directly through Drag Specialties. Talk about coming full circle…