Nurturing relationships with its dealers is another integral part of the company’s success. In the past, it’s teamed up with industry heavy hitters such as Carl Brouhard Designs, which tricked out an Indian Scout Sixty, and Biltwell, which built a nasty FXR called Lobo Negro. Last year, Drag had Suburban Motors H-D build a wicked 2009 Dyna Fat Bob for its cover bike. Price was sponsored by Drag during his racing career.
In honor of its 50th anniversary, Drag had Ray Price Harley-Davidson turn a stock 2017 Road King into a mean Milwaukee-Eight-powered dresser, which is featured on the cover of the 2018 FatBook. It goes to all dealers in the United States and Canada,” says Emde.Įndearing Drag Specialties further to the cruiser market are the motorcycles it customizes in house, featuring parts found in the catalog. “The magazine is intended for dealers but compelling enough to leave in waiting rooms. Twenty-three years later, Drag Specialties Magazine is still going strong. After a few issues of Parts, Fox suggested doing one for Drag as well. Fox liked the idea and had Emde do a magazine for Parts Unlimited first. Emde said he got the idea for the magazine on a plane flight when he noticed how “everything in the magazine was part of their world.” So he pitched the idea of a magazine featuring “everything in Fred’s world” to his friend. The two became friends when Emde worked at DealerNews, the friendship carrying over to when the future AMA Hall of Famer started his own magazine, Motorcycle Collector. When things started tumbling, CCI (Custom Chrome Inc.) became the top dog around the mid-’80s,” says Drag Specialties director of purchasing Tom Motzko, who’s been with the company since 1974.Īnother savvy move by Fox was bringing 1972 Daytona 200 winner Don Emde on board to produce Drag Specialties Magazine. “We were king of the castle at that time in the ’70s and early ’80s. Before long, he expanded his product line and brought on board more businesses that were eager to sell their parts to a larger market as well, and in 1968, a brand was born. Rudd opened up a small parts and accessories store in Minneapolis called Drag Specialties. Turns out Rudd was a visionary who saw the potential of building and shipping out his own parts, an idea his two partners didn’t exactly subscribe to, so he bought them out. A story in the February 2018 issue of Drag Specialties Magazine states that one day somebody called Rudd asking if he was speaking to “Drag Specialties” and the name stuck. The trio had a racing habit, which is never cheap, so they began doing engine work on the side so they could continue pursuing their passion. Rudd’s bike was fast, and soon other racers began asking Rudd and a couple of his racing buddies for help in making their bikes faster as well.
True to its name, Drag Specialties was founded by a motorcycle drag racer, Tom Rudd, who competed in the A-Dragster class on a modified Harley-Davidson Sportster in the 1960s. Heading into its golden anniversary, Drag keeps the throttle wide open, with its sights set on a century of success. Be it performance upgrades or basic maintenance, Drag Specialties has been shipping the hottest aftermarket parts to dealers and getting them in the hands of motorcyclists lickety-split for 50 years running. How many of you have visited your local bike shop and drooled over Drag Specialties’ FatBook like a kid in a candy store? It’s hard not to thumb through nigh 2,000 pages of the latest parts and accessories for the cruiser market and not have your heart beat a little faster.
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