Your bike is your most prized possession and you'd want to do whatever was necessary to keep it from getting ripped off. There are many different inexpensive options out there that may prevent your motorcycle from becoming someone else's prized possession. After all, you spent a nice chunk on the bike itself, you can at least afford to keep it secured. Especially if you're at a rally and there are 10 two-wheeled machines in a row for a thief to choose from, odds are, he's going to swipe the one that's not locked up. Don't be "that guy"!

Anamosa, Iowa is a quaint Midwest town that the mega-distributor and aftermarket motorcycle parts manufacturer, J&P Cycles, calls home. What started 30 years ago as a mail-order catalog, J&P Cycles' President John Parham and his wife and Vice President, Jill, grew the business into a thriving empire distributing and manufacturing aftermarket Harley-Davidson, vintage, and metric motorcycle parts. And every year J&P Cycles hosts an Open House to say thanks to its customers for their loyalty and support. For 2009, the two-day event brought over 22,000 people to Anamosa, and we were there to share in the festivities.

WHO: Bad Ass Jewelry
WHAT: Biker Jewelry
WEAR: Bad Ass Jewelry is renowned for its collection of fashionable biker jewelry for men and women, with a large collection with over 2,000 products from rings to bracelets, earrings, Zippo lighters, and more, the Bad Ass line features top-quality pieces made from sterling silver, 316L surgical stainless steel, tungsten, and leather. With a large assortment of sizes all the way up to size 25, which is one huge finger! The stingray collection is really nice, and is made of genuine high-quality stingray leather on pure sterling silver, something you don't see everyday.

Fat Boy Lo (FLSTFB) $16,299
The Fat Boy Lo is a bare bones, one-of-a-kind model that uses one of the greatest hits to ever roll out of the Harley-Davidson design studio, the Fat Boy. It's low, it's dark, and it's cool.

Cover Up
Hey you Softail owners out there. The new hand-laid fiberglass Softail tank shroud from Bad Dad was made to fit over your stock'86-99 model tank, as well as the one-piece five-gallon tanks on the '00-later Softail models. Essentially you get that stretched tank look without the hassle of stretching your stock sheetmetal, then pressure testing it, and finally, sealing it. Bad Dad's done the work for you!

That is one sick looking beltdrive," was the first thing I said when I opened the box from Evil Engineering. Inside that big white box was a fully chromed HT 2-inch Bobber Style beltdrive.

Something as minor as adding a few new pieces of chrome can change the way you feel about your bike, and in some cases make it feel like a new bike. Wheels are no exception; just swapping out the stock H-D wheels for new chrome ones in different sizes can change a bike's look and attitude. We wanted to see how we'd feel about some new taller wheels and rotors for our stock looking '04 Road King.

There have been countless articles on the correct method of prepping engine cylinders for new (bigger) pistons during a rebuild or a custom build. However, there has been little published about the outside of the cylinders, the fins and the casting itself. Late model Evo and Twin Cam cylinders are aluminum and come out of the foundry/factory finished quite nice, a quick trip to the powdercoaters and they're ready to run. The predecessors to the Evo (Shovels, Panheads, Knuckleheads and Iron Head Sportsters) all featured cast iron cylinders. These cylinders came from the molds with a fair amount of "flashing." Flashing is a small amount of metal that seeps into the mold usually around the area of the cylinder where the mold was split (we'll show you in the photos). Removing any errant flashing and smoothing the fins will make the cylinder look better once it's powdercoated or painted and improves airflow around and between the fins.

Specs

BIKE OWNER	Kevin Martin
SHOP NAME	Dragonfly Cycle Concepts
SHOP PHONE	(877) 374-6359
SHOP WEBSITE	www.dragonflycycleconcepts.com
YEAR/MAKE/MODEL	’09/H-D/Street Glide
FABRICATION	Kevin, Danny Martin
ASSEMBLY	Kevin, Danny Martin
BUILD TIME	Three Weeks

Who: DSO Eyewear
What: Cool Shades
Wear: Dangerous Sport Optics (DSO) Eyewear opened its doors in 1993 with an aggressively styled sunglass line targeted for the action sports community (i.e. skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, freestyle motocross). It's been DSO's goal from the beginning to provide a quality product with unique styling, visual clarity, and unequaled durability. DSO has been a household name for the action sports world, but the company has also gained popularity within the motorcycle industry.

In this dirty world in which we ride in, we need clean air to pass through the intake of our bikes to keep them running at their best. There are a lot of air filters out there that work well but tend to lack in style. Wimmer Custom Cycle has the means to do both, good filtering of air while adding some cool style to your bike. With so many different styles and setups to choose from there is something for everyone's bike. All of the Wimmer intake components are made from solid 6061 billet aluminum, and manufactured right here in the USA. The Wimmer System is based on its Velocity Stacks Assembly (VSA) for standard carburetor mounts like CV, S&S, Mikuni, and also for fuel-injected models as well. Once you have the right VSA for your model you can build an air intake to fit your bike and style.

Commuting to and from work on a motorcycle is a great. It saves time and money, and it really does make the workday that much more enjoyable. One thing about coming home from the grind is the fact that if the bike is parked in the garage the rider has to usually dig through his/her backpack, saddlebag, or fairing nook/cranny, looking for the remote in order to open said garage whenever he/she gets home. It might not be that big of a nuisance but in the never-ending quest to save time, seconds are precious.

Have you ever craved a cup of coffee while you were riding or wanted to quench your thirst with a swig off of a nice cold soda and didn't want to wait until the next gas stop? The Hog Trough cupholder (contact for price) makes it possible to do both. Available for many Harley-Davidsons and custom applications, this cupholder mounts to 1 1/4-inch downtubes and spruces up touring comfort and attaches in a matter of seconds, just underneath the front left side of the gas tank. We installed the Hog Trough on a '05 Road Glide in just a matter of seconds. Touring comfort just got more...comfortable!

Here at HOT BIKE, we get a lot of rides-Harleys, hogs whatever you want to call them-submitted by our readers. Pick of the Pen is an opportunity to dedicate a few pages to our favorite readers-submitted bike each month. This month's pick of the pen comes to us from Sue Huebl out of Georgia.

Baggers are known for their comfort, and the "engine guard" makes for a great place to stretch out your legs and rest your feet on those long mileage trips. But thanks to companies like Lindby Custom Inc. Harley owners who have other models besides baggers can bolt products onto their bikes that will help them reap some of the same creature comforts baggers owners are afforded. For more than 15 years, Per Lindby and his wife Anne have been providing just about every Harley owner with the ability to stretch out on their bike and look good doing it with the company's various engine guards.

Have you ever rode your bike to a place only to find that the parking lot is sand, mud, grass, or anything soft enough that when you park your bike and drop the kickstand down you can see it start to sink into the ground? You start to look for anything to put under the kickstand like a soda can, piece of wood, a big rock, even your riding gloves to help keep the kickstand from sinking into the earth. There is a lot resting on the kickstand, the last thing you want to do is come out and see your bike on its side.

You never know when you're going to be out on a trip longer than you planned. The first thing you may start to think about is the next gas stop. But charging your cell phone, GPS, or even an iPod, which is normally done at the hotel can get overlooked when you're thinking about your trip plans. Now if you need to charge one of your devices as you are riding, you can do so with a Power Port from Wire-Plus. The company's new line of Power Ports can be used to charge phones, GPS devices, laptops, portable music systems, or used to power cigarette lighters, heated gloves, and vests. Any device that connects to a 12V power supply through a standard cigarette lighter can be charged with one of these Power Ports. They are available in dual port for $95 or single port for $69, in chrome or black powdercoat.

Specs

BIKE OWNER	Paul Kokesh
SHOP NAME	Exotic Choppers, Inc.
SHOP PHONE	(407) 253-1233
SHOP WEBSITE	www.ExoticChoppers.com
YEAR/MAKE/MODEL	2005/HD/V-ROD
FABRICATION	Exotic Choppers
ASSEMBLY	Exotic Choppers
BUILD TIME	45 hours w/fabrication time/paint time

Attention Hot Bike Readers!
We would like to start by asking you, the reader, to help us with your ride submissions. There is no shortage of Readers' Rides coming across the editor's desks; however, only about 1/4 of them can be used. The reason: bad photos, little or no info about the bike, and even worse, no contact info to get better photos or the needed bike specs. So before you put a stamp on that envelope or send out that e-mail, make sure that you have filled out the basics: Your name, phone number and/or e-mail, where you're from. Then fill out a spec sheet-all you need to do is copy the info from the magazine: Motor, tran, frame, wheels, and so on. Last, a brief history about you and your bike. Now that you know exactly what we're looking for, we can't wait to see what you're going to send in. Thanks!

There are many uses for the front fender. When the road is wet, it keeps water from spitting on you, it guards your face from small rocks and debris being shot up at your noggin (if you're not wearing a full face helmet, this could pose a serious threat), and it also supports the front forks. However, we like the look of a frontend sans the front fender. To us, it just looks a lot cleaner, but the front forks are more stable with something supporting them.

Occasionally we like to tinker in our shop to create low cost do-it-yourself parts. Sometimes these work well enough and look good enough to pass onto our readers. We decided to cover those ugly voids on either side of your rear fender between the saddlebags. A number of vendors offer high quality filler panels to close those gaps. They will look almost seamless so you can't go wrong with one of those kits. However, we thought we'd see what we could do with a couple of $1.50 aluminum sheets from Sears Hardware, some simple shop tools, some leftover parts, and an hour of time.

In a time when some parts of the country are treating bikers like they carry the bubonic plague, it's nice to roll into a city that opens its roads, restaurants, hotels, and all business in between to the two-wheeled enthusiasts with open arms, a frosty beverage, and some good old western barbecue. Austin, Texas, is just that city and just as they say everything is bigger in Texas, well so is the hospitality. Where some city mayors are fighting tooth and nail to keep bikers out of their city, in a welcome letter for the various media attending the event, Texas Governor Rick Perry stated, "We welcome you to Austin. If this is your first time here, it won't be your last. This town has great food, world famous music, and scenery just made for riding. So kick up your boots and enjoy a big slice of Texas hospitality."

We like things that are quick, easy, and satisfying-like microwave popcorn and that peanut butter and jelly that comes in the same jar. Can you tell we haven't had lunch yet? The other day while cleaning out our office we stumbled over the Drag Specialties catalog, have you seen that thing it's massive. Anyway, we got to looking through the huge parts book and came across a couple simple, shiny-chrome items that could help dress up a bike in minutes. We headed over to our local shop, placed an order, and in a few day our parts were in.

Why does it always seem like whenever you're all loaded up and enjoying a long road trip your bike seems to break down in the middle of nowhere on some desolate road-probably because as motorcyclists we know the best rides and scenery can be found on the road(s) less traveled. And of course when our bikes do break down, it never seems to fail that one of two things occur, either we can't get any cell phone service or we can get service but our phone has no juice left.