It's a great honor (and with great sadness) to be editing the final issue of HOT ROD'S BIKE-WORKS magazine. For the last 14 years, first as HOT ROD HARLEYS, then HOT ROD BIKES, and most recently BIKE-WORKS, it's been a refuge for all stripes of biker gearhead. I had the honor of working for the magazine as a junior staff member from 1998 to 2002, and I can honestly say I learned more about print motorcycle journalism in those years than any before or since.
With a subscriber base of about 50,000, you might wonder why the magazine is going away. Well, as you might imagine, cranking out quality technical stories is time-consuming and expensive...just like handmade motorcycle parts. In recent history, putting out a print magazine has only gotten more expensive, while the market on the newsstand has gotten pickier. This results in more and more tightly focused magazines, which in turn makes it harder to put out a broad-based tech magazine like BIKE-WORKS.
Naturally, we want to go out with a bang. Over the years some of the most popular features we've done involved high-performance hop-ups and kits. We've collected some of the best ways to juice power from our machines over the years and recollected them for you in this issue. We've also been party to some seriously killer machines, featuring some on our cover, while other groundbreaking machines have been tucked away on the inside pages. We go back through some of the coolest feature bikes and babes from over the years.
Since most of you out there are subscribers, you might wonder what next month holds. Well, a few months ago I started up one of the tightly focused niche magazines I mentioned a couple paragraphs ago. Named HOT BIKE BAGGERS, its focus is on the very popular touring segment. While it may not appeal to the majority of you, chances are there is a good chunk of the BIKE-WORKS populace currently riding a bagger of some description, and for those of you seeking in-depth tech articles, there's still HOT BIKE itself. Both magazines go into the workings of the newest machines and aftermarket products, plus far more information about actually riding your motorcycle, with product reviews, bike reviews, and a multitude of tour destinations, some easy, some fantastic.
I look forward to entertaining and educating you for years to come.
| ABILITY |
O | No problem | OOO | Extensive mechanical ability | | OO | Some mechanical ability | OOOO | Leave it to the pros |
| TOOLS |
O | Simple handtools | OOO | Specialty tools | | OO | Comprehensive handtools | OOOO | Better own a machine shop |
| TIME |
O | 8 hours or less | OOO | 1 week or more | | OO | 1 day or more | OOOO | 1 month or more |
| SIMPLE |
O | Less than $500 | OOO | $1,001-$3,000 | | OO | $500-$1,000 | OOOO | Over $3,000 |
| OVERALL |
* SIMPLE | | * * MODERATE | | * * * COMPLEX | | * * * * EXTREME |