 April 2008 - New Riding Season...
A New Riding Season & A New Look Here
After a long, cold winter, the arrival of our April issue marks the start of another year in publication (our 19th), and the traditional start of a new riding season for most Americans. Now that the temperature is finally climbing and the roads are safe to ride on, it’s time to check batteries, oil level, and tire pressure, and blow the winter dust and cobwebs off your bike with the first ride of the new year. If, like many of us, you spent downtime in the garage working on your ride, step back and enjoy your work, give the paint and chrome one last polish, and hit the road to try out all the mods and new parts.
But you’re not the only one working on your projects. AIM’s art director, Chuck Queener, has been busy freshening up the look and feel here. He gave a new polish to the columnists’ pages and added more detail photos in some of the bike features.
Chris and his editorial team have been busy, too. They’re hard at work pulling together the kind of articles that keep American Iron Magazine the best-selling motorcycle magazine on the newsstand. You asked us for captions to go along with those detail photos. You got it! These captions will point out what might not be obvious. You also asked for more Readers’ Rides feature bikes, and a few more custom Harleys from outside the US and Canada. And you asked us to keep up the in-depth tech and how-to articles with full details and step-by-step photos. Chris’ response? “Sure, we can do that.”
We recently headed down to the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, and were blown away by my pal Dale Walksler’s world-class collection and hospitality. Jim Babchak and I simply can’t convey in words and photos how amazing this place is. So we’re sharing a quick visit to the museum, and while we try to cover as much as possible, we can’t fully convey the feeling of actually wandering through the many displays in person. Especially when Dale or Matt Walksler fires up one of the hundreds of bikes on display in the museum, and revs the engine. And speaking of classic bikes and the Walkslers, check out the story of their extremely rare Crocker, beginning on page 240. Dale starts and does burn outs with this bike almost daily inside the museum!
Curious about what the Europeans are doing with their Harleys? This month, we’re featuring a sinister looking all-black Walz Hardcore softail-style bike from Germany, as well as a modified V-Rod from Italy. When first introduced, the V-Rods caught a lot of Harley enthusiasts by surprise, but we see they are slowly becoming more accepted every year -- especially when someone as attractive as Stefi is seen riding one. Speaking of V-Rods, they are legitimate members of the Harley family, so we’re gathering more V-Rod editorial. This includes customs, tech, and a V-Rod project bike series I’m planning on building and sharing later in 2008. About a year ago, I sold the hot rod Dyna Glide that we featured (and followed) in these pages. While I love my big hot rod Ultra, especially on the long hauls, I’d still like to have a power-cruiser in my garage. The sporty Street Rod, now discontinued by Harley-Davidson, caught my eye as a terrific starting point for my next project. I’ve owned, worked on, and modified all sorts of Harleys over the years, but never a V-Rod, so I’m looking forward to a new adventure.
AMERICAN IRON SPECIAL ISSUE
No matter how much we try, we simply can’t get everything we want into each issue. So a couple of times a year we publish extra newsstand-only issues. The new issue, American Iron Customs, goes on sale March 4. It’s chock full of great features and tech, including info on the baggers that are so popular these days. To keep your subscription costs down, we do not include these special issues. So head over to your favorite magazine or bookstore and pick up a copy. If sold out, call Wanda at 203/425-8777 to order one.
Ride safe, ride smart, have fun.
Buzz Kanter
Publisher/Editor-In-Chief | 
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