Yes I know that all of you out there who subscribe are already enjoying your copy of this issue, but some people like to wait and get their copy at the local news stand or convenience store. If you’re one of those here’s part of what you’ll find inside.

• Marilyn Stemp makes a stop at Grand Opening the new Indian dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina plus giving us the low down about this years Sturgis Bike Week.
• Mike Seate does a little traveling too when he invades England, again, to try out some Brit bikes.
• Neil Taylor and Karen Brown team up again for an expose of some specialty tools for engine builders.
• Dain gives us some insight into Patriot Suspensions fork springs and takes some saddle time on the Big Dog line up.
• Margie Siegal showcases a beautiful 1969 XLCH that except for the paint is still all original.
• Lowly old me takes you along on my train spotting, history markers overnight ride in Pennsylvania.

There’s more but you’ll have to get the issue to see it all. It will be on sale this week. Now you could subscribe or give a subscription as a holiday gift, that way you would be eligible for the IronWorks/Brass Balls Bobbers bike give away which you can still enter until the end of January at www.ironworksmag.com

In our ever evolving commitment to keep you informed and up to date we occasionally use these posts in multi-media formats. In the January-February issue of IronWorks (that should be in your mailbox right now)  on page 27 you will see the “Notes From The Blog Side” section. In it is a letter in response to a post about the Wheels Through Time Museum explaining what is happening at the museum.

Believe it or not some readers of the magazine don’t visit the blog. They are either technically challenged or spend so much time on a computer at work that they don’t want to see one when they get home. These people won’t get a chance to link on to the two very interesting videos about the museum on YouTube. You lucky dogs on the other hand will have access to them right now.

It seems the folks at BMW have taken Dain Gingerelli’s idea of a “Bare Bones Bike” from the December issue of IronWorks magazine to heart. They have unveiled their Lo-Rider concept bike with the idea of selling the customer just a motorcycle. That way the customer can add whatever parts he wants to individualize his machine. The bike is designed to share common components with other BMW motorcycle models. The cruiser type looking Lo-Rider concept bike was introduced at the Milan, Italy show. There has been no word yet on whether or not the Lo-Rider project will go into production for sale to the public.

For all of you that have subscribed or renewed their subscription to IronWorks Magazine to enter the IronWorks/BrassBallsBobbers Giveaway Bike contest there’s an update in the December issue. This installment gives a look at some of the prototypical parts that have been designed for the bike. One part is the hand tooled and stitched leather seat by Rich Phillips. I sort of like the natural look of the seat in the picture.

Brass Balls Bobbers has announced that it is giving relief to the working class heroes that built and keep this great country running. You can get into the Bobber/Chopper lifestyle by buying one of their bikes for just under 18 grand, a great price for a custom built bike. But now through December 31, 2008 you can get an even better deal. Brass Balls Bobbers will take $500 off on their five speed bikes and $1000 off on six speed bikes. That’d be a good Christmas present to yourself.

Best of all you can design your bike by going online at www.darwinmotorcycles.com. On that site you “virtually” build your custom bobber. Now if you’re like me and are in-between jobs you can still have a chance to get a Brass Balls Bobber by subscribing to IronWorks. Oops, I forgot I’m not eligible.

It was with great interest that I opened my copy of the December issue of IronWorks to Dain Gingerelli’s “Yikes, Trikes” feature. It took me back in time to when I’d open up my Big Bike, Super Cycle, Street Chopper magazine to look for coverage of the big motorcycle shows or rallies. I always liked the fact that there would always be a three wheeler pictured that looked like Ed “Big Daddy” Roth had designed it.

Sure you can paint and chrome custom motorcycles but with a trike you could go crazy. That extra wheel meant that you could build a box or canopy over the passenger seat and sometimes even the rider. Of course this meant even more room for paint and chrome. Best of all Harley trikes were readily available. The G Model (GE if it had electric start) had been produced for 36 years and it’s 45 ci motor for 44 years.

My first Harley, actually my first motorcycle, was a 1958 G Model with the big box on the back. It wouldn’t run fast but I could haul more beer than anyone else.

As most of you know that have followed IW Blogger and IronWorks magazine this year you know that I have been without my bike for most of the year. At the V-Twin Show in Cincinnati I volunteered it for a make over project. It was twenty years old and only had 170,000 miles on it. It was semi-retired twelve years ago when I bought a new Ultra. Circumstances have dictated that it come out of retirement a couple times. Each time I just changed the oil and put a new battery in and it fired right up. But it was showing it’s age.