“ LUCKY ” AND THE EDITOR
WE FIND OURSELVES LEANING MORE TOWARDS EITHER COSMETICALLY ENHANCING THE THINGS WE DON ’ T LIKE OR FIXING THINGS THAT WE THINK DON ’ T WORK
RUBBER- SIDE DOWN
“ LUCKY ” AND THE EDITOR
As a longtime editor of motorcycle publications , I imagine myself as having a keen sense of design when it comes to motorized vehicles . We all just know when a bike looks right to our eyes .
However , there is a deep chasm between recognizing an attractive design and actually crafting parts in metal that look perfect together . My engineering talent is nonexistent , and my sense of design couldn ’ t hold a candle to real artists like Arlen Ness , Max Hazan , or even the laughable Orange County Choppers crew .
But I am a pretty good editor , and a recent conversation with builder Paul Yaffe ( see page 24 ) revealed a parallel in our work lives . We take products in their rough forms ( words , in my case , and motorcycles in Yaffe ’ s ) and tweak or redesign them to be nicer to look at or more functional .
Yaffe , who goes by the handle “ Lucky ,” says he ’ ll put a new Harley up on a lift to examine it , and in only a few hours , he and his crew will come up with several new products to address the production bike ’ s shortcomings .
“ We find ourselves leaning more towards either cosmetically enhancing the things we don ’ t like or fixing things that we think don ’ t work ,” Yaffe related . And this is a process similar to editing words and photos .
WE FIND OURSELVES LEANING MORE TOWARDS EITHER COSMETICALLY ENHANCING THE THINGS WE DON ’ T LIKE OR FIXING THINGS THAT WE THINK DON ’ T WORK
Yaffe expresses derision at some of the components on new Harleys but calls it “ job security ” for his Bagger Nation and Paul Yaffe Originals enterprises .
“ Thank god for Harley ’ s insistence on not finishing the models they create ,” Yaffe told me . “ They always do the worst seats and the worst handlebars and horrible turnsignals and ugly license plates .”
Coming back to my editor / designer parallel , Yaffe and his crew “ edited ” Harley ’ s kickstand .
“ The Softail kickstands have a horrible design , and the bikes fall over all the time , and the kickstands break , so we came up with this product that one of my guys named the FIX-stand , which I think is the best name . We were able to get a patent , and it fixes the problem .”
Anyone who ’ s had a chance to chat with Yaffe knows that he ’ s as genial as they come , always quick with a smile and a laugh . But he also has a hardnosed edge if confronted .
When Yaffe grew bored of the pizza-cutter big-wheel front ends , he invented his Steam Roller Touring line of fat-tire front ends , and he gave these products the SRT monicker . However , SRT is also a handle used by Dodge for its high-performance sub-brand .
“ We actually got a letter from Dodge suggesting that we not use it , but it turns out that it ’ s illegal to trademark , copyright , or patent an illegal activity , and Dodge ’ s SRT stands for Street Racing Technology – and street racing is illegal .
“ So ,” Yaffe continued , “ we suggested that we wouldn ’ t point out to the trademark commission that Street Racing Technology is an illegal activity and Dodge ’ s SRT trademarks were probably not worth the paper they were printed on . Funny enough , we never heard from them again !”
The kickstand “ editing ” from Paul Yaffe Originals : the FIX-Stand . Retailing for about $ 100 , it adds rake to the stock component and creates a smooth transition to its fully deployed position for extra stability when parked .
4 | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2025 | AMERICANRIDER . COM