Inexpensive Tank lift and floorboard extension
#22
08-10-2015, 12:09 AM
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Clarification & a Few Thoughts-
Floorboard Extensions
The Floorboard Extension Kits that DK sells are Patented & Manufactured by VTwin Goodies.
If you go to our website, and look at this LINK, you will see that we list them as the manufacturer.
DK Custom did give VTwin Goodies some help in making the kit for the 14-up Tri-Glides.
I have personally been buying and referring folks to VTwin Goodies (previously known as Harley Goodies) for over 10 years.
After we helped them with the specs on the 14-Up Tri-Glide, they asked if we would like to be a dealer for their products. That is when we began offering them on our website.
There are other companies making them, in violation of their patent. Years ago, one of these companies asked us to sell their product. We declined.
Patents
Most of the products that DK Custom sells are products we design and Manufacture. Some of these products are patented, some are patent pending, some we don't care to patent & others are non-patent-able.
Many years ago, before we even had a website, we designed and manufactured a product. About a year after we started making it, another company started making the same thing.
Unbeknownst to us, they filed for a patent on it (illegally). We found ourselves in the difficult position of either spending $10,000+ to get the illegally obtained patent revoked, or to stop making our own product.
We did not have that kind of money, so we stopped making the product we conceived & manufactured.
Since that time, we have filed for patents on patent-able designs that we come up with...NOT to prevent the home builder from making a product like ours for themselves, but to prevent the unscrupulous business from filing for a patent on OUR design, thus preventing us from making our own product.
Tank Lifts
The concept of a tank lift dates back to at least the 1960's. It became known as a "Frisco Style".
In San Francisco, in the 60's, the Hells Angels started modifying their bikes to be tight, small and fast, for getting around the city. Part of that was a small tank.
The tanks from Harleys have a tunnel for the tank to sit down on the backbone. This reduces tank capacity. So the modification done to the tank was to remove the tunnel, increasing the capacity of the tank, without increasing the profile/size of the tank. With no more tunnel, it had to be mounted on top of the backbone that slopes up toward the neck.
Thus was born the "look" of the tank being lifted in the front. It has become known as the "frisco'd tank".
Over the years, a tank that is higher in the front than the rear has become one of the signature looks that is incorporated into almost every chopper, and many Custom bikes.
The "true" way to do this is the very expensive route of re-working the tank, removing the tunnel, and making new tabs on the tank and the frame to enable it to be mounted on top of the backbone.
Various tank lifts have existed for decades, to get that look, without spending big bucks.
When I was a kid I did a tank lift on a small motorcycle I had, just to get that look.
Fast forward to the beginning days of DK. We made tank lifts from flat stock for Sportsters only. This was done to give it that stretched out chopper look, to clean up the ugly factory mess of wires and plastic between the backbone and the rocker covers, also letting a bit more air flow over the engine.
After a year or so we realized that the Twin Cams had a serious heat problem, that could be helped by a tank lift. (this was around 2007, when the heat issue started getting really bad from the factory)
We found that by lifting the tank on Twin Cam Models it was actually for more than just looks...it allowed much more air to flow over the engine, alleviating some of the excessive heat that is trapped by the tank sitting over the sides of the top of the engine.
So we started making them for Twin Cams also.
Soon after that we realized that flat bar was strong enough 99.5% of the time, but that every now and then the harmonics would fatigue the metal and it could break.
We kicked around hundreds of different ideas until we came upon the, now, seemingly simple idea of using round stock. Not only does round stock match the look of the round frame, it is MUCH stronger than flat stock.
We filed for a Patent (which as since been issued) and started making all of our tank lifts out of round stock.
Us having a patent on our style of tank lifts does not mean anyone else making tank lifts is violating our Patent rights. We only have a Patent on tank lifts that are made with round stock. Tank lifts made with flat stock are un-patent-able, in that they have been around for decades.
Conclusion
DK Custom Products started in a spare room/porch area.
It was started because I wanted some parts for my bike that I could not build, nor find a local shop to build for me. I approached Devin, an acquaintance, and asked him if he could fab up a few parts for me. He did a great job. Others saw what he had done for my bike and wanted the same parts for theirs. Everything grew from that.
I share this because, at the very core of innovation in the motorcycle world, are the guys that ride...the guys & gals on this forum, and others. We ride a lot or a little. But we know what we want on our bike, we know what we want them to do...and we come up with ideas that make the riding experience better. Whether it is in a little shop like DK, or an individuals garage in Kansas.
Long live individual innovation. It makes riding better for all of us!
If you got to the end of this post, I hope I have not bored you. Hopefully it was informative and interesting.
For those that got bored before the end, I apologize.
Live Free - Ride Free
Floorboard Extensions
The Floorboard Extension Kits that DK sells are Patented & Manufactured by VTwin Goodies.
If you go to our website, and look at this LINK, you will see that we list them as the manufacturer.
DK Custom did give VTwin Goodies some help in making the kit for the 14-up Tri-Glides.
I have personally been buying and referring folks to VTwin Goodies (previously known as Harley Goodies) for over 10 years.
After we helped them with the specs on the 14-Up Tri-Glide, they asked if we would like to be a dealer for their products. That is when we began offering them on our website.
There are other companies making them, in violation of their patent. Years ago, one of these companies asked us to sell their product. We declined.
Patents
Most of the products that DK Custom sells are products we design and Manufacture. Some of these products are patented, some are patent pending, some we don't care to patent & others are non-patent-able.
Many years ago, before we even had a website, we designed and manufactured a product. About a year after we started making it, another company started making the same thing.
Unbeknownst to us, they filed for a patent on it (illegally). We found ourselves in the difficult position of either spending $10,000+ to get the illegally obtained patent revoked, or to stop making our own product.
We did not have that kind of money, so we stopped making the product we conceived & manufactured.
Since that time, we have filed for patents on patent-able designs that we come up with...NOT to prevent the home builder from making a product like ours for themselves, but to prevent the unscrupulous business from filing for a patent on OUR design, thus preventing us from making our own product.
Tank Lifts
The concept of a tank lift dates back to at least the 1960's. It became known as a "Frisco Style".
In San Francisco, in the 60's, the Hells Angels started modifying their bikes to be tight, small and fast, for getting around the city. Part of that was a small tank.
The tanks from Harleys have a tunnel for the tank to sit down on the backbone. This reduces tank capacity. So the modification done to the tank was to remove the tunnel, increasing the capacity of the tank, without increasing the profile/size of the tank. With no more tunnel, it had to be mounted on top of the backbone that slopes up toward the neck.
Thus was born the "look" of the tank being lifted in the front. It has become known as the "frisco'd tank".
Over the years, a tank that is higher in the front than the rear has become one of the signature looks that is incorporated into almost every chopper, and many Custom bikes.
The "true" way to do this is the very expensive route of re-working the tank, removing the tunnel, and making new tabs on the tank and the frame to enable it to be mounted on top of the backbone.
Various tank lifts have existed for decades, to get that look, without spending big bucks.
When I was a kid I did a tank lift on a small motorcycle I had, just to get that look.
Fast forward to the beginning days of DK. We made tank lifts from flat stock for Sportsters only. This was done to give it that stretched out chopper look, to clean up the ugly factory mess of wires and plastic between the backbone and the rocker covers, also letting a bit more air flow over the engine.
After a year or so we realized that the Twin Cams had a serious heat problem, that could be helped by a tank lift. (this was around 2007, when the heat issue started getting really bad from the factory)
We found that by lifting the tank on Twin Cam Models it was actually for more than just looks...it allowed much more air to flow over the engine, alleviating some of the excessive heat that is trapped by the tank sitting over the sides of the top of the engine.
So we started making them for Twin Cams also.
Soon after that we realized that flat bar was strong enough 99.5% of the time, but that every now and then the harmonics would fatigue the metal and it could break.
We kicked around hundreds of different ideas until we came upon the, now, seemingly simple idea of using round stock. Not only does round stock match the look of the round frame, it is MUCH stronger than flat stock.
We filed for a Patent (which as since been issued) and started making all of our tank lifts out of round stock.
Us having a patent on our style of tank lifts does not mean anyone else making tank lifts is violating our Patent rights. We only have a Patent on tank lifts that are made with round stock. Tank lifts made with flat stock are un-patent-able, in that they have been around for decades.
Conclusion
DK Custom Products started in a spare room/porch area.
It was started because I wanted some parts for my bike that I could not build, nor find a local shop to build for me. I approached Devin, an acquaintance, and asked him if he could fab up a few parts for me. He did a great job. Others saw what he had done for my bike and wanted the same parts for theirs. Everything grew from that.
I share this because, at the very core of innovation in the motorcycle world, are the guys that ride...the guys & gals on this forum, and others. We ride a lot or a little. But we know what we want on our bike, we know what we want them to do...and we come up with ideas that make the riding experience better. Whether it is in a little shop like DK, or an individuals garage in Kansas.
Long live individual innovation. It makes riding better for all of us!
If you got to the end of this post, I hope I have not bored you. Hopefully it was informative and interesting.
For those that got bored before the end, I apologize.
Live Free - Ride Free
The following 6 users liked this post by DK Custom:
BinIdaho (06-17-2019),
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Odd986 (09-09-2019),
vegas-triker (06-26-2019),
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and 1 others liked this post.
#24
08-10-2015, 08:36 AM
#25
08-10-2015, 11:39 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Red Banks, Mississippi
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Received 3,940 Likes
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I don't think it's a fight.There was some misunderstandings regarding DK & VTG that I thought should be cleared up. It was not in response to your post at all.
#26
06-14-2019, 09:04 PM
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