J&P Cycles flew a crew out to the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati this past weekend so everybody could get a first-hand and up-close look at what our vendors have in store for all of us this season. A good part of the reason we all even work here is so we can attend exclusive motorcycle industry shows where our vendors debut all the products they have been developing over the winter.

What that means is, everybody who’s lucky enough get inside the doors of this exclusive exposition are laying their eyes on literally thousands of new motorcycle products and accessories for the first time.

And because J&P… Continue Reading

A few months back, Tim Barcz, who is my boss here at J&P Cycles, called me into his office, which in and by itself isn’t out of the ordinary. But what he said after I closed the door was something you don’t hear every day.

Seems he’d just received a phone call from producer of the top-rated TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and those folks were looking for a little help. They were filming a segment of the show in Iowa and they had called Tim to ask if we’d be at all interested in rebuilding two motorcycles for the family highlighted in the show. My response was brief:… Continue Reading

We say this every year, but it’s true: Our 2012 J&P Cycles catalog — refurbished, renovated, refined and featuring 1,064 pages — is our best ever! And we mean it this time. It’s chock-full of the latest brand name items from S&S, Custom Chrome, Vance and Hines, Drag Specialties, Bikers Choice, V-Twin Manufacturing and others. This catalog is your one-stop place to shop.

The 2012 catalog offers a whopping 40,000 individual unique numbers, ensuring you that we’ll probably be able to handle all your Harley parts needs. Over the last couple years, we’ve been using product specialists to bring new and exciting products to each chapter… Continue Reading

If you’re still in denial that riding season is indeed over for the year, and you’re a little hesitant about putting your bike in winter storage, just stick your head out the front door and take a look. Winter has arrived, baby, and there’s no two ways about it. Heck, it’s even been raining in Southern California and they never have weather!

And unless you’re a motorcycle newbie, you know that putting your ride in hibernation doesn’t mean rolling it into the garage and putting the kickstand down. If that was your best thinking, we’ve got some more bad news for you. Winter storage requires some action on your part.… Continue Reading

There’s always been confusion and conflict when it comes to any discussion about oil, which is of course, the lifeblood of our beloved motorcycles. And I’m probably not going to bring world peace to this topic with anything I’ll say in today’s blog post. Truth be told, this topic has created more debate on our Riders Forum on the J&P Cycles website than any other subject.

In fact, I’m mostly going to stick to the facts in this post, steering away from the controversies for the most part. First off, let’s explore the function of oil in an internal combustion engine — the educational portion of this… Continue Reading

 Here at J&P Cycles, we feel strongly in the concept that it’s important to give back what was so freely given to us. Whether that means taking part in a local highway clean-up project or holding a fund-raiser for one of our favorite charities, we do our best to do our part for this community that has served us so well over the decades.

Recently, we helped bring some additional holiday cheer to down-on-their-luck families in Jones County, Iowa, home to the J&P headquarters. We raised $1,200 for Anamosa Charities, Inc., a local nonprofit that has provided toys around the holidays to Jones County families since 1992. Before that,… Continue Reading

Fall sneaked up on us again this year, leaving some of us procrastinators hanging in the wind as ATV season gets into full swing. Like maybe purchasing those new tires for your machine that you swore you’d replace over the summer. Now’s the time for you to start researching what’s out there and you might as well start with Sedona tires.

Sedona is the fastest-growing ATV tire brand in the industry, with models available for almost any demand, and a size to fit almost any machine. And they can be had for prices that are easy on your budget — all without sacrificing performance and durability.

The Continue Reading

If you’re among the diminishing number of motorcycle riders possessing a final drive chain on your ride, you know it’s one of the most neglected parts on your bike. You also know that this very important piece of machinery needs to be maintained properly or it’s ‘game’s over.’

It’s true that the task isn’t as fun as, say, a weekend ride with your friends. But without a little care and attention toward this inanimate piece of the motorcycle puzzle, there ain’t gonna be any weekend ride with friends.

Here’s my bike chain-cleaning regimen, and once you’re underway, I guarantee you’ll feel better about this chain chore:

• First off,

… Continue Reading

The 19^th edition of Biketoberfest got underway yesterday in Daytona Beach, Fla., and while many states are chilling up, those of us lucky enough to live and work in Florida are at a point where a light jacket is reasonable evening wear.

And the onset of what we call fall here in Florida only accents the sounds of motorcycle engines, the shine of chrome and the smells of various meats on sticks.

If you can find your way down here, you will most assuredly not be disappointed. In fact, the only drawback to Biketoberfest is there’s not enough time to squeeze it all in. The event runs through… Continue Reading

It goes without saying that suppliers are the lifeblood of J&P Cycles, and one of our longest-running partnerships is with Rivera Primo, a quality motorcycle parts manufacturer that operates out of a 40,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Whittier, Calif.

Formerly known as Rivera Engineering, Rivera Primo was founded by a television repairman named Mel Magnet who came up with the great idea back in the early ’70s to use a British carburetor on the Harley-Davidson V-twin engine. This carb, which was usually found on Jaguars and MG automobiles, was known as the SU (abbreviation… Continue Reading