American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 205 August 2016 | Seite 19

Unleashing

the beast

a

regular fixture at the
annual V-twin expo, Jim
and Cheryl Preisler’s
Khrome Werks was best
known for its mufflers,
full exhausts, handlebars,
luggage racks, engine guards, trailer
hitches and a plethora of specialty parts
and accessories that it manufactured at
its Ds Manufacturing facility at Pine
island, Minnesota.
Jim is an industry veteran, and he was one of
the original “gang” at Drag Specialties when
owned and operated by Tom Rudd (later of
Kuryakyn fame), and once the sequence of
events that followed Tom’s original decision
to sell Drag Specialties unfolded in the 1980s,
Jim and Cheryl found themselves the proud
owners of the Drag Specialties manufacturing
division (hence DS Manufacturing), and had
operated it as an own brand, private label
and contract manufacturer of motorcycle and
automotive parts ever since.
Khrome Werks made its debut at Cincinnati in
February this year as an own brand division
of Lincoln Industries - the Lincoln, Nebraska

Written by Robin Bradley - [e-mail]

based manufacturer is best known in the
motorcycle business as a Tier 1 supplier for
Harley-Davidson.
Indeed, Lincoln is one of Harley-Davidson’s
largest domestic US suppliers, and
particularly well known for their unique
finishes on Harley exhausts.
The acquisition of DS Manufacturing and
Khrome Werks has not only given Lincoln a
foothold in the motorcycle aftermarket, but a
solid foundation from which to build a,
potentially, major presence. In turn, it has
given the Khrome Werks brand the
opportunity to see its place in the
aftermarket deepened and expanded.

Founded in 1952, Lincoln’s manufacturing
credentials and capabilities are impressive.
The company says it is the “largest and most
diverse privately held metal finishing
company” in the United States, with over 600
people working on a 24/7 operation.
Selected seven times by Forbes magazine as
one of America’s best medium sized
companies to work for and identified by Inc.
Magazine as one of America’s fastest growing
private companies, Lincoln is TS 16949, ISO
9001 and ISO 14001 certified, and is one of
America’s leading chromers and a fastgrowing parts manufacturer, with expertise in
a wide range of technically advanced

Lincoln Industries acquired the Pine Island,
Minnesota based Khrome Werks/DS
Manufacturing operation a year and a half ago.
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