Preston Petty Products®
The Legend Continues... Preston Petty Products®Before I began reproducing Preston Petty fenders, I had already been making some of the Hodaka plastic fenders. I thought it would make a good fit to continue the Preston Petty product line because many of the original Hodaka fenders were actually Preston Petty fenders. After searching US Patents and Trademarks it came to my attention that the Preston Petty trademark has been abandoned in the late ‘70s and was then currently available. However, I thought it was absolutely necessary to call Preston himself first, before I went any further. I explained to Preston my ideas and asked for his blessing, which he gladly gave with one of his smiles. He even went as far as writing a letter on my behalf to the Trademark office offering no opposition, only support for me to use his name. Of course if Preston had said no then I would have respected his wishes. I spent a few years in research and development, but most of my time and efforts were devoted to reproducing Hodaka parts to keep that brand alive. In 2010 we finally started on the Preston Petty fenders with our injection molding company in Italy. When I had found out that Preston was coming to the ISDTRR that year in Coomb, AR I pushed the production as much as I could produce as many fenders and colors as possible to make Preston proud. When Preston came to my pit area at the reunion ride he seemed pleased with the variety of colors but asked me privately, “Will they pass the Preston test?” I did not know at the time what the Preston test was, but he proceeded to bend one of the fenders like a pretzel, and then I knew exactly what he had meant. Our fenders stood up to the pressure and returned to their original form, passing the Preston test! Thank you, Paul |