.....July's NHTOC TOTM winner is Derek "SonicHD" Atkins with a '03 HD #1497 Congratulations Derek.....


Question # 1: What sparked your interests in the Harley trucks? Specifically your HD Truck?

I first saw the (supercharged) Harley truck when they were new, at the Portland International Auto show and fell in love with them instantly. I think I spent more time going over that truck than any other vehicle at the show, even the exotics. But back then, I was about 20 years old, and making about $10 an hour, so a $40k truck was certainly a pipe dream!



Question # 2: Any interesting stories behind the history of vehicles you've owned leading up to the HD truck or how you got it?

Nothing really interesting with previous rides; I’ve always been a 4x4 guy, lots of mud up here in the rainy NW which is always fun to play in. So I guess I’ll use this question to go into how I acquired my HD… Back in Jan ’08 I owned a Sonic Blue 2003 Ford Ranger 4x4 that I bought new, and had highly modified over the years. It was lifted with some BFG mud terrains, and had a 4.0L V6, which that combo was getting me about 13/15 mpg at the time the gas prices were first starting to go sky high (that summer, premium was at $4.60ish/gal in my area). I was walking out of a grocery store one day, and picked up an Auto Mart mag on my way out (the freebie auto for sale ads).

I wasn’t looking for a new ride, I was about 3 months from paying off my Ranger, but looking through the mag, I saw a DSG ’02 HD truck that was going for $18k and had about 90,000 miles. The mileage was more than I liked, and I wanted the ’03 anniversary edition, IMO their just a little more special. But seeing that truck at that price, it got the gears in my head turning. Now they were in a price range I could afford! (I was making a little more than $10 an hour by them LOL) I loved my little Ranger, but it only had 2 seats (plus the jumpers in the ex-cab, but those aren’t really seats) there were many times I could have used more room. And, quite frankly I was ready for something different. And hell, gas was going up so high, I figured I’d rather have something a bit more “fun” to drive if I was going to get that kind of crappy mileage.

So my search started. I found one down in Sacramento (10 hours south) I almost bit on, but there was something about it I had a bad feeling about, so I left it there. A couple weeks later, I found an all-black bone stock ’03 up in Puyallup, WA (3 hours north) that had 50k on it. After a lot of conversation with the dealer, I spent a weekend stripping my Ranger of its mods, and drove it up there and traded it in. I made it just in time, another family that was also looking at it showed up 30min later to purchase it, but I just beat them. I owned that truck from Feb ’08 until the end of July ’11 when I was laid off at work. The economy finally caught up to me. I was head man at my company, and had a lot of good relationships with my contractors, so instead of starting over somewhere else at a measly pay, I decided to start my own business and continue on. But I needed money to do so. So I stripped the HD of all its mods, sold them off on the forums and used that cash to get things going. I traded the truck for a 2010 E250 Cargo Van, for the business.

Fast forward a few months to Jan’12 and I came across the truck I own now for sale on LR. I loved the way it looked (I wasn’t really into the Shamu previously, but with the hood, tonneau and 22’s it looked sick!) the price was decent, and it already had a lot of mods, which saves in the long run. I didn’t really want to start over from scratch again. I made a deal with the owner for an even better price that I won’t mention, he just had to get rid of it at that point. The business is doing well already, so I scooped it up, and shipped it from Arkansas to Oregon. It was pretty filthy when I got it, had been neglected for a bit. But the paint and body was perfect, so that was the main thing. I can clean it up no problem.



Question # 3: Give me a rough list of the mods that have been done to your truck. I know you've got a lot done, so you can just list your favorites if you'd like!

I’ve already done a lot to this truck in the 6months I’ve owned it, changed a lot of things and cleaned it up. It now has: JLP ram air, BA2400 MAF, MP BIG-O TB, C&L plenum, Posi ported Eaton, 2.8/6lb pulleys, MP idler bracket with new idlers, MarkVIII efan/MAD controller, JLP IC and Coolant tanks, Haybale ¾” IC lines with Jabsco pump, Fluidyne heat exchanger, EGR, EVAP and PCV deletes, Bassani catback, Punisher VB, PI2400 stall, Lowered with Hotchkiss springs and 2” shackles out back, 2” springs up front, JLP traction bars painted silver, adjustable Strange shocks, LFP steering stabilizer, no sway bars. Fresh tires installed 3 days ago, Nitto 420s 275/40/22 front, 305/40/22 rear. Pioneer touch screen inside, with JL stealthbox, JL speakers. Gauges, etc. Harwood hood, Speedsturr tonneau, bedrug. Dats Ttrah’s retrofitted projector headlights. Getting a new dyno tune. The truck runs good, I don’t know who tuned it or anything about the tune but I have changed things since anyway.



Question # 4: Tell us a little about yourself. Your other hobbies, your job, your favorite past time, whatever!

I’ll be 31 on the 18th of July, I’m a glass subcontractor (mainly high end custom shower enclosures) among other things. Got married Feb 2011 on the beach in Hawaii, no kids yet. I’m way too busy with work, (12-16 hour days are the norm, but I don’t do weekends) but when I’m not, I like to fiddle with the truck, play some golf, occasionally some basketball, though my knees aren’t so into it anymore. Ride my other Harley (matching ’03 Sportster). Spend time with the wife at the beach or anywhere else we can get out to on the weekends.



Question # 5: You've been a member on the site for a while now, what is one of the best things you like about the site that keeps you around?

I like that it’s strictly HD’s, not a combo site like the others; though I like LR too. I have met some great people on the forums; some will probably be friends for life.



Question # 6: What is one suggestion to help make the site a better place?

I don’t have any complaints on the site, its set up well, easy to find the info I need and a wealth of it, and the people are great! It would just be nice if there were a little more activity. There’s about 8 or so local HD’s I hang with from LR, but none spend much time, if at all on NHTOC



Question # 7: This is where I normally ask about where you decided on your screen name and any specific reason for choosing it?

When I had my Sonic Blue Ranger, I was on Ford Truck World as SonicRanger. There was quite a large and active local chapter and when I got the HD, I wanted people (not just the local chapter) to still recognize who I was, so I changed it to SonicHD, and then just used that SN on the other forums I went on. The Harley isn’t sonic blue, so now I just figured the “sonic” could stand for speed. I don’t have the imagination I used to LOL



Question # 8: Almost at the end, what is in the future for your truck?, so what’s the next plan of attack for your trucks future?!

Since its getting tuned next week, I’ll probably leave it as is (as far as engine mods) until Im ready to go built with a KB in the next couple years. Unless Im forced to ;-)



Question 9: Last and final question, just an open end question for if you had anything else you wanted to mention that I didn't have a question for...here's the place to go at it! Your web site link, a plug for something, etc. etc. whatever you want to throw in!

I think I pretty much sums it up!