I have been eating pork and sauerkraut for years on New Year’s Day without ever questioning it – until this year – finally.

Sauerkraut, along with pork, is eaten traditionally in Pennsylvania on New Year’s Day. The tradition was started by the Pennsylvania Dutch and is thought to bring good luck for the upcoming year. Before you eat, you’re supposed to wish everyone at the table as much wealth and prosperity as the number of shreds of cabbage in the pot of sauerkraut.

Sad to say, this luck will not be spreading to Victory Motorcycle dealers in 2017 as we just got word that Polaris plans to pull the plug on the brand after 18 years. There will be more to come on this in the coming months, and you can read more about it here.

Victory may not win any awards at the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati but plan to show up earlier than last year anyway. V-Twin was moved to late January instead of early February. What this show lacks in size it makes up for in level of importance as this segment makes up a large percentage of the overall industry.

We also hope that wealth and prosperity follows this year’s Best of the Web award winners featured in the magazine this month. Each year we tally up the website clicks for each product and then list the most clicked-on stories here. Unlike other awards where a panel of judges sit around and decide who wins, we believe it is a little more democratic to let the readers decide.

While many will not miss 2016, there are a few who will look back with fond memories. Rick Fairless and his Strokers Dallas, for one, took home some big honors in the Victory Operation Octane contest. I know Rick was thrilled, and we thought he’d be a good cover model as well. Rick and Strokers Dallas really represent what the V-Twin segment is about – which is customization. Strokers’ Evil Ethel is just one example of the many thousands of bikes that are customized every year by our industry so riders can express themselves.

Our new contributor Steve Hennis knows a thing or two about expressing himself. He’s a custom painter I met last year at a local swap meet. He had some painted tanks and helmets that caught my eye sitting on a table at Lowbrow Customs and we started talking about what he does. He’s painted all kinds of custom bikes including one for the technical director at Lowbrow. Steve lays out some good advice for working with a custom paint shop or painter that may just help you build the bottom line this year and put all that sauerkraut to good use.