Ride New England

It was hours after sunset and somewhere in a remote section of Baja California that the front tire of the 2009 Honda CRF450X trail bike that 20-year-old Tanner Janesky was riding hit a rock, which instantly slammed the wheel into another rock. The impact dislodged the front brake caliper, leaving …

WATERBURY, CT – It can happen to even the best of riders, and John Purdy Jr. qualifies as an extremely skilled rider. He’s been a licensed motorcyclist for 37 years and spends upwards of 15,000 miles per year on two wheels. Purdy has also been a motorcycle instructor for 19 …

Sometimes a single week can offer a microcosm of an entire riding season – the highs and the lows, the dangerous and the ridiculous. That such a week would occur during a warm stretch in November may be uncommon but I’ll take it, rejoice and give a two-fingered acknowledgement to …

TORRINGTON, CT – Driving home this warm evening from turning in my cable box – yes, I’ve cut the cable having finally become fed up with paying so much for so many channels that never got viewed – I couldn’t help but notice the high number of motorcycles out on …

BETHLEHEM, CT – Music was coming from Joe Bordiere’s three-car garage when I rode in his driveway in Bethlehem one recent afternoon. Parked in front of the garage were three red Vespa scooters, two with sidecars attached, and one white Harley-Davidson motorcycle. “Ah, he’s got a radio on,” I thought …

PITTSFIELD, MA – As a lifelong motorcyclist, singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie knows about the camaraderie felt by riders. Thanks to one of his best known compositions, a silly song in which he tells of riding off a cliff “doin’ 150 miles an hour, sideways, and 500 feet down at the same time,” …

SHELTON, CT – Bill Pitt isn’t an average rider. Last month, he bought a 2015 BMW F 700 GS and put 3,500 miles on the odometer in the first three weeks of ownership. “I don’t ride to see how fast I can ride, I ride to see how

  MIDDLETOWN, CT – Are you ready for a short motorcycle history lesson? Before there was Harley-Davidson, there was Indian. Harley-Davidson was founded in Milwaukee in 1903. The original Indian “motocycle” produced by Hendee Manufacturing began in 1901 in Springfield, Mass. and lasted until 1953 when it went bankrupt. The …

Time for another installment of “If you had asked, I would have told you that…” – While I’m sympathetic to his suffering, if I’d have been on the Hartford Superior Court jury, I would have voted against awarding Connecticut rider Joseph Chaplin nearly $534,000 as a result of a crash that …

HARWINTON, CT – It was during a breakfast conversation yesterday with friend and rider Neil Tolhurst of New Hartford that I became aware of a law that I subsequently discovered has apparently been in effect in Connecticut for seven years. It states that “passenger vehicles, combination vehicles and motorcycles, 20 …

Unlike many who operate a car or truck, I’ve never claimed to be a good driver. Competent? Yes. Usually safe? Yes, again. But to carry a label of “good” requires a driving record better than mine. In nearly 46 years of driving, I’ve had a few accidents. As a teen …

Update: Donald L. Miller died Saturday (June 20, 2015) in New York City at the age of 83 after suffering a stroke. This column appeared last Sept. 16. It was a pleasure knowing him, hearing his stories and eating his scones, if only for a short while… Donald L. Miller …

Some press releases don’t warrant a “full post” while other items from elsewhere and personal observations don’t warrant a full story or column. Consequently, here goes with another edition of “If you had asked me, I would have told you that…” – The barbecue restaurant known as “Q,” which is …

Every question needs an answer. If you had asked, I would have told you that… – Harley-Davidson has not one but two flops on its hands with the smaller Street 750 and Street 500 models. We’re talking “Gigli” proportion flops. I’ve yet to see one on the road, dealers don’t …

DEEP RIVER, CT – It was only after extracting the 1994 Moto Guzzi California 1100 from winter storage and getting it out on the road for the first time early this month – more than three months after buying it – that the question popped to