Up To Speed

  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 …

HADDAM NECK, CT – Peter Thiel of the British Iron Association of Connecticut was marveling Sunday afternoon over the many pristine and unique vintage bikes on the show ground of the annual Brit Jam rally at the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds. “Maybe people aren’t riding them as much. They’re restoring them. …

HARWINTON, CT – After test riding an American-made Motus motorcycle during a demo day at Rocket Moto Sport in Nashua, NH in late June, Ernie Torizzo bit the bullet and ordered one. The Harwinton resident is now hoping that the sport bike arrives quickly so that Rocket Moto Sport can …

SALISBURY, CT – The sound of screaming Porsches driving on the racetrack provided an aural backdrop Friday afternoon as members of the Yankee Beemers Motorcycle Club rode into Lime Rock Park and began setting up tents. Between 60 and 80 club members and other guests were expected for the

MIDDLETOWN, CT – With thousands of bikes to ogle, it’s impossible not to find one (or 10 or even 100) at Middletown Motorcycle Mania that a rider wouldn’t love to have in his or her own garage. Wherever one turned at the annual event on Wednesday night, there was an …

MIDDLETOWN, CT – It’s not summertime without Middletown Motorcycle Mania, which was staged again Wednesday evening. Thousands of motorcyclists converged on downtown, riding in on everything from new models to vintage and custom machines.

Victory’s demo truck will visit three dealers in the northeast this month, and on it will be the company’s new Empulse TT electric model – which will be available for test rides. The demo truck will be at the following Victory dealers: – MOM’s Foxboro in Massachusetts from  Aug. 21 through …

American sport-bike builder EBR (for Erik Buell Racing) is apparently back in business after New Jersey-based Atlantic Metals Group LLC bought the company’s manufacturing operations at auction on Thursday. EBR shut down in April and filed for receivership listing outstanding liabilities of more than $20 million. Bruce Belfer, CEO of …

NEWBURGH, NY – As president and curator of the Motorcyclepedia Museum, Ted Doering is a familiar figure at the 85,000-square-foot motorcycle museum here and is always happy to answer the questions of visitors. Now, he’s stepping up to host some guided tours in September and October.

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 …

MEDINA, MN – It wasn’t a question of if Victory would come out with an electric motorcycle when it acquired the motorcycle assets of Brammo back in January, it was just a question of when. That question got answered today when Victory introduced the Empulse TT as a 2016 model …

Honda is recalling 45,153 motorcycles from the 2013 to 2016 model years to fix an issue that may result in an electrical system failure. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that on the affected motorcycles “sealant may have been incorrectly applied to the starter relay switch, and as a …

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Each year at Indian Day, the Springfield Museums honors a person, company or organization for supporting the heritage of the original Indian motorcycles, which were built in the city from 1901 until 1953 when the company went bankrupt. At the sixth annual show on Sunday the honoree …

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Vintage Indian owners and Indian lovers converged on the Springfield Museums today for the sixth annual Indian Day. Dozens of old machines provided photo fodder for admirers as owners swapped stories. “Every year we get a little bit better at this. It gets easier and better because

NORTH HAVEN, CT – A sun-drenched riding range at Gateway Community College was the setting this week for the Connecticut Rider Education Program’s first-ever S/TEP (Sidecar and Trike Education Program) class. Five enrollees – all of them women – participated. Cindy Beck-Moore of Bethel signed up because