If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…

Before May slips aways, another edition of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You That…” is in order. As always, the purpose is to slip in some news items, provide a little opinion and have a little fun.

This installment is heavily loaded with thoughts and info about Harley-Davidson and Indian, but not limited to the two brands.

Let’s begin, though, with a ride that I took on a recent Sunday at a time of day when the sound of lawn mowers filled the air.

Here goes:

“If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You That…”

– Blowing grass clippings, especially wet clippings, into the road when mowing a lawn can make the surface extremely dangerous for motorcyclists. Doing so is thoughtless and rude. I recently came upon a guy doing just that at a farm atop Cream Hill Road in Cornwall, CT. After stopping to take pictures, I looked around for the culprit to politely inform him of the potential consequences of his actions, but he had disappeared.

– With each passing second, Indian is missing an opportunity by not announcing a street version of its FTR750 flat track racer. Out of the 15 possible podium positions (for finishing first, second or third) in the five American Flat Track races to date this season, Indian has claimed 13 of them. Yes, 13.

Kawasaki has taken one podium spot and Harley-Davidson the other, but not with its new XG750R model, rather with its long-standing XR750 model. The FTR750 and Indian’s “Wrecking Crew” is crushing Harley-Davidson. Indian needs a national TV ad proclaiming its dominance and a model (or models) street riders can buy. It’s time for Indian to strike while the podium is glowing. Haven’t I mentioned this before?

– Motorcycle thefts in the U.S. in 2016 rose two percent over 2015. A total of 46,467 motorcycles were stolen, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

New England states ranked low in motorcycle thefts. In fact, Vermont came in 51st place among the 50 states and the District of Columbia with only 24 thefts. Maine ranked 50th with 36 thefts. New Hampshire came in 47th with 68 thefts, Rhode Island 40th with 176 thefts, Connecticut 23rd with 717 thefts and Massachusetts 16th with 928 thefts.

The states with the highest thefts were California (7,506), Florida (4,482), Texas (3,692), South Carolina (2,057) and North Carolina (1,847). New York finished sixth with 1,731 thefts.

The Top 5 most stolen brands were Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson.

“If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You That…”

– RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland only met 2006 MotoGP Champion Nicky Hayden once – at the then-Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in New York in 2010 – but came away impressed by the experience. His passion for the sport and his thoughtful comments when being questioned by someone who didn’t know squat about motorcycle racing revealed just how invested and professional he was.

Hayden, 35, passed away Monday after suffering head injuries from an accident while training on his bicycle five days earlier. A huge loss for the sport.

– The assets of EBR Motorcycles in East Troy, WI will be liquidated next month. A two-month sale starts June 7 with a live auction on June 8 that will include intellectual property and tooling, factory production equipment and “historical artifacts.” EBR’s assets may be viewed online. This makes two strikes for Erik Buell. Don’t expect him to get a third opportunity to create an American-made sport bike brand.

– It takes a special kind of stupidity to engage in a criminal act, particularly these days when closed circuit television cameras are everywhere. When two young guys (pictured above) smashed the window of a door, got inside the showroom/office of the New England Motorcycle Museum in Rockville, CT and stole two dirt bikes early Wednesday morning, their actions were recorded from at least two angles. By Thursday evening, the bikes had been recovered and arrests made.

“If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You That…”

– Harley-Davidson will have a new spot at Laconia Motorcycle Week to display its new models and offer demo rides. The location will be at the entrance to the Weirs Beach Drive-In. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 10 through 18. That will also be the location for the H.O.G. Pin Stop.

– In celebration of Burt Munro making history on an Indian on the Bonneville Salt Flats – you did see the movie “The World’s Fastest Indian,” didn’t you? – Indian plans to recreate the run on Aug. 30. Munro’s great nephew, Lee Munro, will pilot a modern Indian Scout with a modified power train. He will not try to top Burt Munro’s speed record.

– Unions complaining about Harley-Davidson building an assembly plant in Thailand so as to avoid the onerous tariff on motorcycles imported from the U.S. are just crying in the wind. U.S. sales are declining and the company needs to expand its reach, but in a manner that makes business sense.

A bike imported to Thailand (or India or anywhere else) that costs twice what it does in the U.S. doesn’t make sense. Heck, Harley-Davidson is saving jobs – not shipping them elsewhere – because the bikes assembled out of country will use loads of parts made here.

Until next time…