Oil Drippings: News and Opinion

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

Two people were hospitalized with unknown injuries in Bridgeport on Tuesday morning following the collision of a motorcycle and a car on Fairfield Avenue. The accident left the motorcycle standing perpendicular against the driver’s side of the car, and the “Connecticut Post” has pictures and details here.

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Year-end sales results for 2011 continue to trickle in. The Big Four manufacturers in Japan – Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha – report exporting 164,875 motorcycles to the U.S. last year, an increase of 87.2 percent over 2010. Yes, 87.2 percent.

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Harley-Davidson dealerships tend to be showplaces, but a new one being built in Quebec City to house Premont Harley-Davidson will top most others.  Costing $15 million, the 23,000-square-meter facility will have a three-level showroom, a six-story tower museum and a storage area in the service department capable of holding 450 motorcycles. The “Daily Commercial News” has details here. The new H-D store is due to open in late spring.

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A bill introduced on Jan. 24 in the South Carolina legislature would make it unlawful to transport a child who is seven years old or younger on a motorcycle. So, instead, give kids dirt bikes and let them learn themselves in the backyard.

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What a a difference a year makes. Readership of RIDE-CT.com has risen dramatically in the past year; jumping more three-fold from 701 unique visitors in January 2011 to 2,203 last month. Page views rose from 2,122 in January 2011 to 5,797 last month.