(Update: Jack Loughrey passed away at his home on Wednesday, July 8, surrounded by his family.) SUFFIELD, CT – Seated on a 2014 Ural Gear-Up, Debbie Howard gently used her fingertips to brush the thin hair atop Jack Loughrey’s head as he sat quietly in the adjacent sidecar. “It’s all …

I grew up loving baseball. Played catch with my dad nearly every summer evening. Played Little League. First base. Worshipped the New York Yankees. Hated the Boston Red Sox.  Vividly remember my first trip to Yankee Stadium, a visit that got locked into family lore. My dad had regaled me …

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA – No matter the motorcycle that a rider buys, whether it be new, used, modern or classic, there’s bound to be an element or two on that bike that irritates. The dissatisfaction can happen immediately or develop over time. The seat might be too hard or a …

NEWBURGH, NY – The Teutul clan of Orange County Choppers/”American Chopper” fame is known for many skills and habits; from building imaginative, themed motorcycles to caustic family feuding over the years, but singing? “The one thing that I never could do is sing and I always knew I couldn’t sing,” …

HARWINTON, CT – The picture was posted Sunday on RIDE-CT & RIDE-New England’s Facebook page. It shows a group of motorcyclists socializing in Litchfield without wearing masks or following the state’s or the Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for social distancing. Accompanying the photo was the flippant observation …

WORCESTER, MA – Artist Tony Freitas waited until a decent day in late April to pull out his ladder and paints to alter a mural on the Miss Worcester Diner here that had riled Harley-Davidson. The hand-painted mural, which displayed the motorcycle maker’s bar and shield logo, now also exhibits …

HARWINTON, CT – My neighbor and riding friend Bill Smith and I were catching our breaths after picking up some free firewood from down the street one evening earlier this week, leaning against our vehicles with six feet between us, when Bill asked, “Do you think Harley-Davidson will survive the …

HARWINTON, CT – Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began intruding on our lives, I’ve been grateful that my preferred form of recreation and stress-reducing escape is riding a motorcycling. It’s an activity that can be done solo or in groups with six feet of separation. It wasn’t long after the …

KENT, CT – It was an idea born out of frustration. Rick Dolson, whose Iron Horse Customs/Royal Enfield of Kent motorcycle shop sells new Royal Enfield models, was restocking bikes late last year when he got some nettlesome news from the manufacturer.  “I was trying to order some colored bikes …

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a stressful time for all, causing reactions ranging from fear to reflection. Some people have reacted with brute selfishness by hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer while others have shown generosity by handing over N95 face masks to health care workers. Two weeks ago, …

There’s a somewhat flippant saying that a motorcyclist is “a person willing to take a container of flammable liquid, place it on top of a hot engine, and then put it between their legs.”  The unstated message is that riding is dangerous and takes a modicum of courage. It is …

WORCESTER, MA – It’s a ritual that needs to be halted. Now. Immediately. No exceptions. The ritual is this: Person buys a motorcycle at a dealership, a picture gets snapped of the smiling buyer with the salesperson, and the pic gets posted to social media. It makes the buyer feel …

HARWINTON, CT – It was while going through a plastic storage container stuffed with miscellaneous old papers recently that I discovered a diploma issued nearly 50 years ago when I was 16.  The “Driver Education Certificate” from The Faita A-C School of Driving in Torrington was dated July 1, 1970 …

For satire to be effective, it must be imaginative yet plausible. A shocking story last week on the new website “2 Stroke Chronicle,” which boldly promises “The Latest Motorcycle News” but doesn’t actually offer any real news, has generated laughs. It has also possibly fooled some less-than-attentive riders who’ve stumbled …

HUNTINGTON, NY – It’s a clever, playfully misleading tale that Peter Nettesheim invariably tells when taking visitors on a tour of his private BMW motorcycle museum on Long Island. Standing next to a 1923 BMW R32 model, the oldest known BMW in existence, he’ll recount that the German company wasn’t …