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By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Countless riders own Harleys. Bill Kerber’s motorized conveyance might best be called a “Hardley.” It’s not very powerful and doesn’t go very fast. Unlike a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, it doesn’t have a massive V-twin motor, rather a petite 80cc single cylinder engine that sounds like an …
Read More »Helmet Law’s Repeal Should Bring Bikers Back
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The overturning of a controversial city helmet law in Myrtle Beach, S.C. by the state Supreme Court is expected to bring bikers back to the Grand Strand for the Cruisin’ the Coast Spring Bike Rally, which runs Friday through May 22. “The Charlotte Observer” reports more riders …
Read More »The Herd Gets Thinned…
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A motorcyle mag that I subscribe to arrived the other day and contained a column by the editor in which he lamented having sold numerous bikes over the years. It seemed to be the right decision at various times, but now he now regretted selling them …
Read More »Out of Gas … But Worth It to See GS1000E
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com It’s possible to outsmart oneself. Like this afternoon. Planned to meet a friend for lunch at 2 p.m. at Toymaker’s Cafe in Falls Village. Because I had time to kill while riding out Route 44 to Canaan, I decided to bolt up Route 7 and get some …
Read More »It’s A Miracle That He Survived…
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com If you haven’t seen the video yet, you haven’t been paying attention. Texas rider Zacharie Perez survived being rear-ended on a freeway. He suffered a ruptured spleen, four broken vertebrae, a broken rib, a lumbar hernia and road rash. He was wearing a helmet. If …
Read More »Motorcycle Is Chicken Flingin’ Good
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Suffice to say that it has been a slow news day, the kind of day where a little entertainment is in order. Check out what artist Sean Pace came up with as a senior project when he attended the University of North Carolina – Ashville. …
Read More »Winsted Loses A Landmark Motorcycle
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com For eight years, it has sat atop the roof of the building in Winsted that formerly housed Canton Cycles. From street level, it looked to be a vintage BMW. On Tuesday afternoon, however, a couple of motorcycle enthusiasts went up on the roof and disassembled …
Read More »Indians Will be Built in Iowa
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Info on the future of the Indian brand has been dribbling out since Polaris bought the company last week. “The Des Moines Register” has a few more details on plans by Polaris to build Indian along Victory models in Iowa. The story can be found here.
Read More »Reader Feedback: Video and Question
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Reader feedback from over the weekend in this post: Bill Kerber emailed with a link to some neat video of a 1913 Indian motorcycle in action: Jerry Miller wanted to know how to log in to post a comment. I explained that a few days ago …
Read More »Impact of Polaris on Indian Dissected
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Polaris Industries, maker of Victory motorcycles, purchased Indian this past week. What will the impact be? Will it bring new life to a brand that started in 1901, died in the 1950s and has been revived twice since? Rick Barrett of “The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel” has an overview …
Read More »Sunday Music Video: The Hondells
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com On this Easter, it’s a song that’s cheery and upbeat – “Little Honda” by The Hondells. It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys, who also released it as a single. However, The Hondells version had greater chart success in …
Read More »Website Recalls Famous Riders
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Got two surprises when I got up before the roosters this morning. It was snowing in the Litchfield Hills at 5 a.m. and an email had arrived overnight from Bob Rosen of Fairfield, who had a website tip. He provided a link – and I am, …
Read More »Gas Prices Rise, So Do Scooter Sales
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com How’s that for a predictable headline? Scooter sales always go up when the price of gasoline spikes, and the spring of 2011 is no exception. The Motorcycle Industry Council reported today that scooters sales for the first three months of the year are up 49.6 …
Read More »Victory Owner Polaris Buys Indian
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com When it launched the Victory brand, Polaris Industries set out to take on Harley-Davidson with a high-quality line of cruisers. When the Indian brand was revived a few years ago, the goal was to revive a legendary nameplate and make it a high-end product. In a …
Read More »Test Ride: 2011 Ducati Diavel
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The first clue that the Ducati Diavel is an attention-grabber wasn’t when the driver of a Nissan “Z” sports car drove by me on Route 8 between Naugatuck and Waterbury (on April 9) and gave a thumb’s up. And it wasn’t when a guy walking back …
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