LITTLE NECK, NY – Call it “showroom etiquette.” Simply stated, showroom etiquette is the way customers and potential customers – otherwise known as “prospects” – are treated when they come through the front door. I’ve never met a motorcyclist who didn’t have a few showroom stories to share. While I have …
Read More »Dealer Perspective: Small Things Matter
LITTLE NECK, NY – In my multiple roles as general manager, sales manager, consultant and even customer, I’ve experienced motorcycle dealerships from many different points of view. More than once, I’ve been asked, “What does it take to be a successful dealership?” and I’ve long believed that small things matter. …
Read More »Round Two With Husqvarna For Roost Power Sports
THOMASTON, CT – It’s a case of deja vu for Jason Pinette of Roost Power Sports, the Husqvarna motorcycle dealer in Thomaston. The storyline is simple. Husky gets purchased and the new owner eventually announces plans to expand the brand’s offerings to include street-only models in addition to dirt bikes. Pinette …
Read More »Hill Country: Riding Focuses Attention
CHESTER, VT – When I throw my right leg over the saddle and settle in for a ride on my motorcycle I’m suddenly in a completely different world. It’s a place where the risks are greater, where you need to bring a level of concentration based on situational awareness. Riding focuses …
Read More »Always Riding: Meeting Legend Piet Boonstra
NORTH GRANBY, CT – To say that I was dumbstruck when my friend Frank Tedeschi recently texted “Google Piet Boonstra. He is my friend’s father” isn’t sufficient. I damn near fell out of my chair before replying, “WHAT?!” because I knew the name of this iconic rider and author well. …
Read More »Suggestions For “American Chopper” Reboot
Ready for more bickering, bluster and contrived nonsense? The Discovery Channel is rebooting “American Chopper” after a five-year hiatus and the reaction so far has been predictably polarizing. Some riders never want to see the battling Teutul clan again, while rubberneckers wonder about the current status of Orange County Choppers, …
Read More »Old Harley-Davidson Bikes Are Jim Fenn’s Passion
BARKHAMSTED, CT – Down a narrow, unpaved driveway and behind a house in Barkhamsted sits a weathered, nondescript garage that’s filled with relics worth marveling over – an assortment of classic cars and vintage motorcycles. Among the four-wheeled vehicles are two convertibles – a 1942 Ford and a 1954 Chevy. The …
Read More »Electric Motorcycles May Spread Quickly
HARWINTON, CT – Not to belabor the point made in the last column that the future of motorcycling may be battery powered, but the landscape keeps shifting at an ever-increasing pace… It was while having breakfast with Phil Cheney after that column appeared that the subject of electric motorcycles inevitably came …
Read More »Motorcycling’s Future Looks Electric
HARWINTON, CT – Imagine the roads with far fewer motorcycles and without the din of their excessive exhaust noise. Imagine the happiness of homeowners and churchgoers, especially those who live or worship on heavily traveled highways where the continuous roar of loud pipes make what should be quiet Sunday mornings unbearable, …
Read More »Safe Riding: Protect The Brain
NAUGATUCK, CT – Head and brain injuries are the leading cause of motorcycle fatalities, so the helmet is the most important piece of protective gear that any rider can wear to protect the brain. It’s more important than the traditional leather jacket that prevents road rash, the gloves that keep …
Read More »Hill Country: Break-In Required For Gluteus Maximus
CHESTER, VT – Back in the 1990s, I was at the big BMW MOA (BMW Motorcycle Owners of America) motorcycle rally in Moodus, CT when I overheard a woman declare that her butt was busted after riding from the Midwest to New England. We were standing in front of the Corbin …
Read More »Always Riding: Dogs In The Sidecar
NORTH GRANBY, CT – As the weather cools and the leaves start doing their thing, I have discovered that I also do “a thing.” My thing would be riding with my beloved Emily as pillion and our dogs in the sidecar. A lot. Emily joins the ride quite often but …
Read More »Unforgettable Sunrise Atop Mt. Washington
GORHAM, NH – There are a few things adventure-minded riders should experience at least once in their lifetime. Riding up the Mt. Washington Auto Road before dawn to watch the sun rise from the top of New England certainly qualifies among them. The sunrise run is offered to the public three …
Read More »1973 Norton Roadster His Only Bike For 42 Years
THOMASTON, CT – Tom Ordway of Thomaston wasn’t expecting to buy a Norton when he went shopping for a motorcycle in 1975. “I went to a Harley dealer to buy a Sportster – all my buddies had Sportsters – and this was parked over on the side,” he recalled, referring …
Read More »CPTV Shortchanges Cable Cutters
HARWINTON, CT – Sorry, CPTV. You can spin it any way you want, but I feel betrayed and ripped off by the shutdown of CPTV4U, and the rebranding of CPTV Sports to CPTV Spirit on Monday. For those who watch TV via cable and have hundreds of choices, CPTV’s closure …
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