Columns

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 …

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 …

I debated with myself quite a bit about writing this column. A part of me does not want to bring attention to a driving behavior that I wish were not real. On the other hand, I do not want to “not discuss” this behavior because talking about it might save …

FALLS VILLAGE, CT – If a motorcycle could talk, the single-cylinder race bike owned by Ed Bozzi of Naugatuck, CT would probably say that 15 years of retirement have been quite enjoyable. No hard running – just an annual oil change, a twice-a-year startup, an occasional track day, and periodic trips …

HARWINTON, CT – What’s the penalty for an overdue book? Is there a statute of limitations on a purloined tome? The first question is one that I asked more than a week ago in a Facebook post after finding a copy of the book “Stories for Children” by Elise Reid Boylston …

THOMASTON, CT – It was while visiting the Railroad Museum of New England recently that a volunteer conductor grumbled to me about the use of unnamed sources by those of us who work in news. He’d seen my reporter’s notebook and camera, and knew my profession. I was there looking …

BROOKLYN – When Peter Boggia first starting earning his living wrenching on motorcycles nearly 20 years ago, he found a line of work that resonated with him like nothing else. He ultimately established Moto Borgotaro at 97 Union St. in Brooklyn in 2008 and became the go-to guy for repairs …

CHESTER, VT – I’ve always been fascinated by cyclecars. What are they? Here’s a very loose history: Cyclecars first became popular in 1910. They were lightweight vehicles with small, motorcycle engines and minimal bodies. The most common configuration was a V-twin engine mounted in front between two steerable wheels with …

LAKE GEORGE, NY – Most everyone in the motorcycle world knows that the first full week of June is reserved for one of the best known motorcycle rallies in the country – Americade. But what most don’t know is that last year Americade hatched a side show – the DirtDaze …

Long weekends like Memorial Day provide an opportunity for friends and family to gather. Barbeques are certainly the norm for most and if you own a bike maybe riding that bike to a barbeque is also the norm. Hey, for me, riding a bike to everywhere is normal. Every inch …

WATERBURY, CT – Mother’s Day weekend didn’t go as uneventfully as Taig Rehmel had hoped. He’d anticipated a wonderful reunion with a fondly-recalled motorcycle model from his earlier street riding days and an exhilarating ride from Connecticut to his home in Georgia. Instead, he was confronted by pain and the challenge …

There are many who are all-year riders here in New England, but many wait for spring to bring their motorcycles out of hibernation. Experienced riders know it’s a good idea to perform an inspection and possibly some servicing of the bike prior to each ride, especially the first time the …

WESTFIELD, MA – If it seemed at all odd when Polaris Industries, maker of Indian motorcycles, came out with the Slingshot roadster three years ago, it was really a case of history somewhat repeating itself, and with a good deal more success. The three-wheeled, belt-driven Slingshot is really more automobile …

Maybe it was the muscle aches from yard clean-up, exacerbated by start-of-season riding with arms, legs and butt unaccustomed to being in a locked-in seating position for extended periods, that prompted the thought. At age 63, I probably have more riding days behind me than ahead of me.

CHESTER, VT – No, this isn’t about me having some kind of vision, or about some psychic that I employed to interpret it. Not even close. This is about the creative process. It actually stems from the rather arrogant assumption (on my part) that I can do it, or have …