Ride New England

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com It wasn’t until after a recent phone conversation with Mike Cunningham ended that the most obvious question popped to mind. Cunningham is Director of U.S. Sales and Dealer Development for Zero Motorcycles and the question – OK, two related questions – that I’d failed to …

By Bud Wilkinson Before March 8, I’d neither heard of a Garelli nor envisioned myself emulating the guys on the “American Pickers” television show. I didn’t know that the Italian brand of motorcycles and mopeds was founded by Adalberto Garelli in 1919. Italian motorcycles to me meant Ducati, Moto Guzzi, …

By Bud Wilkinson Place a Mustang motorcycle next to almost any other motorcycle and it would look a bit like a Tonka toy. All the pieces are there – the wheels, motor, gas tank, seat, etc. – but they’ve been slightly downsized. Is a Mustang is a miniature motorcycle or …

By Bud Wilkinson At what age or state of physical decay is it appropriate to draw up a “bucket list” of things to do or accomplish before one dies? Having prematurely written a “year-ender” column back in November after the pre-Halloween nor’easter and ensuing extended power outage left me unable …

By Bud Wilkinson Mention the name “Husqvarna” to anyone who lives in the country and images of chain saws and lawn tractors inevitably come to mind. There’s one of each sharing space with the bikes in my garage. They’re orange-colored time thieves that curtail riding and cause a sore back …

By Bud Wilkinson By the time the Sunday motorcycle adventure ended, and riding cohort Gary Randall’s 1968 BMW R50/2 was securely strapped on a trailer, the sun was setting in the Berkshires and a bovine chorus was serenading us from beyond a barbed wire fence. Something that I feared happening …

By Bud Wilkinson Jim Batterton has a sensible goal for his business. “I don’t have any aspirations of becoming huge, but I would like to be able to support myself doing something I enjoy,” said the 60-year-old Batterton, who gets enjoyment from converting heavyweight motorcycles into trikes. He owns Kent …

By Bud Wilkinson In past years, RIDE-CT has pushed the riding season to the limit before packing it in. The routine has been to bundle up and stay on the road for as long as possible – often until mid-December. A ride on New Year’s Day has been an occasional …

By Bud Wilkinson Just like with movies and TV shows, some new motorcycle models become hits with consumers while others flop and disappear quickly. Occasionally, a long-forgotten relic that was a slow seller and only had brief life on the showroom floor will develop a cult following or be sufficiently …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Mike Wallace went to Rice-O-Rama earlier this month searching for parts. He had a lengthy shopping list, too. A seat and side cover for a Honda CB750 Four, bar ends for a Suzuki GS1100ES and a gas tank for a Yamaha R5 were just a …

By Bud Wilkinson Two weeks ago, riding wasn’t on our minds. No way. Hurricane Irene was heading up the coastline and preparing for the storm took priority. After making sure the home generator was filled with fresh petrol and running properly, my challenge was to rearrange the contents of the …

By Bud Wilkinson Tucked in a line of heavyweight cruisers and customs outside the entrance to the Warner Theatre, Charles Olsen’s little black and silver 1966 Bultaco Metralla attracted a disproportionate amount of attention as it glistened in the heat at Torrington Thunder last month.  “It gives you a good …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The futuristic Suzuki RE-5 motorcycle was enthusiastically described in a promotional video as “a touring machine of a new age” and touted as being “in perfect harmony with the serene beauty of nature.” Riders back in the mid-70s thought differently. They not-so-serenely viewed the RE-5 …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com When longtime friends gather it’s not uncommon that a sentence started by one person ends up being finished by another. That’s what happened when the owners of a 2008 Kawasaki Versys, 2004 BMW R1150RT, 2006 Triumph Sprint ST and 2004 Kawasaki ZX-10 gathered on a …

They call themselves “The Advil Gang,” a reference to the performance allowing drug that masks the aches and pains of all aging motorcyclists. The riding trio is easy to spot on the road, too, as they wear matching pink helmets when out on their