Ride New England

FALLS VILLAGE, CT – The motorcycle-themed paintings, oil on wood, by Ian Hemingway are often self-portraits featuring a solo rider in vibrantly-colored leathers and helmet against more somber, murky backgrounds. They reflect his passion for riding and the catastrophic memory loss he suffered in a motorcycle crash

WEST HARTFORD, CT – It was happenstance that the white and teal Harley-Davidson motorcycle ridden by actor Michiel Huisman ended up parked next to a flat black Indian outside of Westfarms mall. Commenting about their adjacency to the “Games of Thrones” star was only natural, though, because

NEW HARTFORD, CT – A sign stating “TWO DRINK MAXIMUM” is not often seen in a bar. In fact, I’ve never seen one like it before in nearly 45 years of legally imbibing in probably 26 states from coast to coast and in some 14 other countries. But there it was, …

  HARWINTON, CT – Giving a Harley-Davidson devotee the key to a Zero electric motorcycle is somewhat akin to asking a person who loves greasy bacon cheeseburgers to become a vegan. The response is apt to be a sneer. No way would a Harley-Davidson owner who adores the rumble and …

Oops, a few days late, but better late than never. Time for the June installment of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…” If you haven’t checked this out before, it’s a monthly catch-all column for news items culled from elsewhere, moldy press releases and odd opinions …

Back in college at Ohio Wesleyan University, I had an amiable, wise politics and government professor named Art Peterson. Dr. Arthur L. Peterson held an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a master’s degree from the University of Southern California and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He lived on …

WATERBURY, CT – John Carusello of Waterbury hasn’t yet reached the point where he’ll have to give up riding a motorcycle. He is starting to feel his age, though, so when an alternative appeared in dealer showrooms that allows him to sit in a cockpit (as opposed to straddle a …

Time for another edition of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…” Posting it on April 1 wouldn’t have worked because of the confusion it might have created on April Fool’s Day. Granted, given many of the events and reports in the news and on social media …

NAUGATUCK, CT – How often is it that a driver involved in an accident with a motorcyclist uses the excuse “I didn’t see him…” when explaining the circumstances to a cop? Simply put, a rider clad in black atop a dark motorcycle can be invisible to motorists. That’s why John …

The check is in the mail. Or, more accurately, the bank check is in a Fed Ex envelope on the way to a motorcycle dealership in Ohio. This tale begins roughly two weeks ago when friend Bob Rosen mentioned that he’d been looking online at a

I can be an idiot at times. It’s mid-February and I haven’t gotten a flu shot yet. That’s being an idiot. When cutting wood with my chain saw, I don’t always put on my Kevlar-lined chaps. Usually the lapse comes when

Another year, another unwise tie-in between a motorcycle manufacturer and a booze producer. Indian announced Wednesday that it has “joined forces” with the Jack Daniel Distillery to create a “limited-run, collector’s-edition Jack Daniel’s-branded” 2016 Indian Chief Vintage that will celebrate

HARWINTON, CT – As we were getting ready to leave the Springfield Motorcycle Show at the Eastern States Exposition last Saturday, motorcycling friends Brian O’Neill and Roland Smith looked at the crowd of riders in the hall and observed that maybe next year we should rent a booth and hawk …

LAGRANGEVILLE, NY – Some motorcycles resemble over-the-top Christmas displays. They’re excessively adorned with chrome parts and littered with doodads that are as tacky as a blowup Santa Claus or some other inflatable holiday figure. Just as outdoor displays that stress simplicity and elegance are more tasteful, bikes that employ understatement …

NEW YORK – Has there ever been a time in motorcycling’s history when there has been such a huge variety of bikes available to riders? Sure, there were more manufacturers in