Ride New England

Jeff Crampton spent years in his youth working on Hondas. As a certified Honda technician and later as a service manager, he toiled at several dealerships in New England back in the 1970s. His first motorcycle was a Honda – a 1965 Super 90 – and his current bikes are

Examined on a year-to-year basis, the downsizing doesn’t instantly appear to be that significant. You first think that maybe there’s a manufacturer missing or a favorite vendor that’s absent. But when compared to what the Progressive International Motorcycle Show was like several years ago,

Let me see if I have this straight… He doesn’t ride a motorcycle. He has no interest in riding a motorcycle. But now a motorcycle manufacturer in India is paying pro golfer Tiger Woods to be its “brand ambassador” for

Keeping vintage BMWs running is master technician Phil Cheney’s primary responsibility at Max BMW in Brookfield. He’s been wrenching on German-made BMWs for 45 years and is revered among Beemer owners in Connecticut and beyond for his expertise. Over that long span, he’s only worked on two R75M models.

What’s just punishment for a driver who takes a motorcyclist’s life? Obviously, it depends. What was the cause of the accident? What were the road conditions at the time of the crash? And in what shape was

Pardon me while I belatedly celebrate a milestone. It was in late October that I marked 10 years of riding a motorcycle. Over that time, tens of thousands of miles have been ridden and nearly a dozen used bikes have filtered through the garage. The two-wheeled journey has been filled …

It has been more than a week since it was revealed that UConn Torrington won’t allow Connecticut Rider Education Program (CONREP) classes on its campus next year. Nothing’s changed and that’s not surprising. The loss of a training site isn’t hot news impacting loads of people and destined to prompt …

ROCKVILLE, CT – Tour what was once the Hockanum Mill in Rockville with Ken Kaplan, as RIDE-CT did recently, and his attention to detail on his $10 million dream project is constantly evident. It was evident during

California is the only state in the nation that allows lane-splitting – riding a motorcycle between two lanes of stopped or slow-moving traffic on a freeway – but the results of a new year-long study released this week just might spur

Edgar Howard Johnson Jr. fervently believes in securing his recently-acquired vintage Harley-Davidson, and is adamant that history not repeat itself. The motorcycle is locked in the garage at his home near Charlotte, N.C. “There’s no way they’d be able to

Ever buy a motorcycle that you didn’t need or necessarily want? Sometimes the urge to add some fresh iron to the garage is just too irresistible. That’s why there’s a 1983 Yamaha XT250 is parked next to my 2008 Suzuki V-Strom. It’s the bike I didn’t need, eventually didn’t want, …

(Update: Big W’s closed its doors on May 16, 2021.) WINGDALE, NY – One of the pleasures of motorcycling is spotting a previously-unexplored road and, on a whim, taking it. Sometimes the result is a dead end. A more common outcome is discovering a route that becomes part of a …

Mention the word “grill” and I’m apt to smile. For me, the word doesn’t only conjure up an image of a backyard barbecue or a heavily-chromed front end of a car produced by Detroit automakers in the 1950s, but also a line from an audio recording that I heard many …

EAST HAMPTON, CT – Maybe it’s because some friends rebuild vintage Indians. Or maybe it’s because a late riding buddy owned an old Indian Chief. Or maybe it’s because the revived Indian models have gotten so much attention, but my head always turns when an Indian appears. And two antique Chiefs that …

Imagine just for a moment a gorgeous and peaceful botanical garden where, once a week, a swarm of invaders descends. Most of these visitors are honey bees and butterflies. They’re colorful, generally non-threatening, and beneficial because they pollinate the flowers and blooming shrubs. They’re welcomed, or at least accepted without complaint. However, in addition …