New England News

NEW YORK – A multi-line dealer in New Jersey may be the ultimate savior of this year’s Progressive International Motorcycle Show, which kicks off a three-day run at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Friday. With nearly as many motorcycle manufacturers deciding to skip the IMS as attend, Motocycle …

BRISTOL, CT – After more than 10 months of anxiously waiting for his new 2020 model-year motorcycle to be delivered, John Birden of Harwinton finally picked it up on Nov. 23 at Yankee Harley-Davidson in Bristol, CT. Birden traded in a barely used 2019 Harley-Davidson Softail Slim with only about …

BRISTOL, CT – A lifelong Harley-Davidson rider from Harwinton, CT today became the first owner in New England of the company’s debut electric model. John Birden rode his new LiveWire home from Yankee Harley-Davidson as the sun was beginning to set. “It feels awesome. It really does. It’s been a …

NEW YORK – The exhibit floor at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show will be a bit barren next month as big-name manufacturers have abruptly abandoned the annual show after years of participation, leaving riders with far less reason to attend. Ducati, Indian and Triumph will be the biggest OEM absentees …

SANTA MONICA, CA – With the annual Progressive International Motorcycle Show in New York only a month away, plans for the three-day event are coming together. Building on last year’s initiative, the emphasis will be on creating new riders. Returning will be the New Rider Course where the “moto-curious” will …

VERNON, CT – The founder of the New England Motorcycle Museum is threatening more physical violence against bike thieves.  In a new video posted Tuesday on the museum’s YouTube channel, Ken Kaplan offers a new warning to “dirtbag bike thieves” that vigilante justice will come to pass if some recently …

ARLINGTON, VA – There are probably hundreds of great roads to ride in the Northeast (such as Route 100 in Vermont), but there are 14 places of congestion you shouldn’t ride. These spots to avoid involve Interstate highways and are mostly in big cities, yet circumstances sometimes force riders to …

WORCESTER, MA – The host of a regional cable access program devoted to motorcycles has died following an Oct. 13 crash in Vermont that involved two motorcycles and a car. Hermis Yanis Jr., 67, host of “Biker New England TV,” died Monday from injuries sustained in the crash in East …

GLASTONBURY, CT – The owner of New England Cycle Center in Hartford and two other motorcycle dealerships in southern New England, who was convicted in April on multiple felony charges in a trial involving a sex trafficking ring, has now been charged with disorderly conduct following an incident last week. …

LANCASTER, NH – Additional charges have been filed against Volodymyr Zhukovsky, the 23-year-old truck driver accused of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in June in Randolph, NH. Originally charged with seven counts of negligent homicide, Zhukovsky now faces a total of 23 counts. If convicted of all charges, he …

BOXBOROUGH, MA – Royal Enfield is dramatically upping its presence in the Northeast. To a lesser degree, the same may be said for Ural. Longtime premium used car dealer Alpha Cars, which has sold Russian-made Ural sidecar rigs since 2007, added Royal Enfield to its store here (pictured above) in …

CORNWALL BRIDGE, CT – Come Tuesday, riders in Connecticut who trade in a motorcycle on another model at dealerships will be forced to pay a $100 trade-in fee, an increase of $65 over the amount currently charged by the state. Dealers who have in the past absorbed the fee are …

GOSHEN, CT – Tony Gasper calls the favored proposal “the most palatable of the worst-case scenario”; the worst case scenario being dirt bike riders being forced to share long-treasured land behind the Thomaston Dam in Thomaston, CT with pedestrians and bicyclists. Gasper, president of the New England Trail Rider Association, …

DES PLAINES, IL – In a report that can be viewed as reassuring to riders in the region, the New England states were among the lowest in motorcycle thefts in 2018, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Nationally, 41,674 motorcycles (and scooters) were stolen in 2018, a six percent …

STURBRIDGE, MA – John Harris, the president of the Italian Motorcycle Owners Club, recalls the first motorcycle show that his organization staged decades ago. “We held it in somebody’s pasture in Killingly (CT). There were five or six people altogether,” said Harris, who has witnessed the show grow into what …