Up To Speed

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Motorcycle thefts in the U.S. dropped one percent in 2012 from 2011. A total of 46,061 were reported taken, down from 46,667, according to National Insurance Crime Bureau statistics released today. Honda had the highest theft rate with  9,082 taken, followed by Yamaha (7,517), Suzuki …

Don Devault and his Triumph By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Don Devault got his Triumph back on Wednesday – 46 years after it was stolen. The blue 1953 Triumph Tiger 100 was stolen in Omaha, NE in February 1967 and spotted last month at the Port of Los Angeles by …

By Bud Wilkinson Yes, the masthead has changed. A new picture provides the background and a new name has been added – Ride-NewEngland.com. It joins RIDE-CT.com. Why, you ask? The fast answer is that the website has outgrown Connecticut. The more accurate answer is that over the past two years, …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The original was a cult classic, and now Honda’s bringing back the Valkyrie heavyweight cruiser. The new version has an 1,832cc, liquid-cooled, six-cylinder engine – up from the 1,520cc motor in the original that was built between 1996 and 2003 – and weighs in at …

Riding a motorcycle is becoming more dangerous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is out with final statistics for 2012, which reveal that 4,957 riders were killed on the nation’s roads – an increase of 7.1 percent over 2011 when 4,630 riders died. Motorcyclists accounted for 14.8 percent of all …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com In a video just posted on YouTube, a rider in China is seen being struck by a truck and set ablaze. The scooter cartwheels upon impact and the fuel tank ruptures and ignites. The rider, with her legs on fire, stumbles into some nearby bushes …

Keith Bruno is closing The Shop. He held a going-away party for customers and friends at his motorcycle customization and repair business at 920 Main Street in Winsted, CT on Saturday and plans to move to Myrtle Beach, SC and open a new business. Continue reading…

Twisted Throttle, which is based in Exeter, has acquired the Toronto-based company A Vicious Cycle. Here’s the news release: EXETER, RI – Twisted Throttle announced last week their acquisition of A Vicious Cycle, a Toronto-based parts & accessories dealer and distributor.  The combination will enable Twisted Throttle to expand their …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Don’t blink or you’ll miss it, but Harley-Davidson’s new Street 750 model appears in the trailer for the upcoming movie “Captain America: The Winter Solider,” which won’t hit theaters until April 4. There are five quick glimpses of the bike during a chase sequence at …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com What’s not exactly a car but not really a motorcycle either? Does the word “autocycle” resonate? There’s a start-up company called Elio Motors, founded in 2008 by Paul Elio, that plans to build a three-wheeled model in Louisiana that’s essentially a motorcycle with auto controls. …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com What’s the biggest gripe when calling “customer support?” My guess is that it’s talking to “Bob” in some far off land. It’s not that Bob isn’t knowledgeable, polite or capable – unlike “Peggy” in the memorable Discover Card commercials – it’s just that he’s so …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Television used to be a shared experience back in the days of three channels (CBS, NBC and ABC) plus PBS. The came cable and zillion sports channels, Fox and its wired offspring, and dozens of channels that celebrate everything from duck hunting to zombies, with …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A few snowflakes in the air today above the RIDE-CT.com garage, leading more to thoughts of prepping the snow thrower and generator for the coming winter than to getting the bikes prepared for the same… And now the news: – In a preemptive move, the …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The idea of Harley-Davidson selling motorcycles built in India in the good ol’ U.S.A. runs so contrary to the company’s image as to be ludicrous, and that’s indeed the case. “The Kansas City Star” reports that Harley’s new Street 750 and Street 500 models will …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The list of new or improved features or components is too long to list, so suffice to say that Kawasaki’s new Z1000 naked streetfighter (pictured above) is both fast and maneuverable. More info and more pics may be found on the New Models page here. …