Up To Speed

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Motorcyclists operating with exhaust pipes that don’t have E.P.A. approval – and dealers and shops selling them – would be open to fines under an amendment attached this week to an ATV bill that is moving forward in the General Assembly. While targeted at loud …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Despite a drop in sales during the first quarter of 2013 when compared to a year ago, both in the U.S. and worldwide, Harley-Davidson today reported a 33.8 increase in earnings per share. First quarter net income was 224.1 million on consolidated revenue of $1.57 …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com There hasn’t been a press release from Harley-Davidson. Dealerships haven’t been emailing customers about the debut, either. In fact, the word is that the “soft launch” of a new online store by Harley is on purpose, presumably to make sure everything is working correctly. RIDE-CT.com’s …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com With Baby Boomers aging and even giving up riding, Harley-Davidson needs replacements, and new data from the research firm R.L. Polk & Co. reveals that for the fifth straight year Harley is the top seller of street motorcycles to U.S. adults between the ages of …

By Bud Wilkinson Not unlike dandelions in a manicured lawn, they pop up unexpectedly. One moment there’s little-noticed guard rail alongside the highway and the next there’s a floral display that pulls your eyes from the road ahead. Roadside memorials, colorful tributes to people killed when traveling, have seemingly become …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Connecticut has a new, and second, Ducati dealer. New Haven Powersports, which already carries the Italian-made Aprilia and Moto Guzzi lines, has now added Ducati and is in the process of remodeling. “We’ve had it exactly one month today,” said Chris Green late Friday afternoon. …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The thought that “we are what we ride” popped into my head when coming home from picking up some English muffins while on a 40-mile evening ride. Why go to the Daily Mart at the end of the road, just one mile away, when an …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com If you’re headed to Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary celebration, haven’t booked a room yet and have deep pockets, The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee is offering a VIP, seven-night stay for $9,900. That’s for double occupancy. Rick Barrett of the “Journal Sentinel” has details here on what …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A little more movement to report today in the bill moving through the General Assembly in Connecticut that would establish an all-terrain vehicle division within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to create and maintain ATV trails in the state. It has now been voted …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com ATV owners in Connecticut can stop worrying about a bill that would have required the registration of all off-road vehicles, including quads, dirt bikes and snowmobiles. As originally introduced by state Rep. Debralee Hovey, a Republican whose district includes Newtown and Monroe, proposed H.B. 5183 …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Dr. Mike Maroon, a scooter-loving dentist who has worked at Advanced Dental in Berlin, CT for the past 25 years, is the new owner of Scooter Centrale/Vespa Hartford in Plainville. He bought the business from Doug and Sue Day. In a Facebook post yesterday, Maroon …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Which is quicker – a 162-horsepower Ducati Diavel or a 542-horsepower Audi R8 V10? Autocar in the U.K. recently put them in head to head test: zero to 150 miles per hour. Which do you think won? — It was Jay Leno to the rescue …

 It’s a bike brand that most riders probably don’t recognize – Brough Superior. Only 3,000 or so were ever built, fewer than 1,100 exist today worldwide and there may only be 175 in the entire United States.

As an avid reader, I sometimes wish that I kept a yellow felt-tipped pen on the nightstand beside my bed.  That way I could highlight catchy phrases and memorable passages in the books that I read. This would make it easy to locate them at a later time because you never …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The arrival of spring means the resumption of Connecticut Rider Education Program courses across the state. For example, Basic Rider Course classes offered at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury begin Friday, but are already filled through mid-May. BRC classes at the UConn campus in …