Up To Speed

Pictured from left, Tim Raindle, George Yarocki and Jeff Alperin By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com With only days remaining until the start of the Motorcycle Cannonball endurance run, vintage Indian expert George Yarocki was in his Torrington workshop last week attacking a checklist of tasks that needed to be completed …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A holiday weekend trip to D.C. for a wedding enabled RIDE-CT.com to check out the motorcycles and cars this morning at a well-attended event known as Katie’s Cars & Coffee in the Village Center in Great Falls, VA. Every Saturday morning, hundreds of car and …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Only 10 days until the Motorcycle Cannonball II endurance run starts in Newburgh, N.Y. and participants are fine-tuning their rides. Jeff Alperin, who resides in Florida after living most of his life in Connecticut, is spending the days leading up to the run getting his …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Matt Klebe and Kelley Babbin of Winsted were pooped but pleased after having successfully competed in the 3rd annual Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge earlier this month. It’s an endurance event that this year had riders going from Las Vegas to Gowanda, N.Y., mostly on secondary …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The official video of the Aug. 9 flash mob in downtown Torrington to promote Torrington Thunder is now out. Here it is, courtesy of Whitney Productions:  

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com About a month ago, Will Paley of Cornwall took his 1906 Griffon out of mothballs and put it back on the road. This afternoon, he took it for a spin on Route 43 near his Cornwall home and he invited RIDE-CT.com along. The 493cc French-made …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Harley-Davidson has released its 2013 model year lineup that includes 10 bikes with 110th Anniversary badging, a restyled Street Bob and two new CVO models – a high-performance Softail called

As is the case every August, lovers of vintage British bikes turned out for the annual Brit Jam meet, held Sunday in East Haddam at the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds. RIDE-CT.com was unable to attend this year due to a sick pooch, but friend Ken Engelman, associate publisher of “RoadRUNNER” magazine, …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com It’s a rarity to see a motorcycle on the track at Lime Rock Park in Salisbury. In fact, except for a corporate BMW Motorrad outing, bikes have been absent from the track for a half-dozen years. In the 50 years before that, motorcycles only got …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A sparkling green, white and gold 1930 Indian 4 motorcycle, restored and customized by William “Wild Bill” Eggers of Goshen, is expected to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 at an auction by Bonhams this week in Carmel, Calif. The bike has been in a private …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Go to the same places often enough and you’re bound to bump into familiar faces. The past two Sundays, RIDE-CT.com has run into Matt Hazen of Colebrook at the usual haunt, Toymaker’s Cafe in Falls Village. Today, Hazen was riding a silver 1987 Honda Hurricane …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com A flash mob broke out Thursday night at the Main Street Marketplace in Torrington with 75 bikers, who had rehearsed for more than four months, putting on an enthusiastic show for the crowd. The purpose was to promote the Torrington Thunder bike night on Sept. …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com They came from all over Connecticut and beyond, packing downtown and the side streets, parks and parking lots as well. Thousands of riders brought their bikes to the 7th annual Middletown Motorcycle Mania this evening. (The above picture was taken before the crowd became elbow-to-elbow.) …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Dressed in shorts, a golf shirt and tennis shoes, Gary Halby looked like a typical Sunday tourist as he walked the sidewalks of downtown Kent at midday snapping photographs, except for the fact he held a high-end Canon 5D Mark camera with a 70-300mm telephoto …

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Buying a new (used) bike has diverted attention for a few days (more on the acquisition in a future post), but results have finally been tabulated for July’s poll question and a new poll question for August has been posted. July’s question revolved around a …