Up To Speed

It’s one thing for riders in New England and the Hudson Valley of New York to travel to midtown Manhattan for a motorcycle show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, as they have for years up until the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the show in December, but having to traipse …

IRVINE, CA – The COVID-19 pandemic turned lives upside down in 2020, but what it didn’t do was have a negative impact on motorcycle sales in the United States. Just the opposite. Motorcycle and scooter sales rose 11.4 percent. Indeed the broader power sports industry saw its sales increase 18.4 …

BREA, CA – Suzuki is out today with a new Hayabusa sport model for 2022 that has fewer pounds, fresh styling and better performance. More than 550 new or redesigned parts make the Hayabusa “all-new” yet “instantly recognizable,” the company says. While there’s no mistaking it, the 2022 Hayabusa is …

PORTSMOUTH, NH – An early-morning break-in Monday at Motorbikes Plus at 3 Cate St. here resulted in three expensive dirt bikes being carted away in the bed of a pickup. Portsmouth police are searching for four burglary suspects. Surveillance video from both outside and inside the KTM-Husqvarna dealership show a …

MILWAUKEE – Sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles plummeted in the United States and worldwide in 2020 as the company underwent a major shakeup under new leadership. Also contributing was the nasty COVID-19 pandemic environment. U.S. sales for the year totaled 103,650 motorcycles, down 22,310 units from 2019. The drop marked six …

HARWINTON, CT – Explain this, please. Why is it necessary for a motorcycle dealer in New Hampshire to flood Craigslist’s “motorcycles/scooters” for sale in northwestern Connecticut page with posts for models that it’s trying to unload more than 150 miles and 2½ hours away from me? This being winter, I …

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA – It was inevitable, predictable and overdue. Three years after discontinuing the KLR650, a single-cylinder, dual-sport model that endured for more than 30 years, Kawasaki is bringing it back for the 2022 model year. The new KLR650 will have fuel injection, a fractionally larger engine (652cc versus …

WARREN, CT – The outside temperature was 16 degrees and I was shaking. Not from the cold, but from the low-level fear; at least of the unknown. It was the prospect of riding a motorcycle on ice for the first time that had me worried, surprisingly so considering that I’ve …

KENT, CT – Its somewhat akin to a big-box home improvement center coming to a town where a local hardware store has quietly operated. Those are the optics of Brookfield Indian Motorcycle adding the Royal Enfield brand which Iron Horse Customs/Royal Enfield of Kent has sold for nearly three years. …

LACONIA, NH – Cleanup continues a month after a Christmas morning fire gutted the headquarters of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, while a GoFundMe campaign launched in the wake of the blaze continues to actively seek donations to help pay for the effort and for the replacement of memorabilia. “We …

LAKE GEORGE, NY – In cautionary move and in hopes that by delaying that perhaps COVID-19 will be in vigorous retreat, Americade announced this afternoon that the 2021 gathering will shift dates from early June until late September. ​”We want to make 100% sure that a 2021 Americade will happen, …

Time for another installment of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You,” the column that updates recent stories and contains fresh ones (items that maybe aren’t sufficient to justify a full post), along with a smattering of opinion. Before getting to the news, though, a question: Why …

MILWAUKEE – It’s likely been stated many times that changing the direction of a major corporation can be like maneuvering an ocean liner. It’s a process that needs to be done gradually and, hopefully, with precision. That’s certainly true for Harley-Davidson. The company unveiled its 2021 model-year lineup this morning, …

BRROKFIELD, CT – Brookfield Indian Motorcycle is expanding its offerings. The store at 20 Federal Road will soon be selling Royal Enfield models along with Indian motorcycles, with further expansion of brands a distinct possibility. “We like the style, the craftsmanship. We find them to be fun, cool, simple and …

NORWICH, CT – The owner of the Triumph motorcycle dealership Street Stuff Cycle here has died from COVID-19. Rich Krasun, 69, passed away Jan. 6, according to an obituary shared today by his family. A resident of Preston, CT, Krasun got involved the motorcycle industry in late 1973 when he …