Up To Speed

Lots has been happening lately, so let’s get right to the news items with a fresh installment of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…” It’s a column that passes along stories that didn’t warrant a full post or somehow slipped through the cracks. It also occasionally …

MANDELLO DEL LARIO, Italy – Moto Guzzi’s classic V7 model gets a power boost for 2021 with an 850cc, 65 horsepower engine replacing the 744cc, 52 horsepower power plant that has been used in the model since its introduction in 2007. Moto Guzzi’s website today declares that “a new V7 …

ORDER NOW: “Recipes for a Good Ride – The Toymakers Cafe Cookery Book” is now on sale for $19.75 and may be ordered by emailing annbidou@yahoo.com. FALLS VILLAGE, CT – The long-planned, motorcycle-themed cookbook from Toymakers Cafe owners Annie and Greg Bidou is now at the printer and should be …

VARESE, ITALY – Most riders can’t afford one. Indeed, most riders will never see one in person. Nonetheless, in a worldwide press unveiling via Zoom this morning, super premium Italian motorcycle brand MV Agusta revealed its newest model – the limited edition Superveloce Alpine. The racey model represents, in the …

PUTNEY, VT – Curtis Tuff first came to this small Vermont town in 1961. He was 23 years old and working as a migrant fruit picker. He never left, operating his Curtis’ AllAmerican BarBQ stand just off of I-91 since 1971. Tuff died this morning. He was in his early …

ANDOVER, MA – In an announcement issued Friday evening on social media, Kevin and Lou-Ann Clement of KevMarv Productions, known for staging Northeast Motorcycle Show events around New England and beyond, said the end of the road has come for their efforts. “It’s been an awesome ride – 23 years …

GROVETON, NH – The MOMS chain of New England power sports stores has added another dealership, picked up a partner in an ex-New England Patriots player, and announced plans for an expansive off-road recreational park in northern New Hampshire. November was certainly a busy month for MOMS president Joel Wheeler, …

SANTA MONICA, CA – In a surprising reveal that instantly seems destined to have motorcyclists in southern New England, the Hudson Valley and even New Jersey declaring “Fuhgeddaboudit,” the organizers of next year’s Progressive IMS Outdoors tour announced this morning that Brooklyn will be one of nine host locations across …

BOLOGNA, Italy – It’s a sport model that was introduced in 1993 and has sold more than 350,000 copies. For 2021, Ducati has again updated its Monster, dropping the number that’s attached to its outgoing Monster 821 model. The new Monster is powered by a 937cc Testastretta twin-cylinder engine that …

MILFORD, CT – Austrian motorcycle maker KTM has signed a fourth dealership to carry its bright orange motorcycles in Connecticut. Soon-to-open Colonial Power and Sport, which is being launched by the owner of Colonial Toyota here, is expected to open in late December or early January. “We’re building a heck …

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that “a pickup driver under the influence of illicit drugs” likely caused the horrific crash on Route 2 in Randolph, NH in June 2019 that killed seven motorcyclists. The NTSB announced Tuesday that it has determined that then-23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy “crossed …

Nearly two months have passed since the last installment of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…” The column serves to pass along stories that didn’t receive a full post, update previous stories, leak stuff not publicly announced, and provide some opinion. Here goes: If You Had …

WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA – A month after saying that the odds were slim for staging a show in January, Springfield Motorcycle Show promoter Doug Sousa has now pulled the plug on what would have been the 16th annual show. “A simple virus that we can’t even see took down the …

Never a company prone to leaking new model info prior to an actual announcement, Harley-Davidson’s plans have become even more open to speculation since the appointment of Jochen Zeitz as president and CEO back in May (after being given the posts on an “acting” basis in February). Zeitz has slashed …

TORRANCE, CA – Honda has announced an all-new brawnier sibling to go with its entry-level Rebel 300 and Rebel 500 cruiser models – the mid-sized 2021 Rebel 1100. The Rebel 1100 is powered by a 1,084cc parallel twin, a repurposed version of the engine found in its Africa Twin adventure …