Up To Speed

Time for another Staff Inflection. This time RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland’s columnists comment on the worst stuff they’ve ever purchased. Not motorcycles, rather gear, parts and accessories that they’ve acquired over the years. In one case, the item wasn’t bad, just unnecessary, while another was outright junk. Except for the belt …

MILWAUKEE – Harley-Davidson saw its year-to-year Q1 sales drop 4.2 percent in the United States and 3.8 percent worldwide. The company sold 28,091 motorcycles in the U.S. from January through March (down from 29,309 in 2018) and 49,151 worldwide (down from 51,086). In releasing its first quarter statement this morning, …

HARWINTON, CT – Bills often get paid with nary a glance. Go online, log in, look at the amount due, and click “submit payment.” I did that last week when the registration renewal arrived for my pickup truck. The process was quick and easy. Thanks DMV. Included in the tab was …

SALISBURY, CT – Morning rain may have eventually given way to intermittent afternoon drizzle, but the combination conspired to seriously curtail attendance at the inaugural Ride1 Rally. The event, held today at Lime Rock Park and designed to kick off the riding season in southern New England, didn’t draw many …

CHESTER, VT – There have been plenty of years when my riding season began back in March. Sound silly? Well, when I was a young married man with one car and a child on the way, having a motorcycle was often a Godsend. If I dressed properly, I could make …

MUNICH – No matter that it already makes exceptional touring, adventure and sport bikes, BMW seems to have a serious case of cruiser envy that it just can’t shake. Included in a BMW press release earlier this week was the news that the German manufacturer will make a stab at …

MILWAUKEE – Union workers at Harley-Davidson factories in Wisconsin have approved a new contract offered by the company that includes a 14 percent wage increase over five years. According to a story by Rick Barrett in the “Journal Sentinel” newspaper, the deal also includes “a signing bonus, no changes to …

HARTFORD – How long motorcycle dealer Bruce J. Bemer will be sentenced to prison for his involvement with a sex ring won’t be known until June when a judge sentences him, but the “Hartford Courant” newspaper stridently threw the book at him in an online editorial posted Thursday. “He deserves …

FALLS VILLAGE, CT – A lot of decision-making is involved when Wayne Olson of Tillson, NY decides to go for a ride. Will he ride an old bike or a new one? Will he ride an American-made cruiser, a classic British bike, or something more sporty from Italy or Japan? …

DANBURY, CT – The millionaire owner of New England Cycle Center in Hartford and two other motorcycle dealerships in southern New England has been convicted on multiple felony counts in a trial involving a sex trafficking ring that preyed on vulnerable young men. Bruce J. Bemer, 65,  of Glastonbury was …

If it seems like gas prices are always changing, it’s because they are. But some days are better to purchase gas than others, according to a new study done by the fuel savings app GasBuddy and revealed today in a “USA Today” story. On average nationally, Monday is the cheapest …

HUDSON, NY – It began with four pieces of apparatus in 1925 and has grown into an impressive, multi-gallery repository filled with approximately 60 retired firefighting vehicles. Not only does the FASNY Museum of Firefighting amaze visitors, it also prompts staffers to reflect on the past. “I can only imagine what …

HAVERHILL, MA – A 62-year-old BMW rider from Dracut, MA was seriously injured on Saturday when he was hit by a ladder that came out of the back of a pickup truck while he was riding his vintage 1985 motorcycle southbound on I-495 here. The rider, whose name wasn’t provided …

MIDDLETOWN, CT – With the arrival of spring, the Connecticut State Police are reminding drivers to watch for motorcycles as well as  providing advice for motorcyclists for a safer riding season. In a recent “Tips from Troopers Tuesday” posting on social media, the CSP offered six tips for drivers, beginning …

MILWAUKEE – Union workers at Harley-Davidson plants in Wisconsin reportedly “overwhelming rejected” the company’s offer on a new contract Monday, but are continuing to work under a short-term extension of the previous pact. That contract, which was ratified in 2010 and went into effect in 2012, would have expired Monday. …