Up To Speed

MIDDLETOWN, CT – Thousands of riders descended on Wednesday night for the annual “Middletown Motorcycle Mania” in downtown. Dealers, accessory vendors, food purveyors, bands and the riders themselves contributed to the atmopshere:

TORRINGTON, CT – The fate of the motorcycle is inconsequential when a rider goes down. A bike can be replaced, but a person cannot. Fortunately, Glenn Royals survived after recently finding himself confronted by a driver in a pickup who pulled across his path. He suffered some extensive injuries when …

BROOKLYN – After three years of staging the Split’n Lanes & Dodgin’ Gutters show at the Brooklyn Bowl bowling alley, Basket Case Productions plans to “step it up a notch,” according to promoter Girard Fox, and move outdoors this year with a new vintage motorcycle show called “The Lot.” Set …

WATERBURY, CT – Waterbury firefighter Bill D’Occhio has been training for weeks. “The gym five days a week; a lot of spinning,” he said. He’s also been schlepping to Bethlehem where farmer and Bethlehem V.F.D. chief Jon O’Neill has allowed him to ride his off-road bikes “twice a week” on …

GARDNER, MA – Rob’s Dyno Service here has become the first dealer of Motus motorcycles in Massachusetts, and one of only two in New England. Owner Rob Swartz and technician Dan Cantor went to the Motus factory in Birmingham, AL in late July for training on the American-made sport bikes. …

HEBRON, CT – It’s a show that keeps growing; attracting more and more vendors as well as vintage motorcycles of modest and exquisite caliber. The annual National Meet of the Yankee Chapter of Antique Motorcycle Club of America kicked off here Friday under a sunny sky that brought out riders …

HEBRON, CT – The 1935 Nimbus Model C parked at the entrance to the National Meet being staged here this weekend by the Yankee Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America was the first vintage bike that many of those arriving on Friday morning got to see. It wouldn’t …

COLEBROOK, CT – Route 8 in Connecticut runs north-south from Bridgeport on Long Island Sound to Colebrook at the Massachusetts border. Before the flood of 1955, it was a narrow, winding road with numerous cities along the way. After the flood, dams were built on the Naugatuck River to prevent …

AGAWAM, MA – The shiny black 1981 Harley-Davidson FXB Sturgis that Paul Murphy still rides was purchased new from what was then Easthampton Harley-Davidson for approximately $5,200. Some 36 years and maybe 150,000 miles later, it’s still on the road, although its motor has been rebuilt four times and many …

I debated with myself quite a bit about writing this column. A part of me does not want to bring attention to a driving behavior that I wish were not real. On the other hand, I do not want to “not discuss” this behavior because talking about it might save …

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Some motor in proudly. Others are rolled in, while a few arrive with “some assembly required.” The annual Indian Day staged at the Springfield Museums brings together dozens of old Indian motorcycles, along with their mostly old owners. The colorful show was held again Sunday not from …

SPRINGFIELD, MA – His father, Fritzie Baer, ran the factory dealership at the original Indian Motorcycle plant and Butch Baer got his first ride as a newborn on a 1923 Indian with sidecar. He’s been riding ever since, but after a couple of driveway drops last year, it looked like …

SUFFIELD, CT – Year two of a revived motorcycle show at Hilltop Farm, once owned by original Indian co-founder George M. Hendee, proved satisfactory on Saturday with a bluegrass band livening the proceedings. “The big change is the music. There’s nothing like live music,” said Kacy Colston, president of The …

FALLS VILLAGE, CT – If a motorcycle could talk, the single-cylinder race bike owned by Ed Bozzi of Naugatuck, CT would probably say that 15 years of retirement have been quite enjoyable. No hard running – just an annual oil change, a twice-a-year startup, an occasional track day, and periodic trips …

NEWINGTON, CT – Are your riding skills sufficient to teach others? If you think so, have some free time and would like to earn a few bucks in the process, CONREP needs you. The Connecticut Rider Education Program has lost roughly one-third of its instructor corps over the past few …