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By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Well, I finally understand first-hand how and why the Japanese put the British bike industry out of business in the 1970s. All it took was a 180-mile road trip on the 1974 Honda CB750 Four that I acquired on Friday. It was smooth running from …
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Rice-O-Rama, The Vintage Japanese Treat
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Japanese bike lovers from New England and beyond flocked to the 5th annual Rice-O-Rama vintage meet in North Brookfield, Mass. on Sunday. The show ground was filled with some sparkling examples of motorcycling’s past from the Land of the Rising Sun, including these two Honda …
Read More »Two Paws Up For Harley Commercial
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com It’s a TV commercial that both Harley-Davidson riders and dog lovers will enjoy, and it’s for the 2012 Harley Wide Glide, part of the “No Cages” ad campaign. The ad debuted during the season premiere of “Sons of Anarchy.” Not only does it promote Harley, …
Read More »“If you ever decide to sell…”
By Bud Wilkinson Two weeks ago, riding wasn’t on our minds. No way. Hurricane Irene was heading up the coastline and preparing for the storm took priority. After making sure the home generator was filled with fresh petrol and running properly, my challenge was to rearrange the contents of the …
Read More »Triumph Recalls, Putin Rides Trike
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Playing a bit of catch-up… August wasn’t a good month for Triumph’s Tiger 800 and Tiger 800 XC as recall notices were issued in the past week or so not once but twice. A problem with the engine management software on certain 2011 and 2012 …
Read More »Tales From 2011 Brit Jam
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Owners of vintage motorcycles can have a lot in common with their bikes. One guy attending the “25th annual” Brit Jam motorcycle meet at the Haddam Neck Fairgrounds on Aug. 21 even wore a T-shirt that had some of the similarities emblazoned across the front: …
Read More »Hurricane Irene Saps Attention Away From Riding
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com I chuckled at the Facebook post late yesterday afternoon by a friend who wondered whether it might be time for a ride as Hurricane Irene had cleared the state. Love her attitude. She wisely acknowledged, though, that the roads were likely to be too littered …
Read More »Is “Hurricane Sale” Cute Or Bad Taste?
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com The email late this afternoon from Max BMW frankly kind of shocked me. Maybe it was because I heading out to a Hurricane Irene preparedness meeting where first responders in Harwinton put in place a plan to deal with the worst case scenario – buildings …
Read More »Oil Drippings: Bike Night, Brit Jam, More
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Bike nights in Connecticut are as common as roadside vegetable stands. RIDE-CT made a quick stop this evening at the weekly Tuesday night gathering at McDonald’s in Torrington to grab a few snapshots: Steve Bristol of Torrington, who rode in on his 2009 Harley-Davidson Ultra …
Read More »Will Triumph T100R Make It To Brit Jam?
By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com Maybe, just maybe, my rebuilt 1969 Triumph T100R Daytona will make it to Brit Jam this year. Dubbed “This Old Bike” when it was put back on the road in 2008 and chronicled in a long-running series of columns in “The Republican-American,” the vintage 500cc …
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