Aging Bikers Taking to the Streets on Beefy Trikes
Older motorcyclists staying in the saddle longer with comfy, easy to balance 3-wheelers

Arthur McCoy didn't let the amputation of a leg because of cancer stop him from riding motorcycles. The solution to his disability came in the form of a third wheel.

McCoy is among a growing group of aging motorcyclists taking up trikes: three-wheeled motorcycles that provide the stability and nearly all the comforts of a car while still allowing riders to feel the wind in their face.

"For us older folks, it's better on three wheels than two," said McCoy, now retired from a maintenance job. "You don't have the tendency to fall over."

A motorcycle rider since the 1960s, the 71-year-old from Lomita said his customized trike has made it possible for him and his wife, Dora, to go on long-haul trips to Arizona, Texas, Arkansas and Virginia at least once a month. They are members of Brothers of the Third Wheel, an international club for trike enthusiasts.

Motorcycle industry experts say they expect to see more trikes on the road in the coming years as baby boomers, the largest group of motorcycle owners in the country, age out of their two wheelers.

"Boomers are a very important segment of the motorcycle market," said Ty Van Hooydonk, a spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council. "They are staying more active than past generations."

People born between 1946 and 1964 make up 43 percent of motorcycle owners in the U.S., or 4.5 million out of 10.4 million, according to a 2008 survey by the Irvine-based trade group.

Trikes allow riders with arthritis, back pain and other physical ailments to go on long-distance rides comfortably. Some come with reverse gears so riders don't have to push the motorcycles into a parking space.

Their ample size make them hard to miss.

"People in cars tend to ignore motorcycles. Trikes are a fairly big and therefore more visible," said Jim McGrath, 75, of Chula Vista, whose bright red, low-riding Rewaco trike measures 12 1/2 feet long and 6 feet wide.

(reprinted from ABC News)

Newest Harley takes riders to Forty-Eight

Harley-Davidson Inc. has introduced another bike in its Dark Custom series of motorcycles that have a blacked-out, retro look aimed at younger riders.

Named the Forty-Eight, the latest Harley creation has a small solo seat, a fatter front tire and the company's classic 2.1-gallon peanut fuel tank.

The name represents the year 1948, which is when Harley-Davidson first included the peanut fuel tank on one of its motorcycles, the model S 125.

Dark Customs are meant to recall the looks of motorcycles just after World War II, when riders took military-surplus bikes and stripped away everything they could to reduce weight and give them a bare-bones appearance.

The Forty-Eight joins the Harley Nightster, Iron 883, Cross Bones, Fat Bob and Street Bob bikes in the Dark Custom lineup.

With a 1200-cc Evolution engine, the Forty-Eight has a suggested retail price of $10,499. It comes in black, silver or orange and will be available at dealerships soon, the company said.

In January 2007, Harley introduced the Nightster, one of the first Dark Custom bikes.

Its raw-boned styling and macho, black denim finish has been popular with younger motorcycle enthusiasts, according to the company.

(reprinted from JSOnline)

Myrtle Beach area motorcycle rallies may run in tandem; Harley-Davidson rally trimmed to five days

NMB convention to coincide with Cruisin' the Coast event


Residents worried about a proposed motorcycle rally in North Myrtle Beach extending the spring rally season to three weeks won't have to worry if the plan moves forward with newly proposed changes.

The five-day convention, which had previously been billed as a free-standing event, would coincide with the Harley-Davidson Cruisin' the Coast Spring Rally after organizers agreed to move the dates of the new event earlier in the month of May.

Organizers of the Harley-Davidson spring rally said the Main Street event would likely be the official space for Harley-Davidson corporate and the Harley Owners Group events and be part of the larger rally - which has also been trimmed down to five days.

"The majority of what they would do is having Harley-Davidson there for demo rides and maybe some additional vendors. Basically it would be another location where there was something at Barefoot, Murrells Inlet and then stuff on Main Street. ... That would be kind of like the home base of Bike week," said Mike Shank, marketing director for Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson. "Generally when corporate brings the demo rides, the Harley Owners Group attends and does an event pin."

Mark Lazarus, who is spearheading the North Myrtle Beach event with Horry County Councilman Harold Worley, said it will bring as many as 10,000 additional bikers to North Myrtle Beach through the HOG group. The two businessmen filed a special events permit application with North Myrtle Beach to be able to house about 40 vendors from May 11 through May 15 at their shared business venture, the O.D. Pavilion Amusement Park at Ocean Boulevard and Main Street. The original application called for later dates in May.

"What we're doing is strictly vending at the Pavilion site. The HOG Group generally holds pinning events at the corporate [sponsored booths]. We're looking at potentially 10,000 HOG members coming through to stop at that pinning event and bringing their business to Main Street," he said. "Would it be out of the question that other motorcyclists will come up to the corporate vending area? No. But, we won't have anything but vending from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. if we can get the city's approval."

Previous reports listed a host of different motorcycle and Harley-Davidson groups as being possibly involved with the rally, but Worley said that the local Myrtle Beach dealers and the corporate office are the only two groups working with them on the event. A letter sent from the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association last week confirmed that it will hold its rally in New Bern, N.C., again this spring after the stricter rally rules enacted by Myrtle Beach and Horry County prodded them to move the event last year.

Mike King, a spokesman for Harley-Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee, Wis., said the only real involvement the company would have with an event like the one North Myrtle Beach is planning would be as a third party.

"Our position is that this would be an event led by a local dealer and a community ... and if we were to attend it would be to interact with our customers, but only as a third party," he said Friday.

Worley said if the event works out this year, it will be held on the third weekend in May in future years, which will put it closer to the Memorial Day weekend opening of the O.D. Pavilion. The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce has been polling businesses about their feelings on the rally and has formed a committee to look into the ordinance changes that would be needed for a long-term commitment to the event.

"We will release the findings of our survey at the public workshop on the proposal whenever the city holds it. Until then, we're not the driving force behind the event and the chamber feels like it would be better to wait for others to weigh in," said Marc Jordan, executive director of the chamber. "Overall, we're not recommending a change to the special event permitting process, though."

Shank said he hasn't seen a blueprint for the space that the Harley-Davidson test drives and display might need at the Pavilion venue, so he isn't sure if more vendors will be possible for the space. He said if anything is added, it would not involve late nights, loud music or the contests at some of the other venues.

"Everything we've done in the past closes at 7 p.m. At the dealership and even at Barefoot we've never gotten into staying open late playing music or having burnout pits or anything like that. If that's what works for your venue, that's fine, but we haven't done that," he said.

Shank said the number of vendors he has been allowed to book for the spring rally dropped from almost 200 in years past to just more than 50, with about 40 at the Shops at Barefoot Landing space and 13 at the Harley-Davidson dealership. He said the Barefoot vendor applications were sent out last week, but vendors will not be setting up through two weekends this year. Instead they will set up on May 10 and close May 15.

The North Myrtle Beach City Council is expected to discuss Worley and Lazarus's proposal at its Feb. 1 meeting, but that could change if more information is requested by the city.

(reprinted from the TheSunNews.com)
 

Myrtle Beach Bike Rally Calendar Listing

Buell Motorcycle Closes Factory & Liquidation Sale Begins End of January

The Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, has ceased manufacturing motorcycles. On January 28th, 2010 Liquid Asset Partners, a Michigan liquidation firm, will begin the liquidation sale of vehicles and factory equipment from the State-of-the-Art facility. Over the past 26 years Buell has manufactured over 130,000 motorcycles and created avid fans worldwide. The liquidation sale will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Buell riders and fans to view the inside of the factory and purchase the equipment used to make the high tech sportbikes.

"Buell had a great run as a quality American motorcycle with fans worldwide." says Bill Melvin Jr., CEO of Liquid Asset Partners. "Buell spared no expense in making their beautiful bikes and in purchasing the factory equipment. There is a tremendous interest in the equipment and vehicles left in the factory and there are so many tools nobody will go home empty handed!"

The liquidation sale will start January 28th and run everyday for 30 days until everything is sold. Regardless of cost or loss, millions of dollars worth of equipment and tools will be sold directly on the factory floor. The Liquidation firm will be selling at enormous discounts, right from the start. Customers can buy tools for their garage, computers for their offices, and motorcycle specific equipment for making and testing their bikes.

"This factory was a state of the art, small scale factory. It's the type of facility that many tools and items will be of great interest to the home mechanic and motorcycle fanatic." says Bill Melvin Jr., CEO of Liquid Asset Partners. " To make the sale successful we are prepared to deeply discount the inventory and sell everything in one month! It's stacked high and we're selling it cheap. The public won't want to miss these deals".

The liquidation sale starts January 28th at the Buell Factory at 2815 Buell Dr, East Troy, WI. It is open to the public everyday until everything is sold. Hours of operation are 10am till 7pm Monday thru Saturday and 12noon to 5pm on Sunday. Buyers may view photos and inventory online at www.LiquidAssetPartners.com.

(reprinted from TradingMarkets.com)

Many Massachusetts motorcyclists to get rebates under insurance settlements

Three insurers will collectively return more than $11 million to motorcycle owners in Massachusetts who were overcharged for insurance, under settlements the companies reached with Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office.

Coakley’s staff said Safety Insurance Co. will return $7.2 million, Liberty Mutual will return $3.1 million and Quincy Mutual will return $800,000 to current and former customers. The companies also will make payments to the state totaling $500,000.

Coakley’s staff has been investigating this issue for more than a year. Her investigators found that insurers were not adjusting motorcycle values for their steady depreciation over time and instead were using the same value for a bike for several consecutive years to gauge premium levels.

The average refund to consumers could approach $300, but some could get thousands of dollars. Coakley’s staff estimates that tens of thousands of motorcycle owners in Massachusetts could be affected.

Glenn Greenberg, a spokesman for Boston-based Liberty Mutual, said about 9,200 current and former Liberty Mutual customers will see a rebate, and the typical rebate would be about $150.

“We have immediately addressed and corrected the issue,” Greenberg said. “We’re promptly refunding everybody that’s due a refund.”

Kevin Meskell, an executive vice president at Quincy Mutual, said his company doesn’t yet know how many of its 2,800 Massachusetts customers who own motorcycles will be affected. He said it’s likely at least 2,000 policyholders would get some kind of rebate.

“It was certainly nothing that Quincy Mutual intended to do,” Meskell said. “As soon as this was brought to our attention, we corrected all of our internal processes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Peter Rice, a lawyer for Boston-based Safety Insurance, said Safety disagreed with Coakley on a number of points, but the settlement provides for the best interests of Safety’s policyholders.

Rice said Safety had been following standard practices used by many Massachusetts insurers to calculate premiums for motorcycle coverage.

Motorcyclists praised the settlements, which were filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday. But they said that a number of other insurance companies also evaluated motorcycles incorrectly.

Paul Cote of Amesbury, a longtime advocate for motorcyclists, said he wouldn’t be surprised if a dozen other insurers also overcharged customers based on improper valuations.

“It’s a start, a start that only represents at minimum 10 percent of what motorcycle consumers have been overcharged for the past 10 years,” Cote said of Coakley’s settlements.

Betsy Lister, an insurance agent from Medford who drives a motorcycle, said motorcyclists have repeatedly raised this issue with the state Division of Insurance and the attorney general’s office. She said the timing of the settlements was curious, given that they were announced in the heat of Coakley’s race for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

“They’ve been doing it going back to the early 2000s,” Lister said of the insurers’ overcharges. “This is something we’ve been fighting for years.”

By Jon Chesto
The Patriot Ledger
 

Residents Revved Up Over Little Italy Motorcycle Fest That Benefits Sick Kids

LITTLE ITALY — Some neighborhood residents are trying to put an end to a long-running motorcycle festival that benefits kids with life-threatening illnesses.

Gooch's Garlic Run, which has taken place every June for the past 23 years, helps children with brain tumors, leukemia, multiple sclerosis and other severe illnesses. It's organized by Blue Knights Motorcycle Club, a nonprofit organization of active and retired law enforcement agents, who raise money through corporate sponsorships and entry fees to ride.

It's also been a boon for business with thousands of motorcycle riders flocking to Mulberry Street.

But not everyone in the neighborhood loves it.

“They are uncontrollable," said NoHo resident and Community Board 2 member Zella Jones. "There are bikes and noise and people swearing.”

Residents also believe that the event has no local ties as the money the motorcycle crew from New Jersey has raised mostly benefits children on the other side of the Holland Tunnel.

Last year, Blue Knights raised $40,000 to benefit four children. To appease the Community Board 2, they said they would donate the money to two local kids. But due to a snafu, all proceeds went to kids from New Jersey.

“They didn’t follow through with the spirit of this event for us,” said Michael Chiara, who lives on Mulberry Street. “It doesn’t seem so difficult to achieve this result. They’re not wanted in our neighborhood any more.”

But Community Board 2’s Street Activities and Film Permits chair Evan Lederman said his committee is to blame for not selecting children to receive the money.

“We didn’t want to play favorites,” Lederman said. This year, though, the Street Activities and Film Permits committee has asked that the Blue Knights submit documentation to show how they will ensure money benefits local sick children.

Blue Knights Goodwill Ambassador Jeff Hunker said the group inspects motorcycles to make sure they have federally-approved mufflers before they ride. He said the group also has no qualms about which child benefits from the Garlic Run.

“We don’t care if the kid lives on Mulberry Street, somewhere else in Manhattan or the Bronx. A sick child is a sick child,” he said. “We just want to make a difference in their lives to ease the burden financially for families.”

Some locals also think the Blue Knights ease the economic burden on the community.

“They fill up the restaurants and help local businesses,” said Emily DePalo, who lives on Grand Street. “It’s a little noise when they come and go. So what?”

reprinted from DNAinfo.com - Manhattans Local News

By Nicole Breskin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

Seven Year Legal Battle with Harley-Davidson Ends in Ridley's Discontinuation of "Auto-Glide" Name

Ridley Automatic Motorcycles What's in a name? In this case, an epic legal struggle and a whole lot of marketability.

Harley-Davidson, manufacturer of nearly half the bikes sold in America, duked it out for seven years with the nichey Ridley Motorcycle Company over the Auto-Glide trade name, and a settlement agreement has finally been reached.

Though the full terms of the agreement haven't been released, Ridley agreed to discontinue use of the Auto-Glide name in future models. Ridley's so-called Auto-Glide models, named for their automatic transmission gearboxes, were first introduced in 2003.

The Oklahoma-based manufacturer says that they are still the only U.S. motorcycle manufacturer to offer a fully automatic transmission, and there's no word yet on how Ridley will rebrand the bikes formerly known as Auto-Glides.

(reprinted from About.com)