Headlines about the 800lb gorilla in our midst…
Darwin at work…again…
A 30-year-old motorcyclist was hospitalized Friday night with a possible head injury…based on witnesses, Spokane resident Richard Nelson was westbound at high speed in a 45-mph zone when his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle sideswiped a Ford Expedition.
Nelson swiped the length of the Expedition and hit the SUV's bumper, sending Nelson’s Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle sliding for more than 100 feet. The H-D™ slammed into an embankment with Nelson still aboard.
Nelson had no motorcycle endorsement, and paramedics thought he might have been drinking. No citation was issued immediately. One of the issues that remained under investigation was who owned the motorcycle.
The New Harley-Davidson™ Shop is located at…
Perhaps you need some golf balls, an Oxford cloth shirt, a DVD player, a pair of shoes or a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are." Where could you get them while grabbing a bite to eat at Subway, Starbucks, the French Meadow Bakery or one of some 50 other eateries?
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Like airports that attract millions of passengers a year around the country, MSP International is an increasingly popular spot to eat, drink and shop. Airports give merchants a great shot at reaching some of the most deep-pocketed consumers.
"They have nothing but time -- and gold cards in their wallets," said Joe Anderson, who oversees retail concessions at Minneapolis-St. Paul International.
The Harley-Davidson™ shop at the airport doesn't sell choppers but it hawks an array of biker T-shirts exclusive to the store. They sell for $26 to $37.
Craig Collins of Point Pleasant, W.Va., was pleased but surprised to find a Harley-Davidson™ store at the airport during a layover Tuesday. He couldn't resist buying a shirt. He's a Harley-Davidson™ owner and has been flying around the country the past two weeks, visiting friends and Harley-Davidson™ dealers, riding their bikes and buying T-shirts from dealers to mark his biker journey.
"I've probably got two dozen shirts," he said, "from San Diego, Los Angeles, Nevada, Arizona." Airport shopping is a little expensive but fun, he said. "It gives you something to do."
(Editorial comment on this story: Flying around the country, in an AIRPLANE!!!, and he is buying t-shirts from dealers to “mark his biker journey”??? I do believe I have lost my mind on this one!)
Harley-Davidson™ has found a use for all those motorcycles piling up in the warehouses…
The Hampton Police Division is reviving its motorcycle unit, nearly 20 years after administrators disbanded the squad to focus on community-oriented policing, rather than traffic enforcement.
Master Police Officer Dan Pryor and Officer Dan Lowyns are the building blocks of the new unit. They will begin patrolling city streets on new Harley-Davidson™ FLH Electra Glide™ motorcycles this month.
The gleaming white motorcycles come equipped with chrome bars, or "crash bars," that jut out near the front wheel and protect the gas tank and 1450 cc engine in case the driver loses a grip on the nearly 800-pound bike. "Chances are that we'll drop it once or twice, but that's what the crash bars are for," Lowyns said.
Still, police division administrators probably hope that the bikes stay upright: Each 2006 Harley-Davidson™ FLH Electra Glide™ costs the city $19,038, $703 MORE than the $18,335 that the city pays for each Chevrolet Impala patrol car.
To prepare for their new assignment, Lowyns and Pryor took motorcycle patrol safety training under the tutelage of Newport News police Sgt. Andrew Duncan, who has spent 11 years working with police motorcycles. Newport News has six motorcycle patrol officers.
The Newport News department stands out among law agencies because the city uses BMW motorcycles. The department switched from Harley-Davidson™ to BMW motorcycles in 2002 because at the time, BMW was the only manufacturer making motorcycles with anti-lock brakes, Duncan said. Harley-Davidson™ began offering anti-lock brakes on police motorcycles in 2005.
The BMWs also are quieter, allowing officers to patrol more discreetly, Duncan said.
(Editorial comment: A new slogan for the H-D™ impaired, “Loud Pipes Help Criminals Escape!”
But their heart is always in the right place!
Muscular Dystrophy victim, 11 year-old Miriam L. Villanueva settled into a snug motorcycle sidecar for the first time Sunday -- with a helmet on her head, her younger sister, Angela C., at her side, and more than 1,500 cycles behind her. The Villanuevas left the therapy aside for a day and joined the motorcyclists and their guests for the 19th Annual Southeastern Pennsylvania Ride for Life.
Participants raised nearly $839,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, said Brian S. Bentley, chairman of the ride's steering committee.(That’s about $600 per participant bike!)
Eastern Harley-Davidson™ Dealers coordinates the fundraiser. The group raised $750,000 last year, Bentley said.
The fundraiser party started Saturday with a motorcycle show, poker games and a performance by teen country singer Billy Gilman. Then on Sunday, the line of motorcycles took 14 minutes to file out of East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Lyons. The "Research Thunder Parade" ended at Dorney Park in Allentown less than an hour later.
Ed and Shannon Abel of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, learned about the ride when they bought a new Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle. They raised $400 to help the cause. "We're both relatively new into motorcycles," Ed Abel said. "And we wanted to get involved."
The Villanuevas joined the Ride for Life a few years ago to get involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Sunday was Miriam's first time in the parade. She spent the trip in the sidecar with Angela, 9. "She's really excited," Irene Villanueva said. "This really has helped the girls realize the guys behind the leather aren't so intimidating."
Darwin at work…again…
A 30-year-old motorcyclist was hospitalized Friday night with a possible head injury…based on witnesses, Spokane resident Richard Nelson was westbound at high speed in a 45-mph zone when his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle sideswiped a Ford Expedition.
Nelson swiped the length of the Expedition and hit the SUV's bumper, sending Nelson’s Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle sliding for more than 100 feet. The H-D™ slammed into an embankment with Nelson still aboard.
Nelson had no motorcycle endorsement, and paramedics thought he might have been drinking. No citation was issued immediately. One of the issues that remained under investigation was who owned the motorcycle.
The New Harley-Davidson™ Shop is located at…
Perhaps you need some golf balls, an Oxford cloth shirt, a DVD player, a pair of shoes or a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are." Where could you get them while grabbing a bite to eat at Subway, Starbucks, the French Meadow Bakery or one of some 50 other eateries?
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Like airports that attract millions of passengers a year around the country, MSP International is an increasingly popular spot to eat, drink and shop. Airports give merchants a great shot at reaching some of the most deep-pocketed consumers.
"They have nothing but time -- and gold cards in their wallets," said Joe Anderson, who oversees retail concessions at Minneapolis-St. Paul International.
The Harley-Davidson™ shop at the airport doesn't sell choppers but it hawks an array of biker T-shirts exclusive to the store. They sell for $26 to $37.
Craig Collins of Point Pleasant, W.Va., was pleased but surprised to find a Harley-Davidson™ store at the airport during a layover Tuesday. He couldn't resist buying a shirt. He's a Harley-Davidson™ owner and has been flying around the country the past two weeks, visiting friends and Harley-Davidson™ dealers, riding their bikes and buying T-shirts from dealers to mark his biker journey.
"I've probably got two dozen shirts," he said, "from San Diego, Los Angeles, Nevada, Arizona." Airport shopping is a little expensive but fun, he said. "It gives you something to do."
(Editorial comment on this story: Flying around the country, in an AIRPLANE!!!, and he is buying t-shirts from dealers to “mark his biker journey”??? I do believe I have lost my mind on this one!)
Harley-Davidson™ has found a use for all those motorcycles piling up in the warehouses…
The Hampton Police Division is reviving its motorcycle unit, nearly 20 years after administrators disbanded the squad to focus on community-oriented policing, rather than traffic enforcement.
Master Police Officer Dan Pryor and Officer Dan Lowyns are the building blocks of the new unit. They will begin patrolling city streets on new Harley-Davidson™ FLH Electra Glide™ motorcycles this month.
The gleaming white motorcycles come equipped with chrome bars, or "crash bars," that jut out near the front wheel and protect the gas tank and 1450 cc engine in case the driver loses a grip on the nearly 800-pound bike. "Chances are that we'll drop it once or twice, but that's what the crash bars are for," Lowyns said.
Still, police division administrators probably hope that the bikes stay upright: Each 2006 Harley-Davidson™ FLH Electra Glide™ costs the city $19,038, $703 MORE than the $18,335 that the city pays for each Chevrolet Impala patrol car.
To prepare for their new assignment, Lowyns and Pryor took motorcycle patrol safety training under the tutelage of Newport News police Sgt. Andrew Duncan, who has spent 11 years working with police motorcycles. Newport News has six motorcycle patrol officers.
The Newport News department stands out among law agencies because the city uses BMW motorcycles. The department switched from Harley-Davidson™ to BMW motorcycles in 2002 because at the time, BMW was the only manufacturer making motorcycles with anti-lock brakes, Duncan said. Harley-Davidson™ began offering anti-lock brakes on police motorcycles in 2005.
The BMWs also are quieter, allowing officers to patrol more discreetly, Duncan said.
(Editorial comment: A new slogan for the H-D™ impaired, “Loud Pipes Help Criminals Escape!”
But their heart is always in the right place!
Muscular Dystrophy victim, 11 year-old Miriam L. Villanueva settled into a snug motorcycle sidecar for the first time Sunday -- with a helmet on her head, her younger sister, Angela C., at her side, and more than 1,500 cycles behind her. The Villanuevas left the therapy aside for a day and joined the motorcyclists and their guests for the 19th Annual Southeastern Pennsylvania Ride for Life.
Participants raised nearly $839,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, said Brian S. Bentley, chairman of the ride's steering committee.(That’s about $600 per participant bike!)
Eastern Harley-Davidson™ Dealers coordinates the fundraiser. The group raised $750,000 last year, Bentley said.
The fundraiser party started Saturday with a motorcycle show, poker games and a performance by teen country singer Billy Gilman. Then on Sunday, the line of motorcycles took 14 minutes to file out of East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Lyons. The "Research Thunder Parade" ended at Dorney Park in Allentown less than an hour later.
Ed and Shannon Abel of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, learned about the ride when they bought a new Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle. They raised $400 to help the cause. "We're both relatively new into motorcycles," Ed Abel said. "And we wanted to get involved."
The Villanuevas joined the Ride for Life a few years ago to get involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Sunday was Miriam's first time in the parade. She spent the trip in the sidecar with Angela, 9. "She's really excited," Irene Villanueva said. "This really has helped the girls realize the guys behind the leather aren't so intimidating."
