A few days ago I parked my car in the parking lot of an Albertson's grocery store. As I walked towards the store, I saw an old guy standing next to a Yamaha Road Star, securing his helmet.

Several minutes later, I ended up standing behind him in the check out line. I asked him if that was his Road Star out front.

"Yeah, that's mine!" he talked out loud.

This guy was quite old, definitely in his 80s. It was hard to comprehend what he was saying, because his speech was slurred. But it was never hard to hear him. He wore a jacket with an Indian logo on it.

He went on to say that he bought his first motorcycle in 1934, it was an Indian Scout, and that he was riding with clubs long before the Boozefighters and the Hells Angels. He talked in a loud voice, almost like he was angry. Everyone could hear him.

He said that every year he goes to Sturgis and that everyone there knows him. "I always ride, I don't trailer." He said that several members of the Hells Angels, along with other clubs I had trouble hearing, comes out to celebrate his birthday. It sounded like he was one special guy.

He also said that he was featured in a documentary that will soon run on the Discovery Channel, (or was it The History Channel?). He told me to keep my eye on that station.

I asked him what happened to his Indian Scout. He said it got stolen, last year. He had been riding it all this time, up until last year.

Now I understood why he talked like he was angry.

This guy bought a 1934 Indian Scout when it was brand new, and rode it everywhere, and kept riding it, for 71 years. Then, it was taken away from him by people who saw its material worth and not its sentimental value. He had to have bought that thing when he was a teenager. I'm sure he had other bikes throughout the years, but to ride the same bike for that long is a testament to his skill as a rider and his love of motorcycles.

I suppose if there was anything that could make a guy like him cry, that would've been it.

Labels: Indian, Motorcycle Thefts

The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies published a list of the top 5 most stolen motorcycles, and the top 5 most crashed bikes:

Most Likely to be Stolen	Least Likely to be Stolen
Suzuki GSX-R Series Yamaha YZF Series Honda CBR Series Suzuki Hayabusa Kawasaki Ninja Series	Suzuki Savage BMW R1200C Honda Rebel Series Honda Shadow Series Yamaha V-Star

Most Likely to be Crashed	Least Likely to be Crashed
Suzuki GSX-R Series Kawasaki Ninja Series Suzuki TLR Yamaha YZF Series Honda CBR Series	Yamaha Virago Series Honda Rebel Series Suzuki Savage Harley-Davidson FXR BMW R1200C

What I find interesting is that the most crashed bikes are all crotch rockets, while the least crashed are all cruisers.

The reason why I think it's interesting is because I've been reading several news articles over the past year reporting there is a growing problem of older Americans buying up big-twin bikes, and crashing them. Yet here, we have statistical data showing that it's actually the crotch rockets, typically ridden by young riders, that are most often involved in crashes.

Progressive says these statistics are based on claims data covering more than 2 million insured riders over the past three years.

Labels: Motorcycle Thefts

ABC News reported today that a major motorcycle theft ring based in New York City was busted with the arrest and indictment of 16 people - including a city firefighter - for swiping millions of dollars in high-end bikes from city streets.

The suspects allegedly stole motorcycles and sold the engines on the Internet to folks who use them to build small race cars, known as "dwarf racing", in the Midwest and California.

The theives stole Yamahas, Suzukis, Harleys, and Hondas, some worth as much as $35,000.00 a piece. You can the read full details, along with video, at the ABC News website.

Labels: Motorcycle Thefts