Bryan's Blog

Arrived in Manchester, New Hampshire yesterday and was fortunate enough to have a Dirico Motorcycle waiting for me to use as my ride for Laconia Motorcycle Week. I was stoked. The bike has a cool retro-feel with a Springer front end, deep-welled fenders with fender struts, and wide, pull-back handlebars. It has an olive-drab paint job and a big, cushy leather seat that’s perfect for logging some serious miles – just the kind of bike you’d want to cruise around the oldest motorcycle rally in the nation on.

I can’t thank my buddy Stephen Talarico enough for hooking me up with such a sweet ride. He even picked me up at my hotel and gave me a ride over to his Manchester Harley-Davidson dealership to get the bike. Talarico is also one of the three co-owners of Dirico Motorcycles, with the other two owners being Mark Dirico and Steven Tyler. Yes, that Steven Tyler.

So the bike’s all prepped and ready for me and I’m ready to roll out when I realize I haven’t got the keys yet. The Harley-Davidson ignition switch is already in the ‘Run’ position, so the key isn’t necessary, but when I get to the rally, I wanted to be sure I could lock it up safely. They looked around the office – no luck. Talarico had been using it as his personal ride, but he didn’t have the key with him. Apparently Tyler was one of the last guys to ride it, so they believe that Steven still has the key. Hey Steven, come up off the key buddy, it’s my turn to ride the Flyer. Needless to say, I never got the key, but I did get a heavy-duty lock to strap the bike down with.

New Hampshire is beautiful this time of year. The countryside is so green, and lakes and waterways are seemingly around every corner. On a sun-drenched day, the ride over from Manchester felt great. With its well-sorted Kraft-Tech Frame, the bike rolls with little effort through the turns of the New Hampshire countryside. The Harley-Davidson Twin Cam B 88 cubic-inch engine chugs right along. And I had barely parked on Lakeside Ave. in Weirs Beach when I already had two guys come up asking questions as they admired the bike. Can’t wait to take the ride up Mt. Washington on this motorcycle Friday. And Steven, if you’ve got that key, Talarico is looking for it.