Harley-Davidson Inc. says it is shutting down its test facility at the Talladega Airport, eliminating about 100 jobs

The motorcycle company says it's consolidating its test operations from Talladega, Naples, Florida, and Mesa, Arizona to the Arizona Proving Grounds in Yucca, Arizona.

Pat Sweeney, a spokesman for Harley-Davidson, could not provide a date when the facility would close, but did say it would be sometime next year.

Sweeney says the Talladega facility has just under 70 Harley-Davidson employees, Sweeney said, as well as just under 40 contract workers.

The facility performs several kinds of vehicle testing, including emissions, brake, sound, durability and automated vehicle tests. High-speed tests are often performed at the Talladega SuperSpeedway.

For more information please visit: http://www.abc15.com/content/financialsurvival/azstories/story/Harley-Davidson-consolidates-test-facilities-to/KhjALr-K9UmQHUpov5vi-Q.cspx

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

A three-vehicle crash on Interstate 595 has left one person dead and another in critical condition, according to the Florida Highway Patrol

The crash happened shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. It began with two motorcycles in the left lane and a four-door Kia in the center lane, ahead of the motorcycles, according to FHP. All were eastbound near Hiatus Road.

The Kia, driven by Erica Vieira Borges, 22, of Sunrise, moved into the left lane, and one motorcycle crashed into the back of it, FHP said.

The motorcyclist, Josue Rene Robles Duprey, 25, of Miramar, was thrown from his 2007 Yamaha R6 motorcycle, which skidded across the roadway and stopped in an exit lane.

Borges' Kia veered off the roadway and hit a guardrail, FHP said. It then moved back onto the interstate and was struck by the second motorcycle.

The second motorcyclist, Shaun L. Pasley, 22, of Miramar, was thrown from his 2008 Honda CBR 1000 motorcycle, FHP said. Both the Kia and second motorcycle then caught on fire.

Duprey and Pasley both were taken to Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Duprey died from his injuries, FHP said. Pasley was in critical condition.

Borges had minor injuries.

The crash remains under investigation. Both motorcyclists wore helmets.

For more information please visit: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1304193.html

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Harley-Davidson announces third-quarter results and long-term strategy; discontinues Buell line

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE: HOG) announced decreased revenue, net income and earnings per share for the third quarter of 2009 compared to the year-ago period, while reporting a moderation in the decline of retail new Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales compared to the second quarter.

Worldwide retail sales of new Harley-Davidson® motorcycles declined 21.3 percent in the third quarter compared to last year's third quarter, an improvement from the 30.1 percent decline in this year's second quarter. An 84.1 percent decline in net income and an 84.5 percent decline in diluted earnings per share from the year-ago quarter reflected lower motorcycle shipments and the effects of the economy on retail and wholesale loan performance at Harley-Davidson Financial Services.

Harley-Davidson also unveiled major elements of its go-forward business strategy to drive growth through a single-minded focus of efforts and resources on the unique strengths of the Harley-Davidson brand, and to enhance productivity and profitability through continuous improvement. As approved yesterday by Harley-Davidson's Board of Directors, the Company will discontinue its Buell product line and divest its MV Agusta unit as part of this strategy.

"While the environment remains challenging for us, we are mildly encouraged by the moderation in the decline of dealer retail Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales," said Keith Wandell, Chief Executive Officer of Harley-Davidson, Inc. "And moving forward, our strategy is designed to strengthen Harley-Davidson for long-term growth and deliver results through increased focus.

"As our announcement regarding Buell and MV Agusta indicates, we are moving with the speed and decisiveness required to bring our business strategy to life," said Wandell. "The fact is we must focus both our effort and our investment on the Harley-Davidson brand, as we believe this provides an optimal path to sustained, meaningful, long-term growth."

For much more detailed information and a touching video from Erik Buell please visit: http://www.amadirectlink.com/news/story.asp?id=1445

Man on speeding scooter slams into pole in Melbourne after an early morning police chase

A 34-year-old man who Melbourne police say led officers on an early morning chase while riding a motor scooter was injured after slamming into a light pole.

The crash happened at about 4:25 a.m. in the 700 block of U.S. 1 after the unidentified man hit the pole while going at least 50 mph, officials say. The southbound lanes of U.S. 1 were briefly closed before dawn as Melbourne police carried out an investigation.

“We attempted to stop a motor scooter for a suspected DUI when he fled,” said Sgt. Scott Mostert of the Melbourne Police Department.

“He was riding a scooter but it can be classified as a motorcycle. We believe he was going more than 50 mph. He’s injured but it doesn’t appear to be anything life threatening.”

Charges are pending in the case.

For more information please visit: http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091022/BREAKINGNEWS/91022003/1006/NEWS01/Man+on+speeding+scooter+slams+into+pole+in+Melbourne

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A 26-year-old motorcyclist dragged a trooper about 5 feet while trying to flee a traffic stop

The trooper stopped Stephen David Young about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday after seeing Young riding the Honda motorcycle without eye protection, an arrest report states. Florida law requires motorcyclists to wear an eye-protective device.

When the trooper approached near Dale Mabry Highway and Lemon Street, Young tried to accelerate but the Honda stalled. The trooper put Young in a bearhug to get him off the motorcycle, but Young started the motorcycle again, the report states.

The trooper was dragged, suffering a cut and bruise.

Troopers chased Young for about four minutes, with Young turning off his lights, ignoring stop signs and trying to hide in a carport.

Young faces charges including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and attempting to elude police, driving under the influence, and driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license.

He remains in jail with bail set at $18,750.

For more information please visit: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/22/trooper-dragged-motorcycle-highway-patrol-says/news-breaking/

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

A Jacksonville man was in critical condition after his motorcycle crashed into the back of a sport utility vehicle on U.S. 1 on Thursday afternoon

John William Devero, 60, was traveling north on U.S. 1 near Shore Drive when the SUV in front of him slowed to stop at a traffic light.

He attempted to stop his Harley-Davidson motorcycle but couldn't, according to an FHP report.

Both Devero and the bike crashed into the Nissan, driven by a Donna Paytas, of St. Augustine.

Devero was taken to Shands Jacksonville and was in critical condition, the report stated.

A woman on the back of the bike, Laurie Ann Johnston, 44, of Jacksonville, was taken to Flagler Hospital with minor injuries.

Both were wearing helmets, according to the report.

For more information please visit: http://www.staugustine.com/stories/101609/news_2089816.shtml

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

Just as Biketoberfest begins in Central Florida, a motorcyclist is critically injured after plowing into a tree and being hit by another motorcycle

The man, 45-year-old Juan Partridge, was injured at 11 p.m. on State Road 44 at Lake
Winnemissett Drive, about a half-mile west of Interstate 4.

Partridge hit the fallen tree, which obstructed the entire westbound lane and was then ejected from the motorcycle. Another motorcyclist swerved to avoid the tree and drove over Partridge.

The motorcyclist remains at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

For more information please visit: http://www.wesh.com/news/21302053/detail.html

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

The motorcycle rider who died Wednesday night on Interstate 4 did a lot of the things highway patrol troopers see in too many fatal motorcycle wrecks

He was speeding and not obeying traffic laws. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

The rider was driving between the lanes of stopped vehicles as a tow truck hauled a vehicle from a ditch and noticed the truck too late to stop.

"He was going way too fast. If he'd been doing the speed limit he probably would have had time to stop," Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Kraus said.

Instead of being able to stop, the unidentified rider dropped the Honda motorcycle on its side and slid under the tow truck. He died at the scene.

The heady mix of speed and power can prove too tempting to resist.

The increase in popularity of high-performance sports motorcycles – which are often called "crotch rockets" because of how the rider sits and can go from zero to 100 mph in seconds – are a temptation for thrill seekers.

"They know it can go fast and they're just going to push it," Kraus said. "There are adrenaline junkies out there. When you're going 130 miles per hour, you're blood's flowing."

Troopers have clocked some of those high-performance motorcycles at 180 mph, too fast for highway patrol cars to keep up, he said.

Even without speeding or reckless riding, motorcyclists are far more vulnerable to mistakes, both their own or those made by other drivers.

"You're extremely vulnerable. On a motorcycle, the only thing you have protecting you is your protective gear. You don't get a second chance with a motorcycle," said Mark Parco, an owner of Florida Professional Motorcycle Training Inc.

Usually other motorists cause collisions with motorcycles. A Florida Department of Highway Safety study that looked at more than 1,500 fatal motorcycle accidents between 1997 and 2002 showed that 60 percent were due to the action of other drivers, he said.

But of those, Parco said, the study found 80 percent could have been avoided if the motorcyclist had reacted properly.

That's where training comes in.

Since July 1, 2008, the state has required anyone who gets the necessary motorcycle endorsement on a driver license to take a safety class. The exception is someone who already had the endorsement before the law went into effect.

"Most people are self-taught riders. They get a bike, learn how to make it go and ride for 20 years and think they're a good rider," Parco said.

Many self-taught riders don't use the motorcycle's front brakes because they don't know how to use them properly and fear being pitched over the handlebars. So they use just the rear brakes and they lay the bike down when trying to stop quickly, he said.

Nearly half the fatal accidents that don't involve another vehicle happen on a curve because untrained riders don't know the correct way to negotiate a curve.

"You slow before the curve, not when you're halfway through it and realize you're going too fast. Then it's too late," Parco said.

Ultimately, it comes to the decisions a motorcyclist makes, said Robert Gladden of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, which is based in California.

"It's up to the motorcyclist not to make bad decisions. Not to ride impaired and not to speed," he said.

A mistake on a motorcycle can have far worse consequences than one made behind the wheel of a car. In an accident, there is little to protect a motorcycle rider.

"Obviously, you're not wrapped in that protective cage," Gladden said. "Ride sober and use safety gear."

For more information please visit: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/15/motorcycle-safety-begins-training-following-laws/news-breaking/

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

A Panama City, Fla., man was killed Wednesday night when he was thrown from his motorcycle

George M. Hogg, 34, was riding his Kawasaki motorcycle south on the road "at a high rate of speed" about 11:15 p.m., police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said. As Hogg approached the curve near Third Street, he lost control of the motorcycle, Foltz said.

The motorcycle crossed Pontchartrain Drive and went over three curbs in the parking lot of the Capital One bank before Hogg was thrown off, Foltz said. The motorcycle came to rest in the parking lot of a vacant building nearby.

Hogg, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead of massive head injuries, Foltz said.

Authorities will conduct toxicology tests to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash.

For more information please visit: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/10/florida_man_killed_in_slidell.html

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

A 26-year-old woman who was speeding and weaving out of traffic on Interstate 95 is guilty of vehicular homicide of two motorcyclists she hit

A jury deliberated for a hour Wednesday afternoon before finding Dominique Brice, of Miami, guilty of killing the motorcyclists parked along the northbound lanes on Feb. 29, 2008, near the juncture of Indian River and St. Lucie counties.

Sentencing is Nov. 25. She could face up to 30 years in jail.

Killed in the mid-day accident were off-duty North Miami police officer Fritz Doucet, 37, and West Palm Beach computer technician Raul Ortiz. They were recently reunited high school buddies going to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, said Ortiz’s sister, Carmen Sanchez, of New Jersey.

For more information please visit: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/oct/14/miami-woman-on-trial-in-vero-beach-in-deaths-of/

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com

Twenty-year-old Sean Stiller of Cassadaga is suing Halftime Sports Bar, alleging he wrecked his motorcycle after he was illegally served alcohol

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 8 by Miami attorney Mark Feinstein, alleges Halftime served Stiller alcohol in the hours before his July 1 motorcycle crash, even though the bartenders knew he was not 21.

After spending weeks in a coma at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Stiller is living now at a rehabilitation hospital in Jacksonville. His attorney said his medical expenses currently exceed half a million dollars.

Stiller was 19 years old this summer when he wrecked his motorcycle at the intersection of Cassadaga Road and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway. He had been on his way home to Cassadaga around 2 a.m., after spending time with friends in DeLand.

When he didn't show up at home, his friends searched for him, but couldn't see him or his motorcycle lying off the side of the road at the intersection. He was discovered by a bicyclist about three hours after the crash.

His mom, Katie Stiller, said her son fractured almost every bone in his face, and had trauma to his brain, broken ribs, punctured lungs, a lacerated liver, and ant bites from lying, unconscious, in the grass.

The lawsuit asks for damages exceeding $15,000, the statutory threshold for Circuit Court.

For more information please visit: http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/2126

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Early arrivals and fully booked hotels paint positive picture for Biketoberfest

More than the arriving bikers have a smile on their faces about Biketoberfest, the winter motorcycle event in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Organizers and tourism officials are pointing to some key indicators as reasons this year's event could buck the economic slowdown experienced by both motorcycle events and tourist destinations.

Officially kicking off on Thursday October 15th, the four-day event had an impressive, although sentimental early start over the weekend with the Boggy Creek Camp Ride for Children. Usually led by Bruce Rossmeyer, many attended the event to pay respect to a man widely considered the largest owner of Harley-Davidson dealerships and who died on his way to Sturgis in July earlier this year.

For more information please visit: http://www.clutchandchrome.com/News/MotorcycleNews0910047.htm

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com