Americade?

PJNXX

Has anyone ever attended the Americade rally in upstate NY? I have lived in NY my whole life but have never been there. I hear that it is mainly touring bikes. But are there any sportbikes there?

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-Paul

trkracer

Hey PJNXX, I'm originally from Saratoga which is south of Glens Falls. Visited Americade a couple of times and it seems pretty cool. Never able to get my moto there. Visited with my folks. There are ALL kinds of bikes there. TONS of Goldwings, Harleys, metric cruisers, sportbikes and some customs. As soon as I can, I will definitely get the Blackbird up there. It's a beautiful area. It does get crowded as POOP though. Lot of folks with tired left hands and cooked thighs if you know what I mean. But, yeah, I would highly recommend it.

trkracer

Oh, we used to live in Middle Island and it would take about 6 hours to get up to Glens Falls.

PJNXX

Thanks for the info, trkracer.

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-Paul

swazijmw

I have been there on my XX and must agree with the "tired left hand and cooked thighs" It makes California high ways look good. Tons of bikes, all makes. It's a beautiful ride there, worth it.

Angelski19

Americade is awesome. You have to go on their website and register so you get all the goodies that comes along with the rally. If you don't it's life riding your bike in first gear. I have gone the past 2 years and I am going again this June. Let me know if you are going. We can meet up with the birds. I could also send you tons of info.

PJNXX

Sounds good. It looks like I will be going with my wife. I am in the processing of finding a hotel. Any info is welcome. One ride I plan on doing is the Vermont High Gap ride which seems to be a good sportbike route from what I have read. It would be great to meet up.

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-Paul

HANKSXXX

It's a good event, but the village is crowded. I like to ride up to Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, Long Lake, etc...areas north and west of Lake George. Thats good for a short day's ride. The Green Mountains in Vermont offer some great roads.You could ride up the west shore of Lake George and continue along Lake Champlain. There is a ferry that takes cars and bikes across to Vermont, which is a nice break, and then return by road around the south end of the lake. Grab a map or check into the various tours. Restaraunts are crowded, as are the bars. Lodging is sometimes hard to find, as some people stay at the same place year after year. If you time it right, you could include a trip over to the Ralley at Laconia NH. These 2 major events used to be 2 weeks apart, but they changed the schedule so it's possible to do both in a week. White Mountains in New Hampshire offer some good riding and the Lakes Region in general is a nice area. Again, you'll run into crowds, but they can be avoided...Hope this helps...Hank

PJNXX

Finding a hotel is getting difficult. The prices being charged by hotels are insane!!!! They seem to be jacking up the price by almost double their normal rate. Also, a lot of hotels are already booked. You guys that have been there in the past, what hotel did you stay at? Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

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-Paul

PJNXX

Thanks for all the info you guys have PM'd me and such. I found a lakeside lodge at the northern part of Lake George. It was very reasonably priced too. However it is a bit of a ride to the main area of festivities.

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-Paul

PJNXX

In addition to Angelski19, is anyone else going this June?

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-Paul

SGTSkiXX

when in june is thsi I might be able to make but I'm not positive I may be going to cali for 2 weeks of opfor work

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SGT Ski
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on thier behalf" George Orwell

PJNXX

It takes place at Lake George, NY from June 4-9. Here is a link Welcome to Americade

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-Paul

SGTSkiXX

Cool I'll check but I'm pretty sure that is when I will be playing Army in Cali

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SGT Ski
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on thier behalf" George Orwell

SSUXX

I've been going up there since about '88 if memory serves. It's gotten HUGE over the years but it's still polite and even family oriented which is nice. I've left my helmet and jacket draped over the bike all day and nobody ever touches it. As for the Gold Wings, Americade has lost alot of Wing riders over the years. Alot more cruisers now...
As already mentioned, the riding up there is AMAZING. Take many day trips and check out the expo.
All makes and models are welcome. I don't understand why anyone would care about that but, whatever.
You're lucky you found a room.
I wasn't able to go the last 2 years because of work related travel but this year, i'm in.

PJNXX

Looks like you are quite an experienced Americader there, SSUXX. Perhaps we will meet up there, or maybe we can go for a ride sometime since you don't live far from me. Did you get a hotel yet?

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-Paul

SSUXX

My parents live in Albany, 45 minutes south.

If you head over to STN, there's a region 6 meet and greet ride 4/14 that you should consider. I'll be on the 7AM boat out of PJ.

Hookman49

Yep, I will be there at some point. One year I did the whole week but now only do a couple of days. Have a camp near Old Forge. I stay there and commute back and forth. It is a good time.

Ken

PJNXX

That's cool. As the time gets near, perhaps we can all arrange a meet at some point.

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-Paul

PJNXX

My first Americade has completed and all I can say is...AMAZING! My wife and I rode 2-up to Lake George from our house on Long Island on Monday, 6/4, in a steady rain that did not let up during the entire trip. This, coupled with NYC rush hour traffic, resulted in a ride that took 7 hours which normally should take only 5.5 hours.

On Tuesday, we went on a 220 mile ride which looped from Lake George to Vermont back to Lake George. What a great ride it was!

Some pics of Nina and I that we took upon entering Vermont from Ticonderoga,NY



These couple of pics were taken from an overlook in the Appalachian Gap. The road through here is Vermont SR17 and it is really twisty with posted 20 MPH turns. The road is closed to trucks in the winter.



I never knew there were moose in the northeast, but now I know



Waiting to catch the ferry from Vermont to New York across Lake Champlain



Some pics taken at the southernmost part of Lake George looking north



This pic was taken in the parking lot of the Roaring Brook Ranch which is Americade headquarters. 14 different manufacturers offered demo rides here. I wanted to demo ride a CBR1000RR but the Honda rep said they didn't bring any CBR's for demo. When I rode past the Honda demo area on my XX equipped with a GIVI E460, every head turned my way, as if they were thinking "What Honda is that and is it available for a demo ride?".



On Wedensday we took a dinner boat cruise on Lake George. These pics were taken from the boat as it went all around the lake.



Thursday was the 300 mile, 5.5 hour journey home. Here is a pic of me and my family as we arrived at our house. Total mileage logged for the entire trip was 1,079 miles. Only 60 or so miles was solo riding.



It was an awesome trip. Riding in the New York Adirondack mountains and the Vermont Green mountains was spectacular. I highly recommend it!
If anyone wants specific route data please let me know.

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-Paul

trkracer

Paul,
Great pics!!! Glad you had fun up there and I can't wait to get a chance to do it myself. Did you travel all that way with ONLY the E460? Jiminy crickets, talk about packing light and for two people at that!

PJNXX

Thanks. For luggage, we had the E460 and my old Tourmaster TB-18 magnetic tank bag, as seen in the first pic. That E460 has a 46 liter capacity, and you'll be surprised how much you can fit in there.

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-Paul