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JerseyWinger wrote:
Well, Dennis, what stories do you have? Yes, the weather was great. I'll give you a couple personal observations from a first timer. I'd never been to Americade or anything like it.
We met many nice people, and my wife felt welcomed and included, which was great. I could not believe the sheer volume of bikes and Goldwings. I nearly lost my bike at the Tourexpo parking lot. "Uh, anyone seen a red Goldwing?"
Driving through Canada Street was madness. Half an hour to go half a mile. Most riders didn't give up their protective gear despite the heat, but I sure was tempted.
Noise from loud pipes caught me a little by surprise. I had a motel just north of the strip, and it was very hard to sleep. I don't know how the locals put up with it. Controversial topic, for sure. But the locals I met all said they were very happy to have the event.
RBR was low key on Friday. I was disappointed in the Goldwing judging. They were beautiful, but I expected to see more bikes, and a more fun event. There wasn't much interest except from the contestants. I had more fun browsing the parking areas and Canada Street. And it was just kind of odd how there's not much but demos at RBR. The seminars on Friday didn't interest me. We met more nice people at the demos. Apparently someone wrecked one of the Kawasakis in the late afternoon. I later heard a guy got killed in a different one-bike accident. We rode a Harley Ultra trike and were convinced we don't want a Harley or a trike. The dynamics were all wrong. Can-Am Spider was fun. They need to make a touring version, which could capture much of the after-market trike business. Saw one guy pulling a trailer with a Can Am. I was shocked that the Kawasaki 1700 Nomad takes bumps better than my Goldwing. I've got some work to do there. So the demos were educational and fun.
I beat the parade to the mountain top and would do it that way again. I saw parade participants soaking wet with sweat. Many bikes, especially air cooled bikes, were knocking pretty bad by the time they got up there, probably due to overheating.
Like many have said, the people were the highlight, and it was great to see so many types of riders on very different bikes and trikes coming together from everywhere.
Eric
Lotta info here...........I like it !!! Anyway................
This was probably my 15'th Americade or so. I love it !! I have nothing Earth shattering to report but was wondering if any of you did.
Obviously the weather is a big key to having a good time at a bike rally. This was definitely the first Americade in maybe 10 years where there was no rain. It may be the first one EVER to have NO RAIN at all.
A little history.........going back about 10 years, Americade used to be held the week before it currently is. They got many complaints about it being too cold so they pushed it up a week. It has been a bit warmer....a bit........but MUCH wetter. Speaking for myself, I'll take a bit colder than a lot wetter any day.
One learns to stay away from Canada Street on the bike unless you like that kind of stuff. ( like being looked at )
A little more history.........this is true...........they used to have NYS Troopers at each end of Lake George from the NYS Thruway ( north and south ) basically watching for idiots with loud pipes. If your pipes were too loud, they sent the children to another playground. It was great !! I guess over the years, the almighty dollar of all riders, even the loud pipers, became too much to resist. They won't send you away now unless the pipes are totally ridiculously loud. (childishly annoying )
The locals love us. Almost every single hotel/motel room in a 20 mile radiusis sold out that week. Not to mention all the restaurants, etc. They'll gladly put up with some noise for the week.
The people that attend each year are the friendliest people you'll find in any walk of life. Just normal, everyday people except they ride bikes.
Still a bit more history..............L-O-N-G ago, about 90 % of all bikes there were Hondas. Of that 90 %, 8 out of ten was a Gold Wing. It was unbelievable. Anyway, now there are all different types of bikes but, as you saw, very few sport bikes.
95 % of all the bikes are cruisers, full dressers or standards.
It's very hard to get a full apprciation of Americade from one visit because there is a lot to do and there are TONS of great riding roads in the Adirondacks. You can also do a lot of "nothing" if you like.
So.............anyway.............I like it up there a lot and it is without a doubt a very enjoyable motorcycle rally. Isn't it incredible how efficiently the entire rally is run ??
Dennis
