|  | Topic : Americade 2017 |  |
| | | PapaSmurfMC | | Chaac |  |  | | Reg. Date | : | 03/10/2013 | | Posts | : | 871 | | Location | : | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Jun 2017 - 04:30 Post title : Americade 2017 | | | This year made my second trip to Americade (Lake George, New York). Though the weather outlook wasn't good for that week (I went for June 6 - 10), I decided that since I'd survived a downpour in 5 merging lanes of superslab in Albany at rush hour last year, what could be worse? How about rain through the first 250 miles (including Albany at rush hour)? This time I plotted a more "scenic" route through the Pocono Mountains, mostly to avoid New Jersey drivers, and what I could see of it was pretty scenic but, being in the mountains, a lot of it was punching through clouds. At every rest stop on the NY Thruway, I'd meet a dozen or so similarly drowned and chilled riders and we were all smiling! We'd all traipse inside with water running off of our rainsuits, making a wet mess whereever we stopped so there was a lot of mopping going on at these places.
Arrived dripping on the outside but fairly dry on the inside, thanks to 3 layers under my rainsuit. The next day (Wednesday) the skies cleared and every day after got warmer; low 50s on arrival (June 6) and by departure on the 10th, low 80s. I split my time between attending exhibitions, the huge expo/marketplace, riding the incredible Adirondacks and a planned excursion to the "Star Trek Original Series Set Tour" in Ticonderoga (about 40 miles north of Americade and just south of Lake Champlain). Yes, still a geek. Also discovered there was another bike rally going on in Warrensburg (NY), just about 7 miles from Americade, so of course went to that one, too.
Not much of a crowd on Tuesday but by Thursday, the joint was jumping.
 
Usual assortment of weird but entertaining trailers:
And no shortage of unintentional comedy. A lot of foxes and a few cows died for these NJ Indians.
Demo areas were set up for the major brands, where you were taken out in a sizeable group for a 10-20 minute ride on the bike of your choice; Indian, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Harley Davidson (of course), Slingshot (Polaris) and Spyder (CanAm) were there. No Triumph!
In the center of the demo area, there were stunt and drill exhibitions, contests and training going on.
This is a pic of the South Florida Drill Team doing a pretty tame weave but I was too stunned to take a picture by a move where they all tore straight at eachother with horns blasting, all swerving by just enough at the last second. Very high cringe factor.
Then there was the Expo/Marketplace. Pic was from a distance approaching the entrance and doesn't do it justice. It was big
Thursday combined some mountain ridng with a stop in Ticonderoga to visit a place I saw advertised in BackRoads magazine, the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour.
It's an authenic (and studio licensed) reproduction of the Star Trek set (season 3), built using studio-provided blueprints and adjusted by these lunatics to match the actual broadcasts (since the blueprints weren't always strictly followed). This was primarily the work of one very driven and dedicated guy and a bunch of volunteers; they do all of the set construction themselves using the same materials specified in the blueprints.
Don't know how much traffic they usually get but when I got there, I was the only one and had a private tour that lasted about an hour and a half.
If you were/are a fan, this place is truly amazing. The staff are crazy-knowledgeable and pointed out a lot of the weird junk that was used (and reused) as props to save money; things like slices of foam packing from packages, kid's kickballs, trombone mutes, spray bottles... The console lights were made out of decorative plastic cocktail icecubes.
Highly recommended, $20 admission.
Wednesday, stopped over at the Warrensburg Bike Rally, set up at the Warren County Fair Grounds. Found out later that this "rally" is mostly spill-over from the Americade Expo from vendors that preferred not to pay the higher fee charged by Americade to be part of the Expo. Parking and entry was free. I got there early but it was pretty well attended, even then.
They had an Elvis impersonator (natually).
But the highlight (seriously) was an honest-to-goodness Wall Of Death. These 3 guys were the real deal; one of them was 68 years old and claimed to be the oldest continuously performing Wall of Death rider in the world. It was awesome.
They attracted customers by doing tricks on a 1940 Indian Scout running on rollers.
Each of the 3 riders did a run, right up to the lip of the wall and one on a go-kart. Then they did a race between a bike and the go-kart (the bike won, naturally). One of them did a run and would snatch a dollar bill from the hands of the hands of spectators.
The ride home was sunny and hot; pretty much the opposite of the ride up. All in all, a great trip and while I'd like to make this an annual thing, getting pretty curious about Laconia (NH).
Ride safe!
PapaSmurfMC
| 2013 Blue Marble Haze Thunderbird 1600 ABS
2009 Black Bonneville A1 ("Mag")
Buncha farkles
| | Post edited by PapaSmurfMC on 21 Jun 2017 - 04:36 |
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| | | bnz433 | | Jupiter | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 10/06/2011 | | Posts | : | 1,842 | | Location | : | Clifton Park (Upstate), NY, United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Jun 2017 - 20:51 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | Great shots, Papa! But before you even dare sneak up to Laconia, you best get your backside (and, more importantly, BIRD) up to Bennington next year! Hell, you can either do Americade and Bennington, or Bennington and Laconia, as one trip. But don't skip us next year!!
Jamie
| Bennington Triumph Bash - 31May-2June 2019. Home of the (tied in '14 & '15) US RECORD T-BIRD FLOCKING!!!!!
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| | | PapaSmurfMC | | Chaac | | | | Reg. Date | : | 03/10/2013 | | Posts | : | 871 | | Location | : | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Jun 2017 - 21:05 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: bnz433) | | | So much pressure! 
Too big a gap between Bennington and Laconia; it would have to be Bennington and Americade . We'll see how the dates work out next year. 
| 2013 Blue Marble Haze Thunderbird 1600 ABS
2009 Black Bonneville A1 ("Mag")
Buncha farkles
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| | | Leethal | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 24/01/2011 | | Posts | : | 6,407 | | Location | : | Australia |
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| | Posted : 21 Jun 2017 - 22:17 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | Great pics, thanks.
What's with the all that shit on the Indians?
| Experience is something you get just after you needed it
1600,Foran Razorbacks, Meerkat bypass, Dyno tune, real headlight,plenty of chrome,switchblade pegs, Hagon Nitro shocks & Ikon progressive fork springs etc. Scorpion Western Low handlebars. PH adjustable fork caps.
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| | | RatDog | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 09/12/2012 | | Posts | : | 516 | | Location | : | Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| | Posted : 22 Jun 2017 - 02:01 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | | Great pics and write-up PapaSmurf. Love the Americade. The Bennington/Americade double header is highly recommended if you can get the time off.
| Paul
2012 Triumph Thunderbird Storm ABS (stealthy and fastest matte black!)
Previous Bikes:
2001 Suzuki Bandit GSF1200S
1981 Yamaha SECA XJ-750
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| | | PapaSmurfMC | | Chaac | | | | Reg. Date | : | 03/10/2013 | | Posts | : | 871 | | Location | : | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| | Posted : 23 Jun 2017 - 03:51 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: Leethal) | | | Leethal wrote:
Great pics, thanks.
What's with the all that shit on the Indians? |
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When I saw these bikes for the first time, I laughed out loud. Suspect these people also dress up their pets. Here's a shot from the other side; you can barely find motorcycles under all that livestock.
| 2013 Blue Marble Haze Thunderbird 1600 ABS
2009 Black Bonneville A1 ("Mag")
Buncha farkles
| | Post edited by PapaSmurfMC on 23 Jun 2017 - 03:52 |
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| | | fab | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 12/10/2009 | | Posts | : | 2,515 | | Location | : | wyong, nsw, Australia |
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| | Posted : 23 Jun 2017 - 22:05 Post title : Re: Americade 2017 (Re: PapaSmurfMC) | | |
PapaSmurfMC wrote:
Leethal wrote:
Great pics, thanks.
What's with the all that shit on the Indians? |
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When I saw these bikes for the first time, I laughed out loud. Suspect these people also dress up their pets. Here's a shot from the other side; you can barely find motorcycles under all that livestock.
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did the village people ride them into town
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Remember, soft cocks hang around all life long, hard ones come and go
ahh f**k im deep
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