NEED YOUR HELP

[wheatonFJR]

...stay off the damned I-States...geebus, everybody knows dat.

 

[Mr Bill]

...stay off the damned I-States...geebus, everybody knows dat.

[SIZE=14pt]Everybody that rides knows it.[/SIZE]

 

[Fred W]

So what exactly are you trying to say about our resident Manatee molester?

 

[Mr Bill]

So what exactly are you trying to say about our resident Manatee molester?

He really lives in NH

 

[Fred W]

You wish you lived in NH...

No income or sales tax. Cheap booze and cigarettes.

And 90% fewer Massholes!

 

[Mr Bill]

You wish you lived in NH...
No income or sales tax. Cheap booze and cigarettes.

And 90% fewer Massholes!

[SIZE=12pt]You forgot....three bikes in every garage!!![/SIZE]

I only have two, ktm690r and fjr.

And speaking of Massholes, who lives in the shadows of Boston???

 

[Fred W]

Ha ha!!

It's all good though, I can make fun of Massholes because I wuzz one (don't remember if I told you that).

Grew up in the Boston 'burbs.

I envy you having one of those orange bikes. I really think if I get my **** together to get a dual sport it will either be a big katoom DS or the Man-strom. Obviously quite different bikes. You'll have to give me your impressions some day when we have the chance.

And we now return you to the original thread...

Seriously, sorry about the hiJack.

 

[VanHarlan]

Wow . . Day two you're going right past my house . . well within a couple blocks anyhow . . at Lake Ontario.

You're missing one heck of a nice road between Irondequoit and Sodus Point though . . . seriously . . take Lake Road in Webster out to Sodus Point, then dive south the catch 104 E . . . call me if you want an escort for that part of the ride . . . gorgeous drive, be a shame to miss it . . much more scenic that the Ontario State Parkway imho

 

[fljab]

I basically did this trip last yr that included portions of your trip. I overnighted in North Creek, NY as my brother-in-law owns a bar/restaurant there (BarVino), then went across at Crown Point and points NE.

I did Bar Harbour just because I felt I had to, but it was overrun with tourists, including me; Best meal I had on the entire trip (other than at BarVino of course) was at a little place just before you get into Searsport, ME (just north-on the east side of the road), it was the "Anglers Maine Family Restaurant" that was next to the "Baits Motel"; I overnighted at the motel, ate dinner at the restaurant. Come hungry if you eat there; I'd stop again - in fact make a point of it - if I ever get back that way.

I also only did the eastern part of the Kancamagus Hwy on a crappy day, but it was a great ride! Leaving Searsport early, I did a 1200 mile ride straight through to Columbus, OH with ~2 hr nap at the PA welcome rest stop on I-84; I slept on a bench directly in front of the bike in full ATGATT and only woke up because I heard/felt some "pattering" aka rain.

Maine roads are the worst!

My wife & I will be in Boston that week, with the weekend of Aug 6-8 in Groton, CT for my submarine reunion (USS Patrick Henry SSBN-599). No motorcycles this trip; Amtrak all the way. Got tix for a Red Sox game at Fenway on Aug 4!!!

Have a great trip and stay safe!! Post a ride report when you come back.

 

[snikr]

I just looked at your day 3 plan and you should take RT 108 down through Smugglers Notch. Driving RT 15 puts you real close to it and you will not believe how much fun that road is when you drive right next to bolders. Just my $.02 YMMV

Tom

 

[Barry 07 FJR1300AE]

Wow . . Day two you're going right past my house . . well within a couple blocks anyhow . . at Lake Ontario.You're missing one heck of a nice road between Irondequoit and Sodus Point though . . . seriously . . take Lake Road in Webster out to Sodus Point, then dive south the catch 104 E . . . call me if you want an escort for that part of the ride . . . gorgeous drive, be a shame to miss it . . much more scenic that the Ontario State Parkway imho

I just looked at your day 3 plan and you should take RT 108 down through Smugglers Notch. Driving RT 15 puts you real close to it and you will not believe how much fun that road is when you drive right next to bolders. Just my $.02 YMMV
Tom

This thread had become basicly dead although I did get some great advice early on. Thanks for the interest, looks like I would have missed some awesome riding. I have edited days 2 and 3 to include your advice, check to make sure my route looks good. VanHarlan we would love an escort and anyone else that would like to join us please feel free. Just PM me your contact and I'll give you a heads up of where we are and what time we are gonna be there. I am experimenting with a GPS tracking program for my iPhone called INSTAMAPPER. It runs in the background however I am not sure of the battery drain it will have. I use my phone for the MP3 player which last forever. My GPS is plugged into the outlet. So if I decide to get a spliter and hook them both up I will have it update like every 5 min or so. Ill post my login info so that you guys can see my live position. Again thanks for the advice. The days are getting closer now to our trip we are getting very excited.

 

[Barry 07 FJR1300AE]

I basically did this trip last yr that included portions of your trip. I overnighted in North Creek, NY as my brother-in-law owns a bar/restaurant there (BarVino), then went across at Crown Point and points NE.
I did Bar Harbour just because I felt I had to, but it was overrun with tourists, including me; Best meal I had on the entire trip (other than at BarVino of course) was at a little place just before you get into Searsport, ME (just north-on the east side of the road), it was the "Anglers Maine Family Restaurant" that was next to the "Baits Motel"; I overnighted at the motel, ate dinner at the restaurant. Come hungry if you eat there; I'd stop again - in fact make a point of it - if I ever get back that way.

I also only did the eastern part of the Kancamagus Hwy on a crappy day, but it was a great ride! Leaving Searsport early, I did a 1200 mile ride straight through to Columbus, OH with ~2 hr nap at the PA welcome rest stop on I-84; I slept on a bench directly in front of the bike in full ATGATT and only woke up because I heard/felt some "pattering" aka rain.

Maine roads are the worst!

My wife & I will be in Boston that week, with the weekend of Aug 6-8 in Groton, CT for my submarine reunion (USS Patrick Henry SSBN-599). No motorcycles this trip; Amtrak all the way. Got tix for a Red Sox game at Fenway on Aug 4!!!

Have a great trip and stay safe!! Post a ride report when you come back.

Thanks for the heads up on the eats. One of the reason for the trip is some "GOOD EATS." Looks like we wont be far from "BarVino," if it is a good time to eat we will try to go there. Also gonna look for "Anglers Maine Family Restaurant." I am a squid also, a top sider though (FC2 SW). I served on the USS Thomas S Gates (CG-51), great times. That ship is in moth balls now. Never heard of ships doing reunions. I would definately go, id like to see some of my old shipmates.

 

[Grumpy]

Fred's advice in post #16 is right on. 219 thru West-by-God Virginia is not to be missed.

I'd also add Camden, ME as a "typical" lovely ME coastal city to see.

 

[Barry 07 FJR1300AE]

Fred's advice in post #16 is right on. 219 thru West-by-God Virginia is not to be missed.
I'd also add Camden, ME as a "typical" lovely ME coastal city to see.

I would love to ride through there. The main reason for hauling is that it is REALLY hot here in July and August and we dont want to start out our trip like that. Another is that we are gonna be so far from home that it would be nice to have closer transport if something happened. We are 31 and 26, we gotta be at work when the fun is over. Also we are planning on leaving Thursday afternoon and driving into the night to get a jump on our riding trip(even more days) so it would just be better to haul it. As I had mentioned earlier, we are thinking of just hauling one way. Ill know later if that pans out. Maybe this fall we can take a shorter trip thru Eastern Ky and West-by-God VA to enjoy the roads and scenery!!

I guess one other factor is that touring is new to us this year. I have been riding for quite a few years but she is new to it. We have rode one 900 mile 3 day Eastern KY trip this year, that was EASY. This will be about 2100 miles as planned. So we are a little nervous, mostly about what to pack and not to over pack, also what to expect in a 6 day trip. Adding about 1300 more miles to the trip might be a little much for us this trip. Bought the bike in April this year and it has over 8500 miles on it right now (trying to get her broke in!). Alot of that two up. We will work our way into longer distance trips. We both love it. I just added a Garauld backrest and rack :yahoo: that a got from a fellow member. This will help with packing and I am sure she will love the added comfort. Thanks for the advice though!!!

 

[fljab]

Thanks for the heads up on the eats. One of the reason for the trip is some "GOOD EATS." Looks like we wont be far from "BarVino," if it is a good time to eat we will try to go there. Also gonna look for "Anglers Maine Family Restaurant." I am a squid also, a top sider though (FC2 SW). I served on the USS Thomas S Gates (CG-51), great times. That ship is in moth balls now. Never heard of ships doing reunions. I would definately go, id like to see some of my old shipmates.

BarVino is mainly a bar with small plates of some pretty good food and a great place to hang out - of course I'm prejudiced and get treated pretty well there. There are also a couple of regular restaurants on either side of BV; North Creek is a great little town that caters to the **** Mountain ski crowd in the winter, and kayakers and Adirondack tourists in the summer. I'm overdue for a trip there!

Yes, if you get the chance, go to the Anglers! I had the BIG meal (no pics tho - I regret that) of which included a huge plate full of mussels, littlenecks, another plate of side stuff (taters, corn), big bowl of lobster chowder, plenty of bread, and of course, one humongous lobster! I could barely get up afterward - altho I think I did have just enough room for some home made pie...

I did my sub time while active (7 yrs, 2 mo), then did the balance of 25 yrs in the reserves. I was actually in a Gates reserve unit for a short time back in the early 90's, but never saw the ship (I was out of Orlando Reserve Center). Ships have reunions all the time; you ought to dig into it.

This should get you started:

https://www.hullnumber.com/CG-51

https://unitpages.military.com/unitpages/unit.do?id=200428

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60687732368

https://www.vetfriends.com/units/?unit=93377

I also did a fair amount of surface time, split between two frigates; USS Jesse L Brown, and USS Fahrion - did a Unitas on the Fahrion.

 

[Big-B]

Duff's in Buffalo has the best Chicken Wings.

Or try a Beef on 'weck. A roast beef sandwich on a Kimmelweck roll. Best roast beef sandwich anywhere. Way better than eating chicken wings. Roast beef on a roll that has salt and carraway seeds on it. They are great. Some places use aux jois others use gravy. I always preferred gravy.

Another Buffalo food is Sponge Candy. It can be found at candy and grocery stores (Wegman's for certain)

And if you like Hot Dogs, try Ted's they're pretty good too.

Have a good trip!

I went up through VT/NH/ME out to Bangor and I used the Greens and Whites route from last year as the basis for my ride across VT and NH. It was 2 really good days of riding. Rt 17 in VT was a great road.

Brian

 

[Barry 07 FJR1300AE]

Thanks for the heads up we should be in buffalo around lunch time. One of the three sounds awesome. If you wanna ride part of it with us let me know

 

[MartyA]

I did a lot of that same route in 08, and I grew up in the shadow of NYC in NJ. If you must go to Ground Zero I understand, but frankly I say don't go into the city, ever. (Maybe on Sunday morning, it would be the best of the worst time).

If you do go down town, the best view of is the top of Rockefeller Center, AKA GE Building, "Top of the Rock." You can see uptown and downtown.

If you skip downtown NYC, then when you come south from Boston on your Day 6 take Rt 15 across S Conn it parallels I-95. Shoot across I-287 after you cross into NY state, to Saw Mill River Parkway. Take that south to 9A, then cross the George Washington Bridge to NJ on I-95 again. Then I-78 south to exit 148, Liberty State Park. Nice view of the Statue of Liberty there. While you are riding south on I-78 / Rt 1 to get to Exit 148 you can see lots of NYC skyline.

Also note that your trek westward out of NYC on your Day 7 through northern NJ and northern PA on Rt 6 is going to be SLOW-W-W. In the beginning in northern NJ you have stop lights at nearly every corner, 25 MPH zones all the way. I suggest since there is nothing to see there you should take Rt 280 out to Pompton Lakes area then pick up your route. Plan on 12-14 hours to get to Erie.

I currently live on Rt 6 in NW PA. You are close to me on your route, and I am on the Assistance list if you are in need. We're heading to SD and WY on Friday, but we'll be back a day or two before you are in my neighborhood.

Sorry this is a little late; have a great trip!!

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Barry,

Here is a little advice from a Maineiac for day 4, in Maine. Rte 2 to Skowhegan is nothing special. If you can possibly add a couple more hours, you should go from Gorham, NH up rte 16 to Errol (some good high speed sweepers), continue 16 north to Wilsons Mills, ME, to Oquossoc. Then 17 to Height Of Land (awesome view), a 15 minute side trip. Then double back to Oquossoc and go to Rangeley. Take 16 over to Stratton and 27 to Kingfield (ride up to Sugarloaf ski area), then to Madison and Skowhegan. All this is some serious MOOSE country. If you see a car on the side of the road for no apparent reason, they may be watching a moose.

In Calais, there is the Calais Motor Inn, and the International Motel. The Motor Inn looks nicer but it used to be a dump on the inside. Go for the International on RTE 1 just south of downtown. Get a room on the backside (annex) for a nice view of the river.

Of course, you will have to check the maps for yourself to see if you can make the time. Day 4 looks like a long day as is but these are some of my favorite rides. As always, if you need a tour guide or more info, send me a PM. Have a great trip.

Charlie

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Just had a thought about your ride across the Kancamangus (112) to Conway. Instead, when you get to Bear Notch Road, you will have ridden the best part of the Kanc already. Bear Notch has just been repaved and has some great twisties. Fred W will tell you why they call it what they do!! It will bring you to Bartlett. Take a right on 302 to Glen and rte 16 up to Gorham. It won't take any longer. You'll also avoid a lot of tourist traffic in N Conway.

N Conway has it's own reasons to go there (Hurricane Mtn Rd :crazy: , Cathedral Ledges, Whitehorse Gear), but it doesn't sound like you have the time this trip.

PS: Get your booze in tax free NH. It's about 20% cheaper than in ME. :drinks: