NEED YOUR HELP

Okay here is the plan, I live in Hardin, KY. My wife and I are planing a 10 day trip to tour the New England states. I need to know what to see what roads to ride and what to avoid. Our plan is the haul the bike to Erie, PA, then bike the rest. Our main points of interest are Niagra Falls, West Quoddy Head, Maine(eastern most point in US), New York City, twisties and scenery. We want to stay mostly off the big slabs unless there is nothing to see or do between a to b. We plan to ride about 300+ miles a day, and find a place to spend the night where ever we are. I have created the following route just looking at maps. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE critique my routes. Also please clue me in on the best places to eat and sleep. If anyone would like to join us at any point we would love to have you along. We will be riding just the two of us so if any of you will be near our routes some contacts would be great if we have trouble. Looks to be about 2000+ miles in about 6 days on the bike. We have 2 extra days to play with if we want to spend more time anywhere. Day 1 and Day 8 are to and from home days.

Also mostly we are trying to escape the heat here in the south. I have no clue what to expect during these dates up there. Please give me an idea of what to pack and what we will have to wear riding. Is this a good time or bad time to do this trip? We are flexable.

Dates are July 30 thru Aug 8

Thank you very much for your help it is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Day1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

If you plan to go into NYC then you should have a plan for exactly what you want to see and map out a general idea of how to get there. Traffic is lightest on Sunday, but you can get around during the week as long as you avoid the commuting hours. Parking is difficult and risky on the street, and expensive in a lot.

Mainly ride thru Time Square and see the Statue of Liberty from the shoreline. We can come back to NY someother time to tour the city, just wanting a quick peak mostly. We will be there on wed or thur.

Barry 07 FJR1300AE said:

Mainly ride thru Time Square and see the Statue of Liberty from the shoreline. We can come back to NY someother time to tour the city, just wanting a quick peak mostly. We will be there on wed or thur.

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You'll get closer to the statue from Liberty State Park on the Jersey side, though I can't remember if the view is from the side or the back. You'll be able to ride through Times Square no problem. From there you might want to go further downtown and see the site of the fallen twin towers. The roads inside the city are absolutely terrible with bumps and patches and the cagers drive very aggressively, so be careful. Don't park your FJR on the street for very long if you have stuff on it that is not locked securely.

Geezer said:

Barry 07 FJR1300AE said:

Mainly ride thru Time Square and see the Statue of Liberty from the shoreline. We can come back to NY someother time to tour the city, just wanting a quick peak mostly. We will be there on wed or thur.

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You'll get closer to the statue from Liberty State Park on the Jersey side, though I can't remember if the view is from the side or the back. You'll be able to ride through Times Square no problem. From there you might want to go further downtown and see the site of the fallen twin towers. The roads inside the city are absolutely terrible with bumps and patches and the cagers drive very aggressively, so be careful. Don't park your FJR on the street for very long if you have stuff on it that is not locked securely.

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Thanks for the heads up we were going to try to see it from the jersey side, also i would like to see the fallen towers site, just didnt know how navigable the city would be. I just dont know what to expect. I have driven in big citys before, but not NY. Thanks

Look up the clam chowder ride that Fred W led this year along the coast of Maine. Also Snicker and Fred W do a green/whites ride in New Hampshire and Vermont that covers lots of good riding.

Don't go out of your way avoiding the interstates in Vermont and New Hampshire. Interstates 89, 91 and 93 are beautiful rides. Certainly no backwoods twisties, but for interstate highways, they don't come any better, so if you need to get from A to B to C quickly, they are great roads to take.

RadioHowie said:

Don't go out of your way avoiding the interstates in Vermont and New Hampshire. Interstates 89, 91 and 93 are beautiful rides. Certainly no backwoods twisties, but for interstate highways, they don't come any better, so if you need to get from A to B to C quickly, they are great roads to take.

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that's great advice. We try to avoid them around here. I'll definatley remember that.

An interesting thing to do on day 3 would be to take the ferry across Lake Champlain from Port Kent, NY to Burlington VT and have lunch. It would break up the ride a little bit but would be a way to cool off and enjoy the pedestrian mall right up the street from the ferry terminal. Or you could skip the lunch and go directly to Ben and Jerry's for a Factory Tour :yahoo:

Port Kent Ferry

TheAxeman said:

An interesting thing to do on day 3 would be to take the ferry across Lake Champlain from Port Kent, NY to Burlington VT and have lunch. It would break up the ride a little bit but would be a way to cool off and enjoy the pedestrian mall right up the street from the ferry terminal. Or you could skip the lunch and go directly to Ben and Jerry's for a Factory Tour :yahoo:
Port Kent Ferry

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We were planing on taking the Plattsburgh to Grand Isle ferry but we will have to look into the longer ferry ride. Not much difference in our route.

On day 4, I can't recommend highly enough heading south on I-93 at the start of your day heading towards Woodstock and taking the Kancamangus Highway east to 16 and riding the Mt Washington auto road. On I-93 you can see the landmark, The Old Man in the Mountain, the state's best known symbol in New Hampshire. The Kancamangus is very scenic, but also alot of fun to ride with a nice hairpin turn thrown in just for that little extra something fun. The Mt Washington Auto road is great fun to ride and a spectacular place to take some photos- just bring along a light jacket because even in the summer time, the temps can be cooler than one might expect. Though I don't think it should be an issue during that time of year.

DE OPPRESSO LIBER said:

On day 4, I can't recommend highly enough heading south on I-93 at the start of your day heading towards Woodstock and taking the Kancamangus Highway east to 16 and riding the Mt Washington auto road. On I-93 you can see the landmark, The Old Man in the Mountain, the state's best known symbol in New Hampshire. The Kancamangus is very scenic, but also alot of fun to ride with a nice hairpin turn thrown in just for that little extra something fun. The Mt Washington Auto road is great fun to ride and a spectacular place to take some photos- just bring along a light jacket because even in the summer time, the temps can be cooler than one might expect. Though I don't think it should be an issue during that time of year.

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Looks great only adds about 50 miles and its first thing in the morning, we are in. Thanks so much for the advice, this is exactly what I am looking for. Around this time of year will we be comfortable in pants and short sleave shirts all day? Just wondering how I need to pack. What about rain?

Is this correct?

Day 4

Barry 07 FJR1300AE said:

DE OPPRESSO LIBER said:

On day 4, I can't recommend highly enough heading south on I-93 at the start of your day heading towards Woodstock and taking the Kancamangus Highway east to 16 and riding the Mt Washington auto road. On I-93 you can see the landmark, The Old Man in the Mountain, the state's best known symbol in New Hampshire. The Kancamangus is very scenic, but also alot of fun to ride with a nice hairpin turn thrown in just for that little extra something fun. The Mt Washington Auto road is great fun to ride and a spectacular place to take some photos- just bring along a light jacket because even in the summer time, the temps can be cooler than one might expect. Though I don't think it should be an issue during that time of year.

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Looks great only adds about 50 miles and its first thing in the morning, we are in. Thanks so much for the advice, this is exactly what I am looking for. Around this time of year will we be comfortable in pants and short sleave shirts all day? Just wondering how I need to pack. What about rain?

Is this correct?

Day 4

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Most likely, shorts and T-shirts will be good unless your pants are thin or riding gear is mesh. Usually relatively warm, but not too hot. Rain is a 50/50 but most likely you'll have dry, sunny weather.

Yes, that is the correct route. Plan on the Auto road to take approximately 90 minutes up and down with a short stop at the top at the observatory. Cool stuff to see in there. Also, if you really enjoy antique cars and horsedrawn carriages, there's a barn in the parking lot by the main building that has an old Arrow and other cool stuff to see quickly.

The Woodstock Inn is a great place for breakfast if you wanted to stop there. Good lunches too.

Have fun!

Unless you are planning on stopping in New London (Coast Guard Acadamy) or Mystic (Seaport / aquarium) your day 6 is one forgettable ride. 95 is a major pia. Going thru / near large cities like Boston / Providence / all of Fairfield County (SE CT) & of course NYC during commuting hours is something you will never forget.

I cast a vote for more time in Vermont (RT 100 is my favorite). Western Mass has some nice riding including Rt 2. Western CT coming down RT 7 is pretty nice.

I see you are riding up the coast of Maine. I have done that several times. Summertime traffic can make parts of that ride really crappy. Of course there are an endless supply of lobster restaurants along the coast which is enough of a reason for me

Maybe some of the flatlanders here can give you some of Maine's interior routes - there are some really nice riding roads there.

The weather can be very hot & humid. Along the coast there should be some relief. Thunderstorms in Vermont or New Hampshire mountains can be an experience you will remember. Except for really northern New England you shouldn't need very warm clothes.

Of course if you happen by central CT give us a call.

On day 2 it may be difficult to follow rt18 on the shoreline. We tried last year and found that rt104 was an easy solution. Rt18 is not well marked and since it hits every little town along the shore my bet would be a posted speed limit of 25 to 30mph. I would also highly recommend taking rt 14 south to Watkins Glen. The State Park in Watkins Glen is a must see. You can cheat a little and see the picture of the parks gorge on google to see what I mean. Just turn right off of RT14 where the park entrance is and there is a lodge right across from the park so you can walk in. This saves you the entrance fee. The lodge has great food and some local brews on hand. You might even be able to take in a race at Watkins Glen if you have time. PM me if you need more detail.

I would absolutely not listen to Radio Howie, aka the Manatee molester from the flatlands of Floriduh. :blink:

There is nothing particularly wonderful about New England interstate highways, except for a very short section of I93 that goes through Franconia Notch in northern New Hampshire. For the rest of New England your better bet is to find the squiggly roads on the map and enjoy the real scenery and motorcycle roads.

Boston is not a particularly motorcycle friendly city. The drivers there are among the most aggressive, least courteous in the country. Being a very old city (by American standards) the roads were laid out based on carriage paths, and can be very confusing with lots of one-ways, rotarys, angled streets, etc.

I would not point my bike anywhere near the festering ******* of the east (aka New York City) as you will be engulfed in heavy congestion and high temperatures for seemingly endless miles, with no real reward. Wanna see the Statue of Libertree? Look it up on Google. :glare:

If I were you, and clearly I am not, I would spend the most of my time touring the upper 3 states (Maine, NH and VT). maybe a sweep through western MA (stay left of Worcester) and western CT, and not bother with anything near the coastline in MA or CT, or the cities of Boston, Providence or NYC.

One other thing about your trip: You said you plan to trailer your bikes to start in Erie. Why?

You will be trailering past some of the best motorcycling roads in the country to get to Erie. Instead, just ride the bikes a bit further to the east of your Day 1 route and come up through WV (plan on spending a little time there) and central PA.

[edit] I see you'll be hitting WV on the way back. Heck, I'd do it twice... coming and going, on different routes. Yeah, it's that good.

I'd probably skip the Erie - Buffalo part, unless you really want to go to Niagra Falls. The fingerlakes area of NY State is quite pretty, and the traffic is pretty light.

For my own July vacation this year I'm planning on a loop around Upstate NY, along Lake Ontario for part of the ride. Also be spending some quality time in the Adirondacks and Catskills. Last year we went down and through WV and it was well worth the trip.

Hope that helps...

Fred W said:

I would absolutely not listen to Radio Howie, aka the Manatee molester from the flatlands of Floriduh. :blink:
There is nothing particularly wonderful about New England interstate highways, except for a very short section of I93 that goes through Franconia Notch in northern New Hampshire. For the rest of New England your better bet is to find the squiggly roads on the map and enjoy the real scenery and motorcycle roads.

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I was referring the the I-states in Vermont and New Hampshire....not in "New England" in general.

Damned old hippie.

:blum:

RadioHowie said:

Fred W said:

I would absolutely not listen to Radio Howie, aka the Manatee molester from the flatlands of Floriduh. :blink:
There is nothing particularly wonderful about New England interstate highways, except for a very short section of I93 that goes through Franconia Notch in northern New Hampshire. For the rest of New England your better bet is to find the squiggly roads on the map and enjoy the real scenery and motorcycle roads.

Click to expand...

I was referring the the I-states in Vermont and New Hampshire....not in "New England" in general.

Damned old hippie.

:blum:

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Even in NH and VT there are much better secondary (scenic, curvey) roads to ride rather than the interstates. Especially if you want to travel East - West (or vice versa). All the northern New England interstates go N - S.

Hillbillies are welcome here! I'll probably be in your neck of the woods when your here.

Visit our site:

https://www.newenglandriders.org/

and our forum if you have more questions:

https://forums.delphiforums.com/NewEnglandRider/start

My personal favorites are Finger Lakes, Catskills, a little bit of Western Mass, all of Vermont.

People East of this area all drive and act like Massholes (yeah you all in New Hampshire and Maine too!) Only kidding. It is very congested, but nothing your not used to in Ky.