Monday - Lake George, NY - Albany - Lake George - 144 miles
Hit the road Monday around 7, hoping to get to the Ducati dealership around 8 in case someone was around early. Had to get off the Northway for gas (should have done that yesterday), and got stuck in a bit of traffic north of the K bridge. Passed the "Hansel and Gretel" nursery/pre-school. Not sure who would leave their kids in that place - didn't anyone read the story? Didn’t end up at the dealership until 8:20, and no one was around. I took off the taillight assembly to save the guys some time (I had it down to a science by now). Around 8:45 one of the sales guys showed up and let us (another guy had showed up looking for a new battery) into the dealership, but wouldn’t let us into the parts/service area until the turned the lights on. Said “they get really pissy if we let people in before 9”.
Outside of Phibbs Powersports
When I did get in to the service guys, I explained my situation (on the road for a week, no brake light) and asked if they could possibly take a look at it. They didn’t sound too encouraging, but said they might be able to get to it. So I set about making the dealership my home for the next few hours. They were a multi-line Kawasaki/Yamaha/Ducati dealership, so there were some decent bikes to ogle. There was a decent selection of Ducati bikes (1098, GT1000, Hypermotard, 800ss, others) but no Ducati gear. Walked over to Dunkin Donuts for a breakfast of champions.
Listened to one of the sales guys tell the battery guy about the kid down the road who’s dad just bought him a 1098s. They delivered it in the truck because the kid didn’t know how to ride yet. By the time the truck got back to the dealership the dad had called and asked if they could come back because the kid had already dropped the bike. He’s crashed it twice since then. Last time he was in he said he was “getting the hang of it”.
I kept wandering out back to see if my bike had moved (it hadn't for hours), and at noon I went in to the service guys to ask if they thought they would get to it today. "We're working on it next" was the reply, and sure enough the bike got moved inside. At 1:15 they said it was done, and they did the best they could. The kid who worked on came back to talk to me, and explained how it had shorted out and he soldered some stuff to get the bulb to make contact. I thanked them, paid the $86 for their labor time, reassembled the taillight, and hit the road to get some lunch. I stopped 10 minutes down the road at Sutter's, across my old college, to take a lunch trip down memory lane (they always had great burgers and fries). Pulled in the lot, and noticed that the lights were not working again. NOT HAPPY. Called them back, expecting to hear "well, we did what we could", but instead got "bring it right back, we'll take care of it".
So, back to the dealership, and another hour of waiting. I walked over to Subway for lunch (the pizza joint right next to the dealership was closed on Mondays). Bought a dozen cookies to give to the service guys, as it was too late to bring them donuts. This time they did a sturdier job, but they still insisted it was a temporary solution - I figured that. They were very happy to get cookies, and they traded me a Ducati oil filter. Out of there at 3pm for the ride back to Lake George. Watched a crazy minivan driver come out from the trees in the median of I-87 and drive straight across 3 lanes of traffic to the right lane and zoom off the exit ramp. He missed 2 cars by only a few feet. Stopped 30 minutes later at Glenns Falls, no tail light but the brake light was OK. By the time I got to the Holiday Inn for my Americade packet both lights were functioning OK.
That's a lot of stickers for a windshield. First VW bike I've seen :-)
Always loved the ZRX, this guy had a great setup for travelling
It was practically snowing this white puffy stuff from the trees
I'm ready for action
There was a small line for registration, maybe 10 minutes total. The guy in front of me also had a Ducati Multistrada 620, from Connecticut. Got my packet, walked around the lot a bit, and rode up to Roaring Brook Ranch. That felt great, like being home again. Went straight to the Guzzi tent to see what they had - oh my, scores of Norges. Nice! No Stelvios, Grisos or Cali Vintages though. I asked about their test route, hoping it wasn't the same as Honda's up-and-down-the-Northway, and the rep said "it's about 20 minutes, back roads, we like to have fun". Good.
Can't. Stop. Drooling.
Is that sexy or what?
Boss Hoss trike
Watched the Great Lakes Drill Team do their stuff on Gold Wings - amazing. These guys meet for practice twice a week, and it shoes. Like watching the Blue Angels on 2 wheels.
Watched Lee Parks Total Control Demo, which is actually listening to him talk quickly and non-stop, while someone else does the demo on a Gold Wing. He was excellent (Lee), really made me want to hear his lecture on Tuesday night.
I once caught a fish thiiiiis big
Later he would get his knee down
Ran into Bill Duetcher, who knew who I was from my post last year. He even remembered my URL - nice. He talked me up to a couple folks he was with "he takes amazing photos, blow up really well". Thanks Bill!
Got a seat in the lounge, charged the camera battery and did some journal writing. Eventually it was time for the Rider kick-off party, so I moved in there and got a seat in the back. After a few minutes a guy joins me, and I notice he's got a Lakewood H-D hat on. Turns out he's from Toms River, and his name is Jim. We chat for a bit, and turns out he had read my Americade story from last year on advrider.com. Small world! Listened to Bill Stermer for a bit, he sounded interesting so I wanted to check out his presentation tomorrow.
The Rider party
Bill Stermer
Ran into Jim again at the BMW tent after the party, we were both double-checking what time they started in the morning - sign up starts at 7am. On the way back to camp I hopped on the Northway southbound by mistake, that took a while before the next exit. Took 9 back to camp to drop off the tankbag and boots, and headed back to Canada Street. Parked on the side street by the Price Chopper for a change (instead of right on Canada Street). Of course when I came back I was the only bike there - just like last year, no one wanted to park near the Multi. Tail/brake light still working.
Love those hard bags on that old Suzuki
I don't know for sure, that might be home-made
Full instrumentation
Back to camp, hit the sack early to get up at 6:05 for tomorrow's big day - DEMO DAY!