Fans of choppers, hogs, and crotch rockets are gathering in Lake George this week. The 41st annual Americade kicks off today, drawing thousands of motorcyclists from around the world.
The parking lot of the Fort William Henry hotel is being transformed into a motorcycle showroom as dozens of volunteers from a wide range of manufacturers set up demo bikes.
In less than 24 hours, this lot will become the largest motorcycle exposition in the country, says Americade organizer Christian Dutcher.
With just 2,000 attendees in its inaugural show in 1983, Americade has annually drawn upwards of 60,000 hog-heads a year since 2007—making it the biggest shoulder-season week of business for the resort community.
“So, all of these tractor trailers come from all parts of the country, all corners, and they set up all of these brand new bikes. This is the latest and greatest. A lot of dealerships you can’t demo a motorcycle unlike car dealerships. So, this is like a candy store. People love coming here because they get to try a bunch of bikes back-to-back and see what they like the best,” said Dutcher.
The weather forecast through Saturday looks clear, not that some rain would have kept many bikers away.
Dutcher says Americade draws a crowd that’s about as family-friendly as a motorcycle-centric event can get — it’s no Sturgis.
“Our objectives are always to have a smooth event. And a smooth event means few issues and happy customers. I mean that sounds like sort of a bromide, but it’s true. And so, to be able to scale up the way that we’ve done. And still execute in the smooth way that we’re known for, that would be a success. And also, to have our expo represent the breadth of motorcycling the way that it is this year, as opposed to like right after COVID where the industry shrank a bit, would be a success,” said Dutcher.
“Well, Americade’s always been one of my favorite rallys, there’s something about this property here it feels like holy ground almost to me. It has a very healing, calming effect.”
That’s former NFL tackle Ken Kaplan. After retiring from the gridiron, he turned to his true passion—motorcycles.
With the self-appointed title of “Kaplan America,” he owns the New England Motorcycle Museum as well as Kaplan Cycles.
Kaplan wouldn’t dream of missing Americade, and he tells his fans the same.
“I tell them all, ‘get your ass up here because if you don’t come, you’re gonna miss out.’ You know, it’s a fantastic event. You’re gonna be dead a long time—life is short. I’m going to be 60 next year and I highly recommend you get out and enjoy your life. Because you’re never going to wake and say, ‘geez I wish I stayed at work a little longer tomorrow. Or I wish I stayed home and mowed the lawn.’ You’re going to miss out, man. So, get your butt off the couch and get up here. No excuse not to. There’s campgrounds. If you can’t afford the hotel, go to a campground, you know. Or sleep in your truck, whatever, just get up to Americade and have a good time,” said Kaplan.
Ed Bindert made his yearly pilgrimage from Reno, Nevada and is one of many volunteers who make sure Americade runs smoothly.
While he likes helping out, Bindert’s just here for the choppers.
“And we saw one bike that was trailing a Corvette trailer. So, that was the coolest thing. A Honda motorcycle hauling a Corvette car,” said Bindert.
Ed and Cindy Nevin live a little closer, Downsville, New York in Delaware County. They’ve been coming to Americade since 1987 — this year on a bright orange three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder.
“I’ve rode two-wheelers for about 50 years now. And we’re getting older and stuff, balance issues so we’ve got a three-wheeler. We’ve still got two-wheelers, but she loves the three-wheeler,” said Ed Nevin.
“I like it because I know I’m not going to tip him over when I get on. But, actually, we’ve rode the two-wheelers all over up here in this area so, it’s not our first rodeo but we keep coming back,” said Cindy Nevin.
Running through Saturday, Americade features boat and bike tours of the area, a rodeo, block party, as well as comedy and stunt shows. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project and Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
