Motorcycle ride - Southern NH to the Great Lakes, 4 days..

[russb]

Planning on trying to do a 4 day motorcycle trip (Friday and Monday are used for all departure/return driving time). Have a custom Honda cruiser. Will depart on a Friday morning mid July from southern NH (home) to an hour south of Buffalo NY. That should take about a good 10 hours (with rest stops, breaks, lunch, etc). Then upon arrival near Buffalo Fri night, unpack, rest all night at relatives house.

Heres the idea....

Get up mid morning on Sat (say 8:30), check bike, polish it up slightly, gas up, then would like to head right up to Niagara Falls. After Niagara Falls, would like to go around at least a portion of one of the Lakes in a nature setting, preferrably an area with some smooth pavement, not much traffic, full of twists and turns, and glacier scraped rocks with open lake views. Looking for tips here, or how far its possible to go/return from an hour south of Buffalo NY during one day on a motorcycle ride in the Lakes area (after stopping at Niagara Falls for a quick pic)? Seems there are plenty of suggested paths available on the internet, whats hard to find are any estimated time tables. Trying to basically do a day trip from an hour south of Buffalo, stop at the falls, then use the remainder of the day for a lakes tour and make it back to (an hour south of) Buffalo around 7pm. Mileage isnt the issue, as much as time. Any plans/tips are very welcome (including awesome stops for a break).

Sunday - family reunion day.

Monday, sleep in a bit, 10 hour route back to southern NH.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Unfortunately, you won't have time to make a complete circuit of either of the lakes you have available, but on the other hand, that makes your timing issue moot. You just ride out along a shore until you've used up half the time you have available, then turn around and head back. If I were doing this, I'd do Lake Ontario, heading north on the Robert Moses State parkway to Fort Niagara and then turn east on NY-18 to the Lake Ontario State Parkway. There is surprisingly little development along its shores, so the roads are still relatively wide open and, at least in the areas where I've driven, offer scenic vistas both over the water and the landscape to the south. In fact, for most of your ride you'd be following the Great Lakes Seaway Trail with plenty of state parks and other attractions for breaks from the saddle. The one fly in the ointment with this plan is that you should probably turn around before you get to Rochester.

AZBuck

[russb]

That sounds like a good idea... I'll just follow that route and see what happens, just needed the name of the road the ride, so thanks for the tip. Hopefully the weather will cooperate nicely :>)