We were excited to return to Lake George, New York, for the 41st annual Americade rally and our Bring It Bike Show. Held at Fort William Henry on the southern shore of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains, few rallies are in such a beautiful location surrounded by world-class motorcycling roads.
For the second year in a row, Rider and American Rider magazines co-hosted the Bring It Bike Show. With thousands of cool motorcycles at Americade, we invited attendees to Bring It!
Related: 2023 Americade Bring It Bike Show Winners
The 2024 Bring It Bike Show was sponsored by Americade, Spectro Performance Oils, SMK Helmets, Monimoto, Wild Ass, and The Lighthouse Grill. For three days, May 30 to June 1, we gave daily awards in several categories as well as a daily $200 cash prize for Editors’ Choice. All daily winners were eligible for the Best of Show award, which included $1,000 in cash plus several prizes.
The bike that won Best of Show was truly a showstopper, a motorcycle that was built from the ground up by a talented 25-year-old mechanical engineer named Hunter Leonard who lives in Crown Point, New York, an hour north of Lake George. The Leonard Motor Works Starrettania is a vintage-style electric motorcycle that Leonard started designing as a college project. It took about three years to go from the original concept to the final version entered in the Bring It Bike Show.
Although its styling is inspired by a 1930s-era motorcycle, the Leonard Motor Works Starrettania was designed using the latest CAD software, and some of its parts – fenders, headlight nacelle, tank, and instrument panel – were built using a 3D printer. Leonard fabricated the frame and many other components, and only a handful of off-the-shelf parts were used.
The Starrettania is powered by four lithium batteries from a Nissan Leaf, and its electric motor is built into the rear wheel’s hub, which allows for efficient packaging of the drivetrain. Leonard says the bike has a range of about 100 miles and a top speed in excess of 92 mph. The Starrettania drew a steady stream of crowds, questions, double takes, and photos. After winning the Editors’ Choice award on Thursday, it was the unanimous winner for Best of Show. We know we’ll be seeing much more from the creative, energetic, and enthusiastic Hunter Leonard.
We thank our show entries, our sponsors, and all Americade staff and volunteers for making our second Bring It Bike Show such a success. We’ll be back next year, so Bring It!
Bring It Bike Show Day 1 Winners:
Bring It Bike Show Day 2 Winners:
Bring It Bike Show Day 3 Winners:
