The deserts near Vegas

BigLowRider · #1 12-01-2008, 08:49 PM

I rented three different Harley's, on three different days, and toured the deserts near Las Vegas during the third week of November.

EagleRider- I rented a 2008 Wide Glide from Las Vegas EagleRider. 6,000 miles. Good condition. $172 for 24 hours. EagleRider had less bike inventory than Las Vegas Harley-Davidson. No free shuttle from strip (except for a 3-day rental?).

Las Vegas Harley-Davidson Dealer - I rented a Street Glide for a 24 hours and a Road King for 24 hours. Both 2009 with under 10,000 miles. Excellent condition. $182 each day. Lots of bike inventory. You can rent for 24 hours and trade bikes numerous times during the 24 hours - you can try out 5 or 6 different bikes in those 24 hours. Free hourly shuttles from the strip hotels. Big dealership with plenty of new bikes and accessories in stock. Very friendly staff.

Temperatures - 75 during the day (85 in Death Valley). 60-65 in the evening/morning. 50-55 at night. Some strong winds coming over the mountain passes but nothing too bad.

Riding conditions - Good roads. Almost no pot holes. Very soft sandy shoulders. No bugs. Lots of dust. Wear goggles. Wear sunscreen.

I have wanted to do Death Valley for 25 years, but the highlight of my trip turned out to be the area around Hoover Dam and the twisty approach on Old Route 66 into Oatman, Arizona.

I had a couple beers at the dollar bill bar in Oatman. The place is like 100 years old and there were about five 60-year old bikers in this bar. I kept joking that I was in a Twilight Zone episode - that I had plunged over one of the cliffs on twisty Old Route 66 leading to Oatman, was now dead, and in biker purgatory.

Here are some photos. I am Canadian ... so the desert intrigued me.
http://www.homepokertourney.com/bike...vegas-2008.htm

BigLow

7/11 The Crapshooter · #2 12-01-2008, 10:57 PM

I lived and went to school about 20 miles from Oatman in a place called Bullhead City up though 1968. At that time the road going from Bullhead to Oatman was 14 miles of dirt. At that time there were less than 300 people in Bullhead. In 2005 I rode to the Laughlin River Run and couldn't believe my eyes as the place had changed so much.

Death Valley is awesome if you saty away from the summer months. Did you get to see Scotty's castle, Ubehebe Crater or the ghost town at Riolite Nevada just outside the park??

Great pictures and thanks for sharing..

flibuoy · #3 12-02-2008, 07:48 AM

Great photos, thanks for taking the time to share. John

krompony · #4 12-02-2008, 01:59 PM

We've done Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire and really enjoyed them both. We tried o get to Mount Charleston this August but ran into a huge rain storm so made a quick detour and went to the Dam instead.

jmcollison · #5 12-02-2008, 04:49 PM

Nice pics! Been to all of those places. There are times when it DOESN'T suck to live in the desert!!!

drfeelgood · #6 12-03-2008, 03:30 PM

I agree, Route 66 to Oatman is quite an experience.

FXD07 · #7 12-04-2008, 12:32 AM

Very nice photographs. Got me thinking about a fly and ride.

jmcollison · #8 12-04-2008, 05:45 PM

Route 66 East of Oatman

BigLowRider · #9 12-04-2008, 07:57 PM

I headed to Bullhead City after visiting Oatman. I was surprised at how nice the Laughlin casinos looked at night from across the river. I did a quick run up and down Casino Drive and then headed west on Highway 163. This was a surprisingly enjoyable stretch of highway ...

I made a left from Casino Drive on to 163 and started going up, and left, and up and right, and up and right, and up and left, and on and on. Lots of sweeping mountain turns at 70-80 mph in the dark for about 30 minutes. Every once in a while there would be a tight blind corner that would set my heart beating a little quickly. It was a suprisingly enjoyable section of highway with plenty of high speed sweeping turns and hills and valleys.

BigLow

voodoochild · #10 12-27-2008, 01:17 PM

i'm canadian also. As much as i liked oatman the road south out of the hoover dam area hwy 93 ?, was really a highlight for me. Almost no traffic, over 100 degree sunny weather, desert as far as the eye could see. Fantastic. Stopped at one point at a little oasis (willow beach?) dove into the river to cool off. Stopped again close to kingman at a little "restaurant". Had one little red and white checkered table cloth table in it. Bought a couple of ice cold bud's and sat out on the front porch sippin em. Talked to the locals, desert scenery in every direction.
Man i gotta go back.
cheers