Wow, thank ALL of you for the great info! The responses FAR exceeded my expectations.

Great info, and thank you for the map! Yes, I'm thinking about just starting in Las Vegas and ending in Las Vegas. I'm so glad you remembered all the places you stopped at, helps me out with planning a lot!

Thank you SO much for taking the time to outline all of this! It was perfect. I'm going to explore just renting a motorcycle out of Vegas. Saving 3 grand sounds like a plan!

I agree with you. I know I said I found it to be intimidating, but I also realize that the challenge is always part of the fun.

Thanks for coming back to the thread to fill me in Rocker! Yeah, sticking to Vegas would probably be better. I don't think I'll ride for more than 5 days though, so I hope I can at least see all the sites I want in that time.
Grand Canyon and Monument Valley are musts. Bryce Canyon and Antelope Canyon would be great too.

Questions:
1) For rentals, what should I know about what they'll try to sell me on insurance?
2) I'm sure the wife is going to want to bring a big ol' piece of luggage. Do motorcycle rental places usually have an option to store your luggage in a locker during the days you are out on the bike?

See if your bike insurance covers rental insurance. Mine does.
On our trips the luggage was carried in the chase vehicle along with a back up bike.

Narrow road, lots of gravel, crappy bike... crappy driver lol... Although, that fricken VFR, fueling was so bad I never knew if I was going to fall over or get rocketed off the side of the cliff. So glad to be back on a Harley.

Got to ride nacimiento furgussen road almost back to back, scared me to death on the VFR, like a ride in the park on the HD. Some bikes are way over-rated, some don't get nearly as much credit as they deserve

That said I remember part of that road being kinda tight, guess as long as you're confident on the bike no problem

The rental I did in Vegas included their full insurance--only because they said when you get close to the border[SanDiego] the likely hood of the bike getting stolen is very high. I paid an extra 3-4 hundred for full coverage for that piece of mind------They have lockers in a storage room for you at their facility/helmets /jackets/gps units/ whatever you need to make it easier knowing you probably flew in---I would do it again in a heart beat-----I used to fly to Phoenix area and rent from Harley dealer there ,but they don;t rent bikes anymore--Eaglerider has that market ,so don,t look for an alternative----5 day rental should get you some nice riding,give us your must see areas and we can help---also ask in the region section of the forum, they always help me out
Rocker

Hey Blackheart, Check out shipnride.com He is doing a trip in May of next year, same ride you are looking at doing. Grand Canyon north rim, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, Zion Park, Canyon Lands, the Million Dollar High Way. Butch, the owner, trucks your bike out there, you fly in, and ride your bike. He lives here in Florida, I just got back from Yellowstone trip with shipnride. I have shipped four trips with him. We put our luggage on the bike so we don't have to carry any luggage on the plane. Check him out, could be just what you are looking for, and cheaper. Oh and by the way, he rides also, you can ride with him, or your own ride, but he is going every park you are looking at doing. David

I was on my TriGlide = not a worry in the world. I laugh at narrow gravel roads. LOL

Trying to avoid all the mule crap with 3 wheels was more of a challenge.

Nice stop on Rt66


One of my visits to Oatman


Another rt66 stop

Not sure why pics are not clear? Anyone know?

It just takes a minute for them to load completely. They started out blurry when I opened the page, but now they're clear. Looks like a fun trip. I love the "reflection" of the girl in the flatbed Ford.

We just did Seattle to SF and rented bikes from Eaglerider. I considered the motel/bike packages but, ended up just making my own reservations.

Worked out OK I guess, still cost me about $10k for the whole trip, airfare, food, motels & 2 bikes. We had good luck and no problems.