Desert riding | GTAMotorcycle.com

Desert riding

jojo

Member
Hey everyone,
So, being a big-ish birthday this year, I've decided to celebrate by flying down with my GF to San Francisco, renting an Electra-Glide or similar and touring around the desert for a couple weeks. I would likely do mostly motels, probably not camping...
I am thinking to rent from EagleRiders as they seem pretty reasonable with prices, and have a decent-sized fleet from what I gather. From SF, will likely head down the PCH until LA, and then east out as far as perhaps Albuquerque, but that may be a stretch. Definitely want to make some of the 'big' sights as well (Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, etc...)
Any suggestions on rides, places to see and/or stay, and any other helpful info?
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Byron
 
You might want to spend a little time north of San Fran maybe 100 km - the PCH there is terrific ....follow it up the coast past manchester then head inland on Greenwood road and east to 128 to 101 south to 253 the down to 175 and prepare for a wild ride over to Clear Lake. There is an excellent AirBnB there

https://goo.gl/maps/eBixGtoT5LM2

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View out over the lake from the house - deck and bedroom.

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And if you are touristy in San Fran.... the Hop on Hop off buses are a good deal and save navigating difficult traffic.
The Golden Gate tour and the Science centre also at Golden Gate park are very worthwhile tho both can be done from the bike

The first national park you come to - buy an annual pass ...it's $80 and you'll be ahead after 3 parks.
Some photos for you ...Bryce etc and PCH
https://500px.com/macdoc/galleries

Don't try and make time on the PCH ...it's dangerous riding/driving but glorious

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Add Arches in with Bryce and Zion -
 
Hey everyone,
So, being a big-ish birthday this year, I've decided to celebrate by flying down with my GF to San Francisco, renting an Electra-Glide or similar and touring around the desert for a couple weeks. I would likely do mostly motels, probably not camping...
I am thinking to rent from EagleRiders as they seem pretty reasonable with prices, and have a decent-sized fleet from what I gather. From SF, will likely head down the PCH until LA, and then east out as far as perhaps Albuquerque, but that may be a stretch. Definitely want to make some of the 'big' sights as well (Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, etc...)
Any suggestions on rides, places to see and/or stay, and any other helpful info?
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Byron

In California, a must see would be Death Valley (check out Artist Drive). Sherman Pass was a very interesting ride, it crosses the Sierras not far from Death Valley. If you are going to see Bryce, then the nearby Zion NP should not be missed, if short on time just ride through the park from one end to the other, the road and the scenery along it are amazing. Near Las Vegas is Valley of the Fire State Park, highly recommended.

Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks are all very scenic, but the sheer amount of visitors made them less appealing for me.

A little further east is Arches NP, another must see. Utah Highway 12, east of Bryce is one of the best roads. Monument Valley always brings me good memories.

Pretty much anywhere you turn, there is an amazing place to see. But be aware, once you're back from there you might loose the urge to ride around GTA for a while.
 
Thanks for the suggestions!
Yeah, I've been driving down in the LV area - Red Rock, Bryce, Death Valley, etc...the times I have I've always thought it would be great to ride, so this is the year :)
That BnB (and the squiggly map to get there) looks awesome!
B
 
1 north of the gate just sucks at the moment. The surface is so bad and there is so much work going on. I went up as far as Point Reyes on Tuesday evening and turned around.

I would see if I could rent a GS instead of a Harley. It lets you explore a little more into places like Death Valley, Bryce, Zion, etc. I ended up coming back along the Wolf Ridge and Coastal trails around the Marin Headlands on Tuesday. Lots of fun, and some nice views :)

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I would see if I could rent a GS instead of a Harley. It lets you explore a little more into places like Death Valley, Bryce, Zion, etc. I ended up coming back along the Wolf Ridge and Coastal trails around the Marin Headlands on Tuesday. Lots of fun, and some nice views :)

I heard some of the rental companies did not allow their bikes to go through Death Valley, at least when it came to Harleys. Not sure if it is unique to the Harley renters or if they would do the same to a GS that was not liquid cooled. If they allow it, I would say go for it, I loved it and I was in a car, it only gets better when you are out on 2 wheels in the open.
 
I heard some of the rental companies did not allow their bikes to go through Death Valley, at least when it came to Harleys. Not sure if it is unique to the Harley renters or if they would do the same to a GS that was not liquid cooled. If they allow it, I would say go for it, I loved it and I was in a car, it only gets better when you are out on 2 wheels in the open.

I didn't know that. Is it because of the fact that a Harley is air cooled? I'm wondering if it still apply to the GS as both are water-cooled now
 
Eagleriders has a self-guided tour through death valley, and they rent harleys, so...I am not sure...
As for renting a GS - yeah, that'd be okay but I am doing 2-up riding with my gf and we need the luggage space :)
The Harley Electra glide or the Indian are the likely candidates...they cost quite a bit less to rent than the BMW (K1600 anyway)...
byron
 
Eagleriders has a self-guided tour through death valley, and they rent harleys, so...I am not sure...
As for renting a GS - yeah, that'd be okay but I am doing 2-up riding with my gf and we need the luggage space :)
The Harley Electra glide or the Indian are the likely candidates...they cost quite a bit less to rent than the BMW (K1600 anyway)...
byron

I wouldn't worry about luggage space on a GS. I have an 800 and have 105 Litres in the bags and 45 Liters in the top box plus the tank bag. It's more than enough for both myself and my wife
 
So, it works out that EagleRiders has a deal on for travelling from LAX to O'Hare, which was to great to pass up...so we are going to try the old "Route 66" ride on a Harley Electra Glide. I've ridden a GS 800 and it'd be too small for a two week trip, and I can't swing my leg over the 1200. Plus, you kinda have to do that trip on a Harley, don't you? :)

Anyway, this is what it'll look like, with some changes to get on the old highway and stay off the interstates as much as possible. (I also wanted to make sure to do the PCH, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, etc...)
(man, this has to be one of the most restrictive sites for image size and resolutions eh?)

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Just as a follow up that I had forgotten to post about, we did end up basically doing the trip above though we bailed on the PCH since we arrived on the Saturday of the labour day weekend and didn't want to fight traffic and high hotel rates near San Fran...Instead we rode from LA to Lone Pine, CA the first day. The ride through the Angeles Forest was fantastic, as was the rest of the trip. Already planning next year's trip :)
You can check out http://byroncpeterson.com/wp if you're interested in seeing some pix and reading about some of the adventure.
Byron
 
Did a similar 66 trip this summer. Great fun. The only way to do it is on a motorcycle, you just feel so much more "there". Thinking of doing the New Orleans route sometime in the next couple of years.
 
Jojo , as you noted in your blog there is very little of R66 let, and whats there is pretty kitchy and tourist trap, but it needs to be seen. Once you clear the mid west , NM, AZ and specifically southern Utah is really quite unbelievable, the terrain changes every 30miles and it never fails to impress me. There are some smaller parks that dont get the love and crowds, camping is reasonable and hotels if you dont need to stay in the "hot spot" arent bad (I paid $285US a night in Zion last yr, and totally worth it).

Its the US dollar that spoils all the fun, I had to buy yesterday, 1.34cdn for a US buck. Ouch.
 
Did a similar 66 trip this summer. Great fun. The only way to do it is on a motorcycle, you just feel so much more "there". Thinking of doing the New Orleans route sometime in the next couple of years.
We drove down to the Big Easy a few years ago and had a great time! We especially liked Charleston, Pensacola (of all places), New Orleans of course, and Nashville...and driving the highways in Kentucky was stunning.

Jojo , as you noted in your blog there is very little of R66 let, and whats there is pretty kitchy and tourist trap, but it needs to be seen. Once you clear the mid west , NM, AZ and specifically southern Utah is really quite unbelievable, the terrain changes every 30miles and it never fails to impress me. There are some smaller parks that dont get the love and crowds, camping is reasonable and hotels if you dont need to stay in the "hot spot" arent bad (I paid $285US a night in Zion last yr, and totally worth it).
Its the US dollar that spoils all the fun, I had to buy yesterday, 1.34cdn for a US buck. Ouch.
Yeah, it for sure is true that much of what remains is kitchy and touristy, but we really enjoyed that kind of stuff (at least kitch!). And you know the trip is really about meeting people - locals, other bikers, etc...and that makes the trip worthwhile to me...Our next trip will likely be the SouthWest only - NM, AZ, CA - it is truly a beautiful place. The dollar definitely suck, though it may get a LOT better in the next couple years, at least compared to the greenback (one can always hope, anyway) ;)
Byron
 

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