Found myself with a day free in Vegas this week. Friends were going to spend the day walking the strip and my husband is a Black Jack player so I decided to rent a bike and go see Lake Mead.
Eagle Rider was having a special $99 for any Harley for 24 hours. Since the cost was all the same, figured I might as well get a larger bike and see how it felt.
Ended up choosing a Dyna Low, weighing in at 672lbs with a 1570cc engine (about 200 pounds more than my bike with almost twice the engine size) and 20+ thousand miles on the clock. I admit I had some trepidation about heading off alone into the desert on such a large bike but it only took seconds for me to realize the bike handled very predictably and wouldn’t present much, if any, challenge.
I’d contacted M98 and Isle of Man before arriving to ask for advice on roads. Both warned me to beware of police in a particular area. I didn’t head that way due to it being to cold, but I have never seen the kind of traffic enforcement I saw that day. As I headed into Boulder City I saw 6 motorcycle officers sitting at the bottom of an entrance ramp to the freeway, a little further up the ramp were 3 patrol cars. Then began the line of cars that had been pulled over. Every 100 or so feet was another car and officer handing out a ticket on the side of the road. I stopped in for gas and asked if this was a common occurrence and they said it happened about once a month and they brought in officers from the surrounding towns to participate. Further down the road I passed another, smaller, version of this. Lesson learned on speeding in this area!
I have to give the Harley credit for feeling well planted on the road. It was windy (later I heard there were gusts up to 40 MPH) and not once did I feel the bike waver. My body was another matter. There were times I thought my head might be ripped off my body or maybe I’d just be lifted off the bike altogether.
I rode into Arizona for a bit then turned back and into Lake Mead Recreational Area. I had the roads pretty much to myself. The road surfaces were all very good and there was nothing in the least challenging about the corners so I just relaxed and motored through enjoying the views. My pictures really don’t do justice to the colors of this area.
I can’t say the Harley was very comfortable. My hips began to hurt from being held to far open to accommodate the wide gas tank. As short as my legs are my knees were forced up. I can’t imagine a taller rider being the least bit comfortable. It was cool and windy but I could still feel the heat off the engine and pipes when I put my feet down, might be pretty toasty if were warm out. I finally got used to the roar of the big V-Twin but never got over feeling some embarrassment at the noise level. I figure people come to places like this to enjoy nature, not hear some azzhat making a horrible racket.
By the time I reached Valley of Fire my GPS battery had given out. The bike didn’t have an accessory plug and I’d made the mistake of leaving it on although I certainly hadn’t needed it. It would be impossible to get lost in the area unless I left the road.
Valley of Fire was short but very pretty.
I headed back to town to turn in the bike after about 5 hours. Started chatting with the manager and asked if that location would be getting in any Bonnevilles (I’d seen a couple in LA). She said someone had just ridden one in from LA that morning and asked if I’d like to take it out, no extra charge. How could I refuse?? So I spent the next couple of hours taking in sites on a Bonnie Black T100.
I had hoped to stop by and meet M98 but without the GPS I no longer had his address so I’ll try again next time. Renting a bike was certainly a whole lot more fun than I would have had hanging around the strip and the people at Eagle Rider were a good bunch to deal with. As for getting a Harley the bike I had could best be described as utilitarian. It wasn’t particularly fun but it was solid and certainly felt like it would get you there.
Oh yeah...no food shots cause I was to busy riding to eat.
