25th Anniversary Tour

I learned about AZ Tours from their ad in the BMWMOA. I've been riding beemers for over thirty years but have only managed to entice my wife to do day tours. With our 25th anniversary approaching I contacted Monica with the hope that we could have a fairly short (five-day) tour where the weather was more or less guaranteed.

Our trip exceeded our best expectations. We rented the new, 2008 K1200LT and proceeded from Phoenix to Flagstaff, where we parked ourselves for four nights and made day trips to the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, and Sedona, where we caught up with an old high school buddy who owns an art gallery there.

And the weather was clear and dry and HOT! Record heat of 115 degrees F greeted us as we arrived in and returned to Phoenix/Scottsdale. Even at highway speeds, this kind of heat is brutal. The term "wind chill" is a joke; "blast furnace" is a better description. It's crucial to make frequent stops for water; leaving the Valley we stopped about every thirty minutes and I downed a litre of cold, bottled water each stop.

The K1200 LT is a big, honkin' bike, much heavier than what I'm used to. (My current ride is a R1200 RT). But it is a superb bike for long cruises. We plugged in the iPod, set the cruise control, and motored in style.

Monica and Gabor were a tremendous help to us in planning our trip. The bike was in excellent shape and performed without any incidents whatsoever. Both my wife and I look forward to returning to AZ and renting again from Monica and Gabor.