My decision to purchase a new bike this year came at a difficult time with many commitments already established. Two of my choices were BMW's, and knowing this would be a major investment I felt I needed a bit more exposure than the typical demo ride would accomplish. After doing a bit of research, and knowing the weather in Chicago wouldn't be good until my commitments were in full force, I looked for a company to rent the bikes from. AZride.com came up, and not having been to Arizona before I decided to take a short weekend to rent their motorcycles.
The red eye into Phoenix was delayed, but thanks to Monica's recommendation I had a good hotel location walking distance from their shop. Arriving at the shop early, I was first presented with very organized paperwork from Monica, making a potentially painful process stress free. After the paperwork, Gabor introduced me to the first motorcycle, the F800ST low frame. The technical briefing was very thorough, accomplished quickly and efficiently, and allowed time for questions. With the weather rapidly warming, Gabor asked me if I had any ideas on where to go. Not having a good one, he recommended a route northeast out of Scottsdale on a loop that could be anywhere from 200 to 250 miles.
The bike rode great, and was in perfect mechanical condition. The ride itself was pleasant, without much traffic and with a lot of scenery. I stopped at a couple outlooks including the Roosevelt dam to take some photos and enjoy the day. Feeling a bit hungry, I stopped at a restaurant in Globe for lunch. $8 bought me a great burger, fries, drink, and ice cream, a feast non existent at that price anywhere near Chicago. With time winding down, I headed back to the shop. Returning the bike was just as easy as renting it. We arranged the rental for Sunday, and I headed off for a shower and sleep.
Sunday was more of the same, except better. My choice for today was an R1200RT low frame, a bit more motorcycle than the 800. The paperwork was even faster than Saturday, and Gabor's tech brief on the bike was just as detailed. I decided to go apples to apples on the route to get a good comparison, except I went for the longer route this time, making it to Payson, then Globe, then around the long loop before heading back to the shop. I met a couple oil workers on Harleys in Payson, and they tagged along from Payson through the loop. It was the first time I had an opportunity to ride in a group, an experience I hope to repeat back in Illinois. We ended up eating at the same family restaurant since they hadn't been there. With time winding down again, I left my new friends on the loop to get back to the shop in time for check in.
Having never rented a motorcycle, I didn't know what to expect. The experience was so positive at AZride I wouldn't hesitate renting from them again. In fact, I began planning my next trip there in my mind for the fall. Many of my friends own bikes, and although we haven't had a chance to ride together yet, I would definitely recommend AZride for the rental to them. If for any reason they can't go, I would happily head out there again myself to rent a bike for myself. Regardless of your options, if you want a memorable experience from a reputable, experienced company, AZride is definitely the place to go.
When I told my wife I wanted to ride a bike out to Death Valley during our spring break trip to Phoenix, I think she thought I was crazy. After doing a little research though, I found AZRide and the planning started in earnest. We have a 2002 BMW R1150RS at home and we knew we wanted something similar. The RT seemed to be a logical choice especially since the lowered suspension was available to help with my in-seam challenges. I made the arrangements on-line and shipped our gear to Monica to hold until we got there. When we arrived, Gabor had the bike ready to go and we were quickly on our way. The first stop was Lake Havasu City. We didn't want to have a super long ride on the first day, so Lake Havasu seemed like a nice place to stop for the night.
The bike was great to ride. Does anyone want to buy a nice used RS? :-) Our next day was an even shorter ride to Vegas to visit my cousin (oh yeah and do some gambling). So, we had some time in the morning to look around Lake Havasu before we needed to leave. Despite what the song says, London Bridge is NOT falling down. If you haven't been by there, I recommend you take a look at Lake Havasu. It's a pretty place and there is plenty to do there. After we looked around and took some pictures we hopped on the bike and headed to Vegas. We had gotten a GPS with the rental which was a big help as we were getting into the traffic around the city. If you're going to Vegas, get on-line and go to this link https://clubgrazie.venetian.com/SignUp/SignUp1.aspx. When you sign up for Club Grazie, you get a $15 credit on your club card which you can use to get you started with gambling at The Venetian. If you're playing with their money, anything you win is pure profit and you can't lose! After a great visit with my cousin and a little gambling, we headed off to Death Valley the next day. Unfortunately there was a cold front moving through the area producing 30-40 mph winds out of the south. Since we were heading predominately west, that meant heavy crosswinds most of the way. Temperatures dropped to 46 deg going through the mountain passes. Certainly not what we had expected for late Mar weather. Even in Death Valley the high was only in the mid-60's. But, once again, we were glad we were on the RT because it was very stable and the fairing provided good protection against the chill. Despite the, less than optimum weather, we had a good ride and got some good pictures in Death Valley. We stayed in one of the cabins at Furnace Creek Ranch. It was small, but comfortable.
