Saturday, January 29, 2011

I had an awsome time with the F800S


Arrived in Phoenix. There are many cheap and good hotels conveniently located near the skyharbor airport.

Orange trees everywhere, this one was in Arizona State University
I was waiting to eat one but there were too many people around, maybe next time.

This is somthing you dont see everyday, it was a spectacular veiw
too bad I lost my camera in California and had to buy the cheapest camera at Radio Shack

I've only seen twinkies in the movies, always wanted to try one.
I'm never going to eat these again.

A real cactus wow. is it cactuses or cacti?
I heard from somebody it's cactie or somthing :(
I still say fishes and waters and gooses airs.....
Anyways I took over 100 photos of different cactuses
if anyone has interest in Arizona cactuses mail me at
beautifulmelons@gmail.com
I will be very happy to exchange my cactus photos with any photos of melons.

The open road, beautiful weather, and no traffic.
A bike that goes up to 230kilometers per hour. cheap gasoline
what else do I want? nothing!

I stopped to chat with 2 tanned and attractive girls at some parking lot
I said I'm new to the country and asked them if they are models.
They seemed to like it.

My first vacation to the states was a perfect one thanks to the nice people at AZride!
Originally my plan was to stay only in California but my father had some urgent buisness in Phoenix So I sort of tagged along because I heard that the weather in Arizona is crisp and clear in the winter!
I rented the bike for 24hours and I think I signed all the recommended insurance forms just in case. Which turned out to be a good decision because of a flat tire at the end of the day.
I have rented bikes in countless countries but out of all the places
I've rented before AZride.com had one of the the most organized systems and were professional in all aspects.
The bike was in top condition well maintained and washed. I was given a good enough helmet (but I wish i brought my own one), and pannier boxes(I'm not sure what you call them) some cleaning spray and a disk lock. All at free of charge. which doesnt happen elsewhere in the world. you always have to pay extra
For those people who come from abroad(in my case Korea) be sure to check with your credit card company beforehand. The security bond(?) was 1500$ and some cards allow only a certain amount of withdrawal or payment when used out of your country.
I will probably be back next winter for some more Arizona. I Hope to rent a Royal Enfield next time!
Thank you for reading and I hope my written English is understandable.
Ride safe everyone.

Sungho

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Great Rental

Was in Phoenix with my Son and rented two bikes from AZRide for a day. Best prices in town and the bikes were in showroom shape and maintained to perfection. Monica was extremely helpful with where to ride and the total experience was great. Highly recommend this outlet for fun and positive experience. Will use again

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Awesome Trip!

Thanks for a fantastic vacation! The bike was great, so was the scenery and food. Really hard to come back to 25 degrees in Philadelphia. The ride to Sedona via Jerome was challenging and fun. Going out towards Globe the next day was like riding through an alien landscape, and the enchiladas weren't bad once I got there. Always fun to try out different bikes.

Here's a request for a lowered R1200RT.

Thanks again!

Sam
(Philadelphia)









Friday, January 14, 2011


Just wanted to reiterate how pleased I was with the fun experience renting the Yamaha FJR from you, and Gabor. I look forward to doing business with you again in the future.

Best regards,

Scott Schere

I thoroughly enjoyed my day, this pic is just off exit 199 off hwy 87, can't remember name of lake. Your service was outstanding and I would recommend your rental agency to anyone. I plan on making an annual trip to Phoenix and will being doing business with you folks again. Thanks for a great day, Brian and Patty.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

GS at the Soleri Sundial Bridge

Jeff from Boston

December 2010
I recently rented a Yamaha FJR 1300 from AZride.. Monica and Gabor were very friendly, helpful and professional. The bike was in excellent condition and Gabor explained all the details well. I was given a nice route to follow on a "poor man's GPS (a nice map)". I have about 50,000 K on an ST 1100 so the FJR felt quite comfortable and very responsive. It's a perfect bike for this kind of trip. Once I got out of the city, the riding was fantastic. Breathtaking scenery and nice curvy roads that were well maintained made for wonderful riding. It was some of the most rewarding motorcycling I have done in 40 years. I definitely plan to come back and rent at AZ again,
Joseph

John and Piero


Regrettably, we did not take any photos but despite that our experience was excellent. The “check-out” process was flawless and quick, everything we needed to know was explained clearly regarding insurance, and the walk through of the bikes was thorough and very helpful. Both of our bikes were in impeccable condition and well maintained. All of these things combined to make a fantastic experience. Thank you and continued success.

James from Boston

The only sad part is leaving. like I told Ron, this place was love at first sight. And riding a motorcycle here has been one of the happiest experiences of my life. I really mean that.


The Royal Enfield 500 Bullet was a sturdy, dependable, strong little bike and we really bonded this week.

Friday, December 17, 2010

AZride: Recommend, Would do business again, Exceeded expectations, Thanks



I took an overnight to Tucson on a whim last weekend and was impressed: the weather was excellent, the traffic (outside of Tucson) was bearable and AZride hooked me up with an awesome naked bike. Phone, email and in person, expertise, professionalism and customer service abound with this company. The paperwork was easy and the Yamaha FZ6R I had reserved was ready for me, full and well maintained at a great price. After buying gloves and borrowing a full face helmet, I was provided a neat packet of insurance info, contract, and contact numbers and on my way. It was very convenient to prepay fuel and return the bike empty. An all around true value. Enjoy the ride, Dan
We all had a great day and really enjoyed the ride. You both definitely made the experience better with your organization and professionalism. I'll certainly highly recommend you.

Best regards, Troy

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

10 years later-a revisit

Having lived in the PHX area for 13 years, I had the chance to ride a lot of the really good motorcycling roads in AZ. One of my favorite rides has always been HWY 89-go West from PHX to Wickenburg, a little further and turn right. Stop when you get to Flagstaff and repeat the other way when possible. I moved away 10 years ago, but still come out every couple of years to see my parents.
I get to ride in the Ozarks and the Colorado Rockies every year, but I decided this year it was time to rent a motorcycle and ride a few of my old haunts out here. A little Internet research led me to the AZride website, and after a conversation with Monica, I reserved the FJR1300 for Tuesday 11/23/10. Got there a wee bit early (I was excited!), and Monica graciously got all of the paperwork out for me early, and I left @ 7 minutes AFTER the opening time of 9a.m.
I'm always a bit cautious when riding an unfamiliar bike, but fortunately I had been able to ride another FJR approx 2 weeks earlier, so I had a tentative feel for this one-by the time I got to Wickenburg for gas, I was feeling pretty comfortable with it. On to 89 and up the mtn to Congress-this is one of my all time favorite sections of road, as once you start up the mountain, it is 2 lane sweepers with an occasional 20-30 mph posted turn. When I lived here I rode that section a lot on my modified '79 CBX. After about the 1st two turns the bike felt great, so I relaxed and was able to really enjoy the ride through the corners. On to Prescott via 89, and that section of road is a blast! Lots of twisties and 180 degree switchbacks. Then on to 89A-I was hoping to get to Sedona, then Flagstaff. Unfortunately it was cooler than normal, and coming over Mingus Mtn prior to getting to Jerome, there was snow on the ground. I was insulated enough from the cold, but when the thermometer display got down to 36 degrees, that meant it was time to head for lower altitudes and warmth-the bike had felt fine up to that point, but not knowing how well the tires were going to work in those kind of temps kept me on the cautious side. And after 5 hours I was getting a bit tired, and the bike is a bit compact for me @ 6'3", so with the discretion I have learned through the years, I headed South to I-17. Got back to the shop at 4:00p.m., checked out and was extremely happy I had done it. Monica and Gabor were very friendly, helpful, and just plain nice people. This will now become a must do whenever I get back here.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Grand Canyon Tour 10/12-14/10



This being our first trip to Arizona, we needed help in planning a memorable motorcycle tour. We chose AZride for that service. Monica's greeting upon arrival to pick up the GL1800 Gold Wing waiting for us, confirmed the fact, we made the right choice with AZride. Our rental was on 09' model with heated grips and seats (why do I need that? It's 90 degrees.) which was maintained in "as-new" condition. Monica reviewed our roadtrip directions, pointing out lots of useful information, which made for a very enjoyable tour.



Day One - 225 miles
Rode west to Wickenburg, Prescott, Jerome, Sedona, then spent the night in Flagstaff. When in Jerome, be sure to try the butternut squash soup at the Asylum Restaurant at the Grand Hotel on Hill Street. Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon offer unbelievable scenic riding enjoyment.



Day Two - 275 miles
Rode north to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way to the East Gate, be sure to ride thru Sunset Crater National Monument Scenic Loop. The appearance of the hardened lava flows were unbelievable. An unexpected scenic sight was the snow covered SanFransisco Peaks. The Grand Canyon is hard to express in words, IT'S A MUST SEE !!!!!! Then it was back to Flagstaff for the night.



Day Three - 230 miles
Woke up to 30 degree temperatures with ice on the bike (now I know why the heated grips and seats, they sure felt good). By 5 p.m. that afternoon it was 102 degrees as we arrived in Scottsdale. Almost forgot, a great start to the day was breakfast at a local breakfast spot with a cute railroad train decor and perhaps the best chorizo omelet we have ever had!!!!! (no chorizo in Pittsburgh). Wonderful scenic roads on the return trip to Scottsdale. Visit the Tonto National Monument, it proved to be very interesting, the Indian Cliff Dwellings are worth the hike to see.



The tour consisted of three days of blue sky, sunshine, great roads, scenic vistas, creating a very memorable motorcyle tour experience.

Thanks again to Monica and Gabor at AZride.

We'll be back!!!!! (God Willing)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Winging it in Arizona

Two day rental of a Goldwing and 700+ miles later, the wife and I are very happy.



Monday, November 1, 2010
95* to 65* in a few hours
On October 27th and 28th the wife and I rented a well maintained Goldwing. I am more of a sport-touring rider, but this was a trip for both of us. So, if I was going to be happy the wife needed to be comfortable. We road just over 700 miles in two days.

We did most of the paperwork earlier in the week. Monica also gave us some route suggestions as well as a few maps to help with planning. We picked the bike up around 9am, finished the paperwork, did a walk around of the bike (well done, my first time on a Goldwing) we were on our way.

I wanted to start the ride on a couple of roads I was some what familiar with to get comfortable with the bike. With the local rush being over we headed out to Tortilla Flat. Ok the 101 and 60 in the metro area are not scenic, but it gave me seat time.
I have been out this way before, in a car, but at least I knew where I was going. I put the wife in charge of taking pictures and my job was to get there in one piece. I wasn't able to push the big wing in the corners. The pavement is pretty chewed up with a lot of loose gravel on top. I still love the views on the Apache trail. The profile of the old mine, the desert and Canyon Lake. So a quick trip out and back and then north to Saguaro Lake and on to the Bush Hwy. Our original plan was to head back towards town and have an easy day. We changed the plan and continued north.



A quick stop in Payson for lunch and back on the road. We took the 260 over to Show Low. Here is were I'm glad we had this big touring machine. Hitting the high country gave us temps in the 40's. Heated seat and grips felt pretty good. Not a lot to look at around Show Low, but the drive from there back to the Miami area is awsome. Being the middle of the week the traffic was almost nil. Very early into the canyon section a passed one RV and one truck. Nothing else. Hold on honey this is going to be fun. We retuned to the desert floor just as it was getting dark. Day one was a great start to a wonderful vacation.



Day 2 would take us northwest. We were staying on the north end of Scottsdale so we headed north on Scottsdale road, west on Carefree Hwy to Rte. 74 to Wickenburg. Being from the midwest, the open road, the lack of traffic and the desert are a great change for me.
At Wickenburg we head north to Prescott and Jerome. Great road. As we enter the scenic area, I can tell the wife is taking pictures. I am having to much fun doing one turn after another to look. Unlike the midwest, the people in cars out here are great. Before I would catch up to a car, they would pull over and let us by. I have to do this road again. Simply amazing. After a short rest stop in Jerome at the Museum we decided to pick a route back to AZride. The only downside is there are limited routes back. We could repeat the route we just took or slab it back on 17. I wish I would have repeated the route, but we needed to get back, so we did a little slab time.

Thank you AZride. We had a great time. You run a professional business and still take care of the customer on a personal level. When I come back to Arizona, if its without my own bike, I will rent from you again.

Friday, November 5, 2010

AZ First Ride





We certainly want to thank Monica for her organization of our first motorcycle rental experience in Arizona. We had visited last year and thought how great it would be to rent a bike and tour the area. We rented the BMWR1200RT. Super motorcycle and for my wife and me, it was perfect. The tour we went had some nice sparsely traveled roads for the most part and only going back to drop the bike off did we encounter any heavy traffic. Beautiful scenery and the day was perfect for motorcycle weather. Tip to those who don't know their way around the area well - Ask Monica for a route to go. Makes things a lot easier. Thanks again, Monica! We will do this again.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Quick weekend in from California, great ride around town

I was in Scottsdale for a recent weekend and given the great weather, wanted to rent a bike, rather than a car to get around town. Fantastic experience and great people to work with here. I was set to pick up a BMW (love them), but upon arrival and seeing the Royal Enfields, couldn't resist and picked one of those up. Such attention getters, great to ride, especially around town. Could not recommend this place highly enough.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Scottsdale-Sedona-Jerome-Wickenburg

Sorry I don't have pictures, our battery on the camera ran out. We chose to ride from AZride Northeast to Payson, plenty of expected desert straightaways but we found all the Seguaro cactus interesting to view on the way. Gabor and Monica were completely service focused and the equipment check-out with Gabor very thorough. I would want Gabor to be MY BMW mechanic! Our BMW R1200RT was immaculate for 21K on the odometer and performed as expected, although it has been a long time since I have been on this model. The accessories and improvements were welcome. We rode two-up and played with the ESA suspension settings, and settled on "Sport." We live in Hawaii so had no idea what the weather would bring, but late October is a wonderful season to ride in this region. Thunderstorms were spectacular to view and a good excuse to get off the bike, have a drink and watch the show. This was a tour more than a ride, so we spent two Sedona days touring and walking, including the "Pink Jeep Tour" which we highly recommend. The rode up Oak Creek to Flagstaff was twisty and entertaining, and I repeat, weekdays this time of year there are fewer buses and cages on the road to slow you down. From Sedona we rode to the mining "Ghost Town" of Jerome, now a tourist trap but definitely into the Halloween Spirit. As you enter the heart of town at the only "T" intersection, turn right, and exclusive motorcycle parking is immediately on your left, and big plus because parking on the twisty main street is at a premium. "Grapes" is the best restaurant to enjoy, right in the middle of town. Clean public restrooms are at the firehouse. After window shopping and gift-purchasing we doubled back to visit the mining museum. Leaving Jerome we headed over the hill down to Skull Valley to Wickenburg. Go late in the day and plan to arrive in Wickenburg at nightfall, because you'll avoid all the cars that will hold you up in the wonderful twisties. When you settle down in the flats, beware of speeding in the straightaways, we noted the aircraft speed monitors along the roadside, but the planes weren't flying this late. At a cemetary three constables in squad cars were there, fortunately for us, having a coffee break and not minding the radar guns. A full moon helped us out, too. Wickenburg back to Scottsdale was pretty uneventful and boring but visiting the cowboy town is worth visiting. We didn't realize that many Scottsdale gas stations disguise themselves so we felt pretty silly pulling into a bank to discover we were pulling into an ATM teller station instead of a gas pump. Monica and Gabor checked us in and we were on our way. Renting these bikes is expensive but definitely a fun experience that is first class. Thanks AZride!

Sunday, October 24, 2010





Today I rented a Yamaha FJR 1300 from AZ Ride/MC Tours and rode out to Winkleman via Jakes Corner, Roosevelt Lake and Globe. It was fantastic. My 5 tips and highlights are:
1. The AZ Ride/MC Tours shop is clean, well kept and organised. I felt very confident when renting the bike that it would be safe, reliable and in top notch running order.
2. The bike (see above) is an impressive piece of performing art. It is a totally beautiful bike and it runs like a dream. On the road, you feel and are invincible. If someone passes you, it is because you let them. If you slow down through the twists and weaves, it is because you felt like it. In neither case do you have to.
3. The scenery is spectacular. I was planning a quick lunch stop as I wanted to spend as much time on the bike as possible. Gabor suggested pulling over by the Roosevelt Bridge. It was a great idea. You can see the view above with the spectacular hills in the background.
4. The roads are amazing. If you take the route out 87 to Jakes Corner and then south on 188 to Globe, you must take in the Hwy 77 to Winkleman and Hwy 177 back to Superior loop. I have driven stock cars at the Atlanta Raceway, driven dune buggies in the Nevada desert and flown in dog fights off the coast of Laguna Beach and I have never felt more thrilled then powering the FJR1300 through the twists and loops offered up by this route.
5. Once you get back you must spend at least half an hour talking motorcycles with Gabor. He is intelligent and knowledgeable and you will definitely find it interesting and learn something useful that you didn't know. And, he also has good taste in women (that's a plug for you Monica).

Thank you Gabor and Monica for a memorable and totally awesome day.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Jeff from Boston


Arcosanti


outside the SMOCA



at the Village Coffee Roastery, Hayden and Via de Ventura on McCormick Ranch, where there are usually a few BMW riders, especially on weekend mornings. Great! coffee...

Thank you for another great weekend!
See you again in December
Had a great time. I'll be back next time I visit Trevor.
Loren from MI

Sunday, October 3, 2010

5 days in the sun

Being in the US in summer for the first time I decided to have a motorbike-trip. Since I am not fixed on driving a cruiser, I quickly came to the conclusion that AZride would be the best option.
We did the paperwork the day before and on Sunday, June 20, both the FZ6R and I were ready to start.

Gabor and Monica had a tour worked out for me that should take me from Phoenix via Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, then over to the east to the Apache reservation, a loop down to New Mexico and then back to Phoenix.
The Bike was in perfect condition and extremely fun to ride. When forest fires spread up around Flagstaff and I called them, my renters quickly checked out whether the road I was to take was still open or not - thanks a lot!

While planning the trip, definitely take into account their opinion on scenic roads - the only time I had to take a different road than the one they suggested was on my way from Flagstaff to Show Low. Because of roadwork (including oil on the asphalt, as I was told by one of the workers) at Lake Mary I had to turn around and take the Interstate 40 - horribly boring!!
The only good point about this unexpected change in plans was that I came to see the Petrified Forest. A guy named Ray that I met on the road to Flagstaff told me about "worlds oldest dealer of petrified woods". He lived at the petrified wood already before it became a national park.
I tried to find him but only found a house that could have been his, on the south side near the entrance to the park. An interesting place.

Unfortunately, on my 5th day in Arizona a thunderstorm made me stay around Show Low, which is definitely one of the most boring places I have ever been to. I was reimbursed on my 6th day, when I rode "home", again under an all blue and sunny sky.

All in all, I had 6 extraordinary days on a wonderful bike for a good price, all beautiful landscapes and very friendly and experienced renters.
BIG RECOMMENDATION.