Where to ride in Phoenix?

[pmackie]

Hi Guys

I'm in Phoenix with my wife visiting family, and it looks like I may have spare day on Tuesday to rent a bike and go for a ride.

Anybody got suggestions of where I can go to make a decent day ride, say 300-400 miles, starting and ending in Phoenix? I'm looking for anything resembling twisty roads and some mountian/desert scenery.

I'm not positive I'll be going, and it looks like maybe only a V-Strom 650 or SV 650 is available, but either should work for a day ride. Freeway stuff may not be that much fun however...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[gsxr400 racer]

camel back mountain , the grand canyon

[solman]

Darn, wish I would've see it sooner.  I could've told you a few good places to ride too.

[MattDaddy]

I'm headed down in 3 days from Seattle to Phoenix and am wondering what other rides you might suggest...
I'll have the family in tow, but should be able to get away for a day for a ride, maybe with my 11 year old as a passenger.

Also, any suggestions on the best place to rent a bike?   I ride an '07 Bandit that I almost had shipped down to my best friend's place for the winter (he lives in Ahwatuke area).  Would have been a great excuse to take a couple of 2 days trips down to visit.

Matthew

[solman]

When are you coming down?

[MattDaddy]

We plan on arriving this Saturday evening, staying through at least until Friday.

[solman]

I might be able to meet up with you during the week, but I have plans to be out of town this weekend.

[MattDaddy]

I would ride during the week Tues, Wed, or Thurs most likely since we'll be hanging out with friends when the kids we're visiting are out of school for the weekend.  It would be cool to connect and ride together.  I know the area a bit, but not that well.

Is it easy to find decent rentals in the area?   We're going to stay up by Squaw Peak, but be down in South Phoenix a lot.

[solman]

South Phoenix?  That isn't the most friendly of areas.  I am sure that there is rental places around.  Just google "motorcycle rental Phoenix" and your answers will come alive.

[Johnnykat]

Take a day trip to Sedona, that's always fun and they have cool eats.   

[pmackie]

Hey MattDaddy

I rented from these guys: www.azride.com  Nice people, pretty good selection of bikes:
V-Strom 650 (what I rented), lots of BMW GS and RS, Gold Wing, Concours 14, Duc Monster, Suzuki SV650 (lowered for a beginner and/or short/lady rider). The other sites I contacted seemed to focus on Harley's. The bikes were spotlessly clean and well maintained. The owners are a couple origionally from Eastern Europe(IIRC) and have lots of good suggestions for day rides up to week long rides.

Some of the bikes they want to rent for a minimum of 3+ days (the Connie, I think), and you can get a better deal if you organize yourself and book in advance. I walked in the afternoon before I rented.

I ran into another guy from Phoenix, and we went: (same day ride the shop suggested)
Hwy 60 to Superior
Hwy 177 to Hayden/Winkleman
Hwy 77 to Globe (this was the nicest/twistiest part of the ride)
Hwy 188 past Lake Roosevelt and the dam, nicely scenic
Hyw 87 back to Phoenix. Freeway, but scenic and "curvy"

Overall, a really nice ride, and would work very well with a passenger on. Hope you have fun.

[MattDaddy]

Hey Paul, thanks for the advice...I'll give them a call tomorrow to reserve a bike ahead of time.  I'm bringing down my Garmin Zumo and will enter the routing in and see where it takes me...

Thanks! 

Matthew

[TK421]

Probably a bit late but this book, Motorcycle Arizona, is full of great rides.  I've used it twice.  The author used to own a rental shop (Western States Tours, IIRC) and I rented from him on my first trip to AZ.  He was quite a character and said the book came from clients asking him where to ride.

[MattDaddy]

Thanks for all the suggestions... I bought the book when I was down there, I rented from AZRide, and took the suggested route.  I rented a BMW 1200GS for 2 days and had a good couple of days riding.  Long ride on day 1, short on day 2, mostly around town.  The GS took some getting used to, and I was glad to be back on my Bandit for a short ride today now that I'm back home.

I will say the AZride folks (MC Tours) run a very clean shop and keep their bikes in excellent condition.  I was really impressed and had no doubt I was going to be riding a bike that was at the top of its game.  The GS and most of their bikes were $79/day since peak season had not kicked in yet, although they had a 100 mile/day limit, then 50c/mile after that.
I brought by Garmin Zumo down, with the motorcycle mount and all since I had images of me lost in the desert without it.  The folks there were good enough to install it for me on the GS, running power for it, putting zip ties all the way along etc.  Small thing maybe, but took time and showed their attention to detail to make sure I had a great experience.  Others may have not wanted customer electronics being added to their bikes at all.
 
My friend insisted on renting a cruiser, in his case a Triumph.  We connected up with a friend of his on a Harley and headed off for Superior, Globe, Roosevelt dam, etc., and back to Phoenix.   Funny how my friend didn't feel confident on the Triumph and regretted renting a cruiser when the day was done.   At least it is out of his system now.   
Next year I want to find a way to trailer down my Bandit and do the same ride but enjoy it even more.     
 
Thanks again for all the advice