Viva Las Vegas
by: goon73
The trip began as a fun weekend with friends in Sin City to party like rock stars and attend a wedding. Along the way the plans evolved and took a life of their own as plans tend to do. The wedding was scheduled for Saturday morning with a reception brunch to follow. So other than Saturday morning we pretty much had an open agenda. We decided to fly in Friday morning and Leave Monday afternoon. Sunday I decided to rent a bike and head out to area 51.
Let me preface this with the statement that I am not a conspiracy theorist or anything like that. But, in early ’07 I went to Vegas to get married, and one of the things we did was to take the drive out there. However, due to the weather I was unable to ride a bike out there and aside from the entire marriage it was my regret for that trip. 22 days later I was single again and the remainder of ’07 was an emotional battle for me. To put it another way I looked at the opportunity to ride out to Area 51 as a chance for me to get some closure and do that part of the trip my way.
Over the years I have ridden more models of bikes produced by Harley Davidson than I can recall, and I have yet to ride one that I truly liked. This is not saying they are not a good Motorcycle, I choose to not venture down that path. However, Personally I have not found one that I felt right on, and I have ridden Sportsters, Fat Boys, Road Kings, Ultra Classics, Street Bobs, on and on. The one model I have never ridden is the VRod, so I chose to rent one for my journey out into the desert. The Porsche designed Liquid cooled motor seemed to be the best choice for a run out in the middle of the desert. So I called up Las Vegas Harley Davidson and reserved a 2008 VRSCDX Night Rod Special.
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Sunday morning I went to the Harley dealership to pick up the bike. While I was filling out paperwork I figure I would at least ask about the mileage per tank and the response I received was 90 miles per tank, but to check with the service guys. Now, 90 miles range would be completely unacceptable for my plans as once I left the gas area heading out in the desert the only gas stop would be 100 miles out, followed by a jaunt further in the desert with at least 110 miles before I could get back to gas and civilization. I was assured by the service guy that I could get 120, MAYBE 130 out of a tank but to not rely on the gas gauge as Harley is apparently unable to design one that works (HIS words).
Ok, nice looking Night Rod Special, Vivid Black with Mirage Orange Pearl stripes down the tank.
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So the Mandatory first stop… the Welcome to Vegas sign of course. To say the low speed handling of the VRod was bad would be an understatement. I have come up with the term “Lead Unicycle” as the only thing I could imagine that would handle worse. The 240 rear tire and 120 front combined with 34 degrees of rake and 4.5 inches of trail to make low speed maneuverability something I had to get used to. Soon it wouldn’t matter as I would be out on the road and not do low speed. So I topped off the tank and headed out.
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Heading out of Vegas north on 15 I watched as the urban sprawl diminished and by the time I turned onto 93 I pretty much felt alone. I carried with me 2 liters of water and a couple sticks of beef jerky as emergency provisions. The further I rode the more I hoped it would not come down to my provisions. 93 is pretty much a long straight road with desert on both sides and very light traffic. You can see for miles and miles ahead and I took this as an opportunity to see if the Night Rod Special handled any better at high speeds. I came to realize that although 90–95 mph was a great cruising speed for this machine, anything over 120mph felt like a ride on an unbalanced washing machine. I tried several times to open it up and each time started to feel light on the front and a headshake begins at 120mph. I finally decided the 150 marked on the speedo was either for bragging rights or “Optimal Conditions” which I didn’t seem to have, and I settled into the 95 cruise to Alamo.
In Alamo I was surprised to find I had a cell signal and called to check in with the old lady, filled up with Gas, and rehydrated with 32ounces of Gatorade. From Alamo I knew I was on my own until I was on my way back, no cell signal and no gas available for the rest of my trip. As I turned off onto the extraterrestial highway I noted the signs as I passed them next gas 91 miles, Rachel 40 miles. My route was to include a trip to Rachel, a Burger at the Little AleInn, then backtrack out the 13 miles of dirt road out to the base boundry line, and finally capping it off with the ride back to Alamo and gas. I figured 105 miles or so which would leave me plenty gas to make my return to Alamo. The ride to Rachel was uneventful and after a long talk with the owner of the Little AleInn who remembered me from a year and a half ago it was time to start my journey for closure.
Now let me take a moment and state for the record that I am fully aware Harley has not designed a dirt bike in over twenty years. But after all it is a well traveled road and is shouldn’t be that bad right??
So I begin my journey to the border of Area 51 and the warning signs that mark the boundary. A quick 10 or so mile ride back down the highway and turn at the “black Mailbox” follow it down and it hits groom lake road, take a right and go couple more miles. So, all is going well as I turn off the road and start making my journey down the dirt road; It is fairly well packed and I can still comfortably travel at around 40 mph. I made my way to Groom lake road and turned right, my speeds started dropping but I could follow the wheel ruts and still make some good time; Besides… only 4 more miles to go. Then the road starts to deteriorate, and my speeds drop more. The ill handling Night Rod is now traveling through gravel making the goings very treacherous. Once or twice the front end tries to slide out and I am very lucky to keep the bike upright, I consider turning around but I am almost there.
Finally I made the final rise in the road and dip down to the boundary markers. My first impression was that the signs had changed from the previous year. On the left one sign was gone, and on the right a new sign had been placed over the existing one. Of course I was not alone out there. The Ever present guard was sitting up on the hill overlooking my actions. I stayed out there long enough to smoke, take a couple pictures, Take a piss, and psych myself up for the return trip down Groom Lake Road. Just 13 miles of dirt road then back on the highway. Then 30 miles of highway and back to gas and civilization, besides I had half a tank left according to the gauge……
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