Observation from USA - motorbikes are not polular

[scumdog]

Another impressive building was our hotel in Vegas - the Luxor. A 33 story high black pyramid. The rooms hug the four sides leaving the inside an enormous cavity. You got vertigo from our 27th floor room looking down to the casino & lobby below.

I went to a gun range too! What a blast firing an automatic pistol and machine guns. I was totally anti-guns until then. Every Kid should have a gun in their schoolbag.

Yep great fun using those guns eh! - did it in various places in the US, my favourite is the MP5.

Bellagios fountain always captivates me as does the Paris casino withe Eiffel tower, Vegas? - just love it for its flashiness..

[longwayfromhome]

Proportionally, there are visibly fewer weekday riders on the roads in the US than in NZ. This is more true of the east coast & north. As a proportion of riders, there is a much lower % of riders in the US who commute. Therefore, you tend to see lots of riders on summer evenings and weekends, not so many in traffic-plagued freeways during the week. Why ride in downtown SF when you have 5 crossings of the Sierra's just a bit east? In the Bay area...San Fran, San Jose, Oakland...weekends are not wasted in cruising on freeways, they are off on the brilliant roads that abound in the area. These are places you would be unlikely to see if sightseeing in major cities and the tourist sights you visited. Several that were close to the Valley.....Skyline Drive area (Alice's is chocka on weekends and on many a summer's evening), Lick Observatory, Hwy 1 south through Big Sur to Cambria (one of the world's great coastal rides). If you want to see droves of Ducs, KTMs and MV's...its in places like these.

During the week its back in the F150 for the commute. As CA is the only state that allows lane-splitting, its a dream there for bikes that do commute, but elsewhere, bikes are just skittles for cage dodgems during peak hour.

[mstriumph]

Well I've just got the family home today after 22 day playing tourists in the USA.

.............. Finding bike shops to visit was a silly challenge. ................... The most Riders I saw and got to talk to in a single day was when we drove across Death Valley !! .................

You were in Vegas - home, i'm told, of the biggest Harley franchise in the US. It was HUGE [and quite difficult to miss?]

[SARGE]

oh bikes are popular alright .. but we dont hit the tourist traps too much .. too many miles of pristine, well constructed and maintained backroads to worry about ..

[Pixie]

You sound as disappointed as I was on my trip to Rome. Seemed to be nothing but large capacity Japanese scooters buzzing about, not the Italian utopia I imagined at all...

Although to be fair I HAD imagined gorgeous, slim, dark haired Italian beauties leaping off their Vespas and straddling me instead. Set myself up for disappointment really, specially since I had the wife in tow...

Do you look like a scooter?
Fat arse?perhaps?

[HenryDorsetCase]

Every Kid should have a gun in their schoolbag.

that made me laugh.

[Woody2]

No. The two sides haven't quite met in the middle yet. Beggars belief that the structure can defy gravity until joined. I had no idea they were building a bridge/flyover above the dam. So when I drove around the curve into sight it was one of those "frozen with awe" moments. You have to give Yanks credit where credit is due. They can build BIG structures like no other. That over bridge alone must suck up more cement in a day than NZ pours in a month or two! Mind blowing.
Another impressive building was our hotel in Vegas - the Luxor. A 33 story high black pyramid. The rooms hug the four sides leaving the inside an enormous cavity. You got vertigo from our 27th floor room looking down to the casino & lobby below.

I went to a gun range too! What a blast firing an automatic pistol and machine guns. I was totally anti-guns until then. Every Kid should have a gun in their schoolbag.

Totally agree Luxor is very cool, stayed there a few years ago (as well as the MGM) wife heard some kiwi accents at reception, said Hi and they were getting married the next day. Went to a Vegas wedding no less. We also drove from San Fran to Yosmite via death valley to Vegas, L.A thenback to San Fran. Would have liked to get down to San Diego - next time.