visiting la and vegas
 

gf and i are going to vegas and los angeles this dec. what do we need to see and do? what shops should we stop to see & buy stuff?

was in vegas last dec. would not miss the rides on top of the excaliber. they are the chit.

Did you mean on top of the Stratosphere hotel?
If you like to people watch, there's plenty of great sidewalk cafes in Venice Beach while in LA (just get the fuck out before dark).

oh, yeah, i stayed at the stratosphere. $26/night and it was good!
i pretty much know the tourist stuff in vegas. know a bit of the tourist stuff in l a. what i'm mostly wondering about is bike related stuff.

oops, yea the stratosphere. how could i forget. did u forget im a noob here. just living up to the hype. i didn't do much bike stuff. left it at home. sorry can't help ya there.

Dont forget to go to a taco truck and get a burrito or taco in East LA.. Great at 1 am when your a little tippsy. Hang out with all the vatos.:cool:

seriously though about LA, check out the Santa Monica peir. Lots of fun and good food, also the chinease theater in Hollywood is cool. Thats where all of the handprints and footprints of the stars are.

Near LV, I hear the bunny ranch is the place to go to

Rent a sportsbike and do some riding through Mulholland drive and the santa monica mountains and Malibu!


Hollywood is a cesspool, I try to avoid it.

Hit up the Rock Store in Malibu or Newcomb's on Angeles Crest Highway. You probably won't see too much motorcycle action in the mountains in December, though.

In vegas try renting quads or buggys for the dunes...
http://www.sunbuggyfunrentals.com/lasvegas.html

If you are going near Santa Barbara (a bit north of LA) you could swing by the Solvang vintage moto museum...
http://www.motosolvang.com/motorcycle.html

Solvang is a Danish influenced tourist town that the ladies like.

wow, lots of great ideas!!! thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where do i rent a bike? web site?
any suggestions on bike shops that have lots of gear, in lv, la and in between?

Ortega Highway, access from I-5 in San Juan Capistrano. Rideable year round, doesn't get snow. But the same can be said for the many canyon roads above Malibu, closer to LA. Latigo Canyon Road and Decker Canyon Road come to mind.

Another forum member was out here last summer and I believe he rented a sportbike to ride above Malibu. Do a search for his thread.

There are numerous mega dealerships and accessory shops out here. Check the Yellow Pages after you get here (sorry, I'm old school). But Cycle Gear has a pretty huge stock in store. Mission Motorsports in Irvine is perhaps the largest dealer in California, and they are doing a KTM RC8 Test Ride on Dec 14. I'll be there!:D

KTM is bringing a truck full of RC8's for the Test Ride. 10AM to 3PM Dec 14. You must be 25 or older and have a motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license. I don't know if they will let you take it out long enough to do Ortega though.:rolleyes:

IIRC that was Thumper. He rented a bike from a place in Venice Beach.


Ah, here's the thread. https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=15032

i'm reading that thread now. i was not gonna lug my helmet and jacket on the plane but now i'm considerring it!

Getty museum(a must), santa monica peir, hollywood, venice beach(weirdo central), universal studios, queen mary, spruce goose, rodeo drive, the hollywood sign itself, griffith park, dodgers stadium, la brea tar pits, etc..

i grew up south of LA in OC, more specifically Anaheim. I would personally reccommend you go to hunington beach and newport beach and take PCH south to check out all the other cool beaches. rent a body board and hit the water! my personal fav. spot was below the bluff that the ritz carlton in dana pointe sits on.
you can go to disneyland (absolute! esp. with the girlfriend), knotts berry farm, tons of great places to shop, other fun stuff too. let me know if you make it to OC. i can tell you other things to do more specific to the area.

oh, and i hate vegas.

Near vegas you could go riding around Lake Mead. There's also supposed to be the motorcycle "ball of death" on Fremont street shere you can see the guys riding around inside the giant steel bubble. There's a few interesting bikes at the Harley Cafe, but otherwise not worth staying. There's also Hogs & Heifers saloon on Fremont St on the North end of the strip.

There's some good backroads for getting from vegas to LA if you want to see some interesting desert.

One of the coolest things we did in LA was to take a tour of the Paramount Studios. It's a walking tour where you are guided around to different movie sets. We were able to poke our heads in the Star Trek TV sets and saw Star Trek characters hanging out in costume in the alleys between the buildings smoking cigarettes on a break. Saw movie stars going in and out of their trailers and watch movies being made. You can be a member of a studio audience of a sitcom or have lunch at a cafeteria where the star eat.

There are no amusement rides and this is not a theme park. And you aren't taken around in one of those little tourist trams like Universal Studios. You are walking in a group among all the movie production people. Much better than Universal Studios in my opinion.

this is a coincidence: the long beach bike show is this weekend. worth going to? keep in mind that my woman needs more than motorcycles!!!

i'm leaning toward renting a 1098 for sunday from sportbikerentals.com

I've been to the LB show the past few years - it's always the same. If you've never been, you could check it out. If you don't go, you wouldn't be missing anything. I've been only to say hello to Colin Edwards and ask him to sign stuff - helmets, posters, my chest. :D

I wouldn't ride there. MC parking may be free, but there are frequently thefts every year at the show.

That would be Salt Creek, crowded on weekends. Water is a little cool now, low '60s. Pretty chilly without a wetsuit.

so, here's what might happen:
wed: fly to la morning, drive to vegas afternoon
thur: conference
fri: finish conference morning, drive to la afternoon
sat: venice beach? bike show? more tourist stuff?
sun: ride? canyons?
mon: more tourist stuff? fly out at 10pm.

had a good trip. all went well. didn't rent the bike. it just felt like it would be more work and hoops to jumo through. maybe next time.
here's what we did:
wed: flew to la, drove to vegas
thur: conference
fri: drove back to la. drove sunset from pch to hollywood sign.
sat: bought his and hers jackets at the bike show, walked hollywood area.
sun: drove around looking for the stars' houses, drove to griffith park observatory.
mon: mullholland dr., topanga canyon dr., venice beach.

Peekchurrs!!

Glad you had a good trip. Did you check out the LADWP Festival of Lights? I believe it's near the Griffith Observatory.

What did you and your girlfriend think of the freaks on Hollywood Blvd and at Venice Beach? :eek:

Better than the LAPD festival of lights. Red & blue in your rearview mirror.