I
wanted to make one last motorcycle ride before the end of the year, so I
rented a 2017 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200T Tuesday morning
(12-20-16) at the Harley Davidson dealer of Scottsdale and headed to
Barlett Lake, which is about 45 mile north-east from the Harley dealer.
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| Above: 2017 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200T that I rented |
Bartlett
Lake is in the Tonto National Forest and was created by daming of the
Verde River. The views around the lake are spectacular as you can see
the surrounding desert mountains and saguaro cactus all over the place.
The weather was fantastic, mostly sunny with a high for the day of 73
in the Phoenix area. A real nice ride, lots of twistys and dips once in
the Tonto area.
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| Above: A view on the Bartlett Dam Road |
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| Above: Sign showing the miles to Rattlesnake and SB coves |
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| Above: Rattlesnake Cove |
After
I left the Bartlett Lake area I headed further north to Horseshoe Lake,
which is about another 20 miles. But I didn’t get very far as the
paved road ended and I didn’t want to ride on the dirt road to Horseshoe
Lake, so I turned around and headed back to Cave Creek.
Above: This is the spot where I turned around due to the pavement ending
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| Above: Some twistys and dips on the Bartlett Dam Road on the way back to Cave Creek |
In
Cave Creek I stopped at Local Jonny's to have a late breakfast of two
eggs over easy, three slices of bacon, potatoes, toast and coffee.
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| Above: Local Jonny's in Cave Creek, Az |
At
Local Jonny's I met a guy that had a 2003 Harley Davidson Sportster
1200 (100 year Anniversary issue) that he said was his good friend. He
was an older guy (not as old as me though) and he said he’s ridden that
bike to Canada, Mexico, New York, to the 50th anniversary of his high
school class and just this year to Sturgis. He rode it all the way to
Sturgis, no trailering, a fact of which he was quite proud.
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| Above: 2003 Harley Davidson Sportster (100 year Anniversary Issue) |
After
leaving Local Jonny's I stopped by another place by the name of the
Roadhouse, which is close to Local Jonny's. I stopped by The Roadhouse
as there were a few bikes there plus a bright red Polaris Slingshot.
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| Above: The Roadhouse in Cave Creek, Az |
I talked to the couple that had the Slingshot, the guy said he’d had it only 3 days and it cost $33,000.
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| Above: 2016 Polaris Slingshot |
A
short ride, maybe only about 100 miles, but an excellent day in my
humble opinion. I’m glad I got one more ride in before the end of the
year. It’s kind of nice just to rent a motorcycle now and then but I
think I’d do a lot more road trips if I owned my own bike. Something to
think about for 2017.
