Off-roading among Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert.
EagleRider, the world’s largest motorcycle rental and tour company, in partnership with Yamaha, announces a new and exclusive 3-Day Mojave Desert Adventure tour this October.
This limited-availability adventure invites riders to “Conquer the Mojave” riding Yamaha Ténéré 700 motorcycles and Yamaha UTVs. Taking place from October 27-29, 2024, this quick escape offers both an unparalleled taste of freedom and group excitement just beyond the neon lights of Las Vegas.
Yamaha Ténéré 700 (Photo by Joseph Agustin)
The Perfect Blend of Thrill and Accessibility
This carefully curated tour is designed to showcase the wild side of Sin City, combining the allure of Las Vegas with the raw beauty of the Nevada desert. It’s ideal for:
Adventurers eager to experience the thrill of multi-day motorcycle and UTV adventures
Riders seeking a quick escape to conquer the Mojave Desert’s rugged terrain
Anyone looking to bond with fellow adventure-seekers in an epic group ride
Enthusiasts wanting to test the limits of Yamaha’s cutting-edge ADV bikes and UTVs
“We’ve crafted this EagleRider Exclusive to deliver an adrenaline-pumping tour experience that reveals the untamed beauty surrounding Las Vegas,” says EagleRider CEO Sebastian Schoepe. “Riders will conquer the Mojave on the latest Yamaha Ténéré 700, experiencing the perfect mix of on-road touring and off-road thrills. On Day 3 they will have the opportunity to cross the desert in state-of-the-art Yamaha UTVs – an unforgettable fun ride checking off the bucket list.”
Tour Highlights:
Riders will cover 450-500 total miles, including approximately 100 miles of exhilarating dirt trails:
Day 1: Venture into the heart of the Mojave, exploring enigmatic sites like Devils Hole and the Area 51 Alien Center before resting at The Ranch Death Valley
Day 2: Push your limits through the otherworldly landscapes of Artists Palette and Dante’s Peak, ending in Pahrump.
Day 3: Cap off your conquest with an adrenaline-fueled UTV tour starting at the historic Pioneer Saloon, possibly followed by visits to the surreal Seven Magic Mountains and the iconic Las Vegas Welcome Sign.
Exclusive Off-Road UTV Experience:
The adventure culminates with an off-road UTV experience that lets riders:
Master the latest Yamaha side-by-side UTVs
Communicate with their team using high-tech helmet systems featuring fresh air supply
Encounter the wildlife of the Mojave Desert up close
Booking Information
Spaces for this wild desert conquest are limited to 15.
Cost: $1,676 plus taxes per person for 1 Yamaha Ténéré 700 rental and 1 hotel room for 2 nights.
Tour Map
Can’t join our exclusive Yamaha tour? No problem!
EagleRider provides year-round off-road side-by-side UTV experiences, allowing adventure seekers to explore the stunning Mojave Desert on their own schedule. Ideal for those who can’t join the 3-day tour or don’t hold a motorcycle license, these UTV rides offer a thrilling way to discover the desert’s rugged beauty. Visit this UTV Tour booking link to learn more.
For more information please reach out to the EagleRider Press Team:
The MT-10 accessorized for sport-touring. (Photos by Kevin Wing and the author.)
Some rides are more challenging than others. Sometimes we seek out the challenge, and sometimes the challenge finds us. It was a little of both when I found myself stopped on the side of the road, trying to stay upright on a Yamaha MT-10 while being battered by 60-mph winds and sandblasted by a dust storm.
It was Valentine’s Day, and I was headed for Las Vegas to attend the AIMExpo dealer show while a winter storm was sending a freight train of frigid air down from the Sierra Nevada mountains. South of me on Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert, tractor-trailers were being overturned by the wind. I had avoided that route because I’ve ridden it a million times and find it boring, so I was taking a longer, more scenic ride along part of the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway (U.S. Route 395) and through Death Valley.
While I expected it to be a cold, windy day – and was warmly cocooned in my Zerofit HeatRub baselayers, Gerbing’s 12V heated jacket liner and gloves, and traffic-cone-orange Aerostich R-3 suit – I didn’t anticipate it would be quite this bad. My arms and neck were sore from leaning into the wind for the past couple of hours, and things went from bad to worse after I filled up in Olancha and turned east on California Route 190 across the Owens Valley. The snowcapped Sierras were partly obscured by dusty haze, and soon I became engulfed in a beige cloud and got blitzed by stinging sand.
This photo doesn’t do the dust storm justice, but the video does. Check it out here or below.
After a few gusts nearly knocked me off the road, I slowed way down and turned on my hazard flashers. At one point, I stopped on the side of the road to get my bearings near the Olancha Dunes OHV area, with my legs splayed like outriggers and my feet planted firmly on the ground. I didn’t dare get off the bike or it would have toppled over, but I managed to dig my phone out of my pocket to capture a video of the blasting sand starting to cover the road and slamming into me and the bike like millions of miniature BBs.
Once you’re in it, you’re in it. You can either wait it out or proceed with caution.
Sport-Touring on the 2023 Yamaha MT-10
In calmer days last fall, I traveled to North Carolina to attend the press launch for the Yamaha MT-10, a naked sportbike based on the YZF-R1 that was updated with engine refinements, R1-sourced electronics, new styling, and revised ergonomics.
Yamaha’s accessory top case comes in three sizes: 30L, 39L (shown), and 50L. It not only provides lockable storage, it also provides a backrest for a passenger. Soft side cases (20L each) are also available.
The MT-10’s suck-squeeze-bang-blow comes courtesy of a 998cc inline-Four with a crossplane crankshaft that produces sound and feel like a V-Four, and its aural symphony is amplified by acoustic sound grilles atop the air intakes on either side of the tank.
At the launch, we rode stock MT-10s in the Cyan Storm colorway, which has a mix of gloss black and gray bodywork with bright blue wheels. One of the Yamaha guys rode a Matte Raven MT-10 fitted with factory accessories: Windscreen ($249.99), GYTR Frame Sliders ($209.99), Comfort Seat ($299.99), Rear Rack/Top Case Mount ($250.99), 39L Top Case ($241.99), and Universal Mount ($24.99). After the launch, Yamaha agreed to let us borrow the accessorized bike for an extended test.
Compact, light, and agile, the MT-10 is like a cat with catnip in the corners.
The first thing we did was take the MT-10 down to Jett Tuning for a dyno run. Measured where the rubber meets the road, the MT-10’s quartet of 249.5cc cylinders chuffed out 138.5 hp at 10,200 rpm and 76.5 lb-ft of torque at 9,000 rpm. Yes, that’ll do nicely.
Then we flogged it around town and up and down the canyon roads that make Southern California such a land of milk and honey for motorcyclists. The balance and smoothness of an inline-Four is always a delight, but the MT-10’s particular blend of herbs and spices is truly mouth-watering. Twist the throttle hard, and the bike leaps forward, emits a joyful noise, and flashes an amber light as the wheelie control keeps the front wheel close to the ground.
Flash forward to my trip in February. The temperatures had been in the 40s all morning, and after making it through the dust storm and climbing out of the Owens Valley, it dropped into the 30s by the time I stopped for a photo in front of the Death Valley National Park sign. It was a Tuesday, and there were few cars on the road – just the way I like it.
A gritted-teeth smile and a powdered MT-10 after the first dust storm.
No matter how many times I visit Death Valley, I never get tired of it. Covering nearly 5,271 square miles, you could fit Rhode Island and Delaware within its borders and still have 1,237 square miles left over. It’s a place of extremes, contrasts, and wonders. And with nearly 1,000 miles of paved and unpaved roads ranging from tame to intense, it’s a two-wheeled playground.
I savored the long, winding descent into Panamint Valley, enjoyed the sweeping curves up to 4,956-foot Towne Pass, and cruised the 17 miles back down to sea level at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. After passing Mesquite Dunes, I was engulfed in another dust storm near the Devil’s Cornfield, where clumps of arrowweed resemble corn stalks. Even though wind was battering me, dust was obscuring the wide-open views that make Death Valley such a unique place, and hours of being cold were beginning to take their toll, it felt good to be hundreds of miles away from my desk.
Deep in Death Valley. Nelson-Rigg’s Commuter Tank Bag and Hurricane 2.0 Waterproof Backpack/Tail Pack came in handy.
The windscreen provided more protection than the MT-10’s stock flyscreen but not by much. The comfort seat, however, was a huge improvement over the stock seat. It has a flatter shape, more supportive foam, and a suede-like finish. The top case provides 39 liters of lockable storage, and I used it as a solid anchor point for my Nelson-Rigg Hurricane 2.0 Waterproof Backpack/Tail Pack that sat on the passenger seat. For those who want more storage, Yamaha sells a 50L Top Case ($298.99), Side Case Brackets ($249.99), and MT Soft ABS Side Cases ($484.99).
The MT-10’s stock tinted flyscreen’s height is just above the black mesh screen seen above, so the accessory clear windscreen adds 4-5 inches of height. It send airflow into the top of the chest/shoulder area.
By the time I made it to Las Vegas, the MT-10 no longer looked Matte Raven but a light gray because it was so powdered with dust and grit. In my hotel room, I poured handfuls of sand out of the pockets of my Aerostich suit.
Rolling on the throttle through a smooth corner on the MT-10 delivers a visceral sound and feel.
As I wrote about in First Gear last month, it wasn’t just me at AIMExpo. Our dispersed editorial team also came together in Las Vegas, and we enjoyed a group ride to Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire State Park. In the hotel parking garage after the ride, my colleague Kevin Duke pointed out the center of the MT-10’s rear tire was getting thin on tread. Admittedly, of the 2,000 miles on the bike’s odometer, most of them had been ridden with little to no lean angle, but I figured the tire had enough life left to get me home.
From Vegas, I rode north on I-15 to St. George, Utah, where I spent the weekend with my father and stepmother. Wanting to avoid the interstate for the long ride home, Dad helped me plot out a route west through the sparsely inhabited interior of Nevada.
Sunrise at Snow Canyon just north of St. George, Utah. It stayed below freezing for the next two hours.
On Presidents Day, I suited up, plugged in my heated apparel, and set off north from St. George on State Route 18, which passes by Snow Canyon on its way to Enterprise. Dawn was just breaking, and it was below freezing – and it stayed that way for the next two hours, mostly down in the 20s. My heated gear did its best to keep up; my core was warm, but my hands, even with the heated, insulated gloves turned to the highest setting, were still cold. The accessory I most wished the MT-10 had was heated grips (Yamaha doesn’t offer them).
Cathedral Gorge State Park.
After crossing into Nevada, my teeth chattered as I rode over 6,718-foot Panaca Summit, and then I made a brief stop at Cathedral Gorge State Park, which has walls of eroded bentonite clay that look like intricate sandcastles. Continuing southwest on U.S. Route 93, I went from cold to colder over 6,243-foot Oak Springs Summit. At Crystal Springs, I turned onto Nevada Route 375, known as the Extraterrestrial Highway because it passes near Area 51, the infamous secret government facility where there have been reports of UFO sightings.
Nevada Route 375 is known as the Extraterrestrial Highway. With its beady headlights, the MT-10 looks a bit extraterrestrial itself.
Nevada is known for its “basin and range” topography, with abrupt changes in elevation as you travel over steep mountains and across wide, flat valleys. I passed over two more of Nevada’s summits – Hancock and Coyote, both around 5,500 feet – before reaching the rundown town of Rachel, home to the Little A’le’inn bar/restaurant/motel, the Alien Cowpoke gas station, and scattered mobile homes.
This is the only UFO I saw in the vicinity of Area 51.
Other than a few overpriced souvenirs, Rachel didn’t have much to offer. Route 375 passes through vast emptiness, but there was no evidence of Area 51 or anything otherworldly.
These guys kept a bug eye on me while I gassed up at Alien Cowpoke in Rachel.
My dogleg westward route eventually brought me to the old mining town of Tonopah for gas. I entered California by way of Nevada Route 266, which took me over 7,420-foot Lida Summit, the highest pass of the day.
It was cold and windy for 1,600 miles.
After crossing the state line, I stopped at a ranch that straddles both sides of California Route 168. Nearly 15 years ago, on a moonless night at that very spot, I crashed a Ducati GT1000. I had no business riding through an open range area after dark, but I had left home late and was on my way to meet my father at the Bonneville Salt Flats. I suddenly came upon a herd of black cows on the road, grabbed a handful of brake lever, locked up the front wheel, and went down.
All things considered, I was lucky. It could have been much worse that night. My apparel was thrashed, but I wasn’t hurt and the bike was rideable. The Swiss Army knife that I carry in my pocket to this day still bears scratch marks from sliding along the pavement during that crash. Had I not stopped this time around to preserve the memory with a photo, I wouldn’t have noticed that the MT-10’s rear tire, with just 2,600 miles on it, was worn down to the cords. Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 tires are marvelously grippy, but they’re not much for longevity.
Luckily these are the only scars from my crash 15 years ago.
I rode slowly and gingerly for the next 50 miles, which, regrettably, also happened to be the curviest section of my entire trip. I made it over 6,373-foot Gilbert Pass and 7,271-foot Westgard Pass on my way to Big Pine, a small town that sits in the shadow of the Sierras on U.S. 395. I was safe and sound, but I was 250 miles from home.
Cords showing after just 2,600 miles. No burnouts, I promise!
Unwilling to risk a catastrophic blowout, I got a motel room and hunkered down. The next day, my dear wife drove up to Big Pine in our 4Runner with a motorcycle trailer and rescued me. It’s not how I wanted the trip to end, but once again, it could have been much worse. Maybe my guardian angel lives at that ranch out on Route 168.
A stunning view of the Sierras during what turned out to be the last few miles of my ride.
How about a Tracer 10 GT?
The MT-10’s performance, handling, and ergonomics make it a great streetbike, and with some accessories, it makes for a very sporty sport-tourer. In fact, we’d love to see a Tracer 10 GT version with an even taller windscreen, a lower fairing, heated grips, wind-blocking handguards, hard saddlebags, and higher-mileage sport-touring tires. Hey Yamaha, whaddaya think?
The roads in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park cut through some of the world’s most stunning red rock formations.
Johnny Cash sang about fire, murder, heartbreak, and sin, and I think he would have appreciated the symbolism of this ride, given its route. Northeast of Las Vegas is one of the most visually stunning state parks in the Southwest. The added bonus for motorcyclists is that the park’s roads trace through the crimson landscape like slithering black mambas. A ride through Valley of Fire State Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area makes for a fantastic motorized respite from the neon bustle of Vegas.
The Las Vegas Strip, with its massive themed casinos, sidewalk solicitations, and congestion, is not my cup of tea. That’s why my staging point for this ride was Fremont Street. While still over-the-top, this area has the feel of an older, more genuine version of Vegas.
The night before my ride, I watched a cover band play classic rock tunes under the lights and video canopy that spans Fremont and enjoyed a variety of street performers. The next day, I put a couple bottles of water and lunch in the saddlebags of my BMW R 1200 GS and mounted up.
Fremont Street is well north of the traffic and congestion of the Strip, so getting out of the city was much more convenient than it would have been if I had opted for lodging at one of the mega-casinos. On my way out of town, I rode past the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum – Vegas-themed tributes that were added to my post-ride entertainment schedule.
The Las Vegas Wash runs as a tributary to Lake Mead, adding yet another unique visual element to this great ride.
The cruise northeast on the Las Vegas Freeway (Interstate 15) was a nice warm-up to this loop ride. The muted hues and desert views were expansive as I climbed out of the neon valley. There were a few floating cotton balls in the otherwise intense blue of the mid-morning Nevada sky. The line where the horizon meets the sky was as crisp and sharp as I have ever seen.
After 30 miles of motoring on the freeway, I diverted the GS eastward onto the Valley of Fire Highway. The two-lane tarmac starts as a gently curving and undulating climb into the gray stone mountains that were part of the striking delineation I enjoyed just miles before. However, the monochromatic gray soon gives way to vibrant blotches of crimson. Contemplating the name of the Valley of Fire State Park, I couldn’t help but imagine those red spots as flare-ups caused by the wind-carried embers of an approaching wildfire.
The various hues of the desert landscape in the Valley of Fire make for a ride with an almost cinematic feel.
My first stop in the park was at the aptly named Beehives. There is little doubt what all the buzz is about. Cringe-worthy puns aside, the Beehives are a spectacular object lesson on the artistic creativity of erosion. The hives are stratified tributes to the power of wind, water, and time.
The Beehives are whimsical sentinels that add to the region’s other-worldly feel.
By the time I got to the turnoff for the park’s visitor center, I was fully engulfed in the figurative flames of the Valley of Fire. I live near Sedona, Arizona, and I have ridden extensively through the red rocks of southern Utah, so I have a solid base of reference for the hue of red sandstone. Valley of Fire is something different. The terrain carries a deeper, more blood-like patina in this region. It is stunning.
The smooth and well-maintained winding roads through the Valley of Fire are tailor-made for motorcycling.
I bought a $10 park pass at a self-serve kiosk and rode up Mouse’s Tank Road. The endgame of this beautiful ride was a short hike on The White Domes Trail, where I enjoyed a drink of water and a snack and took in the majesty.
I am not usually a fan of out-and-back routes; however, this ride, carving through the curvaceous rock formations of the park, is fantastic in both directions. It’s only about 6 miles from the visitor center to the end of Mouse’s Tank Road, so the ride through the heart of the park is short but very scenic.
The mix of elevation changes and a smorgasbord of turns makes the ride through the Valley of Fire very entertaining.
Back on the Valley of Fire Highway, I was awed at the beauty around me. The road follows the undulations and sinews of the red rocks. I made a final stop at Elephant Rock and meandered up the trail in my Sidi boots. It was well worth the wear on the soles of those expensive kicks. Elephant Rock is yet another of the park’s formations that is stunningly indicative of nature’s wonders.
If this were a full daytrip rather than a through-ride, I would have stopped and hiked several more of the park’s features, like Arch Rock and Atlatl Rock with its Native American petroglyphs. The park is deserving of more exploration than I was able to give it.
A fellow biker gives the universal salute as he rolls through Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Back on the BMW, I made my way to the end of the park’s highway at its intersection with North Shore Road (State Route 167). The referenced shore is the bank of Lake Mead. The “shore road” moniker is a bit of a misnomer. The Southwest’s unprecedented drought has drawn the reservoir down to a record low, so I was quite some distance from the lake. While not a waterside trek, the ride in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is entertaining and beautiful. I was back in that fringe environment where red outcroppings dot the gray landscape. The fire was to my back this time.
The terrain within Lake Mead National Recreation Area is stark, barren, and beautiful.
Farther west on my return toward Vegas, the flatter, muted desert landscape returned. Cactus, desert brush, and the occasional dwarf palm dotted the horizon, and the final leg was relaxing as I traveled back from the Valley of Fire to the valley of neon. With proper gear choices, this is a ride that can be made virtually year-round, and I will certainly be back. From the City of Sin to the Valley of Fire, it’s a heavenly ride indeed. The Man in Black would approve.
My Silver Fox Honda ST1300A and my honey’s Flying Purple People Eater BMW R1150 RT-P impatiently await our return so they can resume their romp down California’s Sonora Pass.
Late spring is a great time to do some pass bagging in the Nevada and California gold country. The passes are usually open by mid-May, and there is a beautiful mix of greenery, wildflowers and snowcaps in the high elevations. Today’s ride also contains a bit of adventure, as my honey and I are boldly moving into the 21st century with a pair of new helmets that have integrated headsets for bike-to-bike communication. I soon learn that it can be refreshing having voices in my head other than my own.
“I’m rolling,” I say into the microphone as we simultaneously turn northeast out of Virginia City onto Nevada State Route 341. We experience our first pass of the day within minutes as we reach 6,789-foot Geiger Summit and follow its winding path down into south Reno. Crossing U.S. Route 395, we stay on the same road, but it magically changes numbers to 431 and takes us to our second pass, Mount Rose.
Map of the route taken, by Bill Tipton/compartmaps.com.
State Route 431 begins with a straight climb through the foothills, but soon changes into 20 mph curves, which are a bit tighter than the sweeping 45 mph curves on 341. We begin to see some patches of snow before reaching the 8,911-foot summit, and upon crossing it are rewarded with our first peeks at Lake Tahoe. The lake will dominate our view for many miles and we are able to take brief looks at it because the tight curves have widened out to 50 mph top-gear corners, which we follow down to State Route 28.
As we follow the roundabout left on 28, an emphatic, “I’m hungry,” booms from my headset speakers.
“Good timing,” I reply. “We’re almost to Incline Village and can stop at T’s Mesquite Rotisserie for a burrito.”
T’s is a little hole-in-the-wall place on Route 28 crammed between the Incline Village Cinema and 7-Eleven, but its lunchtime crowd shows it is a locals’ favorite. We are thoroughly satisfied sharing a tri-tip burrito and leaving their rotisserie specialties for the next time we’re in town.
Even the author, pictured in his typical sedentary position, can’t detract (much) from the beauty of Lake Tahoe.
Heading south on Route 28 again, we continue to steal glimpses of Lake Tahoe on the right as we ride along its shoreline. When 28 dead-ends, we turn right onto U.S. Route 50 and savor our last miles of Tahoe views as we head toward South Lake Tahoe.
Entering South Lake Tahoe, we avoid the worst of its traffic by taking Pioneer Trail as we cross into California. We turn left to rejoin U.S. 50 but only stay on it for a few miles because our next left onto California State Route 89 takes us to 7,740-foot Luther Pass.
Luther Pass is really only a connector road, but it is a beautiful one with granite cliffs rising on both sides and valley views to the east. Continuing on 89, we go through Markleeville and follow it alongside winding creeks as its name changes to State Route 4.
Originally part of the 1860 Pony Express route across the Sierra Nevada, Luther Pass is now frequented by somewhat shinier steeds.
Route 4 continues following creeks upstream into the Sierra and soon the centerline disappears, making it a one-and-a-half-lane road. That’s where the fun really begins. The next several miles up to the Ebbetts Pass summit of 8,730 feet are full of first-gear switchbacks with extreme road cambers. Give any vehicles in front of you lots of space. If they choose to stop for any reason and leave you stranded in the middle of a highly cambered curve, it will lead to some truly exciting moments. There are also incredible views in all directions if you can ever spare a second to take your eyes off the road.
Soon after the summit, I hear in my headset, “Some doofus just passed me on the one-lane road and now he’s heading up your tailpipe.” I check my mirror and find said doofus right behind me. As I hug the right side of the lane to let him by, I think about how much I like our new intercom helmets.
This playground called the Sierra Nevada runs 400 miles north to south and 70 miles east to west. The incredible views are owed to formations of granite that have been exposed by erosion and glaciers over millions of years.
The ride down Route 4 is much like the ride up, but it soon becomes two lanes again and mellows out. We then begin looking for our next left turn onto Parrotts Ferry Road, past the town of Murphys. This road has more enjoyable curves and takes us to our night’s destination of Columbia, California.
Columbia is a state park set up as an Old West mining town complete with museums, people demonstrating skills of the period and stagecoaches running through town. Contrastingly, Columbia’s airport was hosting a canard aircraft show during our stay, so we also had to check that out.
Columbia, California, offers the best of both worlds! A 10-minute walk can take you from the Wild West experience of a stagecoach ride to the wild blue yonder with a visit to Canards West, the annual canard aircraft festival, typically held the first weekend of June at the Columbia airport.
After our tourist day, we continued on Parrotts Ferry Road and merged briefly onto State Route 49 south through the town of Sonora. We then turned left onto State Route 108 east, Sonora Pass Road, which was another highlight of our trip.
At 9,624 feet, Sonora Pass is slightly more civilized than Ebbettts Pass, with two lanes for its entire length. It has its share of first-gear switchbacks and my favorite views of the trip. The descent back into the valley is steep, and it quickly drops us off at an intersection with U.S. 395.
Watch out! It’s a long way down! Riders should pull off the road to ogle the Sierra Nevada views. Sonora and Ebbetts passes have many curves and few guardrails.
We blast north on 395 with our pass bagging nearly complete. A right turn onto U.S. 50 in Carson City and then a left onto Nevada State Route 341 several miles later takes us to our last pass of the trip. Approaching Silver City, we turn right and follow the Truck Route signs to Virginia City. This takes us up Occidental Grade with its 20 mph curves, offering a fine completion to our ride.
Exploring the tiny community of Nipton, California, will uncover quirky secrets, like this old Chevy-turned-art installation. Photos by the author.
I knew I’d stumbled onto someplace…different…when I pulled into the packed dirt parking lot of the Nipton Trading Post, and it wasn’t just the huge glass octopus sculpture wriggling next to the highway. I rolled to a stop next to the five-room adobe hotel, which was built in 1910, almost startled by the silence after switching off the rumbling Indian Scout.
I could smell the hot, dusty leather of my saddlebags, and was very much aware of the crunching of sand and rock beneath my boots as I stood and swung a leg, stiff from hours of slogging across the desert, over my luggage roll and backrest. My skin tingled – someone was watching me.
For a few fleeting moments I was in another time, a wandering cowgirl who just rode into an unfamiliar – and dangerously quiet – town. A tumbleweed staggered across the empty dirt street to the theme from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”…OK, maybe that last bit was just in my head. I doffed my hat – er, helmet – squinting in the harsh desert light, and turned to see that I was far from alone, and yes, I had definitely attracted some attention.
Nipton sits just over the border from the Nevada, on the edge of the Mojave National Preserve, making it a convenient launch point for Las Vegas, Lake Mead and other desert attractions.
Two middle-aged guys got out of a fire engine red ’65 Mustang convertible and were walking toward me, clearly curious about my equally iconic motorcycle. Past them, clustered around the railroad tracks, was a team – posse? – of photographers and assistants, all focused on a blonde woman in a gauzy dress, prancing up and down on the tracks. Based on the tour bus parked in the shade I deduced this was an album cover photo shoot.
I stood for a moment, taking in the rest of the tiny settlement of Nipton: the aforementioned hotel, a restaurant called the Whistle Stop Café, a trading post, a historical marker and a few houses. Farther out in the scrubby desert, past the hotel, I glimpsed a scattering of white teepees, along with a brightly painted old car and what appeared to be metal sculptures. Yep, this is the place.
The Trading Post in Nipton offers basic groceries and assorted Southwestern-themed art and jewelry.
Nipton, California, current population somewhere between 15 and 20 souls, was founded in 1905 as a stop on the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, which merged with the Union Pacific Railroad in 1910. It feels very much in the middle of nowhere, despite being just 12 miles southeast of the bright casinos of Primm, Nevada, but positioned as it is on a lonely two-lane state highway in the Mojave Desert, it’s definitely off the beaten path.
I was heading to Las Vegas for a karate tournament on a 2019 Indian Scout that we’d outfitted with some touring accessories, and rather than just slab it the whole way I’d booked a night in Nipton. This put me in an ideal position for a nice ride up to the Hoover Dam and then north into Valley of Fire State Park, before dropping into Sin City to get my butt kicked at the tournament.
Metal sculptures are scattered throughout Nipton. This one does double-duty with a swinging chair suspended beneath.
Nipton’s location is convenient for a journey into the desert, be it the nearby Mojave National Preserve, Lake Mead or Lake Havasu, or the motorcycle destination of Laughlin. And its quirkiness appealed: accommodations include the old hotel, little “ecocabins” or, my choice, teepees. The ecocabins and teepees are solar-powered, just enough to run the interior lights and to charge your phone, but there are no TVs. The cabins are heated in the winter with woodstoves and the teepees have little propane heaters, but the weather during my visit in late April was warm enough that the provided blankets were plenty comfortable.
I chose to stay in one of Nipton’s teepees, which are nicely furnished with a comfortable bed, LED lighting, chairs/tables and a small propane heater for chilly desert nights.
I was up with the sun the next morning, wanting to get to Boulder City, the gateway to Lake Mead and the awe-inspiring Hoover Dam, for breakfast. I’d already put 263 mostly freeway miles behind me the day before, and was settling into familiarity with the Scout, which we accessorized with Indian’s 19-inch Quick Release Windshield, sumptuous Desert Tan leather saddlebags and a matching rider backrest. My karate gear took up one whole saddlebag, my street clothes and toiletries the other, so I strapped a duffel across the back to hold my camera gear.
Indian’s Scout (read our full review here) is a Goldilocks weekend tourer for someone my size traveling one-up, with an easy-to-handle wet weight of 591 lbs. (as tested), plenty of cruising and passing power, adjustable ergonomics for reduced or extended reach and a smoothly loping cadence from the liquid-cooled 69ci (1,133cc) 60-degree V-twin that produced little in the way of nuisance vibration.
We added Indian’s accessory Desert Tan saddlebags and backrest to our 2019 Scout, making it a nice lightweight touring machine.Liquid-cooled 69ci (1,133cc) 60-degree V-twin is smooth and powerful with no annoying vibes. Sumptuous Desert Lan saddlebags are genuine leather, with a hard plastic inner liner to help them keep their shape. They’re rather small inside, so I strapped a duffel across the back.
That is, as long as you don’t mind stopping often for fuel; I averaged 46.6 mpg from the 3.3-gallon tank, meaning 154 miles was my limit. In the lonely desert, that translates to “fill up whenever you can,” especially since the analog/LCD instrument lacks both a fuel gauge and fuel consumption data. Otherwise, the windshield causes the fat front tire to wander a bit at times, progressing from a minor annoyance to more a disconcerting experience in a stiff crosswind, but overall I was enjoying my ride on the Scout.
It’s also undeniably pretty, especially in the Indian Red/Thunder Black livery with gold pinstriping and feathered headdress Indian graphics that accentuate the Desert Tan seat, backrest and saddlebags. As I snapped roadside photos at the Hoover Dam, the new Mike O’Callaghan/Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge arcing overhead, many a passing driver’s head swiveled at the bike in appreciation. Completed in 1936, the dam still produces power for California, Nevada and Arizona, although falling water levels in Lake Mead have affected how much it can output.
The Hoover Dam provides power to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona. It’s still possible to drive across, after paying a fee and proceeding through a security checkpoint.
From there I cruised north through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and then into Valley of Fire State Park. Valley of Fire, as its name suggests, is full of interesting and beautiful red rock formations, and there are plenty of pullouts with picnic tables and hiking trails where you can stop and stretch your legs. I turned north at the Visitor Center for a ride into the heart of the park, the road dipping, climbing and weaving through a Technicolor landscape of eroded sandstone that’s more than 150 million years old.
The road through Lake Mead National Recreation Area is smooth and flowing, with vistas ranging from wide-open desert to red rock cliffs to low mountains.Red rock formations in Valley of Fire State Park are an impressive backdrop for the red, black and gold Indian.
Tourist traffic can be heavy, especially through this section, and there are several blind, off-camber turns that can catch you off-guard, so I was happy to putt along and enjoy the scenery, my dance with the Scout a gentle sway. At 5 feet, 9 inches, I found the standard riding position to be comfortably feet-forward; shorter and taller riders may opt for the reduced or extended reach ergo kits to tailor the bike to their needs.
In fact, I was enjoying myself so much that when Scout and I returned to I-15 on the west side of the park, for a moment I wished I could turn north and continue exploring the desert’s hidden secrets, perhaps discovering more gems like Nipton. But I had made a commitment, so south to Las Vegas it was. Still, there are more roads and more secrets to uncover…where should I point my front wheel next?
More Nipton discoveries: a grounded “UFO” flies a tattered Stars and Stripes. The sculpture in the background is made of old shopping carts.
2019 Indian Scout Specs
Base Price: $11,999 Price as Tested: $15,804 (paint, windshield, backrest and saddlebags) Website:indianmotorcycle.com Engine Type: Liquid-cooled, transverse 60-degree V-twin, DOHC, 4 valves per cyl. Displacement: 69 ci (1,133cc) Bore x Stroke: 99.0 x 73.6mm Transmission: 6-speed, cable-actuated wet clutch Final Drive: Belt Wheelbase: 61.5 in. Rake/Trail: 29 degrees/4.7 in. Seat Height: 26.5 in. Wet Weight: 591 lbs. (as tested) Fuel Capacity: 3.3 gals., last 0.5 gal. warning light on MPG: 91 AKI min. (low/avg/high) 41.4/46.6/54.4
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