Las Vegas, Nevada

[PizzaJim]

I might be moving to the Las Vegas area next year and was wondering if the current or past Las Vegas area natives on this forum could share their opinions of the place.

Is there good riding in the area?

How's the weather for riding year round?

Are the cager's more or less crazier than normal?

What's your opinion of the Las Vegas area in general?

 

[Ignacio]

One word and one number.

Area 51 (aka the Extraterrestrial Highway)

It can be an important part of a balanced FJR diet.

 

[juniorfjr]

::The weather goes from hot to really hot in the summer, spring and fall. Only just warm in the winter. Friends of mine have a cooling system in their pool, instead of a heater.

 

[GunMD]

Vegas is pretty nice overall. I spend quite a bit of time there myself and I generally enjoy it. Like any large city it has some places that are not as pleasant as others. I particularly enjoy the abundance of restaurants available. I like to eat. There are a couple of good motorcycle dealers that I've dealt with. LV is a pretty good launching point for some good desert rides. There a plenty of day-rides if you wish to stay close to home, too.

It isn't all what television and the movies make it out to be.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Our cousins live in Las Vegas (they love it) and my wife did two 30 day internships there. From our experience, living there is completely different than partying there. Lots to do and see, and the surrounding rides can be really great. Pretty good weather most of the year if you like HOT but the lake is right there...Drivers are just as stupid there as anywhere else. Depending on where you are in the city, they may mostly be from out of town anyway. Good luck

 

[krashdragon]

I might be moving to the Las Vegas area next year and was wondering if the current or past Las Vegas area natives on this forum could share their opinions of the place.
Is there good riding in the area?

How's the weather for riding year round?

Are the cager's more or less crazier than normal?

What's your opinion of the Las Vegas area in general?

If you like like riding in wide open spaces it's wonderful. there are mountains fairly close too. Th North rim of the GC is a couple hours ride.

A friend that's lived there about 20 years told me to stay away from North Vegas if I was going to move there, not the best part of town.

It does rain once in a while tho.... and it does get windy at times. <G>

Mary

 

[spyderbret]

I will take a crack at this....

Is there good riding in the area? It depends on where you are coming from. There are three or four rides I do regularly. Red Rock, Mt. Charleston, Lake Mead to Valley of Fire and through Parhump and around. Zion is only a couple of hours away too and that is a pretty good day trip. The lake loop can kill about 3 hours no problem. So to sum it up, there are a few good places but if you really want to ride, you have to get out of town. I almost forgot about Death Valley. That is a good one to and can be a solid day ride as well.

How's the weather for riding year round? There are only really 2 seasons in Vegas. Hot and cold. Spring and Fall last about 3-4 weeks each, although this year Fall has been a little long. Good for riding though!! I personally dont like to ride in the heat. Once it gets over 105 I park the bike. I still go out early in the morning for an hour or two but it is usually over 100 by the time I get home. Winters are mild with the high tempatures in the 50's over all. Nice weather for me.... So to answer your question, it is really easy to ride year round. Especially if you can stand the heat.

Are the cager's more or less crazier than normal? I would say they are on par with California dirvers. Mostly because we have had so many people from California move here over the past few years. Just like any other highly populated area, ride like you are invisible, pay attention and always have an out and you should make it home every day.

What's your opinion of the Las Vegas area in general? In general Vegas is an interesting town. The first time I moved here in 1990 there were about 650,000 people living here. Now we are over 2,000,000 by most conservative estimates. There are good parts and bad parts. The closer you get to the strip and downtown the older the buildings and neighborhoods are so the areas get a little rough. Parts of North Las Vegas are pretty bad. Look closely at Henderson, Green Valley and Summerlin. I personally live in the Summerlin area and have spent most of my time in Vegas on the west side of town. I just like it better.

Come for a visit some time and I would be happy to show you around. Ask more questions here or feel free to PM me if you want to know more.

Good luck on your decision!!!!

 

[jnor]

I've always thought that I would like to live there........but after being there in 117 degree heat, I don't know. It looks like the heat in the summer, is like the cold in the winter here in Ohio, you end up trying not to be outside too much. I lived in south Florida, and hated the heat in the summer as bad as the cold here in the winter...maybe worse.

I don't like riding in 90+ degree temps either, to the point I usually don't do it, it might be ok in a t shirt, and no helmet on a Hardley........not me.

 

[AVGeek]

I am a recent transplant here (been here in Vegas over a year and a half now) from SoCal. I'd actually rate the drivers here as worse than SoCal (much more inconsiderate, lots of rolling roadblock type drivers here), and there are definitely times I miss lane sharing. It seems like all of the roads here are always under construction. Other than that, I am much happier here than I was in SoCal; fewer people, lower taxes (no state income tax, woohoo!) and overall a bit lower cost of living. Unlike spyder, I do ride year round here (have a cooling vest for the summer and some heated gear for the winter), and I have no problems whatsoever. I have yet to do any of the rides spyder mentioned (with the exception of Red Rock), it seems we have plenty of mountains, but very few paved roads on them.

 

[PizzaJim]

Thanks for all the input!