Twisted Road and/or Riders Share

[Tom]

Any one rent out or rented a ride through these guys?

[Dirk_S]

A friend rented a 1200GS and then a Harley...something. .. on a recent trip in Alaska through RiderShare.

[Tom]

I also found EagleShare. 

[usedtobefast]

I've rented 3 times using Riders Share.  Tried a few times with twisted road but the particular bikes were not actually available. 

It really comes down to the individual you are renting from.  For one rental, the owner had his bike set up great, in excellent shape, was very helpful explaining a few things before I took off, and had a great rental.

For one rental, I was picking the bike up at 8:30am and the guy just seemed like I was bothering him on a Saturday morning.  The bike had a few issues that he just brushed off.  I rode off and the handling was terrible.  Went to a gas station and air pressure was like 22 psi in the tires.  Google search, should be 36/42, gas station couldn't go any higher than 36, so I ran 36/36 psi.  Not the greatest experience (not just the tire pressure, but other issues with the bike were annoying).

The third rental was fine.  Bike in good shape, decent owner, had a great ride. 

With Rider Share you can send a msg to the owner before you rent.  So that is kind of nice to check on a few things.  Like say a R1200GS is for rent and states "No offroad!" ... so you can send a msg, explain that the camp site you plan to go to is ~1 mile down a dirt road, that OK? and see what the owner says.  I think with Twisted Road you can't communicate with the owner until you book it (they might have changed that). 

I had thought of renting a bike, but financially it just doesn't make sense.  You look at wear & tear & maintenance and dealing with the certain damage that someone is going to cause ... just didn't make sense.  My wife pointed out that if I got a new bike, financed it, and had the rental cover the monthly payment, then I'd have a free motorcycle!!  But you really need an inexpensive motorcycle, that is very reliable, that has cheap available spare parts, and the value isn't badly affected from high ish miles ... but then the daily rental on that would be low $$ and probably not rent a lot.  I was thinking like a Kawasaki Z400, or Yamaha MT-07, or Royal Enfield 650 or Himalayan. 

Or you could try to get one of the first hot new bikes and set the price high.  Like if you could have bought one of the first Yamaha Tenere 700s and rent it for like $175 a day. 

[Dirk_S]

All of what you said is super valid, and why I'd be quite hesitant to either rent out or rent a moto from a private owner.

This spring I bought a Ural as some may remember. Living downtown in a small city of 30,000 and not having a garage for vehicle storage, I decided to rent out my manual-drive Subaru Forester to see how I'd fare without having a car. Due to post-pandemic industry issues with rentals and used cars, my stick shift Subaru was actually a pretty hot item for these New England vacationers.

For me to actually make any sort of profit that overcomes maintenance expenses and potential repairs, I would have had to charge at least the same amount that rental agencies charged before the pandemic, and that wasn't much in itself to take home due to the percentages that the rental app took out for insurance and their own profit.

Plus, people are often terrible if not oblivious at being responsible and well-intentioned with other people's property--many won't tell you when they scuffed the car against a curb, or banged into something. I had a couple instances of damage to the interior of my car that, because I didn't scrutinize every cm before and after every rental, I couldn't be sure when it happened and who to charge. Yes, photos help, but are you going to catch every angle in high def clarity every time? They're also not going to tell you how they treated the vehicle--riding it like they stole it perhaps? After having to replace a side panel, seat covers, and changing oil for miles that I didn't put on the vehicle myself, I decided to take the $1400 I was able to make and walked away with almost 10,000 miles now added on.

After selling the Ural (too much of my emergency funds invested into it caused anxiety), I found a cheaper option--F800GS with a custom Velorex sidecar attached. I removed the sidecar and am working on selling the F800. I considered keeping the F800GS and rent it out, but then I thought about all the cons to a car would only be made worse on a motorcycle, with the added risk of quick death in an accident. And I personally don't know if I could live with myself if someone got into a severe accident while riding my bike. I check and maintain my bike, but I can't guarantee something won't fail when someone else is riding it, and I can't guarantee that the rider will ride safely when renting it.

I've rented a motorcycle while in Turkey and Spain, but they were through companies whose job is to do this. While they can certainly skip corners, they have a reputation to hold up if they want continued business. A private owner may simply not give a shit, or may not know enough. Would I rent one from a private owner? Thanks for asking. Maybe. But I'm also used to cheaper prices than what I often find through the agencies here in the U.S.

[usedtobefast]

There are plenty of rental company horror stories.  One rental place in San Francisco rented several bikes to some vacationing Europeans.  One renter wrecked a bike and they called up all pissy demanding a replacement bike right away.

So this rental company owner loads up another bike and trailers it several hours, picks up the wrecked bike and brings it back.  And the renters weren't even nice about this.  No "sorry I wrecked your bike and you had you spend ~8 hrs on a Sunday swapping it out".

Then ... later they sued him!!  For not having the bike in proper condition/maintenance.  And, the bike was a new Harley with 800 miles on it!  So they were clearly in the wrong but he had to deal with that lawsuit too. 

He closed his rental shop about 2 years later, he was done with it all. 

[sidmonsters]

I have used each service once and had great experiences...but can definitely chalk that up to sincere and responsible individuals renting their bikes.  Also used a small bike rental company in Puerto Rico that was super.  I suppose it's newsworthy when things go badly, but probably the exception to the rule. It is nice to be able to communicate with the owner beforehand, which I was able to do with both services.
Steve

[Kiwi_Roy]

I rented a bike from Guzzi Gander aka Kiwi-Dave in Auckland.
The experience was a good one, his bike was in great shape.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

I was just reading a thread on r/motorcycles where a guy was renting out his BRAND NEW R1000rr because he "wasnt able to ride it much" (what a schmuck) and the guy who rented it returned it with NO EXHAUST CAN lololol.  The fella who rented it said 'it must have fallen off' and he didnt notice?  Mind you this was some high $$ aftermarket pipe the idiot had installed, not the stock can. The owner reported that RiderShare wouldnt do shit for him and actually chided him for not having the bike in tip-top condition such that the can could 'fall off' while 'just riding along'.  The general consensus was this guy was robbed in broad daylight and he was SOL on getting his carbon muffler replaced.


I have happily let people ride or borrow my bike, you cant ride 'em all at once can you?  But to let some unknown yahoo rent it for a few shekels and drive it around like a hooligan? No freakin way.

As for being the renter, I might try it out...  But I have spoken to many motorcyclists on the road, at shows, rest stops, and scenic overlooks...  I dont think 70% of riders have the slightest clue about their motorcycles, how to maintain it, or even basic upkeep...  (and I hate to take a dig at HD but the folks who are 'Harley riders' vs. 'Motorcyclists' seem to be the worst in this regard). So I would be pretty hesitant to ride off on someone else's bike with no prior knowledge.

[Moparnut72]

In 1969 I was in the Army with basically a daytime job. Nights and weekends I worked in a motorcycle rental shop. We were outside one of the gates to the local airforce base. Early Saturday and Sunday mornings we would have a line of Airmen outside the door chomping at the bit for a bike. My duties were to repair all the stuff they tore up or wrecked. Weekend afternoons and evenings I drove all over central Colorado picking up busted bikes. We had close relationship with the local Honda dealer so we could usually get the parts we needed on the same day. I got burned out after a year but between this minimum wage job and my meager Army pay I was able to pay cash for a new R75/5. Of course working 14 or 15 hours a day didn't give me any time to spend money so it was easy to save. Those were the days, after I left the night job I was on that Beemer when I wasn't in uniform. Guzzi content, I had a hard time deciding on the Beemer over an Ambassador.
kk

[AH Fan]

I was just reading a thread on r/motorcycles where a guy was renting out his BRAND NEW R1000rr because he "wasnt able to ride it much" (what a schmuck) and the guy who rented it returned it with NO EXHAUST CAN lololol.  The fella who rented it said 'it must have fallen off' and he didnt notice?  Mind you this was some high $$ aftermarket pipe the idiot had installed, not the stock can. The owner reported that RiderShare wouldnt do shit for him and actually chided him for not having the bike in tip-top condition such that the can could 'fall off' while 'just riding along'.  The general consensus was this guy was robbed in broad daylight and he was SOL on getting his carbon muffler replaced.


I have happily let people ride or borrow my bike, you cant ride 'em all at once can you?  But to let some unknown yahoo rent it for a few shekels and drive it around like a hooligan? No freakin way.

As for being the renter, I might try it out...  But I have spoken to many motorcyclists on the road, at shows, rest stops, and scenic overlooks...  I dont think 70% of riders have the slightest clue about their motorcycles, how to maintain it, or even basic upkeep...  (and I hate to take a dig at HD but the folks who are 'Harley riders' vs. 'Motorcyclists' seem to be the worst in this regard). So I would be pretty hesitant to ride off on someone else's bike with no prior knowledge.

 

[rothbard]

Hey everyone, I'm just seeing this post, and although it's a few years old, I thought I'd jump in. I wish I had seen it sooner.

As the Founder and CEO of Twisted Road, my views may be a little biased, but I thought I'd contribute anyway.
Also, I'm a Guzzi fanatic. I've only owned two bikes in my life. The first was a 2010 v7 classic, and the current one is a 2013 Griso. If you haven't ridden a Griso, you need to. It might be the best bike they've ever made.

In fact, if you're interested, here's my latest trip report.
https://www.twistedroad.com/blog/posts/my-one-week-solo-ride-through-michigan-the-upper-peninsula-canada-and-upstate-ny

OK - back to the post. We do everything we can to create a welcoming and friendly community of riders and owners.

For riders: we have thousands of bikes of plenty of makes and models all over the country. We are in five of the Hawaiian islands, Alaska, and every other state except NY because of some state regulations. Thousands of riders are renting every year, and I get great pleasure looking at our site to see how many people are on the road because of us. Our reviews are exceptional. Here are two links to our reviews if you want to see.

https://g.page/r/CYO4dt7Z0bBdEAE/review

https://g.page/r/CYO4dt7Z0bBdEAE/review

We have two current promotions for riders. First time riders get 20% off, or a free day of riding, depending on their trip length. Also, all riders get a free day to use after their first two rides with us. That perk continues for as long as you ride with us. Ride 4 times? Get two free days. I'm sure you get the idea.

But what's it like as an owner? If you search the web, you may see a post or two about bikes that have been dropped, and it happens. But when it does, we have independent licensed adjusters and appraisers who assess the damages. We then cut a check to the owner. That process usually takes under a week.

Dropped bikes are rare on our site: only 1.5% of riding days have a claim, and that can be anything from a broken mirror to a totaled bike. Almost all of our owners have rented out their bikes with us for years without any claims, and we are proud of that.

We have a very thorough background check (the best in the industry) and all riders need to pass 15 criteria in order to ride. Our insurance and damage protection plans are extremely thorough and cover all bikes for up to $40K in damage, and also cover up to $1M in liability should things get squirrely.

I'm always available to answer any questions. Feel free to email me at austin@twistedroad.com. Thanks for reading, and be safe.

Austin Rothbard
Founder and CEO of Twisted Road