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Would you rent your bike?

Motodrocher

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I was using these guys once in across the fence, and thought it might be cool to be able to rent a bike like that.
They are totally like Airbnb for accommodation, but provide car rental services from private people.


https://relayrides.com/


Just curious if many people would use it, as a bike is a way more personal toy than any car on the whole playground.
 
No, I wouldn't rent my bike but its a financial issue. A bike is a lot more likely to be damaged or wrecked (and the rider with it) than a car is and I don't think I want to deal with those liability issues. If my brother's bike is broken down and he needs mine for a few days to get around, I don't have an issue with that. I know him, how he rides, and he respects my stuff.
 
Yes,that's the case for me as well, I barely trust my bike to my best friend who taught me how to ride))))
But the company provides liability coverage for up to 1 mil and the cash value of the car.
 
My biggest fear with lending a bike is how will the rider treat the gearbox. For that reason the folks who ride any of my bikes have to be not only competent riders, but mechanically sympathetic also. I have seen some riders being very rough and aggressive with gear changes. Mostly I avoid lending .
 
Not to a stranger, but any of my friends with a motorcycle endorsement.


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To quote my late father in law:

"There are four things you don't lend/rent out.

- Your gun.
- Your bike.
- Your car
- Your wife

...in that order."
 
I would lend out my bike to a trusted friend or acquaintance for a day trip together. I did that a few times already. No big deal.


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hmmmm they have as much chance of me lending my bike as nelson getting hos eye back.

one must learn to spell. hos is his,I tell ya its ma fingers.
I have no control over them once I get excited over cleavage's;)
 
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To quote my late father in law:

"There are four things you don't lend/rent out.

- Your gun.
- Your bike.
- Your car
- Your wife

...in that order."

I'd loan out my wife....but I charge triple to take her back again! :p ...And before anyone thinks what she'd say knowing I typed this....she already knows and has tried to loan me out under the same terms at her salon! :D:D
 
With the ins issues etc.... no way but I would allow a someone I knew or was a potential X buyer to take for a test drive if he allowed me to tag along on his bike. Did that a few times with my Wing and other bikes over the years . Renting out for financial gain also has the potential for loss and damage. Just did a four wheeler tour (the ride from he**) in homer AK and the provider mentioned the times he rented to "respectable" people only to have damage they would not own up to. He is in business to make money from rentals and has issues so not going to happen with my X.
 
When I was in Vegas for work I looked at renting a motorcycle to ride out to the hoover dam... they wanted between $100 and $150 a day for a bike (and they were nearly all Harley's)
NC has an MSRP of $7,500, at $100 a day it'd day 75 days of rental to get your money back... longer if you include maintenance, etc. I don't know how many miles some one puts on in a day, high end would probably be an Iron butt 1000, though on a rental bike with a stock seat, less than 500 is probably more reasonable.

So high end you're looking at ~38,000 miles on the bike by the time you get your pay back on the capital investment...
That's 4 oil changes, 2 valve adjustments, several sets of tires, and maybe a clutch (probably a clutch, it's a rental people will trash it.)


We'll call it 80-90 days to get your money back on the bike... then you'll need to pay taxes on that income so 110-140 days of rental to get your pay back...
That's a full riding season here, so 1 year to break even with 100% occupancy in what would be a niche market... The bike with at most 40K miles on it (by the time you've paid taxes and for the maintenance) won't be worth much at that point any more, but it would still likely run, and still be able to generate revenue at that point...


Of course, there are ways to make the numbers work better... Pick up a 250 for ~$3,000, at $100 a day that's only 30 days for the capital investment another 10 for taxes, and probably another 5-10 for maintenance, that's 50 days for break even... Course that assumes some one is willing to pay $100 a day for a 250...



To answer the question, no I wouldn't rent out MY bike.
But the numbers look promising enough that were there an "airbnb of motorcycles" I might look into buying up some of the MSF training bikes when they auction them off, slapping a new clutch in them and renting those out...
I'd want to run the numbers again with fewer assumptions, and check out the applicable laws, but it seems reasonable at this point.
 
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