Scooter rental

[JayW]

My Dad is flying out here to western NC from Colorado later this month and we were hoping to do some riding together. He is in his mid 70's and rides a Honda Silver Wing. He doesn't have any significant experience on a full size standard motorcyle, so I have been trying to find a similar scooter for him to rent in this area. The one place I did find only rents the tiny-engined scooters, which would not have enough power for the kind of riding we want to do. We looked into shipping his Silver Wing out here, but it would cost about 500 each way, which is too much.

 

I am running out of ideas. Any suggestions that might not have occurred to me?

 

Jay

[Twisties]

I think he'd be fine on anything in 500 - 800 cc class with an upright riding position. This could include a small GS, or any of the smaller cruisers.

 

The GS might require more height or agility to mount and dismount, but would be lighter and easier to handle.

 

I found one when we were planning our BRR trip last fall.... let me check my emails...

 

There it is, Action Cycle Sports, Boone NC He had an F 650 GS at the time, a single cylinder (now G 650 GS in current line up). Might well be perfect for him.

[krussell]

Don't underestimate the challenge of a clutch for a rider that is not accustomed to using one. Seems like most rentals are going to be $100+ / day + insurance, etc. It's easy to spend $750 for a week long rental. You might rethink shipping the scooter. Nothing like having him on the bike he knows.

[NoHeat]

Renting a motorcycle is not cheap. It's nothing like renting a car.

 

A while back I rented a Street Glide from the Harley dealer in Albuquerque.

http://www.thunderbirdhd.com/miscpage_005.asp

I had a very good customer experience, and a great ride, but it was costly. Their rate is $169 per day, plus tax plus insurance, so it ends up being quite a lot. They discount a little for multi-day rentals, but even so you would lay out well over a thousand dollars for a week.

 

So I would say that if shipping a bike back and forth for a thousand dollars is too costly, then renting might really be out of the question, if it's for a week.

 

Yet another possibility, one that might cost less, would be buying a used scooter for your dad to borrow, and then selling it afterwards. Or keeping it for the next time he visits.

[Twisties]

We paid something less than $600 a week (each) all said and done for an RT and a GS from Eaglerider. Our ins policy covers rentals (not all of them do, you have to check), so we didn't need any of that.

 

The fellow at Action Cycle that I linked above has older bikes and is much cheaper I believe.

[JayW]

Thanks for the responses. I thought we could rent a scooter just 2 or 3 days, which I was hoping to find for 2-3 hundred dollars. I am not comfortable recommending that he learn the clutch and shift routine, though he does fine with that arrangement in my car. This would add some inherent distractions and the stakes are higher on a motorcycle, especially for older folks. Now if HE were to come up with that idea...

 

Action Cycle does not seem to rent scooters. We may just end up doing some 2-up riding on my RT, which he has enjoyed on his past visits.

 

Jay

[Mr_Ed]

Maybe a scooter rider in the area might be willing to work out a private arrangement. You could check out a Silverwing or Burgman board online and see if there's anyone in the area willing to lend their personal ride for a fee.