Hi everyone

I'm visiting Cuba in a few weeks and the plan is to make our way around the island independently......hopefully by motorbike.

I've looked on websites, in travel books and theres lots of information about car hire and a couple of mentions of hiring scooters......but info on motorbike rental - NADA!

Has anyone hired motorbikes in Cuba? If so - where from? What were the prices like? What bikes were on offer?

All information would be greatfully recieved.

Thanks
Gemma

"Something about the outside of a horse makes the inside of a man or woman feel good."

This advice more from Arizona than any time I didn't spend in Cuba, ride, ride a horse. Might be good to have a cuban friend/guide on another horse as a side kick. Use public transport in Havana, but ride as far as you can on horseback. xfiltrate

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Good luck. I spent two weeks there and asked everyone I could get to stop for a few minutes about a rental. The closest I got was in Trinidad (Cuba) where I found a local to "lend" me his bike for a "consideration" as long as the police didn't know. I got from the guesthouse to a gas station and back, then the throttle cable broke and there were none to be had anywhere within 150km. And that was for an MZ150 which was by far the most common bike around.

It's hard to do even the normal things at times there in Cuba. If the government has not sanctioned it, it can't be officially done there. As far as I know, they still haven't.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

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I was there several years ago. Did two motorccle "rental" deals with private owners of bikes but they chanced losing them if I was stopped by the police because they were not allowed to be in business (to rent bikes). Cash (US dollars) and my promise to pay them for the bikes if lost/confiscated or stolen did the deal. In Havana there had just opened a 50cc scooter rental place for $35.00 USD per day. Don't scoff at 50 cc, it'll go faster than the cars, trucks and buses!
I traveled much of the island, alone, and only got stopped a couple of times and was able to wave a stack of English papers at them, a fake Letter of Perismo (or something like that), a International Driving Permit and stickers to work the magic to move on.
My best luck was when I talked a guy with a sidecar into letting his brother go with me. We traded off driving and he could get me into local places to sleep for $2.00 or less a night that were not allowed to rent to foreigners (where I would have had to pay $50.-$100.00 at the legal tourist places). On the downside he could speak no English and my Spanish was limited. We got along fine though with cerveza, chica and banjao (sp).
Make an adventure out of it. Fly in with your own helmet though, the've got nothing, literally nothing motorcycle wise. Motorccle stickers go a long way to making friends, as do motorcycle T-shirts and caps.
I'd go back, with m own helmet, again.

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Sun Chaser, or 'Dr.G', Professor of Motorcycle Adventure at SOUND RIDER magazine. Professional Motorcycle Adventurer/Indian Motorcycle Racer/journalist/author/global economist/World's # 1 Motorcycle Adventure Sleeper & Wastrel
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Now that the USA Government is demanding the passenger lists, c/w nationality, of all flights leaving Canada and flying over the U S it may be harder for a lot of Americans that used to drive to Canada to fly to Cuba.

I don't know if this is how you went last time however Montana is a lot closer to Canada than Mexico so I am just guessing.

Either way, travel where you like and enjoy.

Rick

I didn't fly via Canada, or Mexico, or the Bahamas just kind of wandered in there :-) When I flew back to Maimi, the Immigration guy asked where I had been. I said Cuba. He responded, 'Welcome home." It is not against the law for USA citizens to go to Cuba, it is against the Helms-Burton Act (from the 60's), which is an embargo, so not legal for US citizens to spend money there, with some exceptions. The USA actually has a large building right downtown Havana, not a consulate or embassy, but something called some wierd name like "Special Interests Office." As for the embargo, I spent time with a guy who worked for a Panamanian company that bought goods, like refrigerators, in the USA, shipped them to Panama, then to Cuba. I saw plenty of Jack Daniels on bar shelves. As for bikes though, nada. The same with parts, nada. There were a couple of bikes that came in by boat to Hemmingway harbor, and I met one guy on a big bike who got his in via the diplomatic pouch (French).
One night I was invited to spend the evening with the manager and one player of the Buena Vista Social Club. He drove a Mercedes when collecting me at my place, and had toured the USA three times with the band.
On the flip side, a BSA guy I met was dying for parts for his restoration. He had a good job, but no money. One Dr. I met made $30.00 USD per month.
It's a very strange place as embargos go, but doable, and doable by motorcycle. One just needs to think outside of the box of riding your own bike, or if you want to plan on a lot of work and possible big $'s to get it in. I'd go with the 50 cc rental and swallow my ego.
I wanted to go before McDonalds and Starbucks got there, and did, but they are lining up at the border.

__________________
Sun Chaser, or 'Dr.G', Professor of Motorcycle Adventure at SOUND RIDER magazine. Professional Motorcycle Adventurer/Indian Motorcycle Racer/journalist/author/global economist/World's # 1 Motorcycle Adventure Sleeper & Wastrel
Soul Sensual Survivor: www.greataroundtheworldmotorcycleadventurerally.co m

Hola,

renting a bike in cuba is difficult, only from a private person, or a scooter for a high price in the tourist ghetto Varadero.

I flew my 600 Tenere into Havana Airport (from Caracas) in 2004 and traveled Cuba on it. But I did not like visiting a prison island. I speak spanish, and that made me feel very unconfortable, because I could listen to the peoples stories, and understand what was going on. After I understood that most people were not telling the truth because of fear. I did not like Cuba and left after ten days by sailboat from Santiago de Cuba to the D.R.

but a scooter is fine to travel the island.

Greetings from Bulgaria

Mika