I was wondering how many people out there have been to different continents and not taken their own bikes? It seems like the more I search, the more I find out that it is VERY expensive to rent even small displacement motorcycles for a few weeks at a time. I even tried South America where I thought it would be cheap and it's outrageous. I want to do some travleing with my brother this fall and we're looking to do some touring somewhere; for not too much money. Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tim

I think the best idea would be to buy and sell the bike at the end. You'll probably lose money but it might be cheaper than renting.

At least it was for me in New Zealand. But that was with a cheap car I bought after the engine on my Duc seized.

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been made at RTW on
a '65 Ducati 250cc

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Read an article in local bike magazine Bike SA www.bikesa.net recently about a traveller who went to Madagascar and rented. seemed much cheaper than shipping. seems like a great country (island). Only problem was the rental bikes are generally quite old moddels and may need some on the move tinkering.

One way to find a "cheap" motorcycle is to look on Ebay. I think that one of those streetable Chinese-made enduros would make an adventure in itself, seeing how far you could go on one. I have heard of them being sold for around $1200 US or so delivered to your home. I know that the UK Ebay has similar deals for someone in England. Despite popular belief, they have very well made engines, although the rest of the bike might need looking after here and there. Then again, that is only when they are ridden in an aggressive manner, which is not what you are supposed to do with them. You could sell the bike after your ride, keep it, or even dipose of it, such as purposely losing it in a card game right before you are to fly home, or pouring some near 200 proof liquour all over it that you purchased in Mexico, and setting it on fire to download it to the internet for all to see.

Of course, you wouldn't be able to ride on as rough and tough terrain as a big name bike, but your "rental" (actually, purchase) price might make this an attractive alternative for those not looking to recreate the Tacate/SCORE Baja 500 or 1000, but would like to get out and about (on a lighter note) in northern Mexico or the southwest US. The only catch is that most of these bikes are nearly impossible to street register in California due to the stricter emissions laws there, if California is your starting point, but here in the state of Arizona, they are supposed to be fairly easy to register provided they have a minimal of equipment, if Arizona would make a good alternative starting point. I plan to purchase one of these bikes in the next month or so, and I will report if these would be worth the cost as an alternative to a rental bike or one of the many off-road adventure tours. (See my response under the question about how one is able to finance the round the world lifestyle on this same section of the bulletin board). I plan to ride it all over the southwestern part of Arizona and California, as well as into northern Mexico.

hello, you can have a look at this topic, some points are in common :
Ship a bike or buy one at destination ??
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000081.html

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Vincent Danna

* www.va-project.com
Sept 2008 - dec 2009 : Voyage et art contemporain en Amérique du sud.

* http://vincent.danna.free.fr/
2002 - 2004 : Un tour du monde en moto.

Or you could take a look here:
www.bikeshareworld.com
I have hired in many places and it has ALWAYS been expensive except in Cuba and India.

Regards

Nigel in NZ

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I bumped into a guy who rented a bike in Marakesh, Morocco for about $400 a week, and it was a pretty nice bike too. I thought this was a pretty good rate. But considering you could ship your round trip from the states for about $3000 it might be cheaper depending on your stay.

hallo,
i can only confirm the above, renting a bike has always bin quiet expensive, except in india and nepal were i paid everage 6 euros a day for a bike, getting a little cheaper if you can make a good deal if you take it for quiet a while..
loas was already 14 dollars a day, and thats why we are going to buy our bike this time in BKK,with the garantee that the owner will take the bike back afther the trip.. in that case its way cheaper if you dont damage the bike offcourse.
its a case of finding someone who is reliable and who can arrange you papers correct and quickly, for smooth bordercrossings..
greetz
Niels

I am looking at a number of options for family vacation. We are all riders and would love to do some sightseeing and also would be interested in ATV rentals in unique areas of the world., like Sahara or Outback. If anyone knows of any rental comapnies worldwide please post them,thanks, Jeff

I had a not to good rental experience in Kenya - poorly maintained bike resulted in numerous problems that ended up costing me - also many rentals come with a high damage deposit - beware of what constitutes damage i.e scratches??? because it can end up costing you big to pretty up someone elses bike. That does not imply that one shouldn't be responsible for another companies bike - but make sure you know what you sighning.

From what I have read here I think it very much depends on where you want to ride and for how long. For instance in India you could buy a new Enfield for less than £1200 ride it for 3 months and sell it as a one owner bike for far more than half price. This would equate to les than £50 a week for rental of a new bike. It could be done much cheaper buying second hand. The total cost of renting could well be much less than the cost of shipping you own bike.
basically you need to do the math for each destination... Sometimes it will be possible to easily 'group' a number of destinations together. I think you need to compare price of shipping and all that entails ( include time waiting on paper work) versus the cost of buying or renting locally. personally I would ride a bike to/fro india/africa to europe, but not transport one to/from the americas there. But if you want to keep the bike it may upset the maths