Renting a Motorcycle from an agency

How do I know it's an agent?
There are no international brands of motorcycle renters in the image of Hertz. So when you get on the web and see motorcycle rentals being done on an international basis then it almost 100% guaranteed that it will be a booking agency doing this.

There are a few national chains - but at the time of writing NO international ones.

What does this mean - that unless you see an address on the site for where you will pick up the bike then you are booking through an agent.

Why does this matter?
In terms of price - no problem - an agent takes their commission from the organisation who rents you the bike.
There can be a slight delay in repsonse.
Perhaps the biggest difference in dealing with renters direct is the knowledge of:

• Motorcycling
• The Bikes
• The area to be toured

I have dealt with one organisation where the individuals had not travelled to Europe and had never sat on a motorcycle. It was a frustrating experience for both client and agency staff.
And a very frustrating one for me as I was perpetually answering petty questions and dealing with clients third hand.

The one benefit with dealing with any agent is that the first sniff of trouble and we drop the agency concerned!

As far as my agency goes - not only do I know the area and the bikes but I know the guys I deal with very well.

What happens when things go wrong - Customers maintaining vehicles

Like any professional we tried to keep our bikes in the best condition. Things can go wrong at any time with a bike - but the cautionary tales that follow were a nightmare for both for the customers and for me:


Tale 1: Bald (?) Tires
I had a 650GS go out in June 2008 - 2 months after Michelin tire fitters had fitted a set of Anakees on all my bikes. Anakees last at least more than 25% more than most other bikes so there was no way these tires were anywhere close to the end of their life. The bike was due to go out for a fortnight so I checked chain tension and tire wear before it went out. It was fine. The bike went out signed for and absolutely fine.
Three days later I got a call to the effect that the general opinion 'of about 10 bikers' was that the tires were beyond their active life. Clearly this was a load of rubbish. We agreed she would take a picture of the tires with her mobile phone - and if they were off I would organise their replacement. No photos received so I figured she had had a look and there were no problems - after all I had the rest of the business to run.
She then extended about 8 days into her hire - and kept the bike for an extra few days. As we were arranging all this I asked her how she was getting on with the tires and she told me she had changed them at a cost of about 300€. Boy! Was I pissed off - although I said nothing on the phone.
I figured it cost me about 100€ all in all for her to do that - as I had a set of tires that would last 30% less - and would need to replace them with Anakees. Anyway - I bit my tongue and picked the bike up from Toulouse airport.
Here I made a mistake - and spent as much time talking to her about her trip - as checking the bike out. It all seemed in order and off I went with the bike. The first corner I noticed a slight vibration from the rear - but carried on anyway till about 80KM down the road for my first ciggie break.
I always check the bike - and as I walked round I saw this.

From Blogger Pictures

Needless to say - I was completely bloody incensed at this point. Not only had the bozos in Andorra ripped off a customer BUT they had neglected to give a final tighten to the chain tensioner plates on the 650GS - which is absolutely mandatory - and anyone who works on them knows this.

The repair bill was about 500€ for a new swing arm and the customer paid - as well as for the new tires - a very expensive lesson.
In my contract as in most - there is a clause to say no unauthorized repairs - so the answer is don't do any unauthorized repairs - you may not get your money back and you may well pay extra!