USA 2012 - Which bike hire company?

sven

sven

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I've just booked flights to LA for next years holiday.

HC Travel, Eaglerider and Ad-Mo all have places within a few miles of LAX and the usual choices of H-D's, BMW's and Honda's. I assume HC Travel are using the same hire bikes/shops?

Has anyone any experience of the above firms, good or bad?

Can't decide whether to hire a Pan, 'Wing or R1200RT either - I've got this strange urge to hire a Wing due to the long distances involved when we head into the National Parks in Nevada/Utah, but I'm worried we may regret the decision once we reach the twisty Pacific Coast Highway :confused:
 
No experience of the local dealers but used eagle rider in Miami and Mephistopheles in recent years and never a complaint.

I also rented a wing this summer as it was all they had left.... I've a 12GS here and initially found it huge.... But.... In no time fell in love with it.

It's quick as stink, stacks of luggage space, low, most comfortable bike I've ever ridden and loads of gizmos from gps to reverse gear... And finally on Natchez Trace was as flickable as anything i's size.... Defo recommended
 
What you should have done was to fly into SFO and rent a bike from Dubbelju in San Francisco.....:blast
 
Schtum said:
What you should have done was to fly into SFO and rent a bike from Dubbelju in San Francisco.....:blast
Click to expand...

SF was my first choice Mike, followed by LV as both were better locations to start/end our tour, but I was cashing in my BA airmiles and they only had premium economy seats available to LA on the dates we wanted to travel (didn't want to travel cattle class) :(

I'm still tempted by a 'Wing for the long days in the desert, but the thought of riding mountain roads (San Bernadino mountains out of LA, San Juan Skyway/Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah & Tioga or Sonara passes in California snow permitting)
& the Pacific Coast Highway on one puts me off, despite watchin the video of the guy thrashing the yellow GL1800 through Deals Gap :confused:

We'll probably book through HC Travel and select an R1200RT as our first choice and a Goldwing as our second :nenau
 
sven said:
I'm still tempted by a 'Wing for the long days in the desert, but the thought of riding mountain roads (San Bernadino mountains out of LA, San Juan Skyway/Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah & Tioga or Sonara passes in California snow permitting)
& the Pacific Coast Highway on one puts me off, despite watchin the video of the guy thrashing the yellow GL1800 through Deals Gap :confused:
Click to expand...

Only 550 south of Ouray is a "tight" road that'd scare me on a Wing. Not becasue it's so tight, but no guardrails at all and a long drop. The others you mentioned are easy winding roads and a Wing would be great.

Plus, you can haul a shitload of clothes, gear, etc on a Wing.
 
Used HC Travel/Eaglerider twice out of LA with no problems at all - Eaglerider even refund your cab to/from the hotel & using HC Travel means you don't have any hassle with the hire/deposits etc.

You can leave any cases/crap with Eaglerider & they've got some good maps showing scenic & twisty roads too. They're also a nice bunch of guys.

Had a Harley both times, Road King & then a Street Glide and had noooo problems on twisties, infact, it's quite a laugh :D
 
Another vote for Eaglerider here :clap

I rented an Electra Glide out of SF and they were really helpfull. Rode some great roads like Hwy 1 and Yosemite, it was a laugh. They actually organised a bespoke tour for me, planned the routes and booked the hotels in advance. Then they sent an A5 file with two sides of a page per day pointing out all the things I should stop and look at, as well as great maps. :thumb2

You get a great reception from the locals on an HD as well and you are less likely to fall foul of the dibble who take a dim view of Europeans speeding ;)
 
I'm using HC travel and eagle rider for a trip starting next wednesday. Four of us have booked electraglides. We have found HC travel to be very helpful.

We have our first two days in San Fran, then head south down the coast road with a small detour to 'Alice's restaurant' (I bought the LP album back in the early '70's).
We're stopping over at Monterey, Pismo Beach, Palm Springs, Kingman, Grand canyon, lake Powell, Las vegas, Bryce Canyon, through Death valley, to Lone Pine, then onto Mariposa and santa Rosa, then a further few days in San Fran, will be home end of September.
It just had to be done on a Harley, would be wrong not to. :)
 
fatal said:
We have our first two days in San Fran, then head south down the coast road with a small detour to 'Alice's restaurant' (I bought the LP album back in the early '70's).
Click to expand...

It may be named after it but Alice's is not the restaurant in that Arlo Guthrie movie. The garlic fries are good though.....:)
 
We have booked with HC travel and fly out in a couple of weeks to CA for one of their guided tours. We originally had a BMW GS booked, but was told that BMW have pulled out, so ( hopefully) we are getting a HD glide.


dxtnas
 
Schtum said:
It may be named after it but Alice's is not the restaurant in that Arlo Guthrie movie. The garlic fries are good though.....:)
Click to expand...

Yeh, had a feeling it wasn't when I looked on the map. It's supposed to be 'just a half a mile from the railroad track' and I didn't see a track on my map :)
 
fatal said:
We're stopping over at Monterey, Pismo Beach, Palm Springs, Kingman, Grand canyon, lake Powell, Las vegas, Bryce Canyon, through Death valley, to Lone Pine, then onto Mariposa and santa Rosa, then a further few days in San Fran, will be home end of September.
Click to expand...

If you haven't been before & get stuck finding somewhere to eat etc (or have too much choice & can't decide);

Palm Springs - There's a cracking restaurant called Las Casuelas (www.lascasuelas.com). Mexican style, eat outside or in booths, live band, good food.

Kingman - There's a Damnbar & Steak House that's quite a laugh (recommended to us by some US bikers).

Grand Canyon - nuf said :cool:

Lake Powell -Glen Canyon Dam, like Hoover, only smaller. Trying to remember where we ate, it was off the main drag & not bad!

Las Vegas - go to "The Gun Store" & loose off a few rounds (www.thegunstorelasvegas.com) :mcgun.

Go up to the top of The Stratosphere Hotel (Big tower) & get a cracking view of Vegas, day or night.

Watch the fountain display outside The Bellagio & do your own impressions of Oceans 11. If HC have put you in Ballys, you're right opposite.

And, of course, lose money in the casinos :D

Death Valley - Take the turn signposted to Dantes View. 5,500ft & you get to see the whole valley. Stop at Furnace Creek in the middle & watch all the Americans taking pics off the fuel station price. They think it's expensive...........:blast

Lone Pine "Little Town, Lots of Charm". Nice restaurant cum cafe in the centre of town called Mt Whitney, opposite the Whitney Portal Hostel & store. Bison Burgers!

San Franciso. If you're not on the bikes, do the fire engine tour (www.fireenginetours.com). The wife's barking mad & you ride in the back of a 50's Mack fire truck.

HTH

:beerjug:
 
Thanks Jon, will check out those restaurants. We've already checked out the Gunstore (we're all shooters). For our last day in San Fran, we've got Alcatraz booked for the morning and for later in the day a hook up with San Francisco Police, hoping for a ride about town in a squad car.(we're members of the International Polce association)
Six more sleeps to go :D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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