approx costs for 2 week tour?

yanto

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I've looked at a couple of bike hire sites and rental of a bike (sorry hog) for a couple of weeks appears very expensive, for two of us 3-4k minimum once we chuck flights in. Am i missing something or are you all a bunch of very well off tossers?!:censor: As much as I would like to ride in the states these costs are pretty prohibitive - whats the cheapest way to do it, and how much have u spent?
 
FWIW:

I'm looking at about 6k for a 3 week west coast tour, with my wife joining me for the last week, this summer.

You might be able to do it for less, but I've had a number of trips with a car (much cheaper vehicle hire rate) & I don't think I could do it for much less.

I'm planning on staying in pretty basic accomodation, etc.

I guess if cost were a real issue I'd make sure I did it after the summer holidays - cheaper flights - & restricted myself to the more southerly areas, perhaps late September?

Am I rich? No - and I certainly won't be after this summer

However I only plan to pass this way once,

G
 
My 17 day/16 night tour last year cost £7500 for the two of us including:

Flights £1300
R1200RT from Eaglerider £2300
Helicopter flight over Gran Canyon £200
ATV rental in Ouray and Moab (fantastic fun) £275
Alcatraz £50
National Park pass £50
Hotels (v.expensive in Kayenta, Moab, Yosemite & San Francisco)
Meals
Drinks
Fuel

You really need to budget £6k+ IMHO even if you stop in cheap motels.

You can save over £1500 by hiring a car instead, but SWMBO has already dismissed this idea for our next trip as "it wouldn't be the same"
 
It is hideously expensive isn't it?

I've been looking at doing something similar next year. Bilko runs trips using your own bike. He's kindly offered to put my bike in his container next year so I'm considering doing it that way.

Still not a cheap holiday though & might be something that will have to wait until I retire.....................
 
Just curious if something like this could work? If there was enough interest among a few people just buy a nice used bike jointly and leave it here somewhere. That would save the rental cost for everyone.
 
oh well at least its not me that thinks its very expensive. I suppose i see plenty of stuff in europe that costs hell of alot less - 6-7 k is probably 3 years worth of tours in europe for me! I'll stick it on the 'when i win the lottery list'..........
 
yanto said:
oh well at least its not me that thinks its very expensive. I suppose i see plenty of stuff in europe that costs hell of alot less - 6-7 k is probably 3 years worth of tours in europe for me! I'll stick it on the 'when i win the lottery list'..........
Click to expand...

Flying your bike to the atates can cost as little as £600. Insurance for 3 months, around £200. Wild camping - free.
 
yanto said:
oh well at least its not me that thinks its very expensive. I suppose i see plenty of stuff in europe that costs hell of alot less - 6-7 k is probably 3 years worth of tours in europe for me! I'll stick it on the 'when i win the lottery list'..........
Click to expand...

That's true, but the National Parks etc. in the USA are simply stunning (Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley,Yosemite....) and there's nothing like them in Europe, or at least not on the same scale :bow

We're already planning a return trip in 2014 or 2015 after watching the Yellowstone documentary on Blu-ray
 
Jester said:
Flying your bike to the atates can cost as little as £600. Insurance for 3 months, around £200. Wild camping - free.
Click to expand...

Really? Got a link please?
I've looked around & the cheapest I could sea freight it, with all the apparent hassle that involved, was around the £1,200 - £,1500 mark. You're not flying it in from Canada or Mexico are you?
 
Clifton said:
Just curious if something like this could work? If there was enough interest among a few people just buy a nice used bike jointly and leave it here somewhere. That would save the rental cost for everyone.
Click to expand...

I've suggested the very same thing. Have plenty of room here at the house for another bike to be stored, if need be.
 
Earache said:
I've suggested the very same thing. Have plenty of room here at the house for another bike to be stored, if need be.
Click to expand...

It's a great idea and all very well but:

Who owns it?
What happens if it breaks down?
Who is responsible for servicing etc?
Who has 1st dibs on weeks?
Who insures it?
 
Clifton said:
Just curious if something like this could work?
Click to expand...

A recipe for disaster, for exactly the reasons set out by Sgt Bilco.

The only way it might work is if YOU owned the bike outright, then rented it out for (unknown) punters to use, using the rental charge to meet:

(A) Servicing costs

(B) Insurance. I am not sure how US Motor insurance works vis-a-vis loaned / rented vehicles or under what would perhaps amount to a 'business' type arrangement. No doubt it's very simple.

(C) A modest profit, sufficient to warrant the time and effort involved.

I have purposely excluded repair costs. Not because I think accidents will not happen but because I think they will. Let's pretend that your second customer causes USD 1000 of damage to the machine, not difficult in a small spill, badly denting a pannier, breaking the throttle twist grip and snapping the brake lever. Will you take a significant surety deposit first, before letting the customer ride out of the door? Will you bill them when they ride back into your garage, carrying the bits in a box, five hours before their flight home departs and when they have (sadly) "Spent all me money mate, I'm skint"?

What will you do with the damaged machine when your third customer arrives the next day, expecting 'a very nice' motorcycle, only to find it short of a pannier and no working throttle or brake lever? My, how you will both laugh, slapping each other on the back, revelling in the 'Biker, mate' bond.

One last itsy-titsy little consideration...... What happens when your first customer sues you for injuries they sustain whilst riding the bike they have loaned from you? Or when just a simple mechanical breakdown leaves them stuck for two days in Shitville County, awaiting repairs or recovery? "I'm well pissed off, mate. You promised me a great bike, very tidy. I've flown all the way out here and am now bleedin' well well fecked off". I worn you that the UKGSer most common solution is extreme violence and / or a depth of legal knowledge that would dwarf that of Baker & McKenzie.

There again, yours is a brilliant plan. Go for it, mate.
 
I'm just saying something like this could be an alternative to paying $1,000 for round trip shipping of your own motorcycle to the U.S.

Say four individuals, in a club or who know each other, each have interest in riding in NA for up to 4 weeks, once a year for the next four years or so. They start the “Sheep Dip Bike Partnership” with $18,000, each contributing $4,500. The Partnership buy’s a new 1200 Tenere’ with luggage, tax and license for $14,500. That leaves $3,500 in the account which should cover maybe three years of insurance, tires, and maintenance. To allow the account to stay solvent for longer than three years each rider could deposit some amount back into the account like .03 per mile ridden after each ride.
Each rider would return the bike to it’s “home” after each trip with a fresh oil change. Tires and maintenance to be done on the road as required, paid by the company. I'm not allowing for storage rental but that should be minor, if not free.
Each person can pick their 4 week slot from the 20 weeks comprising the best months, May-September. Change the order who picks first every year.
After four years sell the partnership. Or the partnership sells the bike for $8,000, which along with whatever may be remaining is divided up.

I would be surprised if each person will have invested total more than $3.2K.($3.5 maximum) which would be for 4 nice weeks each year, for four years, on a Tenere’. There are at least 4-8 additional good weeks available each year which I didn’t even count.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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