Quote:
Originally Posted by culcune
Thanks for the tip! I am in a perpetual wait and see mode, however, but did find a Bashan Storm on the peer-to-peer rental group for about $50 to $70 for a one-day rental, which would be definitely keeping in spirit of a Chinariders group ride. In fact, IF things start getting back to normal this fall, I might invest in a Lifan X-Pect to rent out to snowbirds here in Yuma, and possibly even get into offroad bikes and quads (i.e. Kayo, Pitster/GPX, or Orion). I want to see if there is enough business and if these bikes will hold up to abuse from renters to justify keeping them around to rent out.
Rentals is what revived my interest in the two-year annual S to W ride. I had thought about it months ago before I found the bike, but with Musictrek not active and you moved away, I thought the ride was dead. But, when looking on Turo for a rental car for Chicago last month, I happened upon Riders Share and another company, and found the dual-sport there. Then I put two and two together. Even if I cannot put together a group ride, I will probably rent the bike one of these weeks as I have yet to ride any of the Bashan bikes. How is everything going in Georgia? It must have been nice to get back to 'home' vs. the impersonal Phoenix metropolitan area. You are not the only one I have heard of badmouthing and/or moving away from there. Funny enough, I am really looking into going back to L.A., but that is another story for another time.
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Right off the bat, I'm going to tell you the liability with back-country rentals in the desert is going to be a major obstacle. Let me lay out a scenario with you, and just show how quickly things might go wrong.
Let's say you rent someone a dual sport motorcycle for a day trip somewhere.
Situation 1) they lay it down in the sugar sand and get hurt. They weren't prepared for the trip in the first place, and don't have any water or equipment with them, and no cell signal or they're too seriously injured to even use the cell phone. On top of that, they're hopelessly lost, and couldn't even tell the rescue teams where they are. When they finally do the recovery, who do you think the family is going to come after? It's going to be
your fault because you rented a motorcycle to someone who was a complete burke, and
you should have known better than to rent to someone with that little experience, blah, blah, blah, insert long drawn out attorney's notices here. Doesn't end well for you...
Situation 2) they take the bike and it breaks down on the trail somewhere. They're not hurt, just stranded. Luckily for you though, they were riding with some friends. So they just push the POS China bike off onto the side of the trail and leave it there for you, and ride back dutch with their buddies. Now when they get back, they demand a full refund because you rented them a broken down basket case of a China bike, and it was such an inconvenience being stuck on the trail instead of riding (more like abusing your equipment) with their friends. And, oh yeah, don't forget you have to go out on the trail to get your bike back, and hope that you can find it or that it's even still there.
All things being equal, the fastest way to make a small fortune in that type of rental arena is to start with a
large fortune. I really think trying to break into a niche rental market like that in the Phoenix area is going to a lesson in legal terms and how overall terrible people can be.