Why Buy a Motorcycle? This Site Will Let You Rent Any Motorcycle You Want

Riders Share always has had insurance... They also have up to $1 million in general liability, so it's kind of a moot point

General
Insurance coverage under the insurance policy automatically includes state minimums for liability as further discussed below. Insurance coverage through the Riders Share policy does not replace your personal insurance policy, until the commencement of the Rental Period. All Riders Share users, Owners and Renters are advised to retain personal insurance that meets their needs.

and later:

General Liability
We additionally provide up to $1 million in general liability protection to our Owners

I read that as the renter is covered at state minimums and the owner of the motorcycle is covered up to $1 million.

But since I have the owner of the company's ear:

A. Why does a renter have to book the motorcycle rental before they find out how much insurance costs?
B. How much does insurance cost per day?

Too obvious I was the owner? Haha

A. They don't, you don't pay until after you select insurance options; same design as Turo, RVShare, Outdoorsy, etc
B. depends on many factors like duration, type of bike, etc

We are working out a deal to give renters option to purchase supplemental liability; usually owners, not renters, are the ones asking about liability :-)

A search of "Riders Share" on Motorcycle.com turns up an old comment from 2013 with you pitching a motorcycle rental app call "Riders Share".

A. So the big blue "Reserve" button doesn't actually reserve the bike? That is backwards from EagleRider or any rental car company I've used where the "Reserve" button is the final step
B. Ballpark range for insurance?

Of course it makes sense for owners to care about liability but it is equally important for the renter. Most people don't think about liability until it is too late and they are on the hook.

BTW, I had "Riders Share" confused with "Twisted Road". They do not offer insurance and simply require the renter to show proof that they have motorcycle insurance but does nothing to verify that it is current or covers motorcycle rentals.

A. We've experimented with a few names. Airbnb also works this way...we figured if the industry leaders are doing it, we should too. Most people don't know ER exists!

B. The average is $25 per day for a 3 day rental with the $500 deductible; prices ranger from $5 to $120 (if you want a 2020 Ducati Panigale vs. a scooter)

Yeah I tried to partner with TR early on and Austin turned me down. Now we are 20x bigger :-)

SO... I clicked that "Reserve" button on a 2007 BMW R1200RT at $135 per day

Insurance was $24 - $30 per day depending on deductible Roadside assistence at $7 per day.
PLUS a completely bogus $12 per day "service fee"

For reference insurance for my 2011 R1200RT with 300K in liability and a $250 collision and theft deductible is $231 per YEAR

We are a business, service fee is how we make money. The damage waiver is much less expensive than competitors for a similar bike; but we are just starting out, give us more time/scale and it will continue to go down

Yes, you a business and need to make money but you don't have to hide mandatory fees. Your terms also say you take 25% of the rental fee so the service fee isn't the only way your making money and it should be rolled into the advertised price.

EagleRider's damage wavier is $25 with a $2,000 deductible or $35 with $0 deductible and roadside assistance. That is for any motorcycle they rent. Sorry but you aren't cheaper.

you just said $24 - $30

Yes I did. $24 for a damage waiver for a 2007 R1200RT with a retail value of about $5500. You said it varies by bike so I suspect newer and more expensive bikes cost more.

So lets check that. Los Angeles, 3 day rental, Harley Davidson Street Glide.

Riders Share ( for a 2017 bike)
$32 per day with a $2,500 deductible for damage and a $10,000 deductible for theft
$38 per day with a $2,000 deductible for damage and a $8,000 deductible for theft
$49 per day with a $1,000 deductible for damage and a $4,000 deductible for theft
Roadside assistance is an extra $8 a day

EagleRider - (For a 2020 bike)
$25 per day with a $2,000 deductible for damage and $5,000 for theft
$35 per day with a $0 deductible for damage and $1,000 for theft. That also includes roadside assistance

Ah I forgot to mention...we use 100+ data points to measure each individual's risk. So each person sees different prices. It's mean to deter high risk riders. The avg for a 5 day trip is $21 with a $500 deductible, but it can vary significantly; the algorithm is improving everyday so more and more people see low prices. Right about about 2/3s do (we just need more scale).

As for theft - we have to keep the deductible high or else it creates an easily exploitable loophole :(

Nice article.

PS...That’s my ‘82 CB900F in Portland, Oregon. Come rent it!

That is bad news then. I'm mid-40s, married, with excellent credit, and no tickets or claims in the past decade. I'm about as low risk as you can get.

How is it that EagleRider can prevent an easily exploitable theft loophole with a $1000 deductible but you require $4,000?

Your platform looks like a good deal for owners. If the owner of that 2007 R1200RT is really pocketing $100 a day to rent a bike more than a decade old that is saying something. I may need to list my R1200RT.

I wish you luck, I'm just not seeing the value as a renter.

That;s old school insurance; we learn more about you based on how far in advance you are booking than based on your age.

On Riders Share, an owner and renter can work together to defraud us and steal motorcycles; on Eagle Rider, an employee is there to prevent this from happening. Until we have a way to prevent this type of fraud, our theft deductibles must remain high to close the loophole.

On the 2007 BMW: Tomorrow is $24 a day. Next weekend is $24 per day, next month is $24 per day. 3 months out is $24 per day, and 6 months out is still $24 per day. Try again.

How does a EagleRider employee prevent me from handing the keys to an acquaintance that steals the bike?

Weird. Try renting for 2 weeks, what price to you get vs Eagle Rider?

The 2007 BMW is $10 - 13 per day for insurance for 2 week (regardless of how far out I book).

In LA Sept 19 - Oct 3rd:

The 2017 Harley is $14-$22 per day for insurance Your $22 coverage has deductibles most similar to EagleRiders basic $25 coverage but it isn't quite apples to apples.

On Rider's share the 2017 Harley is $2111 for bike rental with the $22 insurance and service fee = $150.78 per day.

EagleRider is $2035.68 with the $25 insurance, tax, peak season fee, and environmental fee = $145.40 per day. That is if I pay cash. If I use credits with my basic membership it is $1108.88 = $79.20 per day.

Again, How does an EagleRider employee prevent me from handing the keys to an acquaintance that steals the bike?

You forget the $88 to guarantee you will get the bike you picked; and also, most bikes on RS aren't priced that high, you are using a bad example. We do need more Harleys to compete with EagleRider better, but it does sound like you are cherry picking expensive examples. The average cost people are actually paying is $115 all included.

You are right, I don't know how they protect themselves against that - it's not that different, after all. Once we are bigger, we can afford to take on more risk. For now, I am happy to run a program that encourages fraudsters to target them and not us :-)

I've never paid the fee to guarantee a model with Eaglerider and I have only not got the bike I picked once. That was 3-4 years ago and since then I call the rental location directly and confirmed they have the bike I wanted before booking.

Most of the bikes I would rent on Rider's Share are priced at $100 a day or more before fees and insurance. I'm looking to rent late model ADV bikes or touring bikes suitable for at least a long weekend two-up. Personally I'm not going to rent someone's 10 year old bike.

If I search LA and set the filters for BMW, ADV, Sport Touring, and Touring the only R or K bike less than $100 is a 2000 BMW R1150GS with more than 50K miles.

$115 all included is still more than I would pay for that 2020 Harley Street Glide through EagleRider. I'm at $79 a day using credits and I'm on the most basic membership. (The break-even on the membership is 3-4 rental days per year)

We need more touring/adventure bikes, but on most bikes we have lower prices. We’ll fix that when we resume advertising in 2021, simple as that.
We started this because we were burnt by Eagle Rider’s “oops we have no inventory available at this location”. Once in 3 years? Either you are very lucky, or you work for them.

I quickly found a 2020 Harley bagger for $113 a day in los Angeles...not sure what your deal is

$231/year - incredible. In BC, a 1200cc bike is around $2000/year in insurance. Sure it's Canadian $, but still. No wonder Americans have so many more bikes in their garages - they aren't getting hollowed out by insurance premiums!

Nope, don't work from them - that is pretty obvious from disqus comments I've posted about them - included the time I booked a BMW R1200GS, called the location and confirmed they had it the day before my rental and then arrived and was told it needed new tires so I'd have to take an Indian Chieftain.

As noted above, I call and deal with the rental location directly. Eaglerider's website isn't accurate at all. I also usually book a couple days out. So I call, say "Hello, I want to rent a bike for this weekend, what do you have available." Then I book online with a comment "hey I'm the guy that just called about XYZ bike". So far it has worked every time.

That said, If I was renting a bike for a week or more and a non-Harley I would likely pay the fee to reserve a specific bike. It helps that Harley's touring bikes are interchangeable to me. Street Glide, Road King, Road Glide - they are all the same bike with slightly different accessories.

This is my "deal". For the bikes I rent EagleRider is cheaper and there is not risk of dealing with individuals. For peer to peer rentals I expect to get more for less just like you can get a house or apartment for the price of a hotel room on Air BnB. I don't expect to pay more to deal with an individual.

Part of that I'm sure is that the types of bikes I rent are readily available from existing companies. If I was still in my 20's and wanted to rent sport bikes then Rider's Share would be a great option.

Here is what I pay to rent a new Street Glide in LA - even if I paid the $88 fee to reserve a specific model and a peak season surcharge. Each of those credits cost me $29 so that is $87 + $269.22 / 3 = $118.74 per day. (With insurance and all fees)

A BMW R1200GS or R1200RT is $87 + $275.61 / 3 = $120.87 per day (With insurance and all fees)

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Gotcha, so what you are really saying is we need a subscription program too :-) i'll make it happen in 2021. Thanks for your feedback!

I love the concept of motorcycle rental. Where else could you rent a vintage bike for a day? It opens up a world of possibilities perhaps not served by a place like EagleRider. I feel like both can have a spot in the sunshine.

No doubt there is room for both. Vintage and specialized motorcycles make a service like Rider's Share unique and I'm sure the selection will get better as the app grows.

Your 1982 Honda CB900F Super Sport is without doubt the most interesting bike for rent in the Portland Metro.

How is the rental experience from the owner's side? Are you getting a lot of 1 day rentals or more multi-day trips?

Why so much? It seems like Canadian insurance should be less due to much lower medical costs.

Is auto insurance that expensive too?

I'm just pointing out the prices you are competing against.

Thinking from the owner's side, are most of your rentals single day or multiple days? If I list my R1200RT am I going to burn a lot of weekends to only get paid for a day or can I expect 2-3 day or even week long rentals? That effects the cost benefit analysis a lot for me.

Honestly, I haven't booked a single ride this summer. That's not Riders Share's fault...I may be priced too high (I control the daily price and amount of mileage per day). Honestly, I am terrified of someone who is not me wadding up a bike like the CB that may be impossible to repair/replace. A friend of mine also has a bike on Riders Share and that bike has logged over 1,000 miles this summer. He's not making a killing, but it is covering the cost of ownership and a little extra - enough that he's willing to rent when his job allows a bit of extra time for bike prep, exchanges, etc. So...without having a single rental under my belt (only cancellations thus far) I may not be the best person to answer your question. Thanks for the nice note about my bike. I love it.

I pay $1500/yr for a 2018 Mazda MX-5 RF, and $1500/yr for my 1998 VFR800. It's ridiculous - the same insurance for a $35,000 car and a $3,500 motorbike, and mostly since ICBC (Insurance Corporation of BC) is a government monopoly - there is no competition for basic insurance in BC. You can get private insurance for the optional coverage, though and can save a few bucks there.
Other provinces are different - some better some worse. And despite the huge insurance rates, ICBC has been LOSING money for years. Mismanagement, insurance fraud, and so on are the blame, that and huge salaries for the executives as well.
As an owner of a couple vehicles, I also have to pay full price for every vehicle I own, despite the fact I can only drive/ride one at a time.
Aaaanyway, that's enough ranting for now. I should get out and ride to get my money's worth!

Yes, thank you. We definitely need more of those nicer bikes. Our audience right now is very young (avg 33) so not many BMWs and Harleys. Big opportunity there, thanks for pointing it out. First time ever I hear feedback like this, so I was skeptical.

On an adventure bike, there are many week or longer trips but also many 1 day trips. It’s common to make $1,000+ a trip. To make it work for owners, we allow them to set very high 1 day prices and very discounted longer duration rentals. That way, its worth your time to do a 1 day booking while remaining competitive on longer bookings.

Interesting. You are paying more for 1 car than I was for 3 last year. Last year I had a 2016 Spark EV, 2014 Golf Sportwagen, and 2004 Astro Van. Combined they were $1350 a year. When the Spark's lease was up and it went back to Chevy our insurance only dropped $100 because the premium for the remaining two went up with the increased miles. So my company is taking into account that we can only drive 2 cars at a time.

On the other hand my employer and I combined are paying $17,282 a year for medical insurance for my wife and I and we have a $5,000 deductible to meet before the insurance starts paying for treatment.

Holy crap. As of January 1st of this year, BC eliminated medical fees altogether. Last year my wife and I paid around $35/month each for medical (~$450/year), with no deductible. That puts it into perspective I suppose. Yikes.

Wow, that is about 15 - 20 years younger than the average motorcyclist in the USA. I can see that though, a lot of my younger friends rent through Turo instead of a rental car chain.

I don't see any reason why the same model coudn't work for motorcycles.

Thinking more about it I doubt the numbers would work on my BMW. Maintenance and tires alone are about $0.25 per mile. That will eat into any rental fees quick. My Piaggio MP3 could work though with the much lower running costs.

We are a pretty young team, we have the opposite problem - appealing to the traditional rider. That's why your opinion matters a lot to me.
To protect owners against the maintenance issue, we allow them to charge excess mileage fees. Most renters don't go over the miles limit, but having the feature protects owners so they don't get burnt on excessive maintenance

I don't see it as excessive mileage, it is just an expense that cuts into the profit. My normal afternoon ride to the Oregon coast is 160 miles. At $0.25 per mile for running costs that trip costs $40. If I'm renting the bike for $100 after your fees I'm only making $60 on a one day rental. I'm going to guess that most of those are going to happen on the weekend so I'm burning a weekend to make $60. I'm in the point of my life that a weekend hiking, riding, cycling, paddling, fishing, etc is worth more than $60. In the normal pre-COVID world I travel 25 - 30% of the time so time at home is important. Do you have the option to set a minimum number of rental days? Say a 3 day minimum?

When I'm travelling for work sometimes I have weekends free on-site. Sometimes I'll rent a bike Friday night - Sunday night. I also try to get a couple trips in the winter when my wife and I will fly down to Southern California for a 3-4 day long weekend. We call these sunshine trips" because we fly south to escape the continuous gloom and rain of the Pacific Northwest. We also do 2-3 week motorcycle trips but those have all been in Europe.

Personally I would be most likely to use Rider's Share for a local rental. If I saw an interesting bike I would rent it for a day. For example I'd like to ride a Royal Enfield Interceptor and Himalayan.

I can't see myself using Rider's Share for a fly and ride trip because I don't trust peer to peer rentals enough to base a trip on it. I've been burned with Air BnB where I show up and the "Superhost" with hundreds of 5 star reviews is a no show. I wouldn't want to pay for airfare and hotels trusting an individual to follow through with a bike.

I feel you. In the long run, peer to peer is more reliable as the search engine algorithm surfaces only the most reliable bikes/people...and our competitors are pretty unreliable, unlike hotels. Our tow provider reports half as many tows per rental day from us than normal shops. I think its because owners care more about maintenance because their live literally depends on it than an underpaid mechanic. But we have ways to go, lots of room for improvement, and we are also starting to incorporate businesses into the platform not just individuals.

Instead of minimum days, we use pricing. So say you need $180 to make the trouble worth your time, then you set the price at $240 for 1 day trips and then drop it to $100 for 3+ day long trips. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to pay extra just to ride the exact bike they want :-)
Also sounds like you live a pretty awesome life

No doubt my wife and I are living a very awesome life. A lot of luck and a few good choices made.

Car and bike insurance is to cover one's medical fees, rehab, wheelchairs, crutches, lifetime caregivers and so on. Trip on the sidewalk and crack your skull? Provincial medical plan pays for the hospital visit. Most provinces don't require a monthly plan fee. Fall off the bike? One's bike insurance pays for the hospital visit.

In the event of a multiple vehicle crash does each person's insurance company cover their own injuries and damage to the vehicles or does the insurance for the person at fault cover both?

Depends o the province. In Ontario, your insurance covers you. This is for all the things like long term care and all of the supplemental healthcare such as rehab.

In the big picture, everything is covered for anyone. It just comes out of different pockets of the same trousers. Then the lawyers decide what trousers ...

Big picture my wife and I pay:
$17,282 for Medical Insurance
$ 1,272 for Auto Insurance
$ 427 for Motorcycle Insurance.

($231 for 2011 R1200RT and $196 for 2009 Piaggio MP3 500)

I'm betting I would pay less combined in Canada.

Yes, but we have a higher income tax rate (generally speaking), so the difference isn't as great as you think. We have universal health care, but each province runs their own so there are subtle differences. Ontario used to cover eye exams ($80), but not any more. However, those under 22, and the poor get free prescriptions. There is talk of making prescriptions and dental universal. I'm not too up on that, because anyone that already has a private plan for that (me, most union members, most full time employees; basically every employed person bar the working poor and contract workers) is exempt from any provincial or federal plans.

Once again, this is just the average Bobby getting fucked by the tax dodging weasal rich. They underpay their employees and provide zero benefits, so my tax dollars must provide health benefits for employees. So, in effect, I'm subsidising the millionaire POS that owns the local Tim Hortons.

Canada pays $7K per person on average for healthcare and the USA pays $12K. We pay 70% more, aren't any healthier and 10% of our population has no insurance at all.

That doesn't even get into the downside of tying health insurance to employment in the USA. I personally know several people that want to work their side business full time but can't quit their job because they can't afford insurance for their family on the open market. Then there is the fact that if you get laid off in a downturn you lose insurance too.

I'm sure the Canadian system isn't perfect but it seems a lot better than our system.

Oh, I agree fully! I am 100% lefty, and am all for universal health care. Even if it means I pay more in taxes. Near as I can tell, the U.S. is the only civilised country without it.

I'm an independent that is socially liberal and fiscally conservative - which means I don't fit in anywhere.

That said, I support universal heathcare because it is the fiscally conservative thing to do. Looking around the world at different universal systems they are all cheaper than the USA. The arguments against universal healthcare are moral arguments not economic ones.