Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Hello, i know its probably been done to death,

But were ie two up, me n the mrs, Sept this year for approx 1 month, san fran, vegas and beyond.
http://www.eaglerider.com/motorcycle-to ... ecial.aspx

summat like that, just spread out the journey for longer...

Renting looks like it'll cost £2000 plus with all the extra insurance n ting
(unless any of you know different?) ive checked eagleriders and a couple of others.

Shipping, im guessing £1500 with all the bits? but its gotta be 4/6 weeks, and any customs f ups would kill a weeks holiday. and the packing / crating up etc? that and my bike aint the best for twos up riding... not exactly a smoooth ride

Buying, doesn't sounds worth it for just a month? unless i can blag an extra month hahah, more likely a month tho

Mainly roads as mrs on board would **** herself if we went off piste.

Any tips, route suggestions, must see's? where hire a half decent bike from without breaking the bank? stuff like that. Mucho appriciated

cheers

I've just been having a poke around on this subject. It seems insurance is the problem especially if you buy over there. Might be easier if temp import a uk bike. Renting might not be a bad solution if you factor in all the hassle of any other option.

Good luck , let us know how you get on

Had the same dilemma a few years back. Weighed up all the options and opted for Eaglerider as I too was taking the Mrs. For comfort we rented an Electra Glide from Las Vegas. Headed across Death Valley, Tioga Pass, Yosemite, San Fran, Pacific Coast HW down to LA the back to Vegas via the best bit of Route 66 across the Mohave Desert, including Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Oatman, Flagstaff and Hoover Dam. That was a 2 Week trip. To keep the Mrs. Happy, we rented a Dodge Charger for a further 2 weeks to do the Grand Canyon and the Southern Utah national parks, but that would have been great to have done that leg on the bike too.
The best thing about renting is it takes away the stress of insurance, breakdown etc.

Saying that, currently revisiting the dilemma and thinking of flying my Explorer to New York in 2 or 3 years time, riding across Canada to Alaska and shipping the bike back from Anchorage.

Good luck with your planning.

It was an absolute pain to get insurance when we crossed the border from Mexico. It took three days constantly on the internet/email etc. to find a company who would insure me. I must admit I was completely puzzled as to the hassle for an 'advanced' country when so many others sorted it out at the border - 'value of' in an accident I have no idea :whistle:

Did it eventually but the cost (for one month) was the same as a full year policy for a local.

Foreign plates, no local address etc.

In 2011 I bought a New DR650 for a months trip to do the CDT, $6300 sold 3 1/2 weeks later for $3200 A secondhand purchase would lead to less of a hit.
Insurance can be arranged, especially if you buy through a dealer as they may well "provide you" with an address to secure the sale.
However, if you want to go with Eagle rider, keep your eyes out here for one way trips.
http://www.eaglerider.com/hot-deals.aspx Dates can be tricky, but you can massively reduce the hire costs.

Hi Dave, that would be one of our old bikes you are thinking of shipping and if you remember when you picked it up we chatted about it all.

I have looked at renting and shipping. Shop around for rentals there's some big differences especially if you are flexible on location and bike. Bikes like GSX1250 are much cheaper than gold wings or BMW. Make sure you understand all the costs too, what they quote doesn't generally seem to be what you will pay due to items like insurance, CDW, one way premium, and other add ons.

Shipping by ship is slow and fraught with delay meaning your bike might not turn up for weeks. Flying it in is more reliable but lots more expensive. Getting my GSA to newYork from manchester is going to be around £1250. Back from LA it will be around £1600. But I am confident it will be there when I need it and back in my hands after about 1week. A smaller bike won't make much if any difference on price as they take up about the same volume.

Insurance in the states is easy enough but expensive. My quote from motorcycle express is $500 for two months. I could get it cheaper but I went for a fairly high level of cover.

I hope you manage to sort something out and you are a braver man than me planning a two-up trip on an XT660r.


Sent from my iPhone with a smile

The first time your own bikes breaks down, the extra cost of hire wains instantly.

You get a replacement bike if it does one.
You can get one way rental and do a 2 airport holiday.
You can get a Harley a lot cheaper than most other bikes.
You will not be going fast, so bigger bike OK

My hire was for 35 days starting in Boston, (Motorcycles of Manchester)ending in San Francisco. 8525 big ones on a Goldwing 1800. Their insurance

(water cooled bikes are good when it gets over 100 degrees).....

Vegas..... Hard Rock Hotel doing some daft cheap prices $40 a night ....

If I was going back....... Washington DC, South along the Parkway, Dragons Tail, The Skyway, Then west.

In 2007 i bought a year old DR650 in Viginia for $4200, insured it over the phone with Progessive Insurance and sold it in California for $2800 2 months later with 8000 more miles on. To get insurance you need an address to use in the States, do you know someone there. Also each State has its own regs on vehicle ownership, have a look at the DMV web site (Dept of Motor Vehicles) and select the State.

Selling the bike is a pain if time is tight and with four weeks it is a close call.

Have you thought about a rollon/rolloff ferry, I think they go to the west coast and I also saw a thread somewhere about a company renting KLR650's.
Have a look on Horizons and Adv, google is your friend...

Bon voyage

I was thinking of using this company for my trip next year...

hctravel sea freight

http://www.hctravel.com/html/seafreight_.html

You will have to link and paste yourself as it's not working via my iPad at the moment... Or ever !

read somewhere in the advrider, as one guy bought a used bike in the dealership chain, then spend a few months traveling rounk usa and canada nad dropped the bike at the nearest dealership of the same owner, and got a cracking deal as the bike was in good condition apart from increased mileage. dealership provided insurance on the company or smth.

I do not see the need to drag lots of stuff around as yo uare always in civilisation, so can travel lightweight.

also, there are companies in usa, which specialises for all kinds of insurance for foreigners. there are lots of tresspassers and the need for insurance.

go to advrider yankee part and ask about situation. the folk is friendly, you might find somebody who would be happy to help out with address etc. of course hubb is also a good place to poke around