[HDarsi]

I was 25 when i rode a superbike for the first time. A beautiful black BMW K1200 which was a beast to ride on the roads in London. Had many features that were a first for me - heated grips, alarm and full fairing. This was my friend's bike and though i've only ridden it just a couple of times, i'd absolutely fallen in love with it. Though a bit heavy, the acceleration and the smooth torque rich engine left me with a big grin on my face after every ride. I might have spent a good number of nights dreaming about open country rides on this beautiful machine. The seed had been sown. The temptation to ride superbikes grew on me as life happened.

Cue a good number of years and work took me to Amsterdam, Netherlands. This is such a flat country where you see a majority of the population riding a variety of two wheelers. The roads are great, people follow the traffic rules and the car folk are very much accoustomed to be driving alongside motorcyclists for years. For the first time i felt that i'd be safer riding a two wheeler here in Netherlands in comparission with the UK. A quick search on goolge found me a motorbike rental shop that had a good number of options. I wanted to start off with a mid-weight and had sent a reservation request for a CBR 600. They did have the vehicle available but the CBRs didn't have a mount for the TomTom rider. As i was still new to Amsterdam, there was no way i could get around without some help. Got back to their website and got smitten by the Triumph Speed Triple. Heart over head and YOLO in the background, i booked the Triumph. The specs had me sold instantly.

Reality and the thinking process kicked in. It was time to consider some facts :

1. Its been around 10 years since i last rode a superbike - will i still be able to handle it? I was nearly 40 and Fitness levels are not exactly what they used to be before.
2. Still new to the country and not familiar with the lay of the land - how and where would i go (places and directions) and what would i do if i got lost?
3. I'd forgotten about my Ankylosing Spondylitis- would my back affect my work after the ride?
4. Given that i'd be going solo, how would i handle a fall from the bike or even worse an accident? - the policyexcess itself was around euro 2k.
5. Last but not least, the Mrs has no clue i am doing this

Addressing #1 : I increased my daily exercises. Morning stretches increased to 40 minutes instead of the regular 20. Walked 7-10 km a day instead of the normal 5km for the next 2 weeks.

Addressing #2 : TomTom Rider should have this under control - Turn by turn navigation and rerouting taken care of

Addressing #3, #4 & #5 : I'll cross the bridge when i get there.



Triumph Speed Triple 1050 : Beauty and the Beast in one form.

The bike hiring experience was the very much the same as hiring a car, except for only one inconvenience. With the bike comes a hardened metal chain and high security padlock that i'd had to carry with me to lock the wheel when parked overnight. The bike doesn't have any storage space, so the 4-5 kg chain has to go in the backpack. Not securing the bike overnight with this chain and padlock invalidates the insurance. The rental agency also offers riding gear but i chose to invest and got my own gear. For booking the bigger bikes, They needed an IDP with Category A equivalent if you are non Eurpoean or a European DL with Category A endorsement, otherwise.


Booking Confirmation


The bike rental place

Work had kept me super busy and i did not spend any time in planning a route to go around. My initial apprehensions were put to rest immediately after my 18km ride to my accomodation. Sometimes you really need a good ride to get your head straight and this did it for me. The bike felt well mannered and took both the straight roads and curves with absolute grace and power. She owned the road. There was sufficient power on tap. Go down one cog and she sounds like a mental manic lawn mower on acid! Pure bliss!



I was looking forward to this promising date with the machine over the weekend but had to first deal with a highly important matter. The Mrs had to be informed! Luckily for me, the Mrs was in India attending a function. She took it in her own stride and let me off after promising i'd keep in touch regularly informing my whereabouts. With that sorted, i got on the task of planning the route.

The end result of the planning task :



Chasing Lighthouses(this is becoming a hobby now)

The section of the route between the Light house at Den Oever and Zurich(in Netherlands) is called the Afsluitdijk. It is a lovely place with lake on one side, sea on the other and a 32km stretch of straight road in between.



Came across a small village by name Zurich.




Looking back at the road just travelled

On the return stretch, i stopped for a cup of coffee at the Woudagemaal visitor center. The D.F. Woudagemaal in the town of Lemmer is the world's largest steam pumping station still in working condition. The Woudagemaal was built in 1920 to pump away the excess water in Friesland. Until that time, large parts of Friesland were submerged during the winter. The D.F. Woudagemaal, that can pump away over 4000 cubic meters of water per minute, or 6 million cubic meters per day, changed that. At full power, it would be able to empty an Olympic-size swimming pool in just 35 seconds!




Reached home aroud 3 PM after an exhilirating time with the bike and spent the next day doing shorter trips locally before returning the bike in the evening.

The aspects i didn't like :
- Its super heavy. I am told the Speed variants are heavier, made of lesser expensive materials and hence less expensive than the Street Triples.
- No gear indicator - would be a good to have
- I couldn't flat foot when sitting on the bike
- Can get really hot - Not suitable for bumper to bumper traffic situations

What i liked :
- Acceleration
- Handling - the low torque is amazing
- Ride Quality - Had me grinning one side to the other when leaning the bike onto the curves


The first one, that started it all

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Will go to our homepage tomorrow .

How I wish we had more variety in India for big bike rentals. Am sure there are many people like me who love big bikes, don't own one, but would love to ride once in 1 - 2 months. But then, because of the poor law & order situation in India, I bet one of the biggest challenges will be preventing theft & damage.

Related thread on renting a Harley.

[HDarsi]

I haven't yet tried hiring cars or bikes in India. Will try next time if there are any options in Hyderabad.

Thanks for sharing the previous post on renting the Harley. Awesome detail.

[Horizon85]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks for sharing! Will go to our homepage tomorrow .

How I wish we had more variety in India for big bike rentals. Am sure there are many people like me who love big bikes, don't own one, but would love to ride once in 1 - 2 months. But then, because of the poor law & order situation in India, I bet one of the biggest challenges will be preventing theft & damage.

Not only above. In some of my conversations with Greg of Zoomcar, abuse by renters is the biggest concern for the rental companies. He once told me how people would rent the BMW 3 Series and return it with old tires. They had a pile of unusable 3 series tires with them.

[vishwasvr]

Rental model is I think one of the best ways to purchase a new car or bike. But in a country like India, our culture is so poor that we have scant regard for public property (or rented property in this case).

I had rented a Kawasaki Z800 for a few days before I decided to purchase it because the dealer here in Bangalore refused to give me a test ride! I was like, if I don't even get to test ride the bike, then how would I know if I like it or not! So I decided to test ride the Z800 from Wicked Ride. The bike I got was relatively in decent condition.

The next time I booked was an ER-6N. The rear brake was not working at all. I tried to bleed the rear brakes but to no avail. It didn't even have ABS so I decided to return it.

I've seen so many vehicles being abused, so it naturally deters from companies to diversify.

[acsandeep]

Originally Posted by Horizon85

people would rent the BMW 3 Series and return it with old tires. They had a pile of unusable 3 series tires with them.

This is one of the reasons why we can't have good things in India. Outside India lot of things work on the basis of "Honor system" and works really well, will never work in India. Sigh.

[HDarsi]

From what i've seen outside India, the vehicles are well maintained and cared for and any issues are swiftly addressed when reported. Once you sign the rental agreement the entire responsibility of the vehicle is on your shoulders. Your credit card is checked and blocked sometimes including the policy excess on top of the deposit already taken. If the vehicle is not returned in its same shape & form, the amount is first dedcuted and then you will have to fight if you believe you are being wrongly charged. Failure to pay the charges will result in legal charges and marks on insurance history.

[Adam]

Good post man, I used to rent bikes and cars few years back , especially when I need to drive something different or if I need a big car for road trips. I haven't faced any major issue with my rental cars back then and was overall a pleasant experience. Not so sure about current scenario.

But my rental experience with Bikes in India was totally a different story, I faced multiple issues, Once I was given a bike which was okay at first glance and short test drive, but was improperly maintained and repaired thus resulting in a brake failure.

But !!! Its not always the Rental service at fault , sometime the users abuse the vehicles to such an extend to which even a non car/bike guy cant tolerate the way they are driven . Most of the rental cars I came across were driven harshly and haven't seen them slowing down for any potholes or speed-breakers.

[hifisharu]

Originally Posted by HDarsi

The aspects i didn't like :
- Its super heavy. I am told the Speed variants are heavier, made of lesser expensive materials and hence less expensive than the Street Triples.
- No gear indicator - would be a good to have
- I couldn't flat foot when sitting on the bike
- Can get really hot - Not suitable for bumper to bumper traffic situations

Nice write up there, hope to ride in and around the Netherlands some day. Regarding point one you've mentioned, the Speed has always been more expensive than the Street, never the other way around. The Speed is based on an older model, so is definitely heavier and the larger engine adds to the weight. I think your model is from 2006-08 and hence the lack of a gear indicator etc, current models do have it and for Speed Triple fans, this is the next exciting bit:

https://www.rideapart.com/news/46573...200-rs-teaser/

I think they realised the current Street 765 is too close in power etc to the current Speed and then needed to up the capacity to keep it ahead of the Street. Also, the Euro 5 norms make it difficult to keep the same performance without increasing the capacity

[HDarsi]

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Regarding point one you've mentioned, the Speed has always been more expensive than the Street, never the other way around. The Speed is based on an older model, so is definitely heavier and the larger engine adds to the weight.

Mine was heresay and not verified. What you mention does make sense.

[apachelongbow]

For people in Hyderabad, Driven is a great place to rent a bike. The terms are easy and straightforward, the bikes decently maintained and prices are ok

[SatyRoy]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

For people in Hyderabad, Driven is a great place to rent a bike. The terms are easy and straightforward, the bikes decently maintained and prices are ok

Agreed. Though I personally haven't tried Driven but my cousin who is in Hyderabad is their regular customer. He tells me that the bikes are fairly reliable and maintained. The prices fluctuate depending on the offers at the time.

[HDarsi]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

For people in Hyderabad, Driven is a great place to rent a bike. The terms are easy and straightforward, the bikes decently maintained and prices are ok

Originally Posted by SatyRoy

Agreed. Though I personally haven't tried Driven but my cousin who is in Hyderabad is their regular customer. He tells me that the bikes are fairly reliable and maintained. The prices fluctuate depending on the offers at the time.

Thanks SatyRoy & apachelongbow - just checked their website. Looks like a decent collection. Didn't expect such options in apna hyderabad. Will definately give it a try next time.

[HDarsi]

Folks, Just went through Driven's T&C and they seem to be worlds apart compared to how rental agencies operate in the US, UK and a majority of the EU. Here, you are covered by the insurance policy offered by the rental agency which provides a damage waiver and is included in the cost of the hire. In case of any eventuality, the you are liable to pay only the excess from your pocket. the policy excess on the Speed triple i hired was €2000. This is what is charged in case of any damage. Normally the excess is a couple of hundreds but could also be a larger amount for premium vehicles. You do have the option to purchase additional protectional products which lower the excess. Those who rent frequently also take a cover for the insurance/policy excess instead of purchasing additional protectional products. Here i am talking about Excess cover insurance. This normally covers you for a set period.This works alongside the insurance policy offered by the hirer and it covers the cost of your excess if you need to make an insurance claim. For example, if you need to pay £250 excess on a car insurance claim following an accident, with excess insurance you can get that £250 back.

My typical car hire is only with the basic damage waiver offered by the hirer. There is always a hard sell from the hirer to make you buy the additional protectional products. They use scare tactics quoting the high excess price you would end up paying in case you had an accident. Peace of mind for a small price, they say. This normally is around £10-£12 per day and your excess gets reduced to £50 in case anything happens. A dent, a scratch or anything that might occur. Ironically, the 'excess cover' from a 3rd party is around £50 for a year which suits me totally fine.

I've found the T&C's from Driven to be a bit too harsh. Maybe this is the only way they can protect their vehicles from being abused. Here with Driven, there is absolutely no cap on the amount they can charge your card in case of an eventuality. And on top of it you are expected to compensate the loss in business for the number of days a problem takes to be resolved. Phew! Thats a lot!

Quoting the T&C's from Driven to this effect :

3.4. The Customer hereby also agrees to provide details/information of the Customer’s credit card for charging any excess amounts that may be payable by the Customer on account of renting of the Vehicle and any damage caused to the Vehicle. The Customer shall execute a separate credit card authorization letter in this regard in the format set out under Annexure 3 – Credit Card Authorization Letter Format to this Agreement. By executing this Agreement and the credit card authorization letter, the Customer irrevocably and unconditionally authorizes the Owner to charge to the Customer’s credit card and/or to charge to the account of the Customer, the amount as deemed appropriate by the Owner towards any loss caused by the Customer, in the event the amount of such losses exceed the Security Deposit or the Security Deposit cannot be appropriated for any reason. In the event the Owner charges the Customer’s credit card in the above manner, the Owner shall notify the Customer of the amount so charged and the reasons for which the Customer has been charged by the Owner.

5.7. In the event any damage has been caused to the unseen mechanical parts of the Vehicle such as engine, gearbox, suspension, etc, during the Rental Period, which were not identified by the Owner during the inspection upon return of the Vehicle and is later identified by the Owner, the Customer shall be liable to compensate the Owner for such damage caused to the Vehicle. The charges towards repair or replacements for such damage to the Vehicle shall be recovered by the Owner using the credit card details of the Customer.

5.8. Further, the Customer hereby agrees to pay for reasonable costs of repair of the Vehicle if: (i) the Owner has to pay extra costs to restore the vehicle to its condition when the pre-rental inspection was carried out (for example, if extra valeting time or special material or equipment is needed to restore the vehicle to its pre- rental condition); or (ii) the vehicle has been damaged internally or externally while in the possession of the Customer. These costs shall include, but is not limited to, professional cleaning, deodorizing or repair. The decision of Owner regarding the expenses, costs, etc. and whether undertaking such repair of the Vehicle is required or not, shall be final in this regard. The Customer agrees that the Customer shall also be responsible for compensating the Owner towards any damage caused to the Vehicle on account of hitting/colliding low-level or low lying objects, such as bridges, low branches, etc.

5.9. The Customer shall also be responsible for any loss or damage caused to any additional equipment or accessories hired by the Customer at the time of rental, including but not limited to satellite navigation equipment, baby seats, etc. Further, in the event any of the accessories, parts or equipment in the Vehicle are removed from the Vehicle or are missing for any reason, the Customer shall be liable to compensate the Owner for the same. In the event the keys of the Vehicle are lost by the Customer, the Customer shall be responsible for any charges relating to the same such as cost for key replacement and for loss of business during the time taken to obtain replacement key, etc.

[apachelongbow]

The above clause is so foolish, that it's funny. First of all, extortive clauses will not be honoured in court. Secondly, What happens if I book a bike with a credit card which has only a 50 k or a 1 lakh limit? And the damage on the bike is say 5 lakh?
Third: Driven provides you with an insurance copy along with rc copy when you rent a bike/car, you can easily file a FIR if they don't want to use their insurance and pester you for money instead.