[abhisheksahas]

Hello all,

I would like to share my experience renting two premium bikes from twistthrottle.in (TT) who provide a wide range of premium bikes (including superbikes) on rent, in Bangalore.

Disclaimer: The below post only describes my experience, and it’s not a review.

Summary: My two experiences with TT could not be further apart from each other - they were polar opposites.

Part-I: Renting an Aprilia RS 457 in November 2024
Experience: 5/5
Vehicle quality: 4.5/5
Pricing: 5/5
Staff support and friendliness: 4.5/5

I was skeptical about TT, but I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the documentation, pricing and renting experience was. The bike that was delivered, was the one that was promised on the website. Though, in my excitement to book, I didn't optimize the time and the money that I paid for. Overall, there was nothing to complain about and I enjoyed renting the Aprilia RS 457 for approx Rs 4000. The bike had done about 4000 Kms, and felt almost as good as new. The RS 457 performed well above my expectations.

The vehicle came with a speed limit of 110 Kmph, and TT enforces fines for every instance the rider breaches the speed limit. There is an optional add-on to allow a higher-speed limit by paying an additional amount, which I did not opt for. I had to show my driving license, but did not have to deposit it, I chose to deposit my Aadhar Card instead.

The experience with the Aprilia RS 457 delivered on every count. The ratings below are not a review of the bike, but rather a review of the condition of the bike.

Engine: 5/5
Gearbox: 5/5
Brakes: 5/5
Suspension: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
On time delivery: 5/5
Minimal documentation: 5/5

Like I mentioned earlier, I did not realize the timing of my booking, and ended significantly under utilizing the bike. I picked up the bike in the evening, and returned the following day in the morning following a ride to the Nandi Hills. I really enjoyed the ride and the overall experience, but when I returned the bike, I found out that I had in fact paid for 24 hours, but used only about 12, to add insult to injury, I ended up using about 100 Kms lesser, but since I had planned other engagements for the rest of the day, I couldn’t keep the bike with me any longer. This was largely because I did not realize the minimum hours for the Aprilia RS 457 was 24 hours, and some of the other bikes that I had been considering were for 12 hours. The staff expects the bike to be returned with the same amount of fuel as it was handed to the rider with, but since I did not, I paid the staff ₹1000 and they refunded ₹300 back, based on the fuel that had to be topped I did not dispute, but I did not have any doubts either

Part-II: Renting a Kawasaki Ninja 650 in December 2024
Experience: 3.5/5
Vehicle quality: 2.5/5
Pricing: 5/5
Staff support and friendliness: 4.5/5

Armed with the confidence in TT and learnings from my first bookings, I went ahead with booking the Ninja 650. The website of TT is minimalistic and it does not mention the model or the kilometers done. But because I had a great first experience, I presumed that it would be the same the second time too. I should have probably taken a hint from the fact that the Ninja 650-which is a significantly more expensive bike to purchase, was actually costing me about 30% lesser to rent than I paid for the Aprilia RS457. I was just too excited to get the bike and so I conveniently ignore this fact.

When I reached the garage, the first thing that surprise me was that I had to pay a deposit of ₹10,000, especially since I did not have to pay that for the RS457 (which costs more to rent). The staff at the Centre, told me that for bikes that are greater than 500 cc, the rider has to keep the passport in the Service Centre OR pay a deposit of ₹10,000. While I did not have my passport, I still would not have agreed to it. I was happy to pay the deposit of ₹ 10,000. This was unexpected, especially when most of the banners and ads (even at the Centre) highlighted that no deposit is required. I do understand that the company would like to try and protect themselves with a marginal deposit, but it would help if there is made clear message at the time of booking. I wouldn't have mind at all if this amount was collected at the time of booking.

The next thing that I was shocked was, seeing the bike itself. I wasn’t expecting the Ninja 650 from 2018-2019. The fact that I was going to spend the next 12 hours riding a 2018/2019 Ninja 650 that had done about 40,000 kms didn’t enamor me. Based on the images from the website, I was made to believe that I was going to ride a bike that from MY 2022/2023. Nevertheless, once I got onto the bike, I was not happy with its condition, this bike was clearly not very good and to add to my growing list of concers, the ‘check engine’ light was ON. The staff told me that the bikes are serviced by them and not at the Kawasaki Service Center, which is why the ‘check engine’ light was ON and that I need not be concerned. They did a few test rides in my presence, but I guess I am somebody who is driven by emotions + logic, rather than logic alone and the appeal to ride an old battered bike for 12 hours and experience enjoyment did not add together. I was told an exchange was not possible since the staff had started the booking on their internal platform.

Then, I probably did the most unexpected thing at this point and returned the bike to the Centre and willfully accepted that a refund would not be possible. This staff was very transparent with the entire process and I would not put the blame on them, but I would definitely expect the company to be very clear on the website:

1. Detailing information pertaining to the specific model year of the bike.
2. Include the feature list as well inform the number of Kms done.
3. Pictures of the actual vehicle would also be supremely beneficial.

The deposit amount was refunded promptly within 24 hours. I did fuel up the bike and they fully refunded the money after I deposited the bill with them.

Engine: 3/5
Gearbox: 3/5
Brakes: 3/5
Suspension: 3/5
Cleanliness: 1/5
On time delivery: 5/5
Minimal documentation: 2/5

My pointers for those interested in renting bikes from TT:
- Highly recommend TT for anybody looking to rent a premium bike for the weekend.
- They have a vast collection of bikes to cater from beginners to pros, including many of the newer models.
- The cancellation and rescheduling policy is clearly explained at the time of booking.
- TT do not have a mobile app, only a website. Once the booking is done, you cannot cancel or reschedule from the website. You have to chat with a person on WhatsApp and reschedule or cancel. Nothing concerning, just something to know.
- I had to reschedule my Ninja 650 booking, and that cost me approximately Rs 320
- The bikes that are slightly expensive / newer models are probably the best to rent, rather than possibly older ones. Best to visit in advance to try and gauge the condition of the bike (if possible), especially if you are renting the more expensive ones.
For e.g, even though the RS 457 is a cheaper bike to buy than the Ninja 650, the rent for the Ninja 650 was lesser. This is a red flag.
-Bookings done on weekends are typically more expensive than weekdays, but if the weekday is a public holiday, you don't end up paying the premium - which is what I would recommend.
- They had some really good bikes that I could recommend- A brand new RE Bear 650, RE Himalayan, ZX-10R, (New model) Suzuki Hayabusa, Triumph 400s, Triumph Street Triple RS, Z900.
- Bikes with engines less than 500cc have a top speed of 110 Kmph and those with engines greater than 500cc have a top speed of 120 Kmph.
- Be wary of breaching the speed limits, especially tricky while riding these extremely fast bikes. While I never breached the speed limit, I did find it extremely distracting to keep one eye on the speedo.
- As mentioned earlier, you can pay a little extra to unlock higher top speeds, details of which are visible at the time of booking.
- Every bike has a different minimum booking period, e.g some of the premium bikes need to be rented for 24 hours, the lowest that I came across was 12 hours.

Attached below are some images of the center and some of the bikes available there.

Happy to answer any other questions that interested folks might have.

[psysu]

I rented bikes from TT before getting my gen 3 duke as well.

I rented RC 200, Triumph 400s, Versys 650, Interceptor 650, Super Meteor 650, Himalayan 450 ( 3 times ), RR 310 ( not the current Gen ).

Among these I had problems with Triumph 400x, RR 310, Versys 650 & Int 650.

Triumph 400x brakes were sooo bad, i almost crashed with another vehicle. After changing the brake pads it was better

RR 310 brake pads are fully done to the point i heard metal scraping from the brakes.

Versys 650 & RC 200 had no valve cap on the tires and they were leaking Tyre pressures. Had them fixed by myself.

Int 650 had Ignition problems, TT gave me the Super Meteor 650 as replacement without any additional cost.

All the problems i mentioned. you can take the bike to their garage and they will fix it without any additional cost. What bugs me was even if you called TT prior before receiving the bike to make sure everything is properly working, i still ran into the problems i mentioned.

I would still recommend TT for renting bikes in banglore, but Make sure you do a thorough PDI before receiving the motorcyle. TT relatively much better than other rental services here, but they could improve.