Riding in Europe - To ship or to rent?

[TaosBrick]

As far as I can tell, it's an average of 100euro/day to rent something nice over there, and it would be somewhere around 1k$ to ship.
We'd wanna stay for at least a month and go all over, from say Italy to Ireland and everywhere in between.

Anybody here ever do this? Suggestions?

[BexarWolf]

Personally, I'd suggest renting. If something breaks on the bike while you're renting, they'll fix it/replace it. If something breaks on your bike while you're riding your own, you'll be out the cost of repairs plus the downtime. Just my opinion.

[argent brick]

+1 on renting. Keep in mind how old you machine is.

Knowing my luck, my bike would be shipped to Europe and would not run.

[Lawrence]

Matt Parkhouse has toured Europe and North Africa with his wife on their BMW /5 models.  He's an inspiring rider and excellent contributor to BMW Owners News.  Personally, I'd ship a bike I am comfortable riding, know well and have confidence in her reliability.   Truth to tell, I've been mulling over doing just that while I am still (maybe) able to. 
Life is short.
Money too.... :dunno2:

[TaosBrick]

Matt Parkhouse has toured Europe and North Africa with his wife on their BMW /5 models.  He's an inspiring rider and excellent contributor to BMW Owners News.  Personally, I'd ship a bike I am comfortable riding, know well and have confidence in her reliability.   Truth to tell, I've been mulling over doing just that while I am still (maybe) able to. 
Life is short.
Money too.... :dunno2:

Funny you should mention Matt P, Lawrence. I bought an R60/5 from him earlier this summer very similar to those that he and Suzanne had made that tour on. I'm afraid he's a bit disappointed in me, as I wound up selling the machine after having owned it for only a couple of months - just wasn't being ridden (too addicted to my R75/5 café). But the kid who has it now is riding th' crap out of it, I'm sure  :yes.

  Yeah, I kinda lean towards the idea of shipping. I'm pretty confident in both me and my wife's whips, and if you wanna stay for a month, 200+euro a day racks up pretty dang quick.

  BUT - keep those observations and suggestions coming, y'all!   Gotta admit, this is all still very much in the pipe dream stage, though  :hmm:

[wmax351]

I'm actually in the process of reclaiming my German citizenship (my grandfather's was revoked due to the Nuremberg laws). I am thinking at some point I may go there for a summer. Pick up a cheap K bike or a Nighthawk, and ride all over. I suppose that would be easier as a 21 year old having citizenship and all the time in the world. If I break down, I deal with it as needed.

[Little Red]

It's probably closer to $1500 each way to ship a bike with a service handling the paperwork.  the break even point is about 3 weeks.  greater than that, ship your own bike, less than more cost effective to rent.   If you go lufthansa out of Vancouver CN you and your bike could ride on the same flight.   pros and cons either way.  I've done a guided tour in the alps on rental bikes and it worked out ok.

[trophydan]

You thought about buying, and then reselling? Decent K's can be had  for around 1000$, and I am sure someone through one of the lists will sell for you after you leave.

Also, it is worth asking about, as someone may be willing to lend/ rent you  a spare.

[k11pfc]

Anyone ever contemplate doing this and need a convenient place in England to stop for a few nights (Portsmouth), gissa shout, 70 miles from London, on the ferry route for Spain/France (ferryport 5 miles away) Just a thought, I know how expensive these trips can be, there will of course be no charge.

[BobZ(IL)]

I would certainly think a monthly rental would be a bit less. Or are you going for two bikes.

[Duc750]

What's your definition of nice?

There's a guy on fleabay who specialises in bmw trade ins from main dealers. Bidforbikes is his ebay I'd. His name is Steve never actually bought a bike off him but he seems a straight up guy when I've spoken to him. Buying from him and then selling on after might be a good bet. I'd be happy to sell it for you post trip from the uk as long as its a uk bike.

[Beemer01]

I've only done this once and did rent and was happy I did so, as the almost new F800 suffered a blown fork seal on the second day - another rider blew a rear brake seal...both bikes were relaced the following day.  Way better than trying to find a repair shop in a strange country! :nono

[frodef]

I've used jetcarrier.com a couple of times for shipping stuff bought from the US (to myself in Norway), and they list about $1000 for shipping a motorcycle by boat, including crating and various export-related fees (that I suppose wouldn't apply here). Possibly worth checking out, although I have no idea if they would ship anything back from europe to the US.

[Rick G]

Charlie have you considered buying a bike in europe before you go. I am sure there would be someone there or UK willing to look after it and sell it when you are finished.
My brother has an R80 in New Zealand and another in Spain. Both are used on a yearly basis so it makes it worth while keeping them.
The only problem he ever had was putting a hole in the oilpan in Turkey once.

[TaosBrick]

Yeah Rick, I've been considering the buy option as probably the best - if I ever get this cockamamie plan off the ground, may be a year or two before that happens...

[bikerboy]

Willing to assist in any way I can from the south of France, Dordogne area.

[TaosBrick]

Thank you BikerBoy for your kind offer! - Have to say, this plan is very much a pipe dream, which may be a year or two in the offing, if it happens at all :hmm:
I'll keep everyone in th' loop, though.

[88KE]

Taosbrick the last bike I had about 20 BK (Before K100  :eek:) was a haonda that had been bought and shipped from Chicago to Southhampton in England. The owner was a friend of a friend and rode it From England down to Italy and back to Ireland racking up about 10k miles over a couple of months. I bought the bike off him which saved him the expense of shiping it back. I remeber his comment that one of the expensive parts was having a good crate made that would withstand the two shippings and keep him bike safe. Costs of one way shipping and customs clearance was about $1000 back then.

88KE

[Freelancer]

It has been a long time since my service days in europe but I have a few suggested things to consider that might help.

Driving in europe was much more of a luxury than here in the states. Licensing, Insurance and Fuel cost were very costly.

I don't know how much it has changed but back in the 80's a german license was a couple of grand and they were not recognizing the International/universal licenses. I think that has changed somewhat but check out the licensing requirements.

Next was insurance,....which was and, from what I hear, still is pretty stiff. You could easily be looking at another grand or two depending upon the type of license you are able to use(International or some new euro union specific one vs your US one). Also, renting vs brnging your own or buying could be different. The insurance offered when renting could be what is the deciding factor for your question.

I hope this helps a little and hope more that you go sooner than later. The ride from Frankfurt heading south through Bavaria and through the mountians into Italy is a trip that should be on every riders bucket list.

When you go, swing through the Wiesbaden/Mainz area of Germany. Don't know if still the same but there once was a road up in the mountains behind Wiesbaden that is called the Whisper (wispertel?? ...its been 20+ years) It was a beautiful stretch of road, and worth the detour if its still undeveloped(Will try to find out and get back to you on this). 

Later,
Freelancer