Renting motorcycles in the 60`s

[halfmile]

I saw this little jet on FB today and it reminded me of the bikes we used to rent in the 60`s. Most around here were Honda 90cc. You could rent one (at age 16) for $4.00 per hour. I know we sure tortured them at a rate of $4.00 per second. Can you imagine doing that today. Your thoughts??

 

[drgonzo]

It's an idea that should come back but won't. Everything is about liability now. The sixties was a great decade. For me the nineties were the last great decade.

 

[willis]

I have a great memory of a couple buddies and I test riding Buell’s from long ago. Big promotion Labor Day weekend. They gave all 3 of us keys to pretty new bikes. One of them wouldn’t start so they wheeled a brand new one off the floor for my Buddy. Talking under 5 miles. They suggested a short route and sent us on our way, unsupervised. We whipped the living shit out of those bikes and took our own route through some great roads. They expected us back in 5 minutes, but we easily had them 25-30 minutes. We immediately hit about 90 on the adjacent entrance ramp to the interstate before ripping up into triples. Those things would easily pull the front up in several gears. Those electric fans were screaming on high when we returned. They even gave us camel back kits and hats and sent us on our way. Definitely one of my most memorable riding experiences, more so since one of my buddies is no longer with us. He passed in an unfortunate bike accident about 10 years later. Anyway, I could see the same treatment of rentals like that.

 

[Jan_P]

I remember reading of a Motorcycle show in the third largest city here in Sweden
The major brands was there offering interested to take a test ride Newest models .
Not much check ..perhaps drivers license only and in them days you got permit for Motorcycle at the same time you passed for a Car
So there was in the early eighties buyers smashing the Credit card at the counter ;pointing at a + 100 hp sports bike
Spaghetti frames on some of them
Some had never been sitting on a Motorcycle before. Many accidents so the drivers license rules was changed you no longer got the motorcycle license as before.

At the Motorcycle show Larger bikes and perhaps sports bikes for testing
The convention center was semi in town Not at the outskirts With other traffic and red lights
To many crashes and tires worn out .. So they had to stop that.
I don't remember anyone Killing himself but according to the dealers that was mostly pure Luck

The dealer in town once a year are letting people test ride but there is a paper to be signed before.
the fine print looks scary.
And I I don't think they let anyone out that has not arrived on another bike.
That dealer is also close to the Highway .. So should someone give Gas it is Possible without Stop and Go problems.

 

[Adamc]

My wife & I once had a holiday in Crete. As usual 3 days in I was bored of the beach and craved some culture.
The local bike hire shop checked my details and wheeled out a Honda CR500......What the fu*k!
That thing was nuts. They had run out of stock hire bikes, so the owner gave me his steed.

What a riot riding (wheeling) in the hills surrounding Elounda. 7 days of bliss!
Wife never let me hire a holiday bike again after that....Shame

 

[kshansen]

Many years back the local Harley dealer was also the BMW dealer for a short time before Harley got pissy about combined dealerships. BMW brought in their test ride fleet and I took out a couple of the K bikes. They actually let you go without supervision!
The K75 was a nice smooth running bike, believe it had a balance shaft. The K100 I took out was a little buzzy and I don't think the BMW guy appreciated my reply when he asked what I thought of the bike. I told him it reminded me of my old RD400 Yamaha!

Then there were a couple test rides we took at Americade in Lake George.

One was on a Honda Helix scooter. I was hoping for something else but after waiting in line for some time that was all that was left. Wife and I were riding two up and near the end of the group ride so with the "rubber band effect" it took some doing to keep up. On a couple curves I scraped the muffler! I mentioned that to the guy doing the ride and he said when it's just a little 250 cc. I thought putting the small bike at the tail was a mistake.

Then there was the time I got to ride a 1500 Wing. That was going good till one left turn at a stop sign. Traffic was a bit heavy and I was the last one in line with the tail rider behind me. I saw an opening that I knew even my Sportster/Sidecar could take advantage of so I took off and gave it a bit of throttle. No problem and I was catching up with the group when the tail rider pulled up and gave me a ration of crap for doing that. So the rest of the way back I rode nice and slow never hitting the speed limits.

 

[Grimly]

In about 1970, I'd just got a provisional bike licence at home, and didn't think to take it on holiday with me to the Isle of Man.
When I got there, in company with a few friends, I discovered a bike hire shop in Douglas that would be quite happy to rent me a motorcycle, but for the lack of licence.
No problem, they said; simply nip into the Post Office and get a IoM provisional and we'll hire you a bike.
I ended up going all over the island on a Honda CD185. Not the fastest way to get around, but there was next to no traffic and I could wring its neck quite well.