Motorcycle Tour, Shipping, & Rental Info

This Web page is an attempt to provide useful information on bike rentals and tours all over the world. It is targeted toward sport touring bikers, but should work for riders of standard, touring, and sports bikes. I have left out cruisers, both since I am not into that style, and since they are well covered by other resources.

There are sections specifically for tours and rentals, but there are a lot of the companies doing both. I don't always cross list, so do check both lists. Someday I'll make this better... ;-)

Also, if you do patronize one of these outfits, I'd appreciate it if you would mention now you learned of them. Mahalo!

Motorcycle Touring Lists

These are links to other lists. Some may be duds by now...

...OK, so most of them were duds and got removed.

BikeLinks Motorcycle Directory
DJ's: right here in Kona, one of the best lists
web Bike World

Motorcycle Tours

Some of these folks also rent bare bikes.

AdMo-Tours

Adventure Motorcycle Tours. They have bases in Switzerland and California, and do tours there and also in Transylvania, India, China, Israel, Honduras, Bolivia, and Patagonia. They can connect you with tours in even more places. They also do motorcycle rentals in Europe and the US, with an extensive list of places and bikes

Asian Motorcycle Adventures

Tours of South East Asia, in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Borneo.

Australian Motorcycle Adventures

Located in Brisbane. They say they have 40 Yamaha bikes, but most are probably dual sport, off road, or cruisers. The one good road bike (they may have more than one) is a XJ 900 Diversion. They offer both guided and unguided tours.

Ayres's Adventures

Tours of the Alps, Africa, South America and New Zealand. BMW motorcycles. A very good company, but a bit expensive. The money does get very good accomodations and food, though. I rode them in South America in the Escape to Macchu Picchu Tour.

Beach's

Tours of the Alps, Norway, and New Zealand. BMW motorcycles. A bit less professional, but more friendly than Edelweiss. Otherwise, both companies are pretty much on a par as far as quality of the tour. I did an Alpen tour with Beach's in 1997, Norway in 1999, and New Zealand in 2002.

Bosenberg Tours

Tours of Europe and the Alps, out of Germany. They offer a much wider variety of bikes than the others, including Pans.

Central Italy Motorcycle Tours

This is a new outfit headquartered in Rome. Their idea is short tours in the central section of Italy. There are either fixed tours, or they can customize for you. Bikes are a mixed bunch. They also do simple bike rentals.

Coastline Motorcycle Tours and Rentals

They say they are on Denman Island, which is off the coast of Vancouver Island, on the left coast of Canada. They also say they do BMW bikes, in addition to their traditional Harleys. No other real info on the pages.

Edelweiss Tours

Edelweiss is the grand champion of the Alpine tour. Currently they do tours in the Alps in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. They also do tours in Africa, England, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Spain. They use all BMW bikes in Europe.

You might try looking on my home page for some photos shot on my 1995 Edelweiss Alpen Tour. As of 2010 I have done Edelweiss tours in the Alps, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, Tuscany, and the Blue Ridge. Great company to tour with.

Freedom Tours

Tours of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. I believe they also do bare bike rentals. Bikes include Gold Wing, ST1100, Shadow, and BMW K bikes.

Himalayan Roadrunners

Tours in Ladakh, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Thailand. Headquarters is in Kathmandu, Nepal, but they have contacts in the UK, US, and Thailand. Bikes seem to be the appropriate and ever popular Royal Enfield Bullet 500. Beautiful page.

Inca Moto Adventures

Inca is located in Lima, Peru, and have several tours. Bikes are Honda XR600's. Their web page is supurb.

Lotus Tours

Looks like they have retired, but they still have a web page. Their speciality was special tours. Offerings in 2000 were Madagascar, Morocco, Bhutan, Mongolia, Rajasthan, Malaysia, Tibet, Vietnam, Corscia, Sardinia, Cote d'Azur, Isle of Man, Ducati Factory Tour, Spain, France, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, and Peru. They did tours in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and the French Pyrenees. Bikes are whatevers, but I saw Royal Enfield's and Honda Transalp's.

Moto Aventura of Chile

Tours of Chile on Yamaha XT600's. Web page is not too informative.

Moto Evasion

Tours of Quebec. En Francais, SVP!

MotoTouring

Located in Milano, Italy, they offer guided tours of southern Italy, Corsica and Sardinia. They are mostly into rentals -- see the entry under rentals. Phone is + 39-02.2720.1556.

Mountain to Sound Motorcycle Adventures

Tours in the Pacific Notrhwest, and bike rentals. They do Beemers, Harleys, Hondas, and ST1100. They now have a ST1300, FJR, and a Concours. I have rented from them twice, and recommend them highly.

New Zealand Motorcycle Rentals

These folks have bases in Christchurch and in Auckland. They do both tours and rentals. Bikes are BMW, Harley, Honda, and Yamaha.

Northeastern Motorcycle Tours

New England, Adirondacks & Canadian Maritimes. Offer ST1100's! and many other bike options, including your own. Seems first rate, good pages, and some good recommendations. And the Adirondacks can surely be fun!

Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holiday

They are in Whistler, BC, and have one of the neatest pages I've seen. They only have Triumph bikes, but I can attest that the Tigre is one fine ride.

Siam Bike Travel

Located in Chaing Mai, Thailand, they do enduro type and 4WD tours in Thailand, Laos, and Burma.

Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Hire and Tours

A New Zealand outfit, based in Christchurch, but are also in Auckland. They have lots of bikes, and lots of options, including rentals. Bikes are Buell, BMW, Ducati, Harley, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha. They also handle the New Zealand tours marketed by Beach. I have done a Beach Maori Meander tour, and it is highly recommended. I'll try to make it back to NZ, and I'll probably just rent a bike from John and set out on my own.

Triumph Bike Tours of Greece and Turkey

I suppose the title says it, but they have bikes other than Triumphs, and even some cars. There are lots of tours, but the Web page is a bit busy and hard to digest.

Motorcycle Shipping

Shipping a Motorcycle to Europe: One person's notes on how to get you bike to Europe. Also has a bunch of other stuff at the bottom.
Companies which ship motorcycles: A listing of address, some with email and/or Web links, of companies which ship bikes, both within the US and around the world.
Berklay Air Express: They ship bikes anywhere, and have been at it for a long time. Their email is info@motorcycleshipping.com
Lufthansa Air Lines: No real experience here, but Lufthansa is supposed to offer a very good air service direct to Germany. Apparently they have a lot of experience, and the hassles are minimized. You ride on the plane with your bike. (If anyone has more info, please mail to me - thanks.)

Motorcycle Rentals

You might also check under tours in the area you are interested in. Many of the tour people seem to work with rental organizations, and this might provide you a good contact where you can eventually work something out.

And, some of these folks also offer tours, although that is not their main thing. Many will assist with self-tour plans, such as routes, maps, hotels, etc.

AdMo-Tours: Adventure Motorcycle Tours. They have bases in Switzerland and California, and do tours and motorcycle rentals in Europe and the US. Rentals vary from site to site. Bikes available in Europe are BMW, Ducati, HD, Honda, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha. European locations are Bologna, Busseto, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Munich, Rome, and Zurich. In North America the bikes available are fewer and limited to BMW, HD, and Honda. The rent in Boston, Calgary, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. They say they can help you in other places.
A GOGO Motorcycle Rentals: Also seem to have quit the rental business! Located in Morgantown, NC, this outfit rents BMW R, RS, RT 1100's, and K75's. They are perfectly located between the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Albuquerque Motorcycle Rentals: These folks have a bunch of Harleys, a Virago, a Magna, and an old model Gold Wing. Prices seem high, and I would strongly suggest you read the fine print in the terms. See my remarks about the apparently defunct Cruising Southwest, below. I sense similarities.
Allround Vermietung: Located in Frankfurt/Main, they have a large selection of bikes from Honda and BMW, including ST1100. Their rates have a distance limit, so the effective price may be much higher for a long distance rider.
Aussie Biker Tours and Rentals: They are 90 km north of Brisbane. Rentals now are Ducati's, Harley and Yamaha cruisers, and Yamaha trail bikes. They say they will soon have a ST1100.
Blue Ridge Motorcycles, Inc.: These folks are about 50 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia, and rent three models of BMW K75's. They also do one tour in North Carolina per year.
BMW Motorcycles of Houston: The only exclusive BMW rental place in Texas. They rent a small range of BMW's -- LT, RT, and GS, and probably not current year. There are lots of rules, but not that unusual. Two day and weekly rates aren't too high.
California Motorcycle Rental: They have offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle and New York. They rent BMW bikes, and can offer one way rentals to their other offices.
Cruise America: These are the guys who mainly rent the big RV's. In fact, now that's all they rent. Seems they are out of the motorcycle business.
Cycle BC Rentals: They have offices in both Vancouver and Victoria British Columbia, both conveniently located. They rent Concours, VFR 800, Bandit 800, KLR 650, several types of cruisers, and a whole list of smaller bikes -- 600 and down. And, they do bicycles and scooters. On the down side, mileage allowance is only 300 Km per day.
H-C Travel: This is a large travel agency in Overton, Hampshire, UK. They bill themselves as the world's no. 1 motorcycle travel agency. Maybe you don't want to book with them, but you should at least take a look at their listings of bikes available in what parts of the world. More US listings here that any place else, including this page.
MotoTouring: Located in Milano, Italy, they have many kinds of bikes from scooters to Ducati 996, BMW LT, Aprila, etc. They have a lot of different Ducati models, and almost the entire BMW line. There is also much information on the site about riding in Italy and Europe. They will handle insurance for your bike, and they even do bike storage. They are near enough to the Alps to make for a great trip. Phone is + 39-02.2720.1556.
Northwest Motorcycle Adventures: This company is in Portland, Oregon, near PDX. They are a bit different in that they have a trailer and deliver the bikes to you. It seems they may also deliver and pick up outside what are considered normal hours. They only have Vstroms, but also rent full riding gear. They do a few tours, and may help with setting up individual rides. Watch out for that testamonial on the first page -- it ripped up FireFox on one of my systems. It is worth the read however, so try another browser if you witness carnage.
ride the world.com: This is a travel service site which may assist you in finding rentals all over the world. Do not click on the big "Click me" thing at the top. Use the "Ride where?" links instead. They don't give you links to the dealers, but only have a contact form you have to fill out. Still, it might be useful.