Peer-to-Peer Bike Share/Rental?

[viva_brasil]

Looking to get some feedback about a potential peer-to-peer motorcycle rental website.

There's a growing trend in peer-to-peer sharing of stuff - cars, tools, space (rooms, parking, etc.). Compared to car sharing, bikes are easier to steal and require more skill to operate - which make it a slightly more complicated "transaction".

For those that are unfamiliar with the concept:
- Bike owners can list their bike(s) for rent (owner sets experience requirements, hour/day/week rates, and can choose who to approve/deny)
- Users who are approved to rent (need to provide all information you typically provide for a motorcycle rental) can request to rent from owner
- The site takes a cut of the rental transaction to cover insurance costs and running the site, owners can make some cash while the bike isn't being used, and riders can experience a wide variety of bikes

Some of the features we're building in to address issues around motorcycle rental:
- Bike location is not revealed until owner approves rider for a rental - owner can choose to never reveal location and contact renter by phone (to prevent people from just joining the site and having access to all the bikes' locations)
- Verification of rider includes: driver's license # (driving record checked), phone number verification, address, facebook verification (all names/records have to tie)
- Complete insurance coverage while the bike is on a "rental" ride - liability, comp, collision, PIP, and underinsured motorist
- Riding experience - all users have to rate their experience level, list bikes owned and # of MSF courses taken (we're considering limiting what bikes a user can request to rent based on # of years they've had a class M license)


Questions:
- As an owner, would you even consider renting your bike? Under what circumstances?
- As an owner, what else would you want to know about a rider to demonstrate experience (or be more comfortable with them renting your bike)?
- As a renter, what would you want to know about a bike before renting it? What kind of bike - if any - would you like to rent?
- Gear rental would be more difficult but possible - is BYOG (bring your own gear) a deal breaker for renters?

[importcustomx]

Personally, I would not let anyone ride my bike. I have close personal friends i dont let ride my bikes. Only after i have ridden with them for a while and seen how they react under pressure etc, then i may let them ride it.

I let a family member who had paper years of experience..just because they have had their license doesn't mean they ride. I know alot of guys who put less than 2000 miles a year on their bikes. To me that's not considered riding. He dropped it in the drive way and then did not know how to pick it up etc, burnt the hell out of his leg.

It is a great idea, becuase i know i personally would love to try someones Ducati 1098 or an rsv4 or maybe an old 40-50's cafe racer
But like i said..i personally am very picky about who can ride my bike.

Its a solid idea and i love it, i know a lot of guys who just let anyone jump on their bike.

There is a bunch of sites popping up for guys who do this with their cars (Ferrari's, Audi's, Porsche etc etc). I do like the idea a lot.

[slammp]

I would'nt let anyone drive my car either, but that's just me..

[LuvDog]

No way I'd let people that I don't know rent my bikes.

But then again, I'm not into that whole scene of peer to peer timeshare/bnb/rentals.

I'll gladly loan my stuff to people I know but not total strangers.

[FriskyDingo]

I would'nt let anyone drive my car either, but that's just me..

not a chance, wouldn't even consider it, if I was so hard up for $$$ I had to rent out my bike I'd just sell it.

[viva_brasil]

I'd imagine some people have a ninja 250 or something small and would put it up to rent to generate some cash and help out some new riders.

I agree that # of years with a license is not a good measure (it may suffice for insurance but not for the owner's trust), trying to find some other things that could be.

I've had bikes that I'm very attached to and wouldn't let anyone ride, and others that I'm not as attached to - so I can see both sides of it.

[gamorg02]

i'd be concerned if something happened my insurance wouldn't cover it because i was 'renting' the bike for money.

[Doc]

You can ride my hooptie but not my nice bike.

[viva_brasil]

i'd be concerned if something happened my insurance wouldn't cover it because i was 'renting' the bike for money.

Correct, renting your vehicle is considered commercial use during the rental period, so your insurance won't cover the bike during that time.

We would provide insurance with complete coverage (liability, comp, collision, PIP for the rider, uninsured motorist) during the rental period. Working to price out some policies now but we're looking to get ridiculously high coverage with low deductibles (it'll significantly exceed state requirements and probably what any of us have).

[Awesome]

No.

[Kazinator]

Hell no.

Insurance sucks and people are too eager to sue.

[Petorius]

Probably not, but...

For those who travel for work, and have older "beater" bikes lying around, renting out a bike could be appealing depending on prices.

[curiouser]

Sounds like a bike version of relayrides.com

Cool idea, but it diverges from the Eagle Rider model in terms of bike condition. With ER, the franchise owns and maintains the bikes. Something p2p might be difficult for insurance to cover because you don't have assurance that the person renting the bike out has maintained the bike properly. Unless you inspect every bike, how are you going to know that the tyres aren't under-inflated or the chain isn't ready to break, etc? The risk seems substantially higher on a motorcycle than a p2p car situation. I just wonder if the insurance company would accept a state inspection sticker as sufficient proof that the bike is in safe condition at the time of rental.

Best of luck; I'd love to see something like this take-off.

[Billy]

I would never rent out my bike. Hell I dont even let other people ride my bikes except for one person I know.

[G21forme]

Wouldn't even think about it, yes I will lend my bike to a good friend but even that's rare.

[FalArAk]

Yes I would rent out my bike,for $10k.