Your thoughts . . .

[howiezowie]

Hi, I'm new here and looking for some advice.
I have a small bike rental / tour business here in Dunedin.
I market the business as a local, helpful service , mainly to overseas visitors wanting to bike the lower south island. The emphasis is backroads, hense the name - Backroads Bikes. Most folks seem happy with the bikes we offer - vstroms, transalp and drz 250's.
My quandry is whether to move the "fleet" towards a more off-roads bias - I'm thinking DR 650 kind of thing (with the increased risk of gravel riding).
I seem to be getting a few customers wanting to do gravel roads which don't really suit the vstroms.
If you were looking to ride the south what would you want ?
I guess that I could cover both sides with some vstroms and dr's but would value some experienced opinions.
Cheers
H

[Jantar]

Hi Howie, and welcome to the site. I thought you were already a member, but I see this is your first post. I find the VStrom ideal for Otago's gravel roads, and capable of the sealed sections in between as well.

If you are considering more off road, rather than gravel then the DR650 is a better choice. You may still want to keep the VStrom in your line up though for those who want to tour the southern region and not worry about what sort of road they may find.

Might I also suggest that you register as a trading account and then you can advertise under that account on the appropriate forum on this site.

[howiezowie]

Hi Jantar -
I think we may have crossed on another forum - grumpy yanks I think.

Probably didn't clarify 1st up - my thinking is to move the transalp on and replace with the dr 650. That would give me 2 vstroms and 2 dr's, but it's a swings and roundabouts thing, and the tranny is a cracker bike. I'll wait for some devine inspiration ...

Your idea of registering as a commercial member is good - however I don't see how it's done - any clues ?

Cheers
H

[homer]

deffinately a 650 dr or xr
i talked to a guy and his part in tekapo
they had a sv650 , rental , said it had heaps enough power ,but lacking the shingle road work they wanted to do .
so id be going for some 650 drs

[clint640]

Yep, I'd go with the DR650 too, maybe slap on a nicer seat though. Cheap, reliable, drop-able & easier to ride on gravel than a Strom for the dirt-inexperienced.

I guess the hire business also has to take into account what people want, rather than what they need I'd hire a DR650 in a heartbeat for SI touring, but I may not be normal :D

Clint

[CBobR]

I like big tanks (I'm too unorganised to plan ahead, especially on holiday) so if I wanted a rental for the SI I'd be interested in a KLR650 (or a DR650 with aftermarket tank).

The last rental bike I took adventuring had pristine paint which caused a little bit of stress, crash bars would be appreciated (especially on the new KLR with that fairing).

My other thought is tyres. I optioned up my last rental with TKCs, wasn't too cheap, but probably saved the pristine paint from my subpar skills a couple of times.

[howiezowie]

Cheers for your thoughts fellas - good to hear it from the other side.
I do need to look at it from the usual customers pov and in many respects, it's not a good idea to encourage gravel. Most americans and brits don't want it either, where as euros (germans mainly) like it - go figure ? !