As some of your might remember, we celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary by going to Fredricksburg, TX. Fredricksburg is a tourist town south west of Austin, Texas. I really wanted to trailer my Valkyrie down, but I didn't get all my details together for getting a trailer ... so at the last minute I decided to just rent a bike in Austin and that would be that. I chose to rent a Harley from Central Texas Harley-Davidson. I had always wanted to drive an Electra Glide and so ... that's what I got.
My experience with Central Texas Harley-Davidson was a very, very positive one. From renting the motorcycle online to returning it ... it was a great experience with them. Harley riders and dealerships in particular can be rather condescending when they find out that you actually DON'T own a Harley, but a metric motorcycle. I remember riding up to the Harley Dealer in Allen, Texas and a salesman asking me (before I ever got off of my Valkyrie) ... "you here to trade that thing in?" I can understand taking pride in what you sell or ride ... but I would never shun someone because they owned something else. I digress.
Everyone ... and I mean everyone at Central Texas Harley was kind, courteous, helpful and made the motorcycle rental process smooth and fast.
If you ever rent a motorcycle you might need to know that it is rather pricey. By the time you get out the door ... it will probably cost you between $150 and $200 per day. That would include insurance ... which I would always buy, even if I have motorcycle insurance ... you can never be too safe with renting someone's $20,000 motorcycle. You also have to put up a deposit, which covers the deductible from the insurance. So, if you lay your Harley rental down ... they just process your $1,000 deductible ... and that is that.
If you are safe and a very good defensive driver, like myself, you really should not have anything to worry about. If you are thinking about renting a motorcycle and you are near the Austin area ... I highly recommend Central Texas Harley.
In short, the process of renting the Harley was painless. The bike itself, an 07 Electra Glide, was not so pleasant. The thing that both of us just hated was the incredible heat coming off of this bike ... it was absolutely miserable. The sound system was nice, the ride was smooth, the maneuverability of the bike was cumbersome at low speeds, and the six speed tranny was constantly causing me grieve in the hill country with continual shifting ... frankly it drove me nuts. I am used to being able to let my valk slow down to about 2,000 rpm in 5th gear while making a turn and then just twisting back with no laboring with the tranny. Don't get me wrong ... we had a great time on our trip ... the bike just created much too much heat for summer riding. If it were the winter ... we probably could have worn tshirts and shorts in 30 degree weather. Yes, it's that hot.
Next time ... I will have a trailer. But ... I still like the folks at Central Texas Harley in Austin.
HG --
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