Started a new small moto biz - RS discount!

[mcgaskins]

You may have seen various postings of mine selling and buying bikes, and one of the objectives was to set up a small business on the side as more of a hobby than anything. I've always loved Ducatis and have owned a few, and when I moved back to Colorado after being gone for 11 years, I had to sell my bikes to help with the move. After being back for a little while, I wanted to ride but didn't want the hassle of owning, so I looked to rent a Ducati and couldn't find a single place in Colorado that offered that. Technically there's one guy who "offers" it, but he's based in Oregon and said he runs a single bike out of Denver remotely but doesn't have much availability.

I ended up buying a dirt bike to get my cravings satisfied...then a Ducati...then another dirt bike...then a cruiser...then another Ducati... My girlfriend mentioned to me that I should start a shop with all the bikes I had (the best ideas always come from them!), so I remembered that I would have rented instead of owning if I could and certainly others were in the same boat! I decided to slowly in my spare time start a small biz where people can rent the 2 Ducati Monsters I have, and I'm finally pretty much up and running. It took longer than I expected to form the LLC, get insurance, do all the legal things to get it up and running, get the bank/merchant accounts, get the bikes ready, build the website, etc. as I'm sure many here have found in their ventures. I'm getting a late start on this season obviously, but again I'm not looking to get rich off this I just want to share my love for the bikes with others and pick up a little extra cash in the process. I figure with what's left of this season will just be learning experience getting the legal docs fine tuned and getting a feel for how time consuming it is, then I'll spend the winter beefing up the website and plan more so next season I'll be good to go.

I've also considered turning my beloved 100 into something people can rent to see if they enjoy the sport and for camping adventures (LLC is set up to accomodate this as well), but I haven't formalized those plans yet and want to get the bikes rented first. I also have a street legal CRF250X and moto carrier which could make a sweet little package

Anyways, here is the website and facebook page:

www.RentYourAdventure.com
http://facebook.com/RentYourAdventure

Please keep in mind I'm not finished building it out quite yet, but at least there's enough info there to get the gist. I'm going to finish the reservation and payment pages and add in more terms and conditions this weekend. Here's a couple pictures of the bikes too. Let me know if any of you want to try it out - I'll give a Rising Sun discount!

 

[nakman]

Pretty sweet Matt, I wish you well. So how much is it to rent a bike for a half a day? ballpark..

 

[J Kimmel]

Seems too cheap

Have you priced renting a Harley or BMW for the day? I'd swear its way more. There's a guy in Boulder who rent dual sports and I'm pretty sure he's up there.

Not that it's a problem, for those prices I think I'd like to take a rip on one. Just want to make sure you're covering everything!

 

[rover67]

Cool! The Monsters are fun bikes!!

 

[mcgaskins]

Thank you gentemen! I'm ok with the pricing being a bit low especially at the front end since I want to see what kind of demand there is out there. I think it will also help with what you mentioned where if someone is on the fence but the price is great, they'll go ahead and try it where they wouldn't normally. I truly just love the sport and want to help other people enjoy it (safely) since it's kind of a big commitment to own one.

There's a company in Southern California that rents out Ducatis (I've rented from them great company), and they do charge much more however they're right on the beach practically so the market is huge and weather cooperates year round. I imagine I'll probably stop renting towards the end of October, so the season here is obviously much shorter (even though we get a whole new set of activities when the seasons change!). Let me know if you guys want to give them a try, and I'd be glad to give a discount from the prices on the website!

 

[mcgaskins]

Pretty sweet Matt, I wish you well. So how much is it to rent a bike for a half a day? ballpark..

Thanks Tim! I'll shoot you a PM!

 

[nakman]

Ok I'm in for a weekend day coming up... probably a Sunday since I'm single parent on Saturdays. Who wants to run with me and rent the other one? We can do lots of switching off... let's go get a pizza at the Millsite, or something.

 

[rover67]

yeah i'd be down. busy next two weekends tho.

after that it's on.

could we do a two day trip?

 

[60wag]

I'm up for that. Pick a Sunday.

 

[mcgaskins]

I added a gallery of both the bikes last night here and added more verbiage to the site:

http://www.rentyouradventure.com/gallery.html

I'll be around all weekend and Monday since it's a holiday weekend, but I will be in Nashville next Friday through Sunday night for a wedding. Let me know when you guys want to book it and I'll work something out! The riding should be just about perfect right now before it starts to cool off in a month or so!

PS - this is the last weekend to ride up to the top of Mount Evans

 

[AimCOTaco]

Site looks great Matt! Great price point, you're gonna need more scooters soon!

 

[mcgaskins]

Site looks great Matt! Great price point, you're gonna need more scooters soon!

Thanks Andy! We should go riding soon before the season is over! I'd love to add a Monster 1100S with dry clutch and the new 1200S (demo'd one and really, really liked it - 145 hp!) potentially this winter if I can find some good deals. I want to stick with bikes without fairings for now to avoid the super expensive repairs from drops, and I like the simple 2 valve air cooled Monsters for ease of maintenance too. I'm adding frame, bar end, and axle sliders to both bikes to help reduce the damage when someone drops the bikes as well.

I've also considered making my 100 a rental vehicle for camping and skiing adventures, so I'll probably be doing some work to it soon to that end as well. Should be some fun stuff to keep me busy on the weekends!

 

[AimCOTaco]

More tax deductible toys! I like it!

When you're thinking of a ride, hit me up and I'll come out and meet you somewhere if I am able. I've been doing a bit of commuting but my canyons are still pretty hammered here in the north country. The ones that are open are busy and still have some sketchy spots so heading your way would be good for me.

 

[farnhamstj]

Best of luck. Looks good to me.

 

[mcgaskins]

Best of luck. Looks good to me.

Thank you! I appreciate the support!

 

[chaos]

Congratulations Matt! You will do great!!

 

[mcgaskins]

Congratulations Matt! You will do great!!

Thank you David! Hope you're using that 80 a bunch!

 

[mcgaskins]

I know it's cold out today, but this weekend looks to be beautiful! Let me know if anyone wants to try out a bike this weekend!

 

[mcgaskins]

Hey guys! There's only about another month left in the season, and I want to get some people on bikes before I winterize them!

I will give a huge discount to anyone here who is interested in renting now through the end of October. I'll rent the Ducati Monster 796 for $75 a day and the Monster 696 for $65 a day! You still need to get insurance which is $15 a day and not included in the rental, but this rate is $20 cheaper than renting a 49cc scooter!!

If you have friends that are interested as well, I can pass the RS discount onto them between now and 10/31. Thanks guys hope to see some of you soon!