Cruise Hawaii - Bike rental - Any input?

JustDennis · #1 07-02-2009, 04:38 PM

In September, the wife and I are going on a cruise to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary. We will travel to most of the islands and spend a couple of days on some of them. We would like to rent a Harley and ride the island at least one day.

FOr anyone who has done this cruise, did you rent a bike? ANy suggestions or advice on what to do and what NOT to do? Thanks

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electra glide · #2 07-03-2009, 10:02 AM

My wife and I were on the islands of Maui and Kawaii for our honeymoon. Rent from the dealership, There are cheaper places, but I saw a guy on a Road King that looked not so safe that he had rented. And when on Maui, the road to hanna is an absolute PITA. Makes the tail of the dragon look like a drag strip, and people near run you off the road every 5 seconds. We rode to the top of some mountain on Maui, have to ask my wife but it's a bg feature, that was cool, twisty as hell but cool.

willie37 · #3 07-03-2009, 10:32 AM

We rented two bikes from Kauai Harley on the Island of Kauai Hawaii and were very happy with the bikes and the service. Nice people and some great t-shirts.

kstewart422 · #4 07-03-2009, 10:36 AM

I remember it's not cheap. So we just rented a jeep and put 700 miles on it in a week. Yes, on Kauai... There's some great off road areas, and you won't see them on a bike.

jharanin · #5 07-03-2009, 11:25 AM

The Big Island has a HD dealer in Kona...great island to ride around.

NJShoreScott · #6 07-03-2009, 12:29 PM

I have ridden on both Kauai and the Big Island, both were great, but if I had to choose, I would go Big Island. As cool of a ride as Waimea Canyon is on Kauai, it is not that long of a ride. You can ride the whole island in less than a day, and a fair amount is kind of tedius city riding. And there is no road that goes all the way around the island, so you have to double back on the same road.

The Big Island on the other hand, you can't see the whole island in one day. And since it is not that well populated in relationship to its size, I remember the riding to be a little bit more wide open. And riding to the Volcano is cool (however it may not be advisable to ride all the way around it - sulfur levels were up when I was there, and we were told it might be hazardous). The other thing that could be a bummer on the Big Island is rain. When riding on the Hilo side of the island, you could get stuck in a shower. You could easily get rain on Kauai too, but we didn't get any when I rode there this past Feb.

In either case, I rented from the HD dealers. And as I remember Kauai was a little more expensive, and things like helmets and rain gear were extras. While on the Big Island, those were included. Note: There are no helmet laws in Hawaii.

Hope this helps. I go every year as part of a company trip, and no matter which Island I go to, I will rent a bike for a day. It is definitely worth it.

BOSSMAN · #7 07-03-2009, 12:55 PM

We rented from an independent outfit in Kapaa, Kuai (SP? brainfart?) anyway, new Hertitage good shape told us no biggy if your late an hour or two its not real busy... We had a great ride. Mom just complained abouth the back seat....Traffic around rush hour is a pain and lots of back tracking on this Island though.

FLSTI MARK · #8 07-03-2009, 05:34 PM

I rented from Maui Harley Davidson, a Road King Classic a couple years ago. Maui is nice because there is always good weather on some part of the island. We had planned to go up the mountain (Haleakala) but it looked dark so ended up heading west. Went through Lahaina, Kaanapalli, Kapalua, past Honalua Bay and around the top side back in through Kahului. Have a look at that route on google maps...its a nice 3 hour or so ride. Hana would be dangerous on a bike. I heard that the ride up to the Tedeshi Winery is nice too.

Cheers, Mark

NFFN · #9 07-03-2009, 05:44 PM

The wife & I went to Waikiki and rented a rocker and a deuce from one of the Harley rental places over there off of Kalakaua Ave. I don't remember the actual name but there are so many places over there to rent Harley's. I remember leaving a hefty credit card down payment for insurance purposes so be prepared to have them pre-approve a couple hundred until you return their bike safe and sound. One thing to be cautious of, the drivers over there do not respect bikes. I recommend taking a ride to the big island and checking out the turtles.
Let us know how it goes and make sure you post some photos when you get back.
Off topic, you have to check out Dukes in Waikiki.
http://www.dukeswaikiki.com/static/i...?contentID=614

Here is the deuce we rented the last day we were there,

reefrider · #10 07-03-2009, 06:16 PM

We rented a SG in Lahaina on Maui a month ago from Eagle Rider. They picked us up from the hotel to get the bike and picked up bike at the hotel when we were done. Great service. On Maui 3 days and the Glide was our only transportation. Road to Hana is a must. We also rode the north shore of the west end of Maui. Talk about rugged. Much of the 35 miles or so is 1 lane cliff riding. Great views but long drops to the Pacific. Saw a couple speed limit signs at 5 mph and I thought that was fast. Great time. Hope to do it again.
RR