On a recent trip to O'ahu, I rented a Street Glide from Chase Hawaii Rentals, an independent bike-rental shop in Waikiki. Their bikes appeared to be well-maintained, and the 2008 FLHX that I rented, had only 1,200 miles on it when I picked it up.

My home town is about as far away from the ocean as you can get, so riding in Hawaii was a mind-blowing experience for me! Most of my riding was on the north side of the island, but when I returned to Honolulu, I was stuck in some stop-n-go traffic and the engine got so hot I thought I was going to burn my legs. (That'll teach me to wear shorts while riding!)

 

I’m going to unlurk for a moment and post a recent rental story…

I read this thread prior to my recent trip (as in I got back this morning) to the Big Island and was dismayed to discover that Kona HD has apparently closed (sometime last year?) thereby thwarting my attempts at a rental from an dealer. However, onsite in Kona last week I spied a HD store with a banner “coming soon”. It turns out they were open enough to sell a few T-shirts to some other customers and rent me a Road King for the day … 

They had three bikes available (I walked in on Tuesday and was looking for availability for the next day, assuming Turkey Day was out) so they may have more to choose from. It was $167.79 OTD ($139 for the bike, 20 for insurance, and 3 for “Hawaii Rental Tax”, and the balance in State Tax. A sign said it was $20 extra for Touring models, but that didn’t land on my invoice…

There is a 150 mile limit, and a buck a mile after that, which bummed me out at first, but since I was going to balance this with snorkeling with the family in the afternoon it actually worked out fine.

My plan is to acquire either a Street Glide or Road King so this was my opportunity to do more than my SG demo rides to date. The RK I rented was a ’09 with 136 miles on the clock, ABS, and Cruise – plus a half helmet and rain gear.

Since my hotel was North (Kohala) I took Hwy 19 which is interesting the first time but otherwise a relatively boring two lane freeway. It was interesting to validate a lot of feedback I’d already read on this forum: Cruise Control (nice), Extenders (yep, need those), either a taller windshield or remove a few vertebra (I’m 6’2” mainly from the waist up it seems), etc. Side note – they did offer to remove the windshield if I wanted.

Headed up the hill to Waimea and then North on 250 (Kohala Mtn. Road) which crests at about 3,500’. This was a fun road, probably 35-45 MPH with a fair amount of curves with rain starting about halfway down the slope. Put the rain gear on and then East on 270 at Hawi almost to the end of the road with some spectacular views of the cliffs. Then back 270/19 to the hotel. In retrospect, I should have doubled back on 250 over the hill -- that was really a beautiful ride.

Anyway, two thumbs up on the RK (and 146 miles start to finish), now to rent the SG (perhaps in Tahoe when in warms up in the spring??), make a decision, and get back on the road.

In case you are in the same “want to rent” mode, here is the contact info below (no affiliation, blah blah)

Big Island Harley Davidson
75-5633 Palani Rd
Kailua-Kona, HI
808.329.4464

 

We rented from a street corner while we were in Maui about 7 years back. We had the chance to look the bikes over before we rented them and I don't have any complaints. We all (3 bikes) opted the extra money for insurance. Even though I'm sure the bike insurance I had on mine would probably cover it, i figured I wasn't coming back to straighten out any issues. Well worth the piece of mind in IMHO. Have fun, you won't regret it!!!

 

I was over there about a 6 weeks ago, Rented a 09 Road King from Cruz- Hawaii. Bike was $150.00 till 5pm. I bought the insurance for $24 incase something happened, They wanted to hold $3000.00 on your card if you opted out of the insurance.

The ride around Oahu was the best money I've ever spent on vacation.

 

Nevermind, just saw original post date. Dah...

Hope you had fun....

 

Man do I feel like an idiot!! I didn't even look at that

 

I posted the original thread and appreciated all of the responses. When I saw this pop up again I realized that I never posted back with my experience.

My wife and I did take the 25th anniversay trip. We flew to Oahu, then took a 7 day cruise around the islands. I did not make a bike reservation before going. Once I boarded the ship, I began to ask around. A couple of guys from the cruise line gave me some good information and I narrowed it down to either Maui or Kauai. We were going to be on both island for 2 days. I went to Maui HD and they were very nice. I checked out their prcing and bikes. After looking this over, the wife and I decided to wait until we got to Kauai since we had already planned some excursions on Maui.

I called Kauai HD and rented a 2008 FLHX with about 10K. I rented the bike for 2 days. When we docked in port, I called Kauai HD and they came out to the ship and picked my wife and I up. We went back to the dealership, completed the paperwork and were on our way in about 30 minutes. No complaints at all with the bike.

The first day was beautiful and we rode up the dry side of the island. We went to Waimea canyon, the beach and toured some of the coffee shops. Beautiful ride and a great day! We parked the bike next door to the cruise ship in the parking area. All of the folks who rented cars were jealous.

The next morning, we left early and packed our bathing suits. We toured up the "rainy" side of the island. It was raining on and off for the first hour or so but after that the day turned beautiful. We stopped at beaches, overlooks, waterfalls and shops. I could have done without the shopping but my wife enjoyed it.

Total cost for the 2 days riding was $216.39 with my HOG discount. It was by far the best money I spent the entire trip. Once we turned in the bike, they took us back to the ship. My wife was a little apprehensive at first about renting a bike but she knew I wanted to. Now that we are back, my wife tells everyone that the 2 days on the Harley were the most fun part of the trip.

I recommend Kauai HD. It is a great island to tour. It is smaller but there is plenty of riding to be done with some beautiful scenery along the way.

 

I've rented several times on Maui. Both from the dealer and from two different independents. No problems with either and the price was about the same. Depending on the time of year you might need to reserve a bike with the dealer ahead of time. They tend to run out of rentals during tourist season.

 

We did it on our honeymoon back in 2007, rented a bike from Kona Harley and rode the coast of Kona, sweet ride even when it rained which will happen at some point of the day on any Island over there. However I heard that Kona Harley went out of business since then but not sure.Good luck and enjoy!Just do it or you will look back and say you wish you had .

 

My wife and I were in Kauai a few years ago and although we didnt rent, the Kauai HD was a great place! Nice people and very informative for the next time we go. Plus, as someone already said, Great SHirts!!!!