Went to a delaer today looking at new bikes, instead looked at rental bikes for sale, 5k to 11k for miles. Available are Heritage, SG, RKC and Ultra's, all 2009's. Has anybody purchased any of these rentals, the dealer tells me that they have the remainder of warranty and they keep them serviced and it looks like they keep them in great shape. Any opinions? Thanks..............

 

My personal opinion - I'd stay away. I was very close to the folks in my previous dealership in another state and trusted all of them in the shop; I had access everywhere. Well, one of the UC rental bikes was ready to be sold and it looked great and I was going to be given a ridiculously low price. I asked for a test ride and took it out for about an hour. Well, it had issues. Electrical issues and steering/alignment issues among other things. They fixed everything but couldn't ever find the electrical problem for a couple of weeks so I moved on to a different option and am happy I did. In speaking with the rental guys in the shop and the master tech in the back (as opposed to the sales guys), they told me it was a good thing I passed because they see all sorts of stuff coming back from these rental buffoons who would never treat their own bike that way or who were never experienced enough to ride such a big bike anyway. Just my two cents on the matter. There are quality deals out there - you just have to look. Maybe there is a sweet rental waiting for you - never know. Good luck.

 

People treat rentals like red headed step children, I know I did when I went to vegas and rented one 2 years ago. Would recommend staying away also

 

you never know how others have treated the bike...did they ride the **** out if it knowing it wasn't theirs and wouldn't have to deal with the crap afterwards?....has it been dropped or in an accident and the bodywork fixed but what about the rest of it?...A car or fine...buy it used if something goes wrong it's really no big deal but a pain in the ***....buy a used bike and something goes wrong with it you might end up dead.

 

I kinda wondered how people take care of them when they rent them, guess I was comparing to a rental car, some are beat up pretty bad and most people don't seem to care. Not sure if it's the same with a bike rental??

 

I am in the film industry off and on and we rent everything we use to get it in the can. We have a saying " It's a rental, don't be gentle!" One time we rented a diesel p/u and by accident a new production assistant put gas in the rental , well we got a mechanic to patch er back together and returned it. I 'd never buy a rental , cuz I might have rented it!

 

In 06 I bought an 05 RKC that had been a rental bike. It only had 900 miles on the clock. I got the remainder of the warranty, a good deal, and 30,000 trouble free miles out of it and traded for an 08 ultra clasic.

Stonephish

 

I would not be afraid of it any more than any used bike, maybe less if I knew and trusted the dealership. I would talk to the shop people that maintained it. It's still under warranty. After checking it out, if the price is right, I would go for it.

 

The two I looked at close was a RKC 2-tone color [red hot sunglo/smokey gold] and a EGC [red hot sunglo] both have 8k+ for miles, looked clean, but looks could be deceiving. Would 4k below new pricing be enough for price??