Looking for info. on BMW rentals in Germany vs. shipping own bike over??

[bckdrft]

Hi All,

I'm looking to get some info. / options on BMW rentals in Europe (namely Germany / Heidelberg area) vs. potentially shipping my own bike over from those that may have already "been down this road" and done the research. We did our own personally organized trip over there 2 years ago and rented from a guy in Heidelberg (Stefan Knopf) and had a great experience. We mainly used this guy as my buddy who we're going with has his bike stored there already...We're looking to go back this summer and I'm doing a little research to see if there are other / better options for renting that include "unlimited mileage" and good later model road bikes (like an RT since I'll be 2 up).
As we're looking to ride for + / - 3 weeks, I'm thinking the daily rate over this period could be more then possibly shipping my own bike there & back and, knowing the bike I'd end up on. So, this said, my questions to forum members are:

1. Does anyone have any suggestions (and experience) w/ renting from a person / company that offers unlimited mileage and good, well maintained later model road bikes in the Heidelberg area of Germany?
2. Did anyone go the route of shipping their own bike over for the above mentioned reasons? If so, who was the best shipper you found and how was your experience using them? We're in Northern CA. and in the perfect world (ha ha, yes I know...) I'd like to think I could crate / ship from here and truck to a port? I realize this may or may not be a separate issue from the overseas shipping. I know BMWMOA members are offered some discounts on shipping so I'm going to start my DD on those options as well.

I know there are a lot of worldly travelers on here who have already been down this road so in an effort to not reinvent the wheel, I'm reaching out to see if anyone can share some personal information and / or suggestions.

Thanks in advance and Happy New Years everyone! Rubber side down...

Vance

 

[henzilla]

Welcome Vance

I'll move this over to Ride Reports shortly, seems a lot of this type intel gets some good responses there.
There is an Alps thread going on with same type questions

 

[akbeemer]

Stefan Knopf
Heidelberg

http://knopftours.com/Web-Site/Welcome.html

Great rep, been in business a very long time. I imagine there will be others who will chime in that have done business with him. I think he may have attended a MOA rally(s) as a vendor.

 

[bckdrft]

Welcome Vance

I'll move this over to Ride Reports shortly, seems a lot of this type intel gets some good responses there.
There is an Alps thread going on with same type questions

Thanks Steve, appreciate the help!

 

[bckdrft]

Stefan Knopf
Heidelberg

http://knopftours.com/Web-Site/Welcome.html

Great rep, been in business a very long time. I imagine there will be others who will chime in that have done business with him. I think he may have attended a MOA rally(s) as a vendor.

Thanks for the reply Kevin. That's who we dealt w/ on our last trip...Just checking around to see if there are any better / different options before we book again!

 

[61996]

You might find this interesting: http://tinyurl.com/omk3wq2

 

[cameleer]

I realize the question is specifically for the Heidelberg area, but my suggestion is BRS/Motovermietung, at the main BMW dealer in Munich.

https://g.co/kgs/Ib0NwE

I have rented from them several times and have never been disappointed. Besides, Munich is much closer to the Alps and has better beer. [emoji6]



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[slowflyn]

A very basic rule of thumb is if your riding more than 14 days in Europe it may be cheaper to air freight your bike. That is what I will be doing this summer as I plan on 2 months touring. If you live near one of the Air Canada airports the ship and fly with AC is a good option. Personally I am shipping with Lufthansa, they have 3 cargo hubs in the US and I will use LAX to Frankfurt, $2K each way, it's cheaper the farther east you are shipping from. For my situation and doing the numbers it would cost the same to fly with AC after factoring in how much it would cost to ride the bike to Canada. Lufthansa also will pickup my bike at whatever hotel I am staying at in the LA area and give me a 90 liter container to put all my stuff in, helmet, boots, tools, etc and it goes into the crate with the bike and they do all the paperwork. When I get to Frankfurt they will deliver my bike to whatever hotel I am staying at and again pick it up when I'm finished riding 2 months later. What really sealed the deal with Lufthansa is I don't have to fly with them so I can use my air miles to book with any partner airline and get a "free" flight.

 

[dbrick]

The break-even point is not static, and changes depending on what bike you'd rent in Europe, where and from whom and for how long you'd have it, and the then-current cost of transportation of your own machine. Back in 2002 when I did this, I used motorcycleexpress.com to ship from the west coast to France and the break-even point was about 3.5 weeks.

Because there are so many variables, I don't think any rule of thumb is accurate. For instance, renting a K75 from Stefan (if he still does that) is going to be vastly cheaper than getting a new 1200RTW from a BMW dealer.

 

[slowflyn]

David, I would not suggest the ROT is anything more than a starting point and nobody should be making financial decisions on such generalizations. However, the OP said he wanted to get something like a later model RT so he is going to be in the high rent district for a newer bike AND he still needs to do his own math. If he wants to rent a 30 year old high mileage K75 to save some $$, more power to him.