Contributors to this thread:
Just thinking out loud...If I bought a ebike to use on hunts, I could rent it to other hunters and offset some of the cost. Would anyone rent one to use for a week on their hunts? Just checking to see if there would be much demand before I even dig into all the details involved. I am in the midwest so probably be for guys passing thru on their way west...
Mine should be on my doorstep tomorrow, with that said I would have a hard time letting it go as a rental. I would for sure be interested in renting one, but once you ride one more than likely you will have one for yourself! To answer your question I think there is a market for rentals.
If you rent it..... you better have insurance to cover injuries.
All of a sudden it’s not so profitable
As far as you want you can still pedal them, but the battery power on straight throttle you could cover 20-30 miles depending on how big your battery is.
How much do you want to charge?
I like Bill see too many pitfalls. Accidents with the bike that cause damage to the bike or the person. You have a lot more liability when you charge for renting equipment vs. when you loan someone the same equipment. What recourse do you have if they trash the bike, if it falls off their vehicle, or if it is stolen while in transit and they stop for gas/ hotel, etc. You can't charge enough to cover those possibilities.
I am guess there is potentially a business opportunity here. But I don't think it is buying one to use yourself and rent out when you are not using. If you live in a area where people would want to rent them on vacation or a hunt and rented them by the 1/2 day, day, or week. You could maybe make some money. Think places that rent ATV's, waterski, ect. You would need insurance, a system to take and return depots and a bunch of other things.
"Give it a try, the worst that can happen is you lose a couple thousand bucks."
No, the worst that could happen is that a renter wrecks it and breaks his neck. He sues you for millions and you lose every penny you've ever earned and will ever earn for the rest of your life. It's a horrible risk to take; the downside risk is massive (total financial collapse) compared to the upside potential of a few hundred dollars a year.
If you are going to do this, there are ways to protect yourself from this scenario. Talk to people who can walk you through that. It will likely involve setting up a corporation and obtaining the right insurance coverage. The costs involved won't make sense for 1 bike rental. It might make sense for setting up a fleet of rental bikes as someone has suggested.
What you should do is get a handful of NORMAL people you know and between the group use the bike. I`m not sure the OP was think of putting an ad in the Yellow Pages.
Maybe he was just throwing it out there on Bowsite to see the reaction. I would think some would be interested.
If you crash on a bike, then try to sue the bike owner for your stupidity....you deserve to be eating out of a swivel spoon for the next 4 years.
The thing is whenever someone gets injured their medical insurance company will ask how and where the injury occurred. The reason for these questions is that they want to find out if someone else (and their insurance company) can be held accountable for the costs. It has nothing to do with how "Normal" your buddy is. It has everything to do with your buddies medical insurer and their goal is always to make someone else pay.
My 2 cents would be to buy the ebike for yourself and enjoy the hell out of it. I have sold ebikes in the passed to people that take small groups of on fishing trips but they organize the whole trip and supply all the equipment including the bikes. But that's not exactly what you were thinking. A few weeks ago I posted in here about electric hunting bikes and which ones to choose. I'll share that link here again in case you missed the last post. Ebike rental tours is a growing business but if you're not looking to build a whole business around it but instead just make some of your investment back here and there, I'd stay it's not worth the worries highlighted by the other comments above. Choose a quality ebike and enjoy it and you'll see the investment from it in terms of personal benefits.
I have taken a LOT of financial risks (and many other of life's risks) in my time, but you have to weigh the risk vs the gain. In this case, I would personally not take the leap. Not enough up side. Simple as that.
How about this, you buy a new car and start renting it to strangers who want to drive it cross country. Pretty much the same thing. Is it worth the risk there?
Never heard a hospital or emergency room ask for the owner of the equipment you were injured on. They ask if you have insurance and if this was a work related injury....nothing else.
Hospitals ask if you have insurance
Lawyers ask if the owner of the equipment has insurance.
You can’t charge people to use your equipment without assuming a certain amount of responsibility when things don’t go as planned. It’s not about being scared. It’s about sound business practices.
They rent and ride electric scooters all over downtown Denver, in and out of traffic, etc.. Not sure why it would be much different liability with an assist bike.
A Google search turns up quite a few companies that rent ebikes in places like Moab. Not sure how liability insurance would work for you renting one bike vs. a company with a blanket policy.
Lots of good points...thanks. I was thinking more along the lines of renting to few other hunters on here or other hunting forums. Strictly the hunting community and not a ad on craigslist type deal. Have to look closer at the liability, something similar to what a landowner uses for hunters leasing property for hunting. Ya insurance cos suck, heard of a little grandkid sueing grandpa....insurance chasing insurance, regardless what you have to say.
Thanks...
“If you crash on a bike, then try to sue the bike owner for your stupidity....you deserve to be eating out of a swivel spoon for the next 4 years.”
I don’t like the guy, but I agree with him 100% on this one.
I actually like that idea a lot. Hunting ebikes seem like a pretty niche market, but there could definitely be some demand, especially for out-of-towners coming to explore the Midwest. I'd be tempted to
bike rent Bled myself if I was coming out for a week-long hunting trip.
I've though about that with ATVs and even small boats if I ever get to retire in the mountains. My idea was that I would sell the customer the unit for X and then if he returns it back in good shape I would buy it back for X minus however much per day we agreed was a fair price. I.e. If its a $3000 bike, I'd buy it back for $2300 in seven days. I would have a bill of sale saying I had sold it "as is" and that buyer was responsible for its safety. Not sure if that would solve the liability issues or not, but it at least sounds good to me. :)
Oops. Didn't notice date with original post
4 year old thread pulled back up by a Bot, boys.
