Ducati Monster Forum

So I looked up a truck from Uhaul, a van from Uhaul, and a van from Budget and they all sound nice at $19 a day or 29$ a day. Two day rental for $60. No sweat. WRONG
They all have 79 cents/mile added on to that. Willows is 137 miles away. X2 for the drive back and that's an extra $216 on top of what I'm already paying in gas. That's CRAZY!  [bang]
Simply towing a trailer is out of the question because neither my car or my partner's car has the towing capacity to pull one along with our two motorcycles. I have a track day on September 8th and still need to find a way to get the bikes there.
Does anybody have any suggestions? I would love to pay someone to borrow their van/truck. We're two responsible adults who simply have no desire to pay $250+ to Uhaul just to drive a van for two days.
If any of you have any ideas we would love to hear them. Thanks.

try renting to a pick up from Enterprise.  If you get it enough in advance you can get it for around $30 a day unlimited miles.   Im sure someone here would let you borrow a ramp too. 

When are you going?

You fail at reading  :P

No, I just knew you'd read the thing for me, clip the answer, and post it while trying to flame me. See, I'm outsourcing my work to Foster City  [evil]

I'd loan you the pickup but trust me when I say this-you don't want to drive it that far.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2742518275_bb91ebcd83.jpg?v=0)

I used enterprise.  I think it was about $30 a day.  You can pick up a folding ramp for about $130 which is a good investment.

Thanks everyone. I checked out Enterprise and it looks like trucks are all $56.39 a day, but the unlimited mileage thing is perfect. I'll probably snag one of these right away. I couldn't find any for $30/day.

Can anyone recommend a place to buy a ramp from locally? I don't want to have to have one shipped to me.

I would be surprised if someone local wouldn't loan you one.


Also, those nice, aluminum, lightweight folding dealies? People love to steal 'em.


I'd get a nice board and attach an end to it, but that's just me.

These guys are all local:
www.Motostrano.com (Joe's alway's been helpful)
www.EMA-USA.com (I've heard good things)
www.raceready-usa.com (Ken's a good guy really helped me out)

Cycle gear in Pleasanton has them in stock for $130.  You're welcome to borrow mine if you want.  I'm located in Dublin.  It's not the trickest, but it's an almuminum folding ramp.  The only downer is that it's a bit narrow (I bought it for my dirtbikes), but I've loaded countless street bikes with it, too. As long as you have a second "spotter" you'll be fine. Shoot me an e-mail at evan2972@yahoo.com .

I sent you an email.

Check out the ATV ramps too! They're double the width, so you can walk the bike up into the truck instead of having to do the precarious "hold the brakes and hop up" trick. It's way easier on the body, so IMO it's worth the extra $.

I've also seen a pair of folding aluminum ramps @ Costco for $99! They were very good quality, and fairly stout. Might be worth a look.

 
It may be spelled "J-E-E-P", but it pronounced "Heap." [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

What? You and the Jeep should be pals-both of you is former military  :P

As a former owner of several versions of Jeeps, I miss my "Heaps" every day. They're the only vehicles I've ever owned that are more infuriatingly frustrating than any Italian motorcycle ever made! [laugh] [thumbsup] Now who's got an Alfa GTV for sale? [cheeky]

desmoquattro, you've been PMed.

Well, I'm renting a truck from Enterprise and after measuring our motorcycles it seems like I'll have to keep the tail gate down in order to fit the bikes in. Is this just what people do, or should I be concerned about having to leave the tail down? I feel like I've seen both being done fairly often.
Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks.

It's common. You'll be fine.

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk127/TCK_Rides/Monster%20800/IMG00119.jpg?t=1220031887)

werd

As long as the weight of the bike isn't actually on the tailgate I think you are fine.

Need any tie-downs?

Not sure if you saw this but looks like exactly what you guys need.

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263100

Wrong day, but it sounds like an awesome service.

Yeah, I knew that but I think he goes to a lot of PTT days, might shoot an email see if he's going to your day.

Well, I finally got my transportation settled. We are borrowing a Subaru WRX wagon and renting a trailer from Joe Freitas in Pittsburg/Bay Point. He seems to run this Craigslist ad weekly and has a really high recommendation from riders on BARF. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/821035977.html (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/821035977.html)

They got back to us right away, supply wheel chocks with the trailer and it has tons of spots for tie-downs. At 25$ a day it seems like a steal. I'll post up afterwards to let everyone see how well it works out for us.