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HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT RENTING YOUR MOTORCYCLE OUT TO A STRANGER?

RIDERS SHARE, US MOTORCYCLE PEER TO PEER RENTALS, LAUNCH A RIDER PASS MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION PLAN

BY Lucy England ON 28 May 2021

Riders share is a peer to peer motorcycle rental company which operates in the US. It was set up in 2018 by motorcyclist Guillermo Cornejo who realised that there were twenty-million ex motorcyclists in the USA who no longer have a bike of their own. He had the idea of linking up bikes which are not being used, with riders who have no bike and offering a mutually beneficial solution to both parties.

To use Riders Share, riders must be aged over 25 and have a high credit score, then Bob's your uncle! There is a new subscription model as well, called a Rider Pass now, which offers customers a 35% discount if they use a bike regularly and opt for a $24 monthly fee. Insurance and breakdown cover is also included in the rental price, which the owner of the bike chooses, but which is on average about $100 per day inclusive. It's an interesting idea and would, for example, be a good way to test out a motorcycle you might be planning to buy in advance to see if it was right for you before you had to commit yourself.

Riders Share has proved popular in the US and has over 100,000 users now so it must be doing something right. Riders Share CEO Guillermo Cornejo said of the company:
“There’s an entire market of twenty million plus ex-riders who are bikeless; our goal with subscription services is to provide an economic re-entry point to stimulate responsible ridership across the country”

So how does this idea grab you? Would you rent your own bike out or would you fancy hiring one short term – do you think it will catch on in the UK eventually? We shall see! Maybe it might be a stretch for you to lend out your trusty Bonneville or Himalayan, but if you have a workhorse spare bike perhaps it could be an option to earn a few bob?

Credit: RideApart

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