Motorcycle rentals in Frankfurt?

Say a certain body managed to pick up a plane ticket to see his son in
Europe and shipped his helmet/gear and camping gear priority mail to
said military son. Where might this person get a good deal on a
moderately priced mid-size bike for a couple weeks of touring the
general area?

The ticket is for departure June 11th and back in the USA on the 26th.
Mom told him I had vacation scheduled at that time. (Sorry, MarkO,
this just happened. He arrived out of the blue here at home today with
the goods.) That was a bit of a happy shock walking in the door from
work, seeing him sitting on the couch.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. I'm going to Europe to tour!

 

Too bad Thomas is leaving for his european bike trip May 31st, otherwise I
suspect you might be able to work out a deal to use his 1200GS.

His blog says he flew into Frankfurt on May 6, 2010 and took a train to
Heidelberg where his bike is kept, at this outfit- they rent bikes too:

http://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/Hello.html

"For over 18 years we have been providing our customers with quality
rentals of a variety of BMW motorcycles from early boxers to the latest
models. Along with the motorcycles, we can assist you with acquiring the
necessary Green Card insurance, road assistance, and health insurance as
you require. Or if you have your own motorcycle and want to ride it here
in Europe, we specialize in transporting your bike in securely crated
containers by both sea and air. Our knowledge and working relationship
with government agencies on both sides of the ocean ensure that your bike
will arrive with smoothness. Once here, we also have a large fully
protected storage facility on-site if you wish to keep your bike in Europe."

 

http://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/Hello.html

Stefan is a good guy. I bought my bike from him. (In fact, it's still
listed on the for sale page.) Heidelberg is just down the road from
Frankfort. If you don't want him to pick you up at the airport, you
just buy a ticket in the airport for his station, go downstairs to the
platform, catch a train, make one transfer, get off the train, walk 2
blocks, and you're at his place. He has B&B rooms.

Too bad. I'll prolly be in the UK when you arrive, but too far away to
meet if you're only there for 2 weeks. You're going to have a blast.
Have you been to Europe before? Know where you want to go?

 

400 quid to rent a K75 for a week.

You could almost buy one for that.

 

This is my first adventure to Europe. My oldest son is stationed at
Ramstein AB and I'll be making mostly day trips from there. My head is
still spinning at the thought this is really happening. I have a
vacation home right outside the main gate of the base available for my
use. My son's supervisor owns the main house and offered the vacation
home up at no charge. Patrick will meet me at the airport with my
stuff and get me over to the rental agency.

I'm getting the Garmin European maps for my Zumo 660 to use while there.

I want to see the Alps, go down to Switzerland for the middle weekend,
maybe an overnighter to Paris, the adventures opportunities are
endless. Hell, suggestions and ideas would be wonderful from the
group. As a veteran rider, this is going to be stupendous. I'm about
to see real castles, mountains and meet great people. Good beer too.
<grin>

/whistles

So, how far is Stelvio away from my base? hehehe

 

About 400 miles.

Really, you'd be better off doing a bunch of overnight trips. It's 300
miles from Ramstein to the Alps proper, so if you want to do there and
back in a day you're looking at a 600 mile round-trip ride before you've
even had a sniff of a mountain pass.

You'd be even better off doing a two-nighter, taking a day to ride down
over the mountains to Italy and another day to do the return leg a
different way.

 

My limited understanding is Europe is unlike the US as far as camping
is concerned. Over here, I have no problems finding a proper place to
put up a tent and spend a cheap night. How are the opportunites to
tent camp in that area? Every penny I can save on lodging goes into
the gas tank for more travel. Hmm, note to self. Check military bases
on routes. They always have cheap lodging for us service retirees.
Off to google something.

I have no problems taking off for a couple nights if I can ride some of
the roads in the Alps. /drool Down to a campsite early one day, ride
a little, second day, ride all day, third day, ride back. Actually,
with my son's work schedule, this is eminently do-able.

Garmin Europe maps have been ordered for my GPS. I'll pack a universal
mount and wiring harness to add to any rental bike. I'm thinking a
Transalp rental bike.

 

Pretty good I expect. I only camp when it's unavoidable but foreigners
still seem to be up for it. Do a quick bit of research.

I always find it much more rewarding if a day's ride leaves me somewhere
other than where I started. And at least this way you have a proper
excuse to cross the mountains a couple of times, rather than just doing
a detour up one side of a pass and back down again.

You lose a lot of power at altitude - I started to find the thou a bit
gutless at the top of the Grimselpass (for litrebike values of gutless).
But it'll probably be ok.

 

or getting a train[0] down to Innsbruck, transfer to the Enzian[1] in
Landeck[2] and hire a bike from Klaus. 2-3 nights there will provide much
more opportunity to ride in the Alps. Klaus has plenty of route
recommendations and, as you have experienced, will take people out for the
day.

http://www.hotel-enzian.com/start.php?site=ehome&lan=e&ss=home#top

Leave the tent in the US.

[0] only 1 connection via Zurich and cheapish at £137 (GBP) return
[1] or one of the other hotels in the group with hire bikes
http://www.motorrad-hotel.com/
[2] Landeck is in Austria, very close to the Swiss & Italian borders

 

Euro camping is different. For one, sites are small and packed
together. It's not unusual to see tents pitched within 4' of each
other. They also fill up in the summer.

I know a cheapskate who refuses to pay for anything. He has a bike in
Europe and when he travels he just camps off the road. It's illegal in
some places, but he says he's never been busted.

 

FWIW, hostels are a cheap way to go.

 

It's my 'merkin way of thinking. I totally forgot about that
opportunity. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Forgive my naivete. My reason for posting here is to learn and
understand my destination.

I'm just poor ole 'merkin trash, working on a somewhat tight budget.
The two week cycle rental is going to be, umm, expensive from what I
see online, leaving me to work with less to do more. I know the price
of petrol is near 2.5 times our rate in the US. A 4 gallon tank of
fuel should eat the arse out of 20 Euros, correct? (Going rate in
Michigan is currently at $3.95 US/gallon)

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices shows the
conversion at $5.57 for regular fuel. That strikes me as under what I
should expect from all the comments I've heard. By my calculations,
that's about 4 Euros per American gallon. Oh, wait - is that Imperial
gallons?

Food is also more expensive according to my son, but I'm a lightweight
and usually only eat a light breakfast and a moderate supper. I'm
thinking a budget of $150 a day for food, gas and a place to lay my
head will keep me out of debtor's prison. My lodging requirements are
simply clean and cheap. Thomas' comments about hostels would fill my
needs. My available credit balances will allow for the security
deposit on the rental and a few niceties. Most of this trip will be
done with folding currency.

FYI, I'm also budgeting a few quid to provide beverages for any UKRM
folks I'd meet in my travels. Cheers!

 

Try Neuschwanstein for starters.

 

$100/70 euro will get you a room in the Enzian or similar. That price will
include breakfast and an evening meal. At the Enzian & sister hotels they
also provide free coffee & cake from 4-6pm. I didn't buy any additional
food whilst staying there, apart from the odd ice cream.

$50 or 35 euros will be left for fuel & drink which should be okay.

No need for the tent or hostel if you can budget for an average of $150 a
day. especially as you will have some days in the Frankfurt base at minimal
cost.

 

That's on our itinerary for the return leg of our Misano trip. It's
handily close to the Austrian Alps and Wessie's suggestion of
Landeck.

It's mostly for V's benefit. I saw it from the outside as a kid and
if I want to see a castle I work next to this...

http://www.twitpic.com/4stqg1

 

I love reading here (longtime lurker). Thank you for that information.
My mind is at ease now. I might even have a fellow rider coming with
me. ;^) He's great company.

If there's a NATO base nearby, I have full access to their Space
Available lodging also. That's a very inexpensive alternative for me.
21+ years of military service is all that's required. All I have to do
is pack my hi-viz mil-spec vest. Ugly as sin, but required to ride on
base. They won't accept my hi-viz Roadcrafter as an alternative. "Not
enough reflective surface" LOL!

Thanks to all that offer advice on visiting your great Continent. It's
going to be great fun and a lifetime adventure for me.

 

My son has a year in country and has given me some great destinations
for day rides. As a military retiree, I would love to visit Berlin for
myself and take pictures for my father in law. He was there as a
participant back in the early 40's. I understand it's about 8 hours
from Ramstein to town.

I'm downloading some electronic travel guides for my iPad as I type
this. The iPhone will be left behind or shut off for the duration in
Europe. *shudder* I'd hate to see that bill when I got home.

 

The best view. It's largely unfinished inside.

 

Ah yes. When I was a GI, I went to Hawaii on a military hop. Spent 2
weeks on Waikiki at Ft DeRussy for $1 a night.