WickedRide Harley Davidson bike rental in Bangalore!

Bangalore should be crowned “Self-drive rental capital of India” given the fierce battle between Zoomcar and Carzonrent (Myles) in recent times. Between these two companies and not to mention many other smaller firms, there’re 1000s of cars of different types available for Self drive rental in India’s IT Capital. There’re more options at cheaper rates to rent cars from in Bengaluru than any other city, including Delhi and Goa. 

The new attraction to the vehicle enthusiasts is the self- drive bike rentals. High end motorbikes such as Harley Davidsons, Triumph and Royal Enfield can be rented now in Bengaluru for daily rates. Bikes on rental is very common in Goa, it is available in Delhi/Himalayan regions for those who ride through the Himalayas in tourist seasons, but bike rentals weren’t that known in other cities of India. (Related: Read DevilonWheel's post on bike rental rates in Himalayas for this season)

A company called “WickedRide” is offering several Harley Davidsons and Royal Enfields. I heard about Wicked Ride through a friend (Vinod Kini, thanks for the heads up) and enthusiastically checked their website. Though rentals were on a higher side (compared to cars of similar purchase price), since there’s no competition or alternative one can’t really complain about the rental rates.

Bike	Daily Rental (INR)	Purchase Price of the Bike (approx.)	Car model with similar purchase price	Self-drive daily rental for that car (Carzonrent)
Harley Davidson Street 750	4000	5.5 lakhs	Ford Figo	INR 1500
Harley Davidson Super low	5000	7 lakhs	Swift Dzire	INR 1800
Harley Davidson Iron 883	7000	8.5 lakhs	VW Vento	INR 2100
Triump Bonneville	6000	8 lakhs	I20	INR 1700
RE Dessert Storm	1900	1.9 lakhs	-
RE Continental GT	2200	2.2 lakhs	-
RE Thunderbird 500	1900	2 lakhs	-

These are some of the cheapest Harley Davidson bikes available in India. There're bigger and more expensive ones on sale but not available yet on rental. (I am told wickedride doesn't have any plans to add them either in near future) There is a 250 kms per day usage limit beyond which one has to pay 10% of rental amount for every 50 kms (Not applicable to RE. Also fuel expense is on the renter.Bike will be given full tank and to be returned full tank)

Of course, cars have higher demand and better utilization, so car rental companies will be able to charge less and still make money. Bike rental business hasn’t really taken off in India like in say Thailand, so the rentals are still high and options are few.

Another possible reason for high rental is their maintenance bill. I am told a wash of Harley Davidson costs Rs 600, oil change, Rs 4500, basic service about 5k and so on.

Note that some bikes which were single seater by original design (Such as Continental GT) have been modified to have 2 seats.

I would never buy a Harley, as I don’t find it practical and economical for everyday usage and I don’t have the cult following mindset to spend so much on the bike. But why not rent it and ride around for some time to find out what it is worth?

Nevertheless, I booked a Harley Davidson Street 750 for 2 days, with following objectives:

·         I am not well built macho person. Can ordinary folks also ride a Harley with equal comfort?

·         What is unique about this bike that it is popular worldwide with cult following?

·         Is it practical for everyday city usage or it is good only as a touring bike?

·         And finally, kitna deti hein? Is mileage is better than cars or worse?

When I booked the bike (which I could do over phone), I was told that this is a white board registered bike and rental is not covered by insurance. Any damage I should fund from my pocket. (That is, in the worst case scenario of bike getting  wrecked, I might loose my life time savings to buy them a new bike, even simple damages/repairs can cost as much as a new hero splendor- 'whatever is quoted by the dealer' is the amount to be paid)

In other words, this particular bike rental is not legal to circumvent which I had to sign some documents which effectively 'Transfer' the bike to me temporarily.... It doesn’t have yellow on black number plates as the bikes in Goa have or other self-drive rental cars have. Govt of India has a stupid rule that one should have 50 vehicles to start self drive business- don’t know what is the rationale for it. Not practical rule.

I was asked to make payment through payumoney. Payumoney has a safeguard in place such that it collects money from us but will release it to vendor only after service is delivered. This way customers have some protection in case service is not delivered or not delivered up to the mark. But I was asked to release the money immediately to confirm booking, which meant I had to forgo any opportunity to raise a grievance. (From service provider’s perspective, they don’t want  a situation where someone books but doesn’t turn up to collect the bike and then doesn’t release payment also, causing them loss of business). A solution to this catch 22 situation could be to release say 50% before and pay the  balance later.

On the specified date & time I went to WickedRide’s office in Jayanagar 9^th block, Bengaluru. I had to give my original passport and a signed blank cheque leaf as security. (They don’t block amount on credit card like carzonrent). Paperwork was smooth.

They give a helmet free with the bike, but jacket and gloves, goPro camera (Hero 4) etc can be rented for an additional expense (Rs 1000 and Rs 500 respectively per day)

I caught up with my friends and set out to ride. More about the bike & Harley Davidson experience will be narrated in next post.

In summary, it is good to know that high end bikes are now available for rent, so that everyone can experience them without having to buy the same. This can also help promote biking culture.

However, on the downside, you should be prepared for a worst case scenario wherein if the bike is completely damaged, you will have to buy them a new bike in your own money. No insurance will come to your rescue, as these bikes are not legally rented to you.

Also I wanted to rent Continental GT for a day- I was told it is out on long rental.. Today morning I saw it at their office. I was told it is available and I asked them to let me have it tomorrow, instead of me renting steet 750 for 2 days. I was told that should be fine, but later I get a call that bike is has a booking from tomorrow till Sunday night. (Update: Even on Sunday morning it was still there, but I am told a booking got cancelled)I get a feeling that I am being denied Continental GT as its rental are cheaper than Street 750. But I don't have proof, so will give them benefit of doubt. [Update: Vivek from WickedRide has responded that they did have some bookings for GT hence they couldn't entertain my request. I accept that explanation and take back my complaint]

http://www.wickedride.in/ is their website.

Similar: Zoomcar vs Carzonrent * Ride Thailand Bike tours * 11 things Hero Splendor can offer but Street 750 doesn't * My thoughts on RE Bullets *