After riding it for a day, I felt I dwarfed my Yamaha FZ 25 or even a friend’s Suzuki V-Strom 250. This motorcycle is that good.

BHPian SiLxNcE recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

As a follow-up to my previous query on being on the fence about upgrading from an FZ25 to the current 390 ADV, let me tell you my experience and answer your queries along with it from what I felt.

I rented the ADV 390X on a weekend in Bangalore and took it to Nandi Hills and back in full riding gear to simulate touring. It’s a 150kms circuit that contains crazy city traffic, some stretches of open highways, ghats and hairpins. So, it’s a great way to take a bike through all its paces. And then I returned the bike on a Monday morning in jam-packed traffic.

Let me start with the positives:

• Very good and comfortable seating posture. After riding it for a day, I felt I dwarfed my FZ25 or even a friend’s V-Strom 250. The 390 ADV is that good. I would like to believe it would be supremely comfortable (only from a seating POV, more on that later)
• Unmatched handling in ghats. Very composed body balance. The bike is so eager to lean in and exit fast from corners. It indeed feels like a slightly taller corner carving Duke.
• Very very powerful acceleration. The surge after 5k RPM is real. It’s almost superbike-like. It can overwhelm you, scare you and make you grin every time you whack open that throttle if you aren’t used to it.
• The tyres felt good on the X, in contrast to popular opinion. Didn’t feel it losing grip on hard acceleration. The bike was at 10k on the odo on stock tyres.
• Great highway presence. Looks like a fighter jet flying low. Attention seeking. A guy came up to me and said “Dude, you have a fancy ride” before noticing it was a rental. A kid came and asked me to do a wheelie. The bike was bright orange too.

Now the things I didn’t like much:

• The buzz is also real. It’s terribly buzzy throughout the rev range. Does get somewhat smooth at the top end, but if you are coming from a Japanese, I think it will take some time to get used to it. For comparisons, I had a VStrom along with me to the Nandi Hills run, and when I switched to that bike from the 390, it instantly felt like I was now a spectator to the road and the scenery and going ahead rather than riding something. Both were at speeds of around 100kmph. I do understand the ADV will be more fun to ride, but after a long day of touring, maybe it’s the VStrom you’d rather want to be on. Day-night difference easily. Stopping after 60kms for breakfast felt like stopping after 200kms on the ADV. The tingly feeling on the fingers and foot never left.
• The bike is not meant for the city traffic. Of course, you can ride it if it’s your only bike. But the bike itself is not comfortable. It gets terribly hot with bad heat management to the point you would need good denim to at least feel it less. No stalling issues whatsoever. I think that’s fixed fully now. But it’s very annoying to ride in stop-go traffic until you find the workaround, which is you actively start to look for gaps in traffic, and point and shoot this thing, keeping it in powerband. That way it’s very eager and enjoyable too. But sedately running it is out of the question (at least comfortably).
• The suspension is not that good. At least on the X. Have heard it's stiffer on the STD. The Rally version, which I test-rode once for 5kms is much much better. The rear is super stiffly sprung. The front is alright but can’t hold a candle to the new Himalayan.
• Very unforgiving w.r.t. gear changes. You can’t ride it in 1 higher gear without the front end rattling a little and asking you to shift down. (Yes, this bike has a downshift indicator in this way, haha). This in turn eats more fuel. Bottom line: keep it in the powerband.
• City mileage is abysmal. Over 200kms of all conditions, it ate through 8L of fuel. This is measured from Reserve-Reserve method. I filled in 8L when I took it. It was in reserve. A km before returning, it went to the reserve again. Highway mileage is good if ridden sanely. I could see the Fuel Range keeping on increasing as I was cruising around 90 – 100.
• The exhaust note. I didn’t like it at all. It makes a weird grrrrr sound when it starts pulling hard. At the low end, it sounds unrefined, which it is. The exhaust note is not what you would typically call sweet. Rather it’s something that might start annoying you after a long day. My FZ25 sound much better in comparison.

Things I couldn’t check:

• High-speed runs. There was a speed cap of 110 on the rental bike and had a penalty of Rs500/- every time its exceeded. So, didn’t push it.
• Accessorized ride. Crash guards etc. The rental was bone stock. And the ADV has a lot of NVH. So, I am assuming it will buzz more with aftermarket accessories.
• Extra features of the STD, like the Quick shifter, TC, Cornering-ABS, TFT display. Have heard the quick shifter is a little jittery and doesn’t work always as expected, Never felt the need for TC, but had a very short stint with the STD too, and felt the 390X accelerates better. But this needs more testing to conclude. Cornering ABS would be a good safety feature to have. The TFT display, is well, good of course, and gives a rich ownership feel but the one on the X was also alright with all info available at once.

Conclusion:

It’s a very dual-character bike. One side is very unamusing. Chugs along unhappily and angrily. The other side is very appealing. Always eager to run. But in both cases, it buzzes. It doesn’t make you a comfortable spectator of the road (I think it’s important from a touring POV), instead it seeks your attention and wants you to ride it hard. Every time I got off it and looked at it I felt happy, but am not sure if that compensates for the rough ride it has.

I wanted to upgrade to this and had very high hopes but killed most of it after riding it for 2 days. Now, I am not sure anymore about my use case of planning to use it as my only bike for everything. I will wait for the next-gen and see how it is. (Have ridden the Duke 390 gen 3 and the low-end is improved, still buzzy though) or I will try to convince myself to believe that the Honda NX500 is really worth it.

But for what it is, its tremendous value for money, and the X makes a better case as it's much cheaper than the STD, and you don’t miss out on much, get the best color scheme (the liquid metal-ish black) and is compatible with the Rally suspension to upgrade to later.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I used to ride a Kawasaki Ninja 650 and a Yamaha R3 before I left the country in 2019.

BHPian Mr.Ogre recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone, I will be in Mumbai for almost 45 days in October this year, and I have a lot of places to visit across the country during that period.

I love to tour on motorcycles, and I have done a fair amount of touring in India and Australia on motorbikes. I was riding a Ninja 650 and Yamaha R3 before I left the country in 2019.

I am looking to rent a motorcycle (Ninja 650 and above category) while I am there and I will be really grateful if I can get some recommendations (websites, dealers, individuals looking to rent their bikes etc.).

I tried to Google and I see a few websites, but I am not very confident as I don't want it to be another Zoom car-like saga.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and recommendations.

Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:

Don't know of any reliable options at all. There used to be Rebel Rides (we had rented a Harley-Davidson from them), WickedRides etc. but they all seem to have shut down.

I don't think the business is sustainable due to the lack of demand, abuse of these expensive machines and general fraud levels in India. I remember self-drive rental car companies doing a background check on their customers because many would rent a car & then swap out expensive components for their own cars, or for sale in the open market.

Out-of-the-box suggestion: Approach one of the big dealers & negotiate a buyback. Buy the bike, complete your tour and then sell it back to him (or anyone else) for 1-lakh less. Even if it's 1.5-lakhs less (worst case or a quick sale), it's 3.3k a day which will be your typical rental cost for a good condition big motorcycle.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 had to say about the matter:

Hey. I saw your post in the morning and messaged the Rebel Rides owner. It has indeed shut down and they only do tours now. I asked him if anyone else is renting superbikes and he said most of them shut down after covid so none that he’s aware of.

Fundamentally also, I’m not sure how viable the business was to start with for many of the reasons mentioned by GTO above.

One option could be to speak to one of the major used bike dealers - the biggest in Bombay that come to my mind are Bullet Raja and Aazam Khan. See if you can negotiate a buyback price with them (new bike dealers are unlikely to agree to something like this but used bike dealers are much more open to such proposals). Personally, I’m a stickler for recording registrations (whether I’m a buyer or a seller) and am loathe to see the practice of used bikes trading hands without RC change. But this is a reality I believe of this market and you could consider whether you want to explore an option like this. You might be bearing some insurance-related risks if you fail to register a transfer properly though so you need to take a considered call.

Another option. Buy a Zoom car or similar for your scheduled travel in the country and maybe see if you have the option to do a short tour with one of the reputable touring companies using their bikes if you feel like some saddle time. I know XplorEarth rents out GS 310s for their tours and they’re doing Zanskar in October. Their trips are also compact - 7 days odd usually, end to end. There are several others as well including the ex Rebel Rides owner who now runs tours.

Here's what BHPian windrider had to say about the matter:

If I was in your shoes, I would avoid touring on a superbike and get a Himalayan/KTM or something similar. Reasons being, you haven't ridden in India since 2019, so getting used to the traffic and general chaos on our roads will take time, which you don't have. Trust me it's a lot worse than 2019 and handling an underpowered vehicle will be easier than a superbike.

You mentioned you plan to travel extensively during your stay in India, so in case you drop your bike, or face any mechanical issues, the availability of spares and service will be a big pain. Even in big cities, sometimes spares take a couple of days to arrive or you will have to find OEM spares and get them changed at the service centre and all of that is a big hassle when you are travelling, especially if you are going solo.

You plan to rent a bike and it will be a lot easier to find a well-maintained lower cc bike than a superbike, which the owners may skimp on maintenance due to the exorbitant costs. So stick to bikes that are popular and have a widespread service network which can be repaired at any local garage/svc within a couple of hours. Cheers and a safe journey!

Here's what BHPian SID7115 had to say about the matter:

This particular space has a very niche customer base, so this may not be as viable as it is outside India.

There aren't many who do this. In fact, even my Uncle who has good riding experience in the UK, wanted to rent something like a BMW F850 for touring in India, but we couldn't find any options.

Buyback is a good option if you're keeping the bike for a long time. But be careful about the RC details and the vehicle details. Also, I've heard that Royal Enfield does rentals in many cities. You can check their website for more info. They're the safest choice when it comes to long distance riding and are trusted by many riders.

If you can help yourself to a rented Himalayan or Interceptor 650, nothing like it.

Cheers to your exploration.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Thanks to Syed Mohammed Yasir for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

The Ladakh Bikers Co-operative Limited and Manali Biker's Association have set new rules for rental bikes after accusing each other of not honouring a verbal understanding they had earlier. Under the new rules, no rental JK 10 registered bikes will be allowed to enter Himachal Pradesh and not HP registered rental bike will be allowed to enter Ladakh. The final pick up and drop off point for all JK registered and HP registered will be Serchu.

The Manali Biker's Association blamed the Ladakh Bikers of breaking the verbal agreement by stating that the pick up point for JK registered bikes would be Manali. This would result in a loss of business for the Manali bike rental companies. They threatened to stop all services to Ladakh and to stop bikes from other states to ride to Ladakh via Manali or Spiti. The Ladakh bikers, in return, said that the HP registered bikes operate in areas like Nubra Valley and Pangong lake, which lie deep inside Ladakh.

Cab aggregator Ola is investing US$ 100 million in Vogo - a scooter sharing startup. The investment will be used to add 1 lakh scooters on the Vogo platform. Customers will also be able to book Vogo's rental scooters through the Ola smartphone app.

Vogo is a point-to-point dockless scooter sharing platform. At present it has operations in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The scooters are available at over 200 designated points across both cities. They are equipped with a proprietary IOT hardware that

allows consumers to access the key through an OTP based system and start riding.

Vogo claims to have over 1 lakh users on its mobile platform and has served over 20 million kilometres.

Ola has also invested in Vogo as part of a Series A funding. Other investors include Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners.

Bangalore-based vehicle sharing company Drivezy is set to roll out 10,000 bikes on its platform. The bikes will be launched in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, Mangalore and Manipal.

Drivezy allows owners to list their idle cars, motorcycles and scooters on the platform. Customers can rent a vehicle on hourly, daily or monthly basis.

According to the company, 4,000 two-wheelers were added to its fleet in the last one year. 3,000 scooters were added in Bangalore and Hyderabad alone. The company also plans to launch one-way two-wheeler rental service that would enable customers to rent a vehicle from one location and drop it off at any other company location as per their convenience. Drivezy also offers last mile commute service for Hyderabad metro passengers on a 'per minute tariff' basis.

Drivezy was founded in 2015. It currently offers vehicle sharing services in 9 cities. The company recently received US$ 20 million in the form of Series B funding. It has also made a US$ 100 million asset financing deal with Anypay to add 50,000 vehicles to its fleet. Drivezy has partnered with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), Oyo and Ola.

Driven by you has launched a "Driven Cafe" in Hyderabad. This cafe will provide coffee, self-drive car rentals, self-ride bike rentals and bicycles rentals.

The Driven Cafe will offer a fleet of cars that will range from the Tata Nano to the Porsche 911, bikes from the Honda Activa to the Kawasaki ZX-14R and Triumph Rocket III and bicycles from manufacturers such as Cannondale and Surly on rent. At present, the Driven fleet consists of 150 cars, 50 motorcycles and 7 bicycles. The company plans to update these continuously, when newer variants are introduced by manufacturers.

Driven by you has introduced two tariff plans called "Zero Mileage" and "Unlimited Plan". Individuals need a valid driving license, Aadhaar card and credit card to avail the self-drive and self-ride rental services, which are priced from Rs. 299 to Rs. 29,999 per day (apart from a security deposit).

Driven's cars and motorcycles are comprehensively insured and have a valid rent-a-cab & rent-a-bike licenses. The cars are equipped with GPS devices.

At present, Driven by you operates in Hyderabad & Secunderabad, Vizag & Vijayawada. Over the next 3 years, it is looking to open at least 14 Driven Cafe outlets and 24 self-drive, self-ride locations in different cities. In the first phase, the company will launch its operations in Chennai, Bengaluru, Goa, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Udaipur. In the second phase, it will start operations in Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Lucknow and Shimla.

To support its growth plans, Driven will expand its fleet of cars to 3,000 cars and 1,500 bikes over the next three years in two phases.

The Government of Delhi has launched a motorcycle rental scheme under which, it will issue licenses to firms or vendors of two-wheelers, permitting them to rent out bikes to individuals for temporary periods.

The vendor will need an office-space and a minimum of five commercially registered motorcycles to start a motorcycle rental business. All bikes have to be equipped with a GPS system. The vendor is also required to submit a character verification certificate of himself as well as the people working under him. Until these conditions are met, the vendor will not get a licence for the business. The licence will be valid for a period of 5 years.

Bikes can be rented out to local residents as well as tourists. An individuals looking to hire a bike will have to submit his or her licence as well as proof of address. The vendor has to maintain these records for a period of one year.

Bikes will be available on rent at metro stations, inter state bus terminals and railway stations among other places in Delhi.

After motorcycle rentals, the government is also planning to introduce a two-wheeler taxi service. Under this system, the bike comes with a rider and the individual who has hired the vehicle sits pillion.

At present, motorcycle rentals and taxis are available in Goa. With the introduction of the services in Delhi, the government is trying to improve last mile connectivity in the area.

Source: The Hindu, Financial Express, The Asian Age

In India, motorcycle rental services aren’t available far and wide, but the idea is gaining popularity. From locations like Goa and Ladakh, such services have been made available in cities like Pune and Bangalore as well. Chennai too has just got a new bike rental service, through dateabike.com.

Labelled Chennai’s rental service for Harley Davidson / Triumph & all Royal Enfield bikes, dateabike offers premium motorcycles on a 5 hour / 10 hour and 24 hour basis. Motorcycles listed on the website include the Royal Enfield Continental GT, Royal Enfield Desert Storm 500, Harley-Davidson Street 750 and the Triumph Bonneville. Other bikes from the Royal Enfield stable will also be available.

Base prices (for the minimum 5 hour period) start at Rs. 1,500 for the Desert Storm 500 and go up to Rs. 4,400 for the Triumph Bonneville. Details on the rates across the range can be found in the image. Additionally, dateabike offers accessories and customers can rent a Go Pro camera for Rs. 750 and a biker’s protective gear set (helmet+jacket+gloves) for Rs. 1250.

Motorcycle tours include a two day Chennai to Pondicherry ride which includes one stop at Mahabalipuram. They also have a Chennai to Goa ride spread over 5 days 4 nights.

It is important to note that the rates do not include fuel. The renter will be provided with tank full of fuel at the start of the trip and is expected to return the bike with a full tank of fuel as well. Interested riders will have to submit their original passport or any other government validated ID proof, along with a security deposit of Rs. 15,000 – from which the rental rate, fuel refilling costs (if the renter hasn't tanked up already) and damage charges (if any) will be deducted. The bikes come with a complete comprehensive insurance package, that includes personal accident as well as third party liability. In case you need baggage theft coverage, that can be arranged as well.

At an added charge of Rs. 250, the company will bring the bike to your location and complete all the requisite formalities where you are.

Contact details:

- Call Girish @ +91 735 800 8035

- Shop address: 4/80A BPCL Petrol Bunk, East Coast Road, Neelangarai, near the police station, Chennai - 600041

- Email: Girish@dateabike.com or dateabike@gmail.com

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dateabikechennai

Motorcycle rentals are extremely popular in locations like Goa. However, the concept hasn't quite caught on in the rest of the country. The city of Pune - famous for its large two-wheeler presence, can now avail of a motorcycle rental service. Snap Bikes- a venture by Elite Celebrations, is a motorcycle rental service that will gradually expand into different cities across India.

The scheme is the 1st government authorized motorcycle rental company, and has been approved by the Regional Transport Office (RTO). The service offers models ranging from gear-less scooters like the Honda Activa to premium offerings like the 500cc Royal Enfield Desert Storm. The company plans to add Harley-Davidson and other premium motorcycles to its line-up as well.

Over the next few weeks, Snap Bikes will be adding around 100 motorcycles to its fleet, while opening about 15 pick-up points in Pune. The rental service can be availed of on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Each vehicle comes with a GPS tracker and customers can rent a helmet as well. The vehicle can be booked against a security deposit of Rs 5,000; payable by credit/debit card (cash deposits are not entertained)

For reservations, customers can get in touch at: 09028002733 / 020 69333696 or send an email to aditya@elitecelebrations.in for further details.

Address: 5, Vrindavan North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune. Landmark: Lane No 6, Pizza Hut.

Rates as per the inaugural offer range from Rs 399 per day for the Activa to Rs 449 per day for the Hero Passion and Bajaj Discover. Prices hit Rs 999 per day for the Desert storm and customers can rent helmets for Rs 15 per day. In all cases, there is an additional 12.36% service charge+service tax.

*Image for illustrative purposes only.