Will be there for about a month, Feb 7 - Mar 7 2005, and would ideally like a dual sport type bike, R1100GS, F650, Africa Twin, etc.

Commercial rentals seem prohibitively expensive for that period of time, so I'm investigating other options.

Any sugguestions? Bikes for sale? Help with buying/Selling a bike? private rentals?

Thanks!

-pfb

There is at least one dealer who does buy-back deals. Search the HUBB, I can't remember where I posted it.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Hi pfb, as you have found out, there is no way of hiring a bike cheaply. However, bikes are relatively cheap to buy in NZ compared to most other countries. It's the insurance costs that ut the rental up. A friend works for a rental company and they lose so many bikes when tourists who are not used to driving on the left side of the road or who are not used to gravel write off many of their bikes every year. Don't be too seduced by bigger bikes. It is not easy to travel at speed here in NZ, as there are many windy and aggressively policed roads. If you broaden your criteria, maybe a smaller 350 or even 250cc bike will still do the job. Last year I had two Germans riding 50cc Simson bikes and a German lady riding a DR200 stay and they were having a great time. A buy-back from one of the bigger dealers may be the way to go, or if you want to buy something I can get some prices to you of what's for sale now to give you some idea of prices. If you need someone to sell the bike for you, maybe I could help you with that. I have helped a couple of other travellers out that way in the past and have a Mitsubishi camper van for sale now that belongs to some German friends. Let me know.

Kind regards

Nigel in NZ

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--"How can I be lost if I don't care where I am?"--

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription