Hi all,

Hoping to support a mate who plans to ride around all mainland US states next Summer, so will be needing a car for 50-60 days. Bike route is about 7000 miles, so say 10000 miles for the car.

Pick up will be on the opposite side of the country to drop off (route not decided yet). Standard British drivers licence, and I’m 22.

Had a look at a couple of the regular rental companies and got varying prices, £1800-£4000.

So, any suggestions on what’s the best way to go about it? Buying and then selling a car is an option, but adds a whole bunch of hassle, plus not having a US drivers license will hike up insurance I’m guessing.

A RV would be nice, save having to camp every night, but quick look shows that they’re crazy expensive. So small car probably best option.

Any thoughts/recommendations would be great.

Ta, Duane.

£1,800 for 2 months seems like a bargain to me if it includes the drop off charge.

I had a look at driving across the states and pretty much none of the rental companies I looked at factored the drop off charge into the quoted price so I’d have a check on that as it can add on quite a chunk. If its already on then sounds pretty good!

sounds like an expensive way to ride round the states.

just buy a bike and share the weight.

by the time you factor in food , accomodation , fuel the price will be astronomic.

Thought about a U-Haul van? Kip in the back and they’re designed to be driven and dropped as they’re typically for self-moving.

22 years old and wanting long term car hire? Quite reasonable for what you’ve been quoted.

You need to do the rest of your sums. Accommodation, food, fuel, maintenance medical etc

This quote from the RAAM website:

Sleep management is one of the biggest challenges of RAAM. This applies to everyone including racers, crew, and race staff. The challenge for racers is balancing the need for sleep, which means time off the bike, against continuing to move down the road. This is critical because the clock doesn’t stop, even for sleeping. The solos at the front of the race sleep as little as 90 minutes a day. Just to finish within the 12 day time limit, racers can’t afford to sleep more than about 4 hours a day at the most.

If your mate is going to do 7000 miles in 60 days, can he really ride 116 miles a day, 7 days a week? Not wanting to dampen your enthusiasm, but this would be a serious undertaking.

Bangernomics all the way IMO

I did read an article about how to do it etc. with insurance etc. but I can’t remember where, worth checking out further.

I think you need to have a serious think about your route. Taking in all 48 of the contigous US states in a coast to coast trip sounds like a lot of zigzaging north and south. A round trip might make more sense.

get on yer bike laa

Top Gear Special…? Don’t know how it’d work out, but there’s bound to be info out there. 🙂

Thanks for the replies.

Just a bit more info I guess;

The mate in question rode across Canada solo at the age of 16 in 37 days, average 105miles per day, with all his equipment (camping gear, food etc), without training for it. Youngest person to do the ride solo(unofficial as Guiness doesn’t recognise youngest achievements).

He would like to beat the world record, which is 60 days I think, his aim is 48 days. So by having a couple of guys supporting will mean he doesnt have to carry any gear, no worries about finding and setting up camp, cooking etc. Plus it’ll be an ace holiday for us.

A lot of effort will go into route planning of course.

Duane.

Look at hiring an RV, it might work out cheaper once you’ve factored in overnight costs etc

Also different states will have different rates, due if nothing else to tax differentials.

My friend bought a car on the west coast, drove it across the US and sold it on the east coast. Wasn’t too much of a hassle. I’d be surprised if you could rent one for as little as $1800. The insurance excess on that must be high.

When I hired a car in the US at 22 the insurance cost as much as the rental. I think if the quotes are from UK websites they’ll include the insurance already. Check that any quotes cover unlimited mileage and allow you to take the car into every state.

I’m not sure about buying a cheap car for a trip like this where you’re supporting another person. I’ve driven 4,000 miles round the states in a $400 dollar car but we lost a day when the alternator broke and half a day when we had to backtrack to find a new tyre. All part of the adventure for us but more of an issue if you’re supporting someone on a bike.

Insurance quotes for non US citizens

https://d6371032-61c0-499f-9967-ca6e618cb017.insurancewebsitebuilder.com/automobile/international_personnell_auto_insurance_quote.aspx