48hr Van Hire

Need to transport a bike to get some work done, so need a van for 48hrs. Any recommendations, seems to be circa £180 for a transit size van? Do I need a transit/vanaro or would a size down work?

Haven’t got any ramps, so need to buy a set now. Not risking the planks of wood :winking_face_with_tongue:

Check out Zipcar - Car Sharing | Hourly Car Rental | UK if there is one near you.

My Ducati 748 fitted into my Citroën Dispatch (first series) van, and yes, I used a plank of wood :rofl:

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So many fail videos on insta have scared the crap out of me so it’s a ramp. Hertz do an hourly rate, but then it’s £0.35 a mile. Having to 200 mile round trip, it’s no cheaper.

Wife’s already suggested I can also pick up a couple of those Costco olive trees, so expect I’ll be making full use in 48hrs.

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You want a swb transit/vivaro at minimum.
I’ve used enterprise with good results, though @me_groovy and @The_Sleeper recently tried and didn’t get on with them.
Dont use Sixt, i tried them once and managed to fail the credit check when collecting it, so they just said no last minute (and then i checked my credit score when i got home and it was rated “great”).

Someone at work uses longmarsh a lot, and thinks they are great.

I broke a £10 indicator lens on an enterprise transit van. Then took £2000 from my credit card and said they’ll pay me back the balance after the repair.

That was a week ago. I’ve no control over if they say they need to replace the whole mirror.

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The irony here is I used wood to get bike in at home no issue, but nearly came off the ramp at the circuit on the way home!

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These guys are cheap - https://www.pacevanhire.com/

Thanks all, I’m North London but appreciate the hire suggestions. Going with Enterprise and a Renault Master I think, looking at the medium vans the 1.3m internal height is worrying me re loading. The ramp is the most worrying thing for me, haven’t used one for ages and only with a smaller bike.

@me_groovy isn’t that covered by hire insurance?

Hire was £160. The excess waiver fee was another £50. Didn’t justify it as a total to me

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I hired Boris (above) to help me load the bikes under their own power because the bed height was really tall. You’ll need a step. Certainly a friend to help you.

Unloading is a piece of cake.

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on a fwd van, the floor is lower, though i always use the engine to push it in (unless its broken)

Get a van with a tail lift and avoid the need for ramps.

200 mile round trip to get some work done, they must be special.

@T_cat not that many folks who can remap a 990 KTM these days. Part of my reasons for not riding it much has been the well known crap throttle response especially at low speed/part opening.

I’ve used enterprise vans for IKEA shops and moving furniture and was ok, but I returned the van no issues. Check the van throughly and mark items even if it’s within the enterprise acceptance (but close to the edges)

I did have an issue when renting a car recently where they tried to convince me the Corsa they were giving me was the same as the focus size I had requested.

As me_groovy says, if you break something you are at their mercy.

I always take out separate excess insurance for hire cars as a way to insure me against needing to pay their ridiculous fees for excess protection, but how useful it would be if I had needed to, no idea. It used to be cheap but I think insurers have realised this as prices have gone up a lot

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I had help on the way up to get in so was a single piece of wood and 3 people.

When I got home, I constructed this bad boy.

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I always make before and after videos, collecting and dropping off. This time last year Italy Car Rentals in Turin airport tried to stick one of the car’s many scratches on me. I showed them the collection video with the scratch clearly showing. They then tried to accuse me of changing the date on the video. Before resorting to whacking them one, I pointed out the collection video showed it was recorded in a collection bay, different to the drop-off bay.

I do have annual excess insurance, and I know I would have been covered, I could have walked away without the aggro, but I wasn’t letting them have that.

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You’re going to need a bigger van for the ramp lol

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Chop it in half, industrial hinge, it’s a foldable one. If it doesn’t work you can monetise the video to push for the repairs

I think that ramp is longer than my garage!!

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Well decided as the weather is excellent that I will just ride to Peterborough and back. As tempting as it was to build a ramp like the Sleeper, and pretend I am Dougie Lampkin (age related ref) I might as well enjoy an early am ride out!

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