Fz6Daveg
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- Mar 20, 2009
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- Nantwich, Cheshire, UK
I am writing this thread to warn riders out there of a cowboy bike hire outfit trading as the web site shown here...............www dot newhroizonsbikehire dot co dot uk
My brother and I planned a trip to the Assen Moto GP from 26th June. We went to pick up the bike on the 24th June and couldn't believe our eyes. The Honda VFR '02 reg was a "shed on wheels" it had been down the road who knows how many times and the bike hadn't even been cleaned. We have pictures of the heap of muck he ended up with.
It wouldn't start and there was no petrol in it. The owner said it had just had a new battery fitted. We therefore asked him to go and fill it up which he did at his cost, ( the hire does include a tank of fuel and it saved us push starting it)
The day of the trip and at 3.30am it started but only just. The bike was running well and it was the only thing that didn't spoil the days ahead.
Literally ever other petrol stop, I had to push start it.
When we got to the ferry terminal it started over heating. There was no water in the expansion tank so it had obviously had not been serviced knowing we were going to Europe on it.
The worst part of the saga is still to come. When we were taking pictures of our bikes, we noticed it didn't have any tax disc fitted and so we checked all the documents and found out that the AA breakdown service cover had expired together with the insurance certificate that was handed to us.
On our return the owner was confronted and he came out with excuse after excuse but we could tell something was wrong. We went to the trading address of the business but it doesn't exist. We had to collect the bike from a house in Radcliffe, Manchester. (assuming this was his home address)
My brother got £150 refund but only after numerous calls and email to try to locate the owner. It was if he was stalling the collecting to cash the deposit cheque left with him (£750) and having to force the refund out of him by threatening him by not giving him the bike back and calling the police and trading standards first. Luckily my brother had the cheque cancelled.
He collected the bike when he brought the refund and he rode it home.
If we had of been stopped in England or Holland, who knows the problems we would have had trying to explain the problems to the Police.
If there is anyone else out there thinking of hiring bikes, make sure all documents and the bike are in the correct order. We can't believe we never checked them on the day of collection especially looking at the condition of the bike, the owner and his house.
My brother and I planned a trip to the Assen Moto GP from 26th June. We went to pick up the bike on the 24th June and couldn't believe our eyes. The Honda VFR '02 reg was a "shed on wheels" it had been down the road who knows how many times and the bike hadn't even been cleaned. We have pictures of the heap of muck he ended up with.
It wouldn't start and there was no petrol in it. The owner said it had just had a new battery fitted. We therefore asked him to go and fill it up which he did at his cost, ( the hire does include a tank of fuel and it saved us push starting it)
The day of the trip and at 3.30am it started but only just. The bike was running well and it was the only thing that didn't spoil the days ahead.
Literally ever other petrol stop, I had to push start it.
When we got to the ferry terminal it started over heating. There was no water in the expansion tank so it had obviously had not been serviced knowing we were going to Europe on it.
The worst part of the saga is still to come. When we were taking pictures of our bikes, we noticed it didn't have any tax disc fitted and so we checked all the documents and found out that the AA breakdown service cover had expired together with the insurance certificate that was handed to us.
On our return the owner was confronted and he came out with excuse after excuse but we could tell something was wrong. We went to the trading address of the business but it doesn't exist. We had to collect the bike from a house in Radcliffe, Manchester. (assuming this was his home address)
My brother got £150 refund but only after numerous calls and email to try to locate the owner. It was if he was stalling the collecting to cash the deposit cheque left with him (£750) and having to force the refund out of him by threatening him by not giving him the bike back and calling the police and trading standards first. Luckily my brother had the cheque cancelled.
He collected the bike when he brought the refund and he rode it home.
If we had of been stopped in England or Holland, who knows the problems we would have had trying to explain the problems to the Police.
If there is anyone else out there thinking of hiring bikes, make sure all documents and the bike are in the correct order. We can't believe we never checked them on the day of collection especially looking at the condition of the bike, the owner and his house.
