Camper rental question
 

I recently bought a used Time Out pop up to pull behind the bike. Really a pretty cool trailer, 320lbs, , queen size bed and a ton of room. It even fit in the back of my Ranger to bring it home.. I've towed it a bit and have some camping planned as soon as the weather cooprrates... Anyhow, my question is, with the price of these things being so damn high, I'm curious if theres be a market to rent it out. Knowing I wont use it near enough as I'd like. I thought it might be something that someone either on the fence about buying one, or only wanting to camp a week or two a year would want to rent.. Being an Evo guy, I prefer to bounce it off you guys..

I'd prefer to have a toy hauler behind my truck.
why not rent it out on craigslist. You could try to get a few hundred for a weekend at a time. Right?

Since you asked, I'll tell you a couple of problems I can see right off with your idea.
1. For someone to rent one of them they would need to have a hitch on their bike. Most of us don't.
2. I've never pulled a trailer behind a bike, but have done so with a car and truck. There are a few "skills" involved in doing so safely and I'm sure that applies even more so when talking about a bike. Most of us don't have those skills and short term periodic renting for short trips isn't a good way to gain them.
3. Last and certainly not least...you'll have to deal with INSURANCE and LAWYERS. Good Luck with that.
I've looked at those units myself with the idea that I might want one but opted instead for a decent tent and "air bed", (not a pad or thin pool float kind of thing).
Since any trip I'm on will be on the bike....I've already identified the best possible weather so I'm not intentionally running into any weather extremes, although they do sometimes happen. When they do, my setup has been OK for those short term occasions.

Good tips.. since I've been doing these 2-4wk trips, weather hs been an issue at times, driving me into hotels/motels or cabins if I could find them. Not to mention my lazy ass not feeling like setting up camp after a 10hr day on the bike. This bread my desire to "try" a trailer. Having never towed with my bike either, the $3500 price tag was hard to swallow. After some research and craigslist searching, I finally found a deal that I couldn't pass on an older '95 model in very good condition. Short, around town trips proved that it's hardly noticeable behind the bike and I like it, so I'll keep it for my and my girl. But, this 4wk excursion to Alaska, I've decided will be done with my tent and no trailer. Simple reason is that the roads and conditions may appear to be more unpredictable. I really dont want to add the added variable of a trailer to this 10kmi trip.. plus, there is a little more to it than simply crawling in a box at the end of the day. My tent is just about as easy to set.. Point behind this story, I didnt know till I bought it. I had already installed a trailer hitch on the bike and intended to go for it. Had this been a new trailer, that I paid full price for, I'd be more inclined to force my hand and take it. That's kind of why I thought about renting. If it were available to me before buying, it would have answered of questions. The reason I decided to pose the question of the logic to you guys is the level of trust in ability to you guys vs newbies in the other boards. I'll definitely have to give it more thought, rather than publicizing a rental, I may just consider it on an individual basis. I'm appreciating the feedback.

That was my first thought, although there is a website/biz, that provides advertising, insurance and the process for anyone wanting to rent any type of camper. It would actuall pay to the trailer in a relatively short time.. not sure if wear and tear would be any better or worse than sitting though.

Mrs B and I have a 'proper' small campervan and travelled from the UK to Dubrovnic in Croatia and back last summer. We came across bikers camping at each site we stopped at, including three Gold Wing owners with similar trailer tents. We watched them arrive and pitch up - what a faff! If you're not going to use yours much then sell it!

That may happen, figure I'll see how much I use it this year. If I didn't travel solo, I think it would be awesome, especially for a multiple night stay somewhere.. it definitely does appear to be more of a gold wing thing, haha..

The three bikes I mentioned were two couples and a 'batchelor' - all of them old enough to know better! The solo chap took an eternity setting up his rig, whereas the two couples at least looked reasonable capable. All their trailers were 'clam-shell' type, doubling their floor area once opened up. At least we have oil-fired central heating in our camper!

haha, they are definately a different crowd.. I've even seen them traveling with a bimini top, like you'd find on a boat... this one is surprisingly easy to set up, 15min and I've got a queen bed, table and chairs.. just hard to justify it for a 25-30 day trip, set up and break down every night.. then, there are 2 more tires, wheel bearings, lights, parking issues, etc.. not for this trip..
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...b852633888.jpg
Pulls surprisingly well.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...d30c9b048c.jpg
This is from their website
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...a8cbf94286.jpg
Interior shot..

I've just spend the time since my last post looking for a trailer similar to those three, but without success. Amazing how many variations of trailer tent there are available for towing behind a bike!