It’s no secret that sales have been a little slow for some manufacturers, Harley Davidson for one. It seems the Harley rental program is growing in the six years of operation starting with 6 participating dealerships to 250 now. It probably is a good way to get some potential buyers hooked or reacquainting past riders with the fun they used to have.
You need to be a little more careful renting motorcycles, I’d imagine, just being sure the person knows how to ride to begin with and insurance might be an issue but I think it’s a good idea. The used rentals become recent model used bikes for sale after getting rental income for some time so the dealer might make a few bucks with it and if renters opt for a new bike after renting, the dealer really benefits.
Dealer demo models are nice but those are usually used for short rides, you don’t get your friends together and go for an afternoon ride on demos. Harley sales are still flat but perhaps without the rentals they would be down even more. Good idea.