Modern Vespa

Does anyone know of a national company that rents pick-up trucks? I need to transport my bv200. The scooter is 7 feet long with a wheelbase of about 5 feet. Enterprise rents trucks but only with 6 ft beds. Any and all help appreciated!!
I've been without a scooter for two weeks and it's been tough!

Bob

U-haul rents pickup trucks with an 8' bed. They say "available in select locations" so you'll need to check with your local U-haul.

-Craig

You should be able to get a 7' bike in a 6' truck just fine, see the other thread on a similar subject. Yours will just have to be a bit more sideways.

Check National, they have pretty good rates on pickup rentals... I don't know about 7' beds, they do have a full size trucks, so that might be possibility. Personally, I would go for a smaller truck for better fuel mileage, and just transport the bike with the tailgate down.

As jimc points out, it may well fit corner to corner. In any case, the 6' bed of a pickup suddenly gets a couple of feet longer when you drop the tailgate. I can't imagine any reason why you could not adequately secure a 7' long scooter under those circumstances. Use a real wheel chock or a jury-rigged one, a set of canyon dancers or equivalent tie-downs to the handgrips and another tie-down strap over the back of the seat. Should be secured well enough.

You may need to rent a big U-haul truck. Their pickups are really only for around town.
Othwerwise, I don't know of any car rental compnies that rent pickups, and none of them will let you tow.

Any pick ups I've rented from car rental places have had hard tops over the beds Someone like U-haul or Budget is probably your best bet. Possibly an extended Econoline such as Budget rents would work as well as a pickup depending on height.

Lowes hardware rents trucks by the hour. Mainly just for customers to get stuff home. 8' beds.

Is it OK to transport with the tailgate down? I've never owned a truck. Do they "lock" down? I'd hate to hit a big bump and have it lift and push the scoot up and out of place. Enterprise does have nice trucks with tie-down points. I have a canyon dancer and all the necessary tie-downs. I bought an el-cheapo wheel chock/stand from harbour freight. It's their heavy duty deal that looks like it has some stability without being bolted down. Do you think this combo will work? I have to drive about 1.5 hours away. When it's done (hopefully this summer ) I'll ride it home. I don't care if it takes me all day...

Tailgate won't bounce.

Thanks!

I guess I'm ready to give this a go. I'm still diligently trying to buy another scooter that I can get parts for and serviced locally. Going to have to be Japanese. My dealer that was an hour away went out of business now I'm going 1 1/2 hours away. This is getting to be too much. Got to have a back-up. Kinda sad since I think the bv line is one of the best out there... Life's a compromise.

I've rented a pickup from U-haul....expensive. The next-time I rented a light weight motorcycle trailer (with a ramp) from U-haul for $20.00. I pulled it with my Honda Civic with no problem.

I was just about to suggest this. Much cheaper, and easier to load as well. That is if you have a tow hitch on your car, of course...

I do have a hitch but I use it for my bicycle carrier. The car is a Nissan Sentra- automatic. The manual says that it can pull 1000 lbs. That trailer from u-haul is 550lbs and and my bv is probably 375lbs. I'd be cutting it close-no? I'd hate to ruin the car/transmission over this. Or am I being over-protective? Anyone have a beer handy??

Bob

How far do you have to go? It is a little close to the limit, but there is a safety buffer built into the limit as well. You should be fine, unless you have a lot of hills to negotiate, and a lot of stop and start driving might also put a it of strain on it. Overall, i think you'll be fine, though. You should be able to easily throw the bicycles on the trailer as well...

HaHa have a beer man. I towed it with my Civic (w/ 170K miles on it) over 300 miles, no sweat. Big hills will be an issue but I did fine in the Georgia sand hills, mountains may be another story