May 1, 2019 - Beginner Biker Adventures

Continuing my Brisbane motorcycle rental adventure on a Yamaha MT09, for my second day I followed a route loosely based on this Rent This Bike blog post, an epic loop heading North West of Brisbane around lake Wivenhoe, taking in Mount Glorious, then North West over to Kingaroy, through Bunya Mountain and then back via Cooyar, Crows Nest and Esk. A substantial ride to do in one day at around 535 km, which left me minimal time to stop and explore along the route, before riding back into Brisbane after dark due to the early autumn nights. Definitely get out on the road early or consider stopping the night halfway for a more leisurely cruise.

So when my boss turned around and asked if I could join him on a sales trip to a prospective customer in Brisbane Australia, I of course jumped at the opportunity. Sure, there was quite a lot of technical prep work setting up demo systems for presentations, the arduous sales meeting itself and the long flights (not business class sadly). But it did afford me a chance to grab a couple of free days to rent a motorcycle in Brisbane and explore some of Australia’s beautiful East Coast. Being my first visit to Australia, I was keen to see as much of it as I could cram into my time there.

Brisbane Motorcycle Rental

For motorcycle rental, a quick Google revealed Eagle Rider had a shop in Brisbane, certainly tempting having rented from them previously in Sam Francisco. However, I also found the smaller local firm Rent This Bike, with a good choice of bikes and very competitive pricing. They were also more flexible on return times, affording me two full days of riding. I only had a Friday and Saturday free time and EagleRider close at 3 pm on Saturdays, whereas Rent This Bike was happy to accommodate pick up and drop-offs from 7 am to 7 pm any day.