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Portugal on a rental

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:16 am
by Arends
I am starting this, to keep motivated to take pictures. I am flying to Lisbon on Saturday, and we are renting RT on Monday to rid around the country for the week.
It will be my first "fly&ride" holiday, so fingers crossed. We are flying with pannier bag and a helmet bag each.

Photos and scribbles to follow soon.

By the way, if you have any practical notes on riding a rented bike, I am happy to read and make my own mind :mrgreen:

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:27 am
by Steve398
Before you accept the bike:

Check that everything is present and working

Take a video all over the bike, this will prove that any damage that shows was already there, and may save you from paying for damage you haven’t done.

Enjoy! 👍

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2024 10:05 pm
by Old Foxy
+1 on Steve's comments. Done it twice in Australia, with no issues.

Enjoy your trip.

Old Foxy

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2024 2:51 pm
by jesim1
+2 on Steve's comments, also be aware of the carrying capacity and don't over pack, an air Hawke or similar is not a bad shout, it can make a potentially tough trip far better.

Do you have the BMW connect app for the sat nav function? You can also download maps for the area on it in advance at home so it's not as reliant on mobile data :thumb:

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2024 4:05 pm
by Arends
I was app-free so far, that's why I like my 2015 Blue Whale. But I'll give it a go while I am on wifi at home.

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2024 4:41 am
by ingridguerci94
I am starting this, to keep motivated to take pictures. I am flying to Lisbon on Saturday, and we are renting RT on Monday to rid around the country for the week.
It will be my first "fly&ride" holiday, so fingers crossed. We are flying with pannier bag and a helmet bag each.

Photos and scribbles to follow soon.

By the way, if you have any practical notes on riding a rented bike, I am happy to read and make my own mind :mrgreen:
Sounds exciting! Make sure to check the bike thoroughly before you ride and familiarize yourself with Portugal's traffic laws. Plan your routes carefully and pack light but essential items. Stay safe on the roads. Meet and have sex with beautiful girls. Have a great trip and looking forward to seeing your photos!

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2024 12:28 pm
by Arends
Well, I am back and we both survived. And I can say that both me and my partner had pretty equal amount of sex, but not with locals. Still, thanks for the hint, ingridguerci94 :mrgreen:

We went with Hertz Ride rental, as they had 1250RT with all three panniers available. Not the cheapest, but I like Hertz.

Unfortunately, their Lisbon office is their busiest, and we came a bit too late to avoid the midday crowd. The bike had only around 3000km on the clock and was pre-dropped on one side.

We had 5 days of riding, having everything from meagre 12 degrees in the rain to sunny 27 degrees in city traffic. We rode about 1200km in total and chicken strips went down to 1cm. There were routes we took, where I could not get to higher gear than the 3rd, with my foot on the rear brake for over an hour. And I haven't touched the surface of neither motorway nor a tolled road.

Local drivers have the advantage of knowing the route, so although I was enjoying myself, I had to let them pass.

Living for a week from one pannier bag is doable, when you have peg-less clothes line with you.

1250RT does not have phone/satnav mount, and I could not get my phone connected, so my navigation was only via audio messages from Google maps on my phone. It worked well outside cities and medieval villages, and allowed me to focus purely on the riding without glancing down on the squiggly line on the phone screen.

Comparing to my 10-year old 1200RT, the gear box is smoother and quieter, quick shifter more civilised, but the screen and menu are painful. Also, the shift-cam change is noticeable and caught my by surprise a few times. And it was always unpleasant surprise. The gearbox felt "sticky" when it warmed up, which I found on my Blue Whale too, but I wanted it to compare to a new bike.

Having done low-speed manoeuvre training couple of weekends before the trip definitely helped.

Overall, Portugal is fantastic place to ride a motorbike and I have a proof below, that RT is a pussy-magnet...
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Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 3:04 pm
by Quico
Well, I'm a bit late now, but I'm from Lisbon, Portugal.

Next time let me know you're coming (drop pm) and I'm glad to show you some nice roads, good restaurants, and places like Serra da Arrábida, Sintra or Cabo da Roca, the most westernmost point of Europe.

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 3:28 pm
by burridge01
Quico wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 3:04 pm Sintra or Cabo da Roca, the most westernmost point of Europe.
Did that a few years ago on me GSX1250, nice roads round there.
Image

On me way back I stopped at an old forty thing,minding me own business I looked out to the cliffs and saw these men(zoom in)fishing,stood right on the edge with a line over the side.Sod that.

Image

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2024 10:41 pm
by Quico
burridge01 wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 3:28 pm Did that a few years ago on me GSX1250, nice roads round there.
Image
Sorry to disapoint you but thats not the westernmost point.
That's cape Saint Vincent lighthouse (Farol do Cabo de São Vicente) in Sagres, southwesternmost point of Europe. :cheers:

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 7:00 am
by burridge01
The bloody liars.Right then,that means I've got to go to Portugal again :thumb: So it is the furthest point south westerly in Europe,think that may do on me hit list.

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2024 11:35 am
by Arends
We both enjoyed Portugal immensely. For the next time, we think about flying to Porto, as it is closer to the Serra da Estrela Nature Park, that we had to mostly skip due to bad weather.

The national roads (especially N2) were revelation to me. I've never leaned my bike that much! And still I was being overtaken by delivery vans :P

Re: Portugal on a rental

Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2024 1:55 pm
by Arends
The approximate route...
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