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Author Topic: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018  (Read 2367 times)

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Heatwave

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Review of Reuther’s Motorcycle Tours – July 2018

We recently had a 1-week guided motorcycle tour with Reuther’s Tours in July 2018. This was a destination Guided Motorcycle Tour through southern Germany and the Czech Republic. The “destination” was the Harley-Davidson’s 115th Anniversary Celebration in Prague, Czech Republic. I wanted to capture a review of our experience for this Tour to hopefully help others decide if this type of tour and tour operator would meet their own motorcycling vacation expectations.

COST:
The Tour included motorcycle rental and insurance, 7 nights all “middleclass” hotel accommodations including breakfasts, escort vehicle and driver, onebag/suitcase per person transportation in escort vehicle, Welcome Dinner, Farewell Dinner, fuel, tolls, parking, transfers before and after we picked up the bikes, entrance fee to the Harley Davidson 115th Anniversary event. The cost for this package for a rider and passenger was approx. $7200 (including 10% early bird discount) depending on the exchange rate. (Does not include airfare, trip insurance, meals other than those noted)

THE GOOD:
The logistics for the trip were very well organized. Basic to good hotels (although no AC in most of the accommodations). Checkin and checkout at each hotel was extremely easy and efficient with the advance work done by Reuthers. Excellent breakfasts were included with all accommodations.

A Welcome Dinner and Farewell Dinner were also included in the Tour Price. Reuthers provides a van and driver for the entire tour that handles the on-the-road logistics. Each rider and passenger are allowed 1 large suit case per person that travels in the Van. Even though the rental contract is with each rider, the rental motorcycle can only be ridden with the group tour. In other words, you can’t go off and ride independently from the tour.

Transportation logistics from our first hotel to the Nuremberg Harley Dealership were well planned. Our rental paperwork (which can sometimes be a nightmare) was very smooth, organized in advance and efficiently managed. Outstanding motorcycles. Most in our group had brand new motorcycles as our rentals. Mine was a 2018 Harley Ultra Limited with 12 miles on it to start. We had perfect weather and never needed our rain gear. All gas stops are planned in advanced and are pumped and paid for by the Van driver and Reuthers. So, you never needed to pump or pay for your own gas.

Total motorcycling ride distance was about 1000KMs or a little over 600 miles.

THE BAD:
The original trip billing was somewhat of a hassle. At first there was a discount because we booked the trip by Reuther’s “early bird” deadline. Then the tour operator said we only got the discount because we booked the Tour as a Group which meant we needed to pay as a Group. The Tour operator required international wire transfers (no credit card billing). Unnecessarily confusing.

The lack of AC in most of our hotels after a long sweaty day on a motorcycle was less than desirable. Of course, AC is not available in all hotels in Europe but it would have made the trip more comfortable if the tour operator had reserved hotels that had AC.

As an American, if you were expecting to enjoy a world-renowned local Bavarian beer at lunch…. Forget it. The tour operator would not allow any alcohol consumption by the riders. I get it. Makes sense. But not even a “single” beer was allowed by the riders. Important to know if you thought you might experience a taste of local beer on your tour.

Renting a bike for 7 days and only riding 4 days seemed like a waste.

The longest ride of the trip, from Prague to Nuremberg, was a lost opportunity for a short tour of a local village or something off the highway. The guide seemed to waste time with multiple unnecessary and long stops at highway rest stops, when we could have easily gotten off the highway for a short tour of the Bavarian backcountry. We would have easily made it back in time even with a local ride off the highway.

THE UGLY:
We had a major “blow-up” with the tour guide over WEARING T-SHIRTS WHILE RIDING OUR RENTED MOTORCYCLES. Ridiculous and unnecessary histrionics by the tour guide over wearing t-shirts. It was the second day of riding. Most of us had worn t-shirts on the 1st day and he said nothing. It was 90 degrees, bright sunshine and he was demanding we all wear long sleeve t-shirts or our jackets. We refused and he went ballistic and proceeded to take pictures of each couple on their bike wearing t-shirts as if we were criminals violating some law.

More importantly, on the second day of riding, our guide got lost due to some construction and crazy navigation directions from his GPS. We’ve all been there. No big deal. All he needed to do was safely navigate us back to a safe route. Instead he made a U-turn in the middle of a T-intersection. He was a single rider leading a group of 2-up riders and he’s navigating us to make a U-turn in a difficult downhill intersection that could have ended badly for any of us and we are all very experienced riders. That very unsafe maneuver (particularly when contrasted with his concern for safety about wearing t-shirts) was unforgivable in my opinion for an experienced guide and left me with a negative impression of this tour operator.

SUMMARY:
The Tour overall was an amazing experience with terrific old friends and some wonderful new friends. The cities of Nuremberg, Coburg, Dresden and Prague were truly spectacular. The city tour guides were top-notch. The Harley celebration was fun and the motorcycling in Bavaria was excellent…at least on the days when we were riding.

Would I ride again with this Tour Operator? Tough question … I’d have to think about it long and hard. In the end, I would probably want to try a different Motorcycling Tour Operator that wasn’t quite so “demanding with rules”.
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DesertHOG

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2018, 01:23:35 PM »

Wow. Makes me think a roll your own might be more enjoyable. 4 of 7 bike rental days just sounds like gouging. I have a friend who shipped his own bike for his European bike tour.
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Heatwave

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2018, 01:33:52 PM »

Wow. Makes me think a roll your own might be more enjoyable. 4 of 7 bike rental days just sounds like gouging. I have a friend who shipped his own bike for his European bike tour.

Very true but the logistics of hotels, getting a van and driver to transport your luggage, city tour guides and a motorcycle tour guide is ALOT of leg work. For the money it was well worth it but the limited riding time was a definite trade-off to tour castles, palaces and these amazing cities. I could have just done without some of the Guide's "drama".
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ultrarider123

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2018, 01:40:28 PM »

Great review and helpful comments.  It sounds like the riding area was beautiful but the "host" wasn't.  The total costs seems a bit high for the riding days vs. the rental days even with most everything included but hey, I've never done one of these and that might be right in line. 

Simon's friend shipping his over made me think of one of my friends, Larry Poole.  Larry shipped his FXRP with sidecar to Europe back in the 1990's but he was there riding for almost two months, too.  Made sense in that case.  I've looked at Edelweiss a few different times over the years dreaming and planning but never bit the bullet....maybe one day...

Hey Heatwave, I know you took some pictures.  We would sure like to see 'em.... :2vrolijk_21:
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DesertHOG

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2018, 04:26:07 PM »

I guess if you are sightseeing cities then the guided tour makes a lot of sense. I’d love a 4 to 6 week bike tour and hit several different countries. Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Eastern European countries. Renting that duration gets real expensive.

Haird, you up for an Edelwiess adventure for a CVO group? Some would have to consider riding BMW, Ducati, or KTM bikes :)
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Heatwave

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2018, 05:35:00 PM »

Great review and helpful comments.  It sounds like the riding area was beautiful but the "host" wasn't.  The total costs seems a bit high for the riding days vs. the rental days even with most everything included but hey, I've never done one of these and that might be right in line. 

Simon's friend shipping his over made me think of one of my friends, Larry Poole.  Larry shipped his FXRP with sidecar to Europe back in the 1990's but he was there riding for almost two months, too.  Made sense in that case.  I've looked at Edelweiss a few different times over the years dreaming and planning but never bit the bullet....maybe one day...

Hey Heatwave, I know you took some pictures.  We would sure like to see 'em.... :2vrolijk_21:

Here's the gang in the small German village of Modlareuth, referred to as "Little Berlin", because the town of 400 people was split down the middle for 30 years by the Russians/East Germans from the West Germans. We were on our way to Dresden in the former East Germany.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 05:53:29 PM by Heatwave »
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ultrarider123

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2018, 08:12:49 AM »

I guess if you are sightseeing cities then the guided tour makes a lot of sense. I’d love a 4 to 6 week bike tour and hit several different countries. Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Eastern European countries. Renting that duration gets real expensive.

Haird, you up for an Edelwiess adventure for a CVO group? Some would have to consider riding BMW, Ducati, or KTM bikes :)

Don't mean to thread jack here, Heatwave, but Simon, that's an interesting proposal..... :2vrolijk_21:


Great group pic, by the way.  Ya gotta be thinking of posting more pictures for us, sir... ;D
« Last Edit: August 15, 2018, 08:14:38 AM by Haird »
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Trigger-Man

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2018, 03:41:04 PM »

Good that your European motorcycle adventure had enough pluses that you'd even consider doing it again Heatwave. For anyone else considering a 2-wheel European adventure I offer a different perspective. Back in 2012, my wife and I were checking out similar rental tours in Europe and thought they were of rather short duration (5-10 days) considering the cost of roundtrip air fares. Four weeks in Europe seemed like a minimum and so after significant online research we decided we could ship our very own comfy bike for about the same cost as renting. Here's our rationale for what became our "Bucket List Road Trip":
  • rental tours too short
  • slow paced daily riding mileage wasn't very satisfying
  • not enthused with group/formation riding particularly with others of unknown skills
  • rental motorcycle might not be comfortable or have much storage
  • our own FLTRUSE guaranteed comfortable and equipped with a Zumo GPS loaded with our Ride Planner 5k miles Central European route
  • we could "adventure" at our own pace often staying at "Zimmer Frei" lodging
Living in Hawaii at the time complicated things a bit, but in a nutshell we shipped our FLTRUSE to San Diego; flew to meet it; rode 5k miles cross country (via Sturgis Bike Week) to Toronto; flew our bike to Paris, France (www.MotorcycleExpress.com) and enjoyed a 4 week 5k miles European "adventure of a lifetime"! We then flew the bike back to Toronto for another 5k miles ride to San Diego. For details see: https://motorcycleventscreens.com/bucket-list-motorcycle-road-trip/
All in all an unforgettable memory :2vrolijk_21:! We encourage anyone considering something like this to "JUST DO IT" 8).
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Heatwave

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2018, 04:02:20 PM »

Outstanding!!! Now that's a motorcycle trip!!
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Grizzly

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Re: Euro Guided Motorcycle Tour Review - Reuthers International - 2018
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2018, 04:42:59 PM »

Those are awesome trips you've both enjoyed.

I particularly like the one with the added bonus of a cross-country US/CAN tour - One heck of a trip indeed!

My wife is from Yorkshire, England and we had planned to ship our bikes last spring, but stuff got in the way unfortunately and it was postponed.

We are heading over to visit family for a quick visit next month, but that will also be the start of my planning to ship our two bikes over next spring for our 4-6 week tour of the UK and Europe.

Shipping your own is the only way to go!

Thanks for the great review of the organized tour group and the self serve method, which as stated is what we will be doing, especially after reading the above.  Great reports guys.

    :2vrolijk_21:
« Last Edit: August 29, 2018, 04:46:10 PM by Grizzly »
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