[adouglas]

It occurs to me that a rental business is really a maintenance business... as in, you'll always be trying to keep bikes on the road. It will never, ever end. It is likely that at ay given time, part of your fleet will be down and not making you money.

Maintenance and cosmetics are very important. Consider that if your bikes aren't in good condition (which is not the same thing as "rideable" condition"), people won't want to rent from you. Would the average person want to rent a bike with rashed fairings or duct-taped turn signals?

So that means....

- lots and lots of spares with a place to store them (at a wild guess, a half a bike's worth of spares for every bike on the road). More emphasis on the stuff that breaks in a tip-over or is easily damaged through use (plastics, handlebars, brake/clutch/gearshift levers, turn signals, mirrors, seat vinyl, etc. etc.), less on stuff that will survive a minor accident unscathed (frame/swingarm, wheels, etc.)

- a healthy stock of normal wear items (tires, chains, brake pads)

- at least one dedicated mechanic on staff

- a place to work on bikes + a place to park the whole fleet

- proper tools, and lots of 'em

- budget to allow inspection and maintenance every time the bike gets rented (how many hours of maintenance will be required per rental day? How much will one hour of maintenance cost you?)

So let's say you pay your mechanic minimum wage (a non-starter, but just for argument's sake), and get rent a place to do business (store bikes, work on bikes, deal with customers), and oh by the way keep enough to pay yourself enough to eat....

Easy to see that this is one very expensive proposition.

Oh, and don't forget budgeting for transport. You're going to have to go retrieve bikes that don't make it back.