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A Big Kahuna Motorcycle Tours & Rentals
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14 reviews for A Big Kahuna Motorcycle Tours & Rentals
Bored? rent a scooter and muck around town!
$35 to rent a 50cc scooter for a day. Its a Sym brand (from Taiwan, not bad). I'd rather do a Vespa or Buddy, but gotta take what they got.
I got there slightly before 9 am and there was only 1 left.
Great service and friendly staff. The lady noted all dings, dents, and scratches that I was pointing out. The guy (Larry the owner) was very thorough in going through how to operate everything on the scooter. Included in the rental was a huge chain-linked lock (mandatory) and helmet (half-shell, optional).
So this scooter was like my deathtrap. ... against my better judgment and MSF, I went around without the helmet on. I topped out at 30-35 mph indicated, most likely real speed around 25-30? I went around diamond head a few times, punch bowl memorial, around waikiki beach, some various locations for food, and back to diamond head later in the day to hike up ($1 to get in on the scooter, same as pedestrian price, cheaper than $5 car fee).
Quite fun. FYI, they have no insurance so you're liable for all damage (but maybe your insurance covers it if you have motorcycle coverage).
Oh yeah, if you have some, bring ear plugs. The wind might hurt after a while (especially the coast side around diamond head).
BTW, Hawaii is a no lane-splitting state. I did see a cruiser get pulled over for doing it.
Ten bucks each for a half-day on bicycles around Waikiki? Right on, sign me up. Larry, the owner and his wife were very accomodating. We're not big spenders, and they still hooked us up. Nice bikes. I took a cruiser, wifey grabbed a ten speed. Locks were free :)
Unfortunately, 45 minutes in, my wife's front tire went flat. Total BUMMER! We ended up at the King Kamehameha statue on foot looking for an ATM, and then got on a bus back to the shop. It was no one's fault really, and Larry offered to let us keep the bikes til the next morning, or a free ride during the week sometime.
Cheap entertainment. Gotta love it.
PS- A lot of the streets are one-way. It's difficult to navigate, especially if you're out of towners. We had no idea where the heck we were a couple times. Typical tourists!
Don't rent a bike here!!! We rented a Black Street Glide for 3 days. On the 2nd day we noticed a scratch on the saddle bag but weren't too concerned because the rental contract indicated there was a scratch already there. When we returned the bike they indicated that wasn't the scratch they indicated and we ended up having to pay $180 for it!!!!! They also tried to say that we put several other scratches on it. My husband has been riding bikes for over 15 years & never once has he scratched any of his bikes! This place is ridiculous and I would not recommend renting a bike from there. We heard from several others that they are terrible..... PLEASE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!
First off, I'm from Philadelphia and I came to Waikiki on a business trip but had one day totally to myself. Being that I have a motorcycle license I wasn't limtied to just 50cc mopeds and, not knowing a thing about Hawaii and never having been there, I just Google'd for motorcycle rentals in Waikiki. Big Kahuna Rentals was the first one to pop up and I'm glad it did.
First off, they have a good selection of bikes. There's Harleys and big cruisers as well as 50cc scooters (no motorcycle license required) and bicycles. But what got me was the BMW GS800F, which looks really snazzy in yellow and black and is an enduro style touring bike. The bike was in great shape (looked new) and Larry, the owner, took time to run over the bike to mark down any scratches that were on it before I took off, as well as a thorough review of how to operate all the controls and to ensure the gas tank was full.
I spent seven hours on the bike and rode from Honolulu to Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, North Shore, all along the top end of the island to Kaehone Bay, and back up through the mountains on the Pali highway back to Waikiki. The bike seemed totally in its element whether in the city, highway, twisty roads, or gravel parking lot of one of the many beaches you can stop at along the way. Even after topping off the fuel tank before returning it I played all day for under $150 out the door -- a total bargain.
But two days later on my last evening here my business wrapped up early before noon and I found myself with some spare time, so I went back and rented a Sym 50cc scooter...as a returning customer I got 10% off...only $25 for four hours! The scooter was tight and didn't in any way have a "death trap" feel that some scooters might have, Sym is a solid brand. I rode up to Diamond Head and hiked to the summit and got all around Waikiki and a few surrounding areas to try out the local eateries and snackeries (Genki Sushi, Bubbies Ice Cream, Waiola Bakery and Shave Ice, Larry's Bakery, etc). If you ride bikes but never gave a scooter a try, do yourself a favor: it's totally different and totally a hoot. And if you never ride but know how to balance a bicycle, you can do a scooter easy. Even going up the hill to Diamond Head I could get 30mph so you're not holding up traffic and I'm a big guy so that's no small thing. Also, in the congestion of Waikiki it's right at home. You get a helmet (optional) and a heavy duty chain and lock to secure the scooter so no one will try to steal it -- a good thing since theft can happen. I rode the scooter for four hours and used 0.6 gallons of gas -- you can't beat it.
Now for the good/bad news. Bad: I scratched up the side of the scooter when I dropped it in the parking lot of Diamond Head due to an error on my part while making a low speed U-turn to park -- I must have been the 7th person to do that because it already had scratches on it. Good: Larry was VERY fair about it -- it was superficial and in a spot already scratched up so he let me off with a warning, phew! There's other places to rent motorcycles in Waikiki and about a thousand scooter places, but do yourself a favor and go see Larry at Big Kahuna...in my opinion, better rates (he offers half day and 4 hour rates, other people don't), the rates are inclusive of insurance, better selection of bikes and solid scoots, and of course Larry is a biker so he knows how things work. Hawaii really is better on two wheels!
This place is ok. We didn't have the bad experience like a few others, thankfully. But because this place is well advertised, they run out of scooters REALLY FAST and they don't even have that many to begin with. We got lucky and got the last 2 scooters. We rented them for 24 hours @ $40 each. They come with lock and chain and helmets (which is optional). The Japanese lady that was helping us was really helpful and nice. They were really good about marking up all of the scratches and we pointed out some to them that they didn't see.
There is nothing fancy about their scooters, but if you are just trying to get around the city, it's the perfect choice!
There are so many bike rental places in Waikiki, stay away from this one. The people working there are extremely unfriendly,and rude!
I had a great experience with Big Kahuna! The Asian lady was very friendly and extremely courteous. I rented a bicycle, helmet & lock, for two days for ~$30. Got to ride up past Diamond Head to the Sandy Beach Park twice, which was a blast. You can't beat the price!
I arrived early (before 10 AM) so you may get a better choice (a 'newer' bike) of the pickings if you're an early-arriver and appeal with some common courtesies. i.e. I got a 'new" bike.
Anyway, there are not That many deals to be had in Waikiki, but this is one of them!
Stay away from this bike rental! There is another review just like what happen to me. I rent a scooter for four hours. Never even got off the bike mind you. I get back early to return the bike and I was accused of scratching the scooter. How can I scratch it if I never got off of it. Go anywhere to rent your bike or moped then here. They are trying to get over! BEWARE!
Screw riding a HAWG on the islands... If you wanna blend in with the locals, you gotta get yourself onto a piece-o-crap 50cc scooter! Not only that, but make sure you're wearing shorts and flip-flops cos that's how they roll over there. This little shop a few blocks up from Waikiki Beach is probably as good as any other to rent a scooter from if you're so inclined. They have a decent supply of scoots and the lady behind the counter is friendly enough and will help you find the least ill-fitting of the ill-fitting helmets they have in stock. She'll also inform you that they don't offer insurance of any kind in case you bin it, "not even a little bit," so I strongly advise you avoid getting hit by a car and dying, because that would most *definitely* ruin the rest of your vacation. Well, most probably, anyway.
Just FYI, these scooters can only go up to about 35MPH with a tailwind (I thought it was going faster until I realized I was looking at the KPH meter), and you can't go on highways. But then again, going on a highway on one of these things would be certain suicide, so never mind.
AWFUL! The Asian lady running the desk was nice, until we came back to the store to return our bikes. She "yelled" at me that there were "two flat tires" and upon inspection they seemed a little low. She then REFUSED to try to put more air in them and attempted to grab from my hand the deposit slip that she had already returned. She said that if I did not give it to her that she would call the police. I gave it back to her knowing that I was already going to dispute the charge with my credit card. Sure enough, when my statement came there was a charge from that date. Choose another company, these people are greedy and rude.
pros... one of the many two-wheeled rentals in waikiki. loved this one cause i could rent a super scooty, which is one with over 250cc. in fact the last time i was here, my wife and i rented a yamaha majesty 400 cc scooter. it was great to scoot around the island two up. it is just the way to go while in the islands. easy to ride, and park and even has a huge "trunk" under the seat.
besides the scooters, she also has bikes, trikes, and motorcycles for rental as well. you can rent them for hours, half a day or more. i think the best rental is a 49-50cc scooter, cause you don't need a motorcycle license to ride it.
cons... the scooter itself was not as nice as i expected, as it was sub-par compared to my super scooty here at home. it buzzed and rattled even though she said it was new. so she let me return it half full.
wassup guys, forget the other reviews! this place is awesome. the owner, larry is a great and helpful guy. he really cares about his customers and i would totally come back. i just met him this trip to hawaii and will see him soon. thanks again larry.
This guy is totally sheisty, do not rent from him under any circumstances. I was going to rent an R6 from him for a day, but after talking with the owner I decided to go somewhere else. Before renting the R6, i asked him what his damage policies were. I figured there were a lot of people that rented that may lay the bike down or drop it or so on, so there must be a policy that if A happens then the penalty is B. No such luck, the system is that he takes an open carbon copy of your credit card and he assess the damages. Okay, so maybe that's fair as long as the pre-existing damages are noted and documented. When I asked him to pull the bike out so i could note damages he refused and asked me what i wanted to see the bike for. I told him i was hesitant about renting from him based on the previous yelp reviews and he said if you are that worried, go somewhere else. I ended up going to Chase Hawaii Rentals and was very satisfied.
I wish I could give a negative, but one star would do in this situation. A friend and I recently rented mopeds on a Thursday afternoon. Renting was all good, the beginning that is. Larry Valle seemed nice, and I wouldn't have expected (suspected?) anything else. He gave us the forms to sign and what looked like his own inspection. He didn't give us a walk around but rushed us to sign it. So we did. He also said gas should be where it is, or he can fill it up for you for $10. Gas that weekend was 4.01 a gallon, and split between the mopeds, we still over-filled!
We took the mopeds to Hanauma bay on the main road. Didn't hit anything, no one hit us, we even parked right in front of the attendant at the bay.
Fast forward 6 hours later. Keep in mind, we have only ridden the mopeds for about 20-30 min. We get gas, go back...he looks at the mopeds...then ask, did you have a problem with this? To my friends' moped (which was faster than mine by the way), to which we say no...Then he turns into somebody totally different, says that we "scratched" his mopeds!
Now we shake our heads in disbelief. How can that happen? We rode it straight to the bay and back only. Only one other stop to get gas, how did we get a scratch on some piece of shit mopeds? The peds looked junked enough to begin with and we never thought twice. He did his own "inspection" and had everything "pointed out" on his drawings, but rushed us to sign the papers.
Then he proceeded to say, "I wanna believe you, but it's my merchandise...it's your responsibility..." We tell him that if we scratched it, we would have been injured ourselves. So my friend says that he's gonna dispute it, to where he says, go ahead. He knows his merchandise...Then my friend goes, how much would it cost to replace it? So Larry Valle then, and I quote, says, "That's how we should have been talking, instead of getting ugly into the dispute..." OK...what the fuck? Are you scamming us? We ask how much, he says, we have to go inside and talk...we go inside, and he has a price list...HANDWRITTEN...i thought he was going to call a scooter company or type something up on a computer...he says $30. I know it's only $30, but he's scamming a LOCAL (my friend), not even a tourist....I left and was sadden to see my friend come back and telling me he paid him the $30. But got a t shirt out of it....a $5 t shirt...stay away from this SCAMMER, shop around as I hear there are BETTER DEALZ...We went to this place b/c of convenience...Freak that, we're going out of our way next time....
Make sure you take pictures of the mopeds or anything you rent if you have a digital camera handy...and make sure you have the guy in the picture so he doesn't try to screw around with you and said you took it late...I didn't think scammers/moochers existed anymore...To scam a tourist(me) is one thing, but to scam your own(locals)...oh man, I don't know if I would be able to keep face...
If you decide to go here...and he gives you scooter#20, look on the left side, if there's a scratch, point that bitch out and put him on blast...I'm hoping the people reading this aren't going to go...This was the only negative on my whole vacation...please, save yourself the trouble!
