Passes & Canyons Blog

The Biker Buddy logo.

I have talked numerous times about the Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) and once at least about Biker Buddy. Both of these are similar to Airbnb in that it’s a matter of motorcyclists providing accommodations for other traveling motorcyclists.

But I haven’t said much lately and there’s a reason: It has been more than two years since we’ve had an MTN guest and in the almost two years since I signed up for Biker Buddy we have had no one contact us about a stay.

Until Monday night. On Monday night I got a Biker Buddy email saying that Maureen would like to stay with us on Tuesday night. That would have been great except we had plans to go to the Rockies game Tuesday night. So what time would she be arriving?

Here’s where it got frustrating. There may be ways to contact potential guests directly but because this was our very first we have no experience in doing so. This thing is an app on my phone and it showed that Maureen had requested a stay. I tried tapping her name, hoping to go to a profile that would list an phone number or email but it did not. I tapped a drop-down menu and one option was “Send an email” but when I tapped that it wanted me to fill in the email address, which I could not do.

What to do? Judy insisted that I cancel the reservation because if we couldn’t be here she should not be coming by expecting us. I did tap the cancel button but was told that a reservation cannot be canceled within 48 hours of the arrival. The only thing that left was the “Confirm reservation” button. If I tapped that we would be confirming but with no idea whether we’d be here when she came. If I did not tap it, perhaps she would call, or else figure out we weren’t able to accommodate her.

On the chance that she might come by because the reservation had not been canceled, I left a note on the front door with my phone number and telling her she was welcome but we would not be home till late. No one was here waiting for us when we got home.

Then on Wednesday I checked my email and found that around 4 p.m. the day before Maureen had emailed me. That was followed up about half an hour later by an email from Ginger, one of the folks who runs Biker Buddy. But I didn’t think to check my email before we left for the game.

It turns out Maureen was expecting to arrive around 10:30 p.m. You never know how long a baseball game will last but this was a short one and we were home before 10:30. It would all have been fine. So darn. We enjoy hosting other bikers when they come through town and we’re sorry we missed Maureen. I explained to Ginger what happened; maybe they’ll revise the app to make it possible for hosts to do what I wanted to do, i.e., directly contact the guest.

So that’s a disappointment. But it’s nice to finally get a request after two years being a member. In the meantime, the Motorcycle Travel Network seems to be fading into the sunset. We had not had a guest in quite awhile but when I checked I found that our membership had expired. So I renewed for two years. Well, that two years expired in February and we had zero guests during that time. That’s sad. We’ve had nothing but good experiences with MTN, both as hosts and guests.

If you are comfortable with the whole Airbnb idea, you really should try one or both of these programs. There is no cost to host on Biker Buddy, while membership in MTN is $40 per year or $60 for two years. Biker Buddy pays you $40 per night to host, while you get $20 per night with MTN. And most importantly, you meet a lot of good people who share your motorcycling passion. Just do it, OK?

Biker Quote for Today

It is incredible what a rider filled with irrational desire can achieve. — Dr. Claudio Costa

The Biker Buddy website.

Everyone is familiar with AirBnB, right? Well, how about something very similar aimed specifically at those of us who ride motorcycles? That’s Biker Buddy. And let me hasten to point out that the URL for this outfit is not “.com” but “.co.” (And just in case I need to be even clearer, that second period between the quote marks is not part of the quote or url, it is the end of the sentence. That’s the way we do it in the U.S., although the Brits put that period outside the quotes.)

I have written many times about the Motorcycle Travel Network and yes, Biker Buddy appears to be a direct competitor for them. The MTN is more casual and you pay less to stay with someone; Biker Buddy handles it all–including payment–via an app and the rate is higher. Specifically, for MTN you pay the host $15 for one person or $20 for two, with each additional person an added $10. With Biker Buddy the fee is $40. And that $40 is a fee, whereas with MTN the $15 or $20 is considered a gratuity to cover expenses.

Technically what that would mean is that if you had a lot of guests via Biker Buddy you would need to deal with the IRS. Presumably the MTN gratuity would not be taxable, although the IRS might differ with that interpretation.

Biker Buddy is so new that I certainly don’t have any experience to relate about it, though I have signed up. Looking at the app, so far I only see a few others signed up in this region, all in Wyoming: three in Casper, one in Newcastle, and two in Upton. Then I see one up in Dickinson, North Dakota, as well. Members also in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas; near Austin, Texas; and near Nashville, Tennessee. That appears to be everybody at this moment.

So what we’re talking here is another way to find an inexpensive place to stay when you’re on the road, with people who share an interest in bikes. We have never had a bad experience with the Motorcycle Travel Network. If you’ve ever used AirBnB you should definitely jump on Biker Buddy. But heck, you really should have been using MTN for years already. I’m going with both.

Biker Quote for Today

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know when to just go riding.