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About Us

Wild Rider Motorcycles is the friendly operator for affordable 4x4 car rental and for off-road motorcycle fun in Costa Rica. Discover the beauty and the diversity of its unique nature and wilderness on two wheels or in a 4x4 car. Climb the highest volcanoes, discover the tropical rainforests and some of the numerous national parks, or just explore one of the endless beaches. Whatever you want to do on a motorcycle or with a car and wherever you want to go in Costa Rica: The Wild Rider team will help you to make your plans come true!

If you are looking to rent a car, you might ask yourself why a car rental calls itself "Wild Rider". The reason is simple.........because it all started with motorcycles.

WILD RIDER Motorcycle Rental & Tours

In the mid-90´s, Thomas Brennenstuhl, the German owner and founder of Wild-Rider Motorcycles, started operating the Hotel Ritmo del Caribe B&B in San Jose. As more and more hotel guests asked for renting a motorcycle, he soon bought his first Suzuki DR350 to satisfy these needs. As the business grew rapidly, a good mechanic was needed, who one day suddenly appeared on the front door of the hotel door in form of a Rumanian guy called Coco, who was seeking work. “Any kind of work” he said “but preferably as a mechanic”. And indeed he was a good mechanic. However, he had a serious problem called “love”. As his girlfriend stayed behind in Rumania, he spent more money on international phone calls than he ever could earn. After several months, he finally gave up and returned to Rumania.

After a couple of mechanics that were less reliable (to put in nice words), Thomas decided it was necessary to look after the maintenance of the bikes himself and rather get some help in the office instead. And once again, the right person turned up. Thorsten, a German countryman of Thomas, spent his vacation in 2002 in Costa Rica and stayed his first night at the Hotel Ritmo del Caribe. As he is crazy about motorcycles, he of course saw the bikes parked in front of the hotel and asked the receptionists if he could rent one. The receptionist replied that all bikes were reserved and the only available had some engine problems. A few minutes later Thorsten himself sat in front of the hotel and took the carburetor of the bike apart (and successfully back together!). So the next day he could go on a large motorcycle tour.

As you do a lot of thinking, when riding on a bike through Costa Rica, Thorsten thought of his job back in Germany he did not like, the cold weather and his livelong dream to run a motorcycle rental one day. So when he returned the bike, he asked Thomas if he wasn’t looking for a new business partner. The outcome was that Thorsten went back to Germany only to quit his job and apartment and to pack a few things together and then went right back to Costa Rica to join the Wild Rider team.

Finally, they also found another good mechanic: Jairo, a very reliable and always-smiling young Costa Rican, who has been working on bikes since he was 10 years old, as he says, has been a part of Wild Rider since 2003.

As the business grew, we constantly replaced our motorcycle fleet. Today we count with around 20 dual-sport bikes ranging from 250cc to 650cc. The average age of our bikes is around 2 years. Replacing the bikes on a regular basis helps us to prevent mechanical failure and to offer reliable units to our customer for their personal adventure.

While many motorcycle rental agencies do not permit the off-road use of their motorcycles, we encourage our customers to discover the numerous dirt- and gravel trails of Costa Rica. We therefore equip all of our motorcycles with good dual-sport tires, perfect for on- and off-road us. Upon request, we can also put on pure off-road tires (knobbies).

How it continued:

WILD RIDER Car Rental

Through the 1990's it had been impossible to rent a 4x4 car in high season at a halfway decent price. And even today, a number of car rentals charge outrageous rates on 4x4 in the busy time between December and April. Seeing a potential to complement the very seasonal motorcycle business with the rental of economic 4x4, Thomas and Thorsten bought their first couple of Suzuki Samurais to rent them out. With the growing success, they soon managed to also buy the more modern and comfortable Daihatsu Terios. These extremely reliable and fuel-efficient 4x4 were optimized for the bad Costa Rican road conditions. We replace all standard shock-absorbers with more durable units and instead of the standard street-tires, all of our cars are equipped with extra-durable off-road tires.

Today, we are counting with 30 cars in our 4x4 rental fleet. While offering cars that are very well maintained and always come with very good tires, we still manage to offer the best rental rates in the market.

Wild Rider today:

With the rental business constantly growing, we decided in 2003 to move our office to a new, more spacious location on Paseo Colon. Our customers have the option to pick up the vehicle at our office, or to have it delivered to their hotel in San Jose. Against a small fee, we will also deliver cars directly to the airport or to other locations outside of San Jose.

The maintenance and repair of all of our cars and motorcycles is done exclusively in our own work-shop. This guarantees that all vehicles will be in perfect condition when rented out. Thomas himself is supervising all repair works and can count with 35 years of experience as a mechanic.

While in 1997 the maintenance of our first bikes still had to be done the hotel's parking lot under the open sky, today we count with a modern workshop and the latest equipment.

Our services

We believe in helping and advising each traveler individually, to realize his or her very own plans of how to discover Costa Rica. Especially when it comes to motorcycle tours, we prefer to work with rather small groups of riders. Even if you are traveling on your own, we are more than glad to advise you on which places to visit, where to stay and what to see. With contacts all over Costa Rica, we can also organize hotel reservations etc. for you. We also offer complete tour-packages for groups, including permanent technical assistance, luggage transports, road books, hotel reservations and special activities (river-rafting, horseback-riding, Canopy-Tours, hiking, guided tours to National Parks etc.).

Our rental rates are all-inclusive. That means we do not work with hidden costs or fees that are added onto the initial offer. With us, you only pay what you have been quoted. Not a cent more!

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