When Danielle listed her bike on Twisted Road she never thought it would bring her this close to the moto community and earn her money. She listed her motorcycle for rent in LA, and her bike is always out earning her money.
She took the time to tell us about her scrambler, her youtube fame, and robotics.
Hey Danielle - let's start with an easy one. Where do you live?
In West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
How long have you been riding?
I grew up with dirt bikes, bicycles, etc., and started riding motorcycles in 2015. Traffic in LA is really bad and a few friends said, “You should get a bike, and come ride with us.” I’m a design geek — my job is to put big, automated robots into factories all over the United States — so when I heard that Ducati was releasing a revamp of the scrambler, I fell in love with it on Instagram. It’s known as sort of a millennial bike, totally targeted to me and I fell for it. I signed up to take a safety course and after the first day, I went to the dealership and got that Ducati before I even had my license and passed the test the next day, and have been riding ever since.
Ride of choice?
2015 Ducati Scrambler. It’s a 70’s throwback cafe racer style.
Are you an Owner and/or Renter on Twisted Road?
I’ve been on both sides. I’ve rented out my bike probably 25 times now, but I’ve only rented once so far — and it was a local rental. A female artist visiting LA rented my bike for a week and it happened to fall during the Pride Parade. I live in West Hollywood and I always lead a group of friends riding in the parade and suddenly realized, “Oh snap, I don’t have my bike!” So I rented a big, loud Harley. And now I totally get why they’re great bikes for cruising and parades. It was interesting to ride a different bike.
Favorite thing so far about the Twisted Road experience?
There’s a few. First of all, everyone is so fun. It really feels like you’re lending your bike to a friend. Motorcyclists are kind of like a friendly group to begin with. One rental was to a young guy in his 20’s from Burbank. His whole family rides and his mom and dad flew in from the Midwest and his two parents rented bikes; his mom rented mine. The three of them went down the central coast for 3-4 days — it was just so nice and adorable to see them ride off together. That was an aww moment.
Another guy runs a YouTube channel called Ducati Spacers and he made a video of his rental experience and interviewed me while he was getting the bike. That was cool (even though it was early and I had literally just woken up). Another time, the Instagrammers the Scrambler Brothers rented my bike and they are both photographers and they took a ton of gorgeous pics of my bike in really beautiful places.
There are also more and more female renters. I met an awesome mom who is a Trader Joe’s manager, and she rented for a week; she has the exact same bike but not in LA, and we are still friends. Another woman came for friend’s concert in San Francisco and came back early so I had her hop on the back of the bike and showed her around LA. I am thrilled that other girls ride bikes. There’s a huge women’s moto community in LA.
Local riding tip?
The ride I like to tell people to do starts at my house. Go down the famous Sunset Blvd with its hotels and big billboards. It dumps into Bev HIlls goes all the way to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). There’s a little hidden lake on the way. It’s called the Lake Shrine. It’s a buddhist temple that’s also a lake and it’s free (including parking if you’re on a motorcycle). Take a moment to take it all in. It’s one of my favorite places — a beautiful spot nestled in the hills of LA that most people wouldn’t even know is there. It’s fun to take in this little hidden gem then get right back into the chaos of LA again.
Before you rent a motorcycle in LA, make sure that you read our guide on How to Travel with Motorcycle Gear and more importantly, our Guide to Lane Splitting.
