Twisted Road’s data from 2026 motorcycle rentals tells us what modern riders want. A typical rental is a weekend escape, shaped by the type of motorcycle and riding experience available in a particular destination. Read on to see what else we learned.

We analyzed Twisted Road's 2026 rental data to see:

• Which motorcycle makes and models riders rent most

• Which categories receive the most rentals

• How these preferences change around the country

• Which types of motorcycles tend to go out for longer trips

• What these patterns may mean for motorcycle owners considering listing a bike

Harley-Davidson leads—but the rental market is far from one-dimensional

More than one in three Twisted Road rentals is a Harley-Davidson. The brand accounted for the largest share of rentals in the dataset, followed by BMW. The leading makes by share of rentals are:

Because the dataset represents bookings rather than total available inventory, these figures should not be interpreted as pure measures of consumer preference.

Rental volume is only part of the story. Some motorcycles attract a lot of shorter rentals. Others may receive fewer individual bookings but tend to stay out for longer trips. Then, geography changes the picture again. Let’s look at more data to get the full picture.

Road Glide and Street Glide top the model rankings

Here, we are using model families to assess what riders like. For example, “Street Glide” includes naming variants and trims such as FLHX Street Glide, Street Glide Special, and Street Glide ST. The most-rented motorcycle families are:

The Road Glide and Street Glide together account for 14.2% of all 2026 rentals. The BMW GS models are especially worth noting because they become more interesting later when we look at trip duration.

Touring motorcycles see the most rentals

The category of bikes offers a more balanced look at what riders are interested in. Touring is clearly the most-rented category at 27.1%. The full picture of the most-rented motorcycle categories is:

The surprising finding is how close cruisers and sport bikes are. Cruisers account for 21.8% of rentals while sport bikes account for 21.2%. Sport and adventure motorcycles combined represent 37.7% of rentals.

So while Harley-Davidson's touring motorcycles dominate the individual model rankings, Twisted Road riders aren't simply renting baggers and cruisers. Sport and adventure motorcycles made up a substantial part of rental activity.

Some brands outperform their share of current inventory

Looking at a snapshot of today’s Twisted Road inventory, some makes are rented more often than their current share of inventory might suggest. Directionally, Harley-Davidson’s lead isn’t just because we have more of their motorcycles; they account for about 25% of current active inventory but 35% of 2026 rentals. Ducati is also interesting, with about 5.4% of current inventory versus 7.7% of rentals.

At the category level, touring represents 23.9% of our current inventory but 27.1% of rentals.

Supply definitely matters, but the current snapshot suggests it doesn’t fully explain the rental rankings.

The bike riders choose depends on the experience they want.

National rankings don’t tell the whole rental story. Each bike model represents a different kind of journey. Riders aren't just renting motorcycles; they're renting experiences. Generally, each model fits a planned purpose:

THE GETAWAY
Weekend escape
Cruisers • Standards • Sport

THE JOURNEY
Long-distance road trip
Touring

THE ADVENTURE
Off-road optionality
Adventure

THE DREAM
Experience a bike they aspire to own
Ducati • BMW • Harley • etc.

Geography also shapes the rental experience

Where riders rent matters. Different categories stand out in different parts of the country, likely based on the types of riding available in that place. Here we combine rental frequency with trip duration for further insights.

South: Touring bikes rule

The Southern rental mix is led by:

• Touring: 36.7%

• Cruiser: 24.5%

• Sport: 20.6%

Road Glide and Street Glide lead the individual model rankings in the South, with Harley-Davidson touring motorcycles particularly prominent.

And the picture changes further when we look at rental days rather than simply counting bookings. While rental share tells us how frequently a category is booked, rental-day share tells us how much of the total time motorcycles spent out on the road.

In this case, trip duration makes the touring lead even stronger. Touring motorcycles account for 39.3% of rental days in the South.

West: Sport gets bookings; touring and adventure get days

The West looks very different with rental activity unusually balanced:

• Sport: 22.2%

• Touring: 22.1%

• Adventure: 20.5%

Once trip duration is included, the picture changes considerably. Bikes by share of rental days:

• Touring: 25.6%

• Adventure: 24.2%

• Cruiser: 18.1%

• Sport: 17.9%

Touring and adventure bikes account for substantially more rental days than sport bikes, even though sport receives slightly more individual bookings. Sport bikes attract plenty of individual bookings in the West, but touring and adventure motorcycles tend to stay out longer.

BMW GS motorcycles are also particularly strong in the West.

Midwest: Cruisers stand out

The leading categories in the Midwest are:

• Cruiser: 33.8%

• Touring: 25.1%

• Standard: 14.5%

Cruisers represent a much larger share of Midwest rentals than they do nationally. And unlike the West, trip duration doesn't overturn the result. Cruisers account for 34.3% of rental days. Touring improves from 25.1% of rentals to 27.8% of rental days reflecting its longer trips, but cruisers remain the leader.

Northeast: Touring pulls ahead on longer trips

At first glance, the Northeast doesn't have a clear category winner:

• Touring: 23.0%

• Cruiser: 23.0%

• Sport: 22.7%

• Standard: 16.9%

Touring and cruisers are tied, with sport bikes immediately behind them. That makes the Northeast look much more varied than the South or Midwest.

But trip duration changes the picture. The share of rental days is as follows:

• Touring: 29.1%

• Cruiser: 21.9%

• Sport: 20.0%

• Adventure: 14.7%

Touring goes from being tied for first in rental frequency to accounting for nearly three in ten rental days.

Different destinations favor different motorcycles

When we look even more closely at popular riding markets, we can see that location matters when it comes to motorcycle preferences. We noticed the following statewide patterns:

Weekends rule, but longer rentals tell a different story

Motorcycle rental demand in 2026 is primarily short-duration, with a median rental length of two days. The weekend is, not surprisingly, the busiest time for the rental market.

But trip duration varies considerably depending on the type of motorcycle. The data shows:

Adventure motorcycles have the longest average rentals of any major category. Touring motorcycles aren't far behind.

Sport bikes show the opposite pattern. They're one of the most-rented categories overall, but their rentals tend to be shorter.

Only 4.9% of sport-bike rentals last five days or longer, compared with 15.6% of adventure rentals and 14.5% of touring rentals.

Renters don't need a brand-new motorcycle

A little more than one in five rentals involved a motorcycle more than 10 years old.

This tells us that older bikes still have rental appeal and that experience may matter more than model year.

What all of this means for owners

The biggest learning is that there isn’t one “best motorcycle to list” everywhere. If you’re an owner with a bike already on Twisted Road or are considering listing, these patterns are worth keeping in mind:

• Weekend availability matters. Friday and Saturday are crucial start days.

• The right motorcycle can matter more than having the newest motorcycle. Have an older bike? Riders might be interested.

• Think about the experience that your bike offers and lean into that when you craft your listing.

• Nationally: Harley-Davidson baggers attract exceptional rental activity.

• Current inventory provides another clue: Harley-Davidson and Ducati both account for a larger share of 2026 rentals than their share of active inventory today.

• South: Touring is the strongest signal on both rental frequency and rental days.

• Midwest: Cruisers lead both measures.

• West: Sport bikes attract lots of bookings, but touring and adventure motorcycles account for substantially more rental days.

• Northeast: Booking activity is relatively evenly distributed, but touring pulls ahead once trip duration is included.

• Adventure motorcycles: They don't lead overall booking volume, but they have the longest average rental duration of any major category.

• BMW GS: The GS combines a strong national rental ranking with unusually long trips.

• Sport bikes: They attract substantial rental activity, but those trips tend to be shorter.

The overall story isn't simply that more people are renting motorcycles. It's that motorcycle rental is becoming increasingly destination-, duration-, and experience-specific. Understanding those differences may be as important as understanding overall demand.

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