I have a 2021 450RL with the GET SX1. I also have a full FMF Q4 exhaust and Twin Air filter (no backfire screen), stock gearing. I did a three day off-road trip and ran it on the "enduro" map thinking the lower power setting would result in the best gas mileage. I ran out of gas once but fortunately my buddy was carrying a rotopack. I was only getting 30mpg on a mix of pavement and fairly mild dirt roads. I asked TacoMoto about it and the said the enduro map is not the best for range.

I did another trip using the high power map and got 46mpg on about 60/40 mix of road and dirt. Better but still seems low for a single. Is it unreasonable to expect better milage? I have a 3 gallon IMS tank on it but plan more long dual sport rides where fuel is far between. Should I just carry more gas?

This happened more than six years ago, in March 2020. I've never forgotten it, and I think it says something about a company when you remember how it treated you during a crisis long after the crisis has passed.

I flew to Los Angeles on March 13, 2020, with a return flight scheduled for March 20. I was going to a motorcycle racing school at Willow Springs, followed by a few days hiking and exploring in Kings Canyon.

COVID was just beginning to hit the news before I left. I actually called the racing school to make sure the event was still happening. They told me all systems were go, so I made the trip. The racing school was great and I got my race license.

Then the world seemed to change almost overnight.

When I returned to Los Angeles, it was obvious that something extraordinary was happening. Businesses were shutting down. People were frightened. I remember watching an older man in a grocery store absolutely berate a young woman with children because she had gotten within six feet of him. It felt as though the normal rules of society were beginning to fray.

At that point, continuing a sightseeing and hiking vacation seemed ridiculous. I called Kings Canyon about my reservation. They understood immediately and canceled it without charge.

I called United Airlines and asked to move my March 20 flight up to March 18. Again, they understood. They changed my flight without charge.

I returned my Hertz rental car two days early and headed home.

LAX was eerie. An airport normally packed with thousands of travelers was practically deserted. There were only a handful of passengers on my flight back to Cleveland. It was one of those moments when everyone understood that we were dealing with something none of us had experienced before.

Well, almost everyone.

My Hertz rental was prepaid. I had paid $576.40 for a rental from March 13 through March 20. Because I returned home early, I asked Hertz to refund the unused portion of the rental.

Hertz said "no".

To be clear, the fine print of the prepaid rate said there would be no refunds or credits for unused rental days. I understood that.

But this wasn't a customer who changed his vacation plans because the weather was bad or decided to come home early on a whim. The country was entering an unprecedented national emergency. COVID was shutting down businesses, emptying airports and disrupting travel throughout the country.

Kings Canyon understood that.

United Airlines understood that.

Virtually every business I dealt with understood that normal policies sometimes had to give way to extraordinary circumstances.

Hertz chose otherwise.

AAA went back to Hertz on my behalf. Hertz initially responded that there had been no change to its prepaid rental policy and that it would not refund the unused days. AAA then asked its Hertz representative to take the matter to Hertz's corporate offices.

It went all the way to the Hertz executive office.

Their answer was still no.

Hertz's executive office acknowledged that I had returned the vehicle two days early but refused a direct refund. Instead, they offered me $50 in rental certificates to use on a future Hertz rental.

Think about that for a moment.

In the opening days of a once-in-a-century pandemic, I cut my trip short and returned Hertz's vehicle two days earlier than agreed. Hertz had its car back and therefore no longer had the expense or risk associated with my using it. I wasn't asking for the entire rental to be refunded. I was simply asking them to refund the unused portion because a national emergency had forced me to return home.

Their response amounted to: The contract says we don't have to.

They were right.

They didn't have to.

And that's precisely why I've remembered it all these years.

You learn something about people—and companies—when circumstances are difficult. United didn't have to make my experience easy or change my flight at no cost. Kings Canyon didn't have to be accommodating. But they recognized what was happening and treated a customer reasonably.

Hertz had the same opportunity.

They chose the fine print.

I accepted the $50 certificates because it was all Hertz was willing to offer. At the time I wrote to AAA, "I guess I learned my lesson on prepaid car rental." And of course these expired before I could use them.

I did learn a lesson, but it wasn't really about prepaid rentals.

It was about Hertz.

Six years later, when I have a choice of rental car companies, I still remember which company showed me understanding during those extraordinary days—and which one showed me the contract.

I haven't rented from Hertz since and never will.