Joe Bass for Prime Minister
Test riding before buying?
- Thread starter dubz
- Start date
A couple of thoughts:
1) Motorcycles are inherently unstable vehicles. It's not hard to drop on accidentally with a misplaced foot at a stop sign or a low-side or high-side. Riders' skills are a way bigger factor in a safe outcome on a bike than in a car.
2) Many modern bikes, even middleweights, have power to weight ratios rivaling a class of car in which you are also unlikely to garner a test drive for just showing up. An FZ-09 with a 150-lb rider has a superior P/W ratio than a 707hp Dodge Hellcat with the same 150-lb driver; you probably won't get a test drive in a Hellcat unless you show up with cash in hand or are a known quantity to the seller. Lots of car ads have "No Test Pilot" statements in them.
3) With a car you can hop in the passenger seat and "police" what the guy does. While this can go south (Tim Bosma) it makes it much more difficult for a test driver to act badly.
They may allow rides for certain riders. Like insurance companies, they may look at a guy and make a judgement call based on age, the condition of his current ride, what he rides, how much he's likely to have in the bank and whether he's just out trolling dealerships for fun. A young guy dressed like a squid rolls up on a beater GS500 and wants to take a used GSX-R750 out for a spin? An older graybeard arrives at a Harley dealer on his 16-year old Road King and is sniffing around a new bagger; which do you think is more likely to have the keys thrown his way?
JP0160
Well-known member
When I bought my bike, wife and I drove up a couple hours after the ad was posted, brought my helmet jacket and gloves and talked about the bike a bit, told him I would have to test ride it if I were to buy it. Showed him a handful of hundreds and said "I'll leave my wife as collateral". He agreed, I jumped on and took her for a good rip. I let it idle and listened for all the right noises, gave it a quick safety check. Rode it back about 5 minutes later, parked the bike, offered him 100$ less than his asking, then we wrote up a bill of sale and signed the ownership right there.
It's 34 years old, a 2 year limited run. Wasn't worried about leins or anything, I knew where he lived. Pretty smooth transaction, really depends on the buyer/seller I guess.
It's 34 years old, a 2 year limited run. Wasn't worried about leins or anything, I knew where he lived. Pretty smooth transaction, really depends on the buyer/seller I guess.
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bigpoppa
Well-known member
with dealers its really hit and miss
Iv gotten test rides despite showing up in a car(I wasnt anticipating to test ride it was a spur of the moment thing and kawi wasnt doing demo days anymore)
If you are actually interested, dealers will probably let you test ride, more so if you show up on an actual bike.
Iv gotten test rides despite showing up in a car(I wasnt anticipating to test ride it was a spur of the moment thing and kawi wasnt doing demo days anymore)
If you are actually interested, dealers will probably let you test ride, more so if you show up on an actual bike.
Dealers often have demo bikes or comparable used bikes sitting on the floor that they can use for test rides. It's very rare that they'll prep a brand new bike for you to test ride before you buy.
In my days, stone age, there was no such thing. As a so called, "Test ride" I was 17 and she was 16. child hood sweethearts.
Can`t beat romance.
You, Sir, are one of the last true romantics. My how the times have changed. Love that story!
Sent from my purple G4 using Tapatalk
Thank you Joe.
Yes times have changed.
What we do for laughs if we didn`t watch people on their cell phones walking into lamp posts, fall into shopping mall pools, glass doors.
For me with my British sense of humour, hilarious. Love it.
Nowadays I'd require a STI clean bill check, guess that's kinda like having a mechanic check it over before you toss a leg up.....
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FFS!
I edited that within 3 seconds, you have wayyy to much free time. Go make me a sandwich or something!
Note I said STI clean check, actually know a lady who caught something from one of her boyfriends. When she questioned the check she made him have before he admitted he did go, but it wasn't a clean check.
Ugh. I can't even imagine what I would do to someone pulling that crap.
Thread derailed!
I edited that within 3 seconds, you have wayyy to much free time. Go make me a sandwich or something!
Note I said STI clean check, actually know a lady who caught something from one of her boyfriends. When she questioned the check she made him have before he admitted he did go, but it wasn't a clean check.
Ugh. I can't even imagine what I would do to someone pulling that crap.
Thread derailed!
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Riceburner
Well-known member
Bet many of your significant others were also "used"... lol
J_F
Guest
it is a great story, contrats
but I think we have different definitions of romance
Thank you.
It is a problem but I fully understand. I want a cruiser but won't actually know how much I like any particular bike until AFTER I buy it....I need a larger variety of Moto friends lol.
slowbird
Well-known member
The bike I bought before last I couldn't test ride it because I was fresh from a bike accident and my ankle was buggered. I saw the guy ride the bike and it looked great and he got it safetied for me. When I got it home and took it for a spin I noticed right away the front brakes had a bad pulsation. Further investigation showed both front rotors warped and well out of spec. if I even looked at the front lever the bike vibrated badly. Contacted the previous owner who claimed to have never noticed. 
I test drove a few bikes for friends. One bike has NO front brakes at all. Owner didn't warn me. Another bike was impossible to shift gears.
Having said that the best bike I ever owned the owner wouldn't allow a test ride unless I gave him what he was asking cash in his hand. I never test rode it and it was fine.
.....well it did have a slight misfire, but fresh plugs fixed that.
I test drove a few bikes for friends. One bike has NO front brakes at all. Owner didn't warn me. Another bike was impossible to shift gears.
Having said that the best bike I ever owned the owner wouldn't allow a test ride unless I gave him what he was asking cash in his hand. I never test rode it and it was fine.
.....well it did have a slight misfire, but fresh plugs fixed that.
