Total Motorcycle Community Forums

The thing is, I don't plan on buying brand new at a dealer. I just using the dealer as a resource to see the bike so I know what to be looking for. So although I am serious about buying, I'll have to lie about buying from them.

As for riding a friends bike, I don't really know anyone around here who rides. Back in college, I knew a few, but they're not in the area.

RideYourRide wrote:

bmgibben wrote:I wouldnt buy anything that I couldnt test first. And I wouldnt trust any dealer that wouldnt let you test drive anything in their lot. A credit check and/or deposit is perfectly fine. But they shouldnt be selling anything that is too expensive to let an experienced rider test first.

Looks like unless you are lucky you may be buying european, or perhaps Buell. Use the time honored method of talking your buddies into letting you ride their junks To the majority of dealers it's not worth it to turn someone loose on a brand new 170 mph sport bike.

I dont understand what you mean by that. Most dealers dont let you test drive? If I am going to shell out upwards of 10 grand for a new bike, I am definetly going to make sure that it feels good on the road before purchasing it. Noone buys ANY car without test driving it, so why would you a bike? Besides, I doubt Ill ever buy a sports bike. More likely a cruiser or standard.

bmgibben wrote:I wouldnt buy anything that I couldnt test first. And I wouldnt trust any dealer that wouldnt let you test drive anything in their lot. A credit check and/or deposit is perfectly fine. But they shouldnt be selling anything that is too expensive to let an experienced rider test first.

Good luck with that.

The vast majority of Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Yamaha dealerships won't let you test ride. Maybe you can talk your way in if they know you or something. Some Ducati, Triumph, Buell, BMW and Harley dealerships will have demo bikes and the like. Harlery will rent you a bike for the day as well. Even then it's unlikely you are going to dest drive the exact one you are going to buy.

It's just not worth the liability to them.

jstark47 wrote:Good luck with that.

hahahahaha that's what I was thinking

jstark47 wrote:

bmgibben wrote:I wouldnt buy anything that I couldnt test first. And I wouldnt trust any dealer that wouldnt let you test drive anything in their lot. A credit check and/or deposit is perfectly fine. But they shouldnt be selling anything that is too expensive to let an experienced rider test first.

Good luck with that.

Ain't that the truth!

I actually did find another place that will let you ride a bike other than Barnett Harley Davidson here... and it was a Suzuki place. They already have had two people steal motorcycles and just ride them over to Mexico. Bye bye gsxr's.

They wanted me to sign a written statement that I would buy the bike after the test ride. Didn't even bother reading what exactly the statement said... I was to busy laughing in their faces. They said they would tear it up afterwards... pfft. Whats the point of signing a written agreement if you are gonna tear it up when I say... uh, nevermind. This was after they photocopied my Motorcycle license, motorcycle insurance, signed a waiver for them saying I pretty much wouldn't sue them for letting me testride and I crashed... etc. Forget about it!

I've had 2 dealers around here offer to let me testride - I spoke with the sales manager in charge of the shop in both occasions, both times in very off-peak not much going on times. It really depends on the dealership and its definitely a rarity to find those that will let you.

The fact that I'm female and wasn't looking at supersports probably contributed to that as well - but I don't know that for sure.

Well, damn. I guess I wont be buying anything new. Doesnt seem worth the risk. Why spend 10-15 grand on something that you arent even sure you are going to like? And with no return policy if it doesnt suit you...just doesnt make sense from a buyers point of view. Hell, I didnt even spend 1100$ on my first car without test driving it for 10min first. Oh well.

Odd, it seems if you sign a waiver, photocopy your licence, and run a credit check, then the chance of an upstanding person stealing it are pretty slim. Maybe inforce a policy that states you pay for any damages you cause and/or buy it. And have a policy that states that you have to be a rider under a certain number of crashes for a certain number of years and so forth. Oh well, I guess it doesnt matter. On for buying used at 1 year old and 2/3 the price!

bmgibben wrote:Well, damn. I guess I wont be buying anything new.

Ummmm........ a lot of private sellers of used motorcycles won't allow a test ride either unless you make a cash deposit in advance equal to the price of the motorcycle. You don't like the bike, you get your cash back. You drop it during the test ride, you just bought it.

Consider the seller's dilemma: he's at great risk with everything to lose. His insurance coverage against any damage you do to yourself, other people / property, or his bike is either nonexistent or debatable. He's never seen you before, he knows nothing about you. Unless you rode up on a bike, he has no way to assess your skill and experience level except for your word..... and why should he bear all the risk of doing so?

The test ride is overrated anyway. If you're a newb to a particular kind or style of bike, a test ride of a few miles will tell you more about your lack of experience with that kind of bike than about the bike itself. If you are familiar, it's redundant: a static mechanical inspection will tell you what you need to know.

I think the big thing your missing is that its much more risky for a dealership to allow someone to test ride a motorcycle than to test ride a car. If I were selling a privately owned bike, I wouldn't let anyone test ride it. I would be Liable for anything that happened to the bike and person for the reasons stated in the post above this one. And most dealerships that allow test rides take great pains to reduce their liability. Its still risky for them afterwards.

Test Riding a motorcycle has nothing in common with test riding a car. The only thing cars and bikes would have in common is that they both share the roadways with each other. The skill, attention, concentration, experience, knowledge, ability, understanding, and risk management involved greatly surpasses the ability to just keep a car on the road... compared to just keeping the bike upright and on the road.

bmgibben wrote:Well, damn. I guess I wont be buying anything new. Doesnt seem worth the risk. Why spend 10-15 grand on something that you arent even sure you are going to like? And with no return policy if it doesnt suit you...just doesnt make sense from a buyers point of view. Hell, I didnt even spend 1100$ on my first car without test driving it for 10min first. Oh well.

Odd, it seems if you sign a waiver, photocopy your licence, and run a credit check, then the chance of an upstanding person stealing it are pretty slim. Maybe inforce a policy that states you pay for any damages you cause and/or buy it. And have a policy that states that you have to be a rider under a certain number of crashes for a certain number of years and so forth. Oh well, I guess it doesnt matter. On for buying used at 1 year old and 2/3 the price!

Sure, if they were an upstanding person to begin with... what if the whole identity was stolen? And the license was faked to match that identity. People will always go to great lengths to get around the system. Thats what those two people did to this local Suzuki dealership... not even a half hour later they were in mexico most likely laughing all the way to the bank.

And most people don't report most accidents they have on a motorcycle... So I think it would be a really hard system for a dealership to invent other than just saying... make a deposit of the full price now, and sign this letter agreeing to buying the bike at the full purchase price in the event of... well whatever they want.