Test Rides

Slowpoke,

Of course it hurts his bottom line and is even worse for the manufacturers who are trying to gain marketshare.  Ultimately, that's one less sale and a bike's lifetime of service and accessories sales for him.  Not to mention the potential for future sales from not only myself, but the many other motorcyclists looking for me to advice (or the opposite in this case).  Here's an example; how many Harley owners looking for something different are going to read this thread and decide against Honda or Yamaha based on the fact that they can't even go to a dealer to try something new?  The power of the internet is a wonderful thing indeed.  I don't need to make my own motorcycles if I think it should be different, I only need to shop elsewhere, plain and simple.

Oh, and frbock, they have these things called insurance cards nowadays that most states require you have on your person whenever you are operating a moving vehicle.  And again, I have to digress to the key WAIVER that is signed which releases the dealer from any and all liability.  If it turns out to be a bike defect related incident, then they are going to get sued anyway once the bike is sold, so there is no real liability there that does not exist otherwise.  

Yep, some states have insurance cards. Those that do guarantee that the insurance was in force on the day the card was issued. All states allow for monthly payment.
Pay the 1st 2 months up front. get the card,don't pay another dime. A lot of states went to 6 month policies for that reason. At least that way they only had 4 months of fallout.

Any good ambulance chaser will tell you that the waiver isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Not entirely true, but, the defendent now has to hire attornies too. Given the cost of a lawyer, a lot of companies just pay... it costs less than winning in court.  

Keep in mind, at least in my state, it's the vehicle that's insured, not the person.  That is why you have to keep the insurance card not on your person, but it remains in the vehicle.  I can't imagine Connecticut is the only one following that practice.  

HI; Just thought I would let you know that here in WASH. The test ride is up to the dealer. The Victory guys do.   There are three dealers that will let you ride what ever you want. By yourself and for about 30min. I have done this several times. The test ride is up the the owner. The HD dealer has Honda,Kaw, Susuki and they won,t even let you set  on any bike in the show room. His reason is I sell 60% of the bike,s  also the service is bad. He has 4 stores in this state. I haven,t had any experience with out of state dealers.
None of the bike shops in  my local area will not let you test ride. I had to drive about 20-60 miles to get to the dealers that would. That is where I bought my bike. I won,t buy with out test ride. Have fun KICKING this one around..... scruffy  

Well, I guess I'm a dummy.  I walked into the Kaw/Yamaha dealer looking to buy my first bike in 30 years.  I spent a LOT of time reading reviews of bikes on the web before I went looking.  They had one leftover '07 900LT still in the crate.  I spent some time talking with the owner about the differences between Yamaha/Kawasaki.  What he told me was that the 900 Vulcan has been one of their top sellers and that they've never had a major problem with any of the ones they've sold.  So.......I bought it.....still in the crate.  That was earlier this year, and now, 6000 miles later, I couldn't be more pleased.  Oh by the way, no test ride, either.  

By no means are you a dummy.  Sometimes you just get lucky =)  For me, I would rather not take the chance on a $15,000+ purchase.  What would you have done had you brought it home and despite the reviews, absolutely hated it after riding it a few miles? A test ride would have told you that the throttle was jerky from a dead stop, the transmission had a tendency to false-neutral, the seat was uncomfortable and damn it, your legs were an inch too short to reach the pegs comfortably!  I could probably think of 100 different other reasons why a test ride is important, but you get the idea.    

BTW...do you think the owner would have told you if it did have problems?  It might be cynical, but I seriously doubt it.  

Actually, what your described test ride would have told me is that the particular bike I was testing had those problems.  That's not to say that they all were like that.  The one I did find on mine was that after riding for about 30 minutes my butt was killing me.  That one did cost me a new seat, but worth it  I can understand your wanting to test ride.  So did I, but there's no one around here giving them, so I did what I did.  Perhaps, as you say, I "lucked out".  

I have bought several new bikes over the years (First year for new 1979)and no one allowed a test ride except victory, and then I told the dealer I was only looking and not buying and he still asked if I wanted to ride it. A year later I went back to that same dealer and bought a bike.  
2007 Kingpin Tour

Well I did receive letters back from both Honda and Yamaha.  Both basically stated that they're sorry for my "inconvenience", but tough luck.  They also stated that they have no control over their own dealers and neither of them showed any interest in the fact that both of their web sites are deceptive where they clearly state "test ride" at certain dealerships.  As for me, I'll be sticking with the companies that actually care about their products and go to greater lengths to make their potential customers happy.  

opium89,i owned a 91 harley 1200 back in 1999.i only owned it one year and had the same idea as you.think id like a BIGGER bike.so in 01 i bought a 94 harley ultra classic.34K later i sold it in 07.nice bike.in 03 i also bought a 97 honda valkyrie.i put 61K on this bike and still drive it every day.last year i bought a 2000 BMW K1200 LT.ive only put 5K on it.i would say for about $7000-8000 you can get a nice honda 97-99 valkyrie.for a little more you could get a 00-03.if you really want to go top of the line check out the BMW K1200 LT.heated seats and grips,6 channel CD.mine was $9000.and if you arent interested in my advice thats ok also.  

I bought my last bike without a test ride.  I sat on 20 different bikes and bought the one that was most comfortable.  The ergonomics don't change once you're in motion.  I've been riding bikes most of my life.  I knew I could handle it and if anything was wrong with it I would have been headed back to the dealer.  I just sold a bike also.  Almost got in a fight with a guy that insisted he should be able to test ride it.  I've learned that the ones that protest the most probably have the least reason.  10 to 1 he would have dropped it on the first turn.  And I agree with the guy that said a waiver means next to nothing.
DS  

Hey,
I see the ads for Dewey Cheetum and Howe all the time.
"I got hurt, and Dewey got me money"

My last bike, I bought it used sight unseen (ok there were pics) on Ebay. I did the Honda demo ride on the same model, I took the demo ride at Americacde, so, I knew what I was buying. Sold my previous bike to someone on Ebay too. He never even saw it either.
On the bike I sold, I agreed to run it from Mass to southern Jersey as long as he paid for the plane ticket back ($100).  Thought that was fair, but he did get it with a couple more miles than I listed in the ad.  

I've read some of the responses on here and any dealer who thinks the Internet is not affecting his bottom line is INSANE!!! Do we learn nothing from history???? You don't have to look any further than the newspaper industry: they did not take the internet seriously and all they ever did was lose a measly 1% of marketshare a year to the internet...which seemed harmless enough....until 10-12-15 years later they wake up and realized that they are now trying to operate on 10-12-15% less revenue with no end in sight to the deterioration of their industry.

Is there ANYONE out there with half a brain that thinks the internet market is not deteriorating the revenue for dealers??????? They have been living in a false revenue world of late due to the increase in bike purchasers that has masked their lost profit margins. When the increase in new buyers halts, where are they going to find the lost revenue???? As another poster stated: every lost bike sale is a future lost sale of accessories and service (who the hell buys a bike on e-bay and then turns around and pays dealer prices for parts and service???? ). I would say it is Economics 101, but in reality this is kindergarten economics.

Dealerships WILL go out of business in the next 10-12 years. They will have to respond to THE CUSTOMER or they will die.....only the strong survive. Any business in the US economy is like a shark: you must keep moving or else they die. Plain and simple.  

When I went looking to buy my 15 year old son his first bike The test ride was the deciding factor. I was going to get him a Honda 750 Shadow. Now you have to take into consideration that is is 6'1" and around 240. About the same size as me. The shop I was dealing with in Russleville, AR. let me test drive the Shadow. I felt like an elephant riding a grasshopper. It may be do to the fack that it felt so much smaller that what I was use to. Long story short I took a VTX 1300 out next and bought it. Turns out it was a perfect fit for him. Got the bike with a detachable windshield and extended warranty out the door for $8888.

I wouldn't have bought the VTX without the test ride and would have ended up buying my son a bike he was already to big for.

I don't asked to ride anything I am not intending to buy, not at dealers or at rallies. I was a rally in Fayettvile, AR. and Victory, Harley, Kawasaki, and Yamaha were offering 20 mile rides. The guys I rode with all went riding, I didn't. They asked me why and I told them I don't ride anything I don't intend on buying. If I am looking to buy though you better let me ride it or I will walk.

As far as liability goes every where I have been that allows test rides requires an MC endoresment on your license and that you sign a waivor form in case you wreck releasing them from any liability and that you will be responsible for any damage to the bike.  

ive done alittle test riding in the last 2 years.mostly at the local harley dealership in appleton,wi.last year i test rode a 08 road king.this year i rode an 09 vrod and vrod special.at a couple honda shops i took out afew of their models also.an 05 triumph rocket 3,07 ST1300.and i had a 06 triumph 1050 for a loaner while my valk was being repaired.also rode a couple private party bikes.an 03 HD softail,2000 HD lowrider,98 HD sportster,98 HD softail,2000 BMW K1200, 97 triumph and a 2001 HD softtail.the only bikes ive been refused rides on were about 6 years ago.a woman selling her 95 harley and a second ride on a guys 84 HD bagger.i bought 2 of the bikes i test rode.