Test Rides

Hi all,

Just wanted to comment on something here and get some feedback on the subject.  Let me start by mentioning I currently own a Harley 1200C, which I've only had a few months.  In the short time I've had it, I have come to realize I want something a bit bigger and more road worthy.

I currently have high hopes for the new Triumph Thunderbird due out next summer, but after reading some stellar reviews here of some of the Yamaha and Honda models, I decided to go have a look.  What I found from visiting three seperate Central Texas dealers was that none of them offer test rides of any of their bikes.  After visiting three seperate dealers in the area, I have given up and pretty much written off both Yamaha and Honda.  I also took the time to write the manufacturers expressing my dissatisfaction with this.  Harley, Triumph, and even the Ducati dealers in the area allow test rides, given of course you have class M and sign a waiver.  

So what gives?  I personally would never consider buying a motorcycle without test riding it first.  Their "solution" to the problem was an offer for me to purchase a bike and bring it back if I wasn't happy within a certain amount of time (schyeah, right!).  How many of you have ever purchased a motorcycle without riding it first?  Why does this appear to be a perfectly normal situation with these particular makes?  For me, it is simply not acceptable and they have lost a potential customer for life.  

i know Victory dealers give test rides and Harley has 'test ride days".  
if the house is a rocking don't bother knocking, just come on in...SRV

The dealers around here don't allow test rides, either. They don't need to, people still buy every bike they get in. I wonder how much of an increase in their insurance they would have to pay, to cover new bikes on test rides?

regards,
Joe  

"They don't need to" implies that they are not the least bit interested in gaining new customers or increasing their market share.  I find this hard to swallow.  

My local Yamaha dealer here in the Chicagoland area offered test rides on several different makes that they used as demos, and I can absolutely guarantee you that I would have NEVER bought the bike without the test ride.

In the age of Craigs list and E-bay, any dealership that thinks that they can remain in business without giving the customer "value added" sales & service is doomed to failure regardless of current sales. The dealership model of 5-10 years ago will not work in another 5 years with the proliferation of the internet and the public's comfort with the safeguards in place. An example of this is the fact that a brand new Yamaha Roadliner lists for $14K+, but they can be bought any day of the week on E-bay for $10K. That is a 28% deduct off of list and NO ONE can operate on that level of competition for very long. You may think this is isolated to metric cruisers or sportbikes, but go look at the prices of Harleys and you will see that the ones that are SELLING are at lower and lower prices.....which means that profit margin is eroding. In addition, the ease of internet "resale" of bikes dramatically affects the front end market price of dealer inventory.  The business model is slowly changing and only those very very good businesses will survive.  

I think you hit the nail on the head.  The ONLY reason to buy new this day in age is exactly for value-added services and the confidence that if something goes wrong, the dealers will stand by there products.  The fact that I cannot even take a test ride on any of these vehicles leaves me no choice but to either A. Buy Used, or B. Buy another manufacturers product.  For those of us that don't mind paying the extra money for the security, B wins everytime.  

Most dealerships discontinued offering test/demo rides by the early 1990s.  The issue is liability, pure and simple.  I'm not sure of the situation with dealers that do allow test rides, perhaps those brands have some kind of plan through the manufacturer.

Phoenix 9, the dealers have been operating this way for years and so far, the internet has had no effect on NEW bike sales.  And as far as internet sales go, they are all "buy before riding" deals.  

Sorry New_Guy, but I doubt that is all there is to it. I would think that a licensed, insured rider who was willing to sign a legal waiver releases them from any liability.  I did have a dealer mention to me that it had more to do with the fact that they had to prep the bikes and there was maintenance involved in keeping the bike sales-worthy if it was on the floor for more than a few months.  I've also read that it's supposedly harder for them to sell bikes that do not have zero miles on them.  For me, it's expected that the bike would have a few miles on it.  If nothing else, I would hope the mechanic who prepped it rode it around a bit before placing it in my hands.

As a side note, I also find it VERY difficult to believe that the internet has not had any effect on dealer sales.  Please provide your source information to back this up.  

First, in case you aren't aware, I'm the associate editor of Cruiser.  So I'm connected with what's happening in the industry.  NEW motorcycles are not sold on the internet, except by dealers trying to sell off their own floor stock.  The WWW has almost exclusively used bikes for sale.  The only difference is that instead of motorcycles being sold in the local newspaper or vehicle trader mag, they are being listed on craigslist and Ebay, etc.--that doesn't have any effect on anything other than broadening the pool of buyers for any given bike.

Yes, prepping a perfectly good bike and then selling it with more than zero miles is an issue.  But really, jeepers, it comes down to MONEY.  Why even pay for the insurance if you can sell the bikes without the financial hassle or the labor involved?  But all of the bikes eventually get prepped for sale, so additional "upkeep" is insignificant if the bike doesn't get sold to the demo rider.  

The_New_Guy,

You said that e-bay and Craigs list is mainly for used inventory but the number of brand new (0 mile w/ warranty) bikes popping up in the last 12-24 months on these sites is staggering and it is dramatically dropping the profit margin for dealers if they are working with an internet savvy customer. You are correct that internet bikes are almost always "buy before you ride" but that just makes my point in that if you want to garner a profit margin that will keep you in business, then you need to provide the customer with something that the internet can NEVER provide which is value added service like test rides.....otherwise it's gonna be a "whore's market" and no one will have an incentive to support their local dealer because he doesn't bring anything to the table other than inventory which can now be aquired "online".

Just my perspective from the business point of view  

It has to do with insurance liability issues.
One of the few bikes that was offering demo rides at the dealer was Honda, but, I think even they stopped. Lawyers were blocking the doorways.

There is another venue. Biker rallies. Start checking, a number of them have demo rides available. I've gone to Americade, and basically most manufacturers are there, even Boss Hoss had demo rides. A friend of mine saw 8 Boss Hoss's pulled over to the side of the road... they got just a little too frisky .

You've got to get up early, and stand in line, but, you get to pick from the current stock of bikes. People were in line at 4:30am to get a ST1300. I got there at 7:00 and got a Gold Wing.  

I went that route once, got in line at 0' dark thirty to test ride one of the new Dyna Glides around lunchtime. I'm glad I did, too. I decided to keep my old bike a few more years :-)

regards,
Joe  

Please explain how insurance liability would have anything to do with it?  I mean, considering I have my own full coverage and assuming I signed a waiver, their insurance would play no role in it whatsoever.  Also, how is it that dealers for such brands as Harley, Triumph and Ducati here in Central Texas are able to provide this, while the Honda and Yamaha dealers are not?  If I can't go in to a dealer and take a test ride at my convenience, then I will simply look elsewhere.  You think I am going to get up at 4:30AM to ride a bike which in my opinion, the dealers should be going out of their way to sell me? I think not.  If they can offer test rides at a rally, they can certainly offer them at the dealership.  Although I don't believe it to be the reason and more of an excuse, liabilty is liability at any location.

I fail to understand why this is a perfectly normal, acceptable practice.  Would you buy a new car without driving it?  Would you buy a new guitar without playing it?  Not me.  I'll be sticking with the dealers that show some appreciation of my time and actually value me as a customer.  The real point here is that they have aleady made it an inconvenient, and extremely aggrevating experience for me, and have lost a potential loyal customer for life in the process.  

...Would you buy a new car without driving it?

The only new truck I ever bought, I bought without bothering to test drive. It really annoyed the salesman, that I refused to test drive it. That screwed up his whole hard sell routine :-)

I still have that truck, 20 years later.

If all the controls are where your feet and hands expect them to be, with the expected range of motion, it fits you. Anything else comes under warranty.

Your refusal to buy a bike won't hurt the dealer's bottom line. He's probably already marking the new bike's up and refusing to dicker much, just trying to keep the bikes in the showroom long enough to display an inventory. The bike's sell themselves, just on looks.

The manufacturers are making more cars and trucks than the market wants. That's why the dealers go to extra lenghts to make a sale. The motorcycle manufacturers are avoiding that situation, by limiting their production. If you think it should be different, make and sell a line of motorcycles yourself.

regards,
Joe  

The "I have insurance" is something the dealer is going to take with a grain of salt. How are they going to know. A license doesn't prove insurance. Technically, neither does a registration.
If you drop the bike, someone (the dealer) is going to get sued. The bike had a defect, was dangerous, never should have let that rider out on that bike, etc. So, they need insurance to cover themselves.

Then you get to the how is the person going to ride it on the demo. Is (s)he going to ride it like they own it, or flog it for all it's worth.
Most places simply can't afford to have several beater bikes in the inventory that they'd have to sell as used at the end of the season
Some shops will let you take out a bike if you are planning to buy it, and they know who you are. When I mentioned I was seriously interested in a ST1300, they told me one would be in next week, and I could in fact take it out. Ok, I've been dealing with the place for 6 years, and they've ridden with me.

Which brings me back to the value of demo rides at rallies. The manufacturers wheel out about 8 or 10 of a lot of their bikes, and haul them from rally to rally. They get a lot of people on the bikes, they control the speed that people go, and at the end of the season, they have a relatively small number of used bikes to get rid of.