Have purchased many motorcycles and only test rode one.

 

My thoughts exactly! No money,no ride!

 

Yep, I agree.....

With the luck I have a 'test rider' would end up wrecking the bike, being killed, or whatever, and then you would end up being sued for everything you have.

They don't ride until the bike is paid in full and the title is dated and signed over to them.

Like you said, if the potential buyer has an issue with that they can leave and go somewhere else.

 

So what happens if you give the guy money for the bike to test drive and you come back and say, "I will Buy it", and the owner says "What Money?" You never gave me money. Get out of hear or I will call the cops. Or you come back and tell them your not interested, the owner tells you too bad, you just bought a bike.

 

Nobody around here allows test rides. Not even the HD dealerships as a rule. I have no idea why, but I don't know anybody who test rode the bike they bought before buying it. Maybe they got to ride the same model when the HD test ride crew comes through town.

 

That used to be SOP for dealerships. You had to go to a major rally where HD had their demo fleet and ride it there.

As for a private seller, I'd want to eyeball the prospective buyer first. Maybe even hang on to their drivers license to make sure they didn't ride in a way that might get them pulled over.

 

As the OP, I think I have come to this conclusion: I want to test ride any bike I'm interested in buying but I'm not going to allow anyone to test ride a bike I have for sale.

 

That's why you bring a friend to stay with the owner while you do the test ride. Let's face it folks, this is a "serious" trust issue for both sides here. Fortunately, most of us are honest enough to do the right thing but all it takes is one a-hole and someone get's screwed. The principle of CYA definitely applies for all parties concerned and if anyone has a problem with that, then as has been said, they can go somewhere else.

It's called liability! No one wants to be saddled with the liability if something goes wrong, especially the dealers and I don't blame them. The other side of that coin is if I have an accident while riding a bike that doesn't belong to me. I'd feel responsible for the damages and sometimes (most times!), that's just something "I'm" not willing to step up to the plate for.

That's exactly what I did and it's one thing that Harley does that I think all the other manufacturers could take a lesson from. When I found out Harley offered factory demo rides, it was a total no brainer to look one up. I could ride any model they had (and they had most of them) as many times as I wanted. Since I was only interested in one or two anyway, I never had any significant wait for any of them. Ultimately, I did two FDR days and rented an Ultra and a Road Glide before buying my bike. It was time and money well spent.

Ride Safe,
Steve

 

when I sold my wife's yami v-star after we bought her Heritage I stated same thing..no test rides....when people would call I'd tell them, bring the money, we'll do the deal, then you can ride it. if it's not as I had advertised and in the condition I stated, we'd undo the deal but I didn't want people coming over just for a ride. No one had a problem with it..couple showed up, we did the deal, he got on the bike and I never heard from them again

 

I would never buy a used bike, car or boat without a test ride or inspection of some kind. It only takes a short ride, on a bike or in a car, to get a "feel" for how tight/well taken car of the vehicle is. On the other hand I can understand the sellers point of view. Alot of a-holes out there looking to have a good time on your nickel.
BUT - that being said - NO TEST RIDE/NO SALE!!!
Not interested in buying someone elses pile of crap.