Test rides with no issurance?

[HemiKat]

Since my Kat has been down for the count I cancelled the insurance to save some money. Now that Im in the market for a new bike, how do I go about test riding one? Ive test rode a few private owned bikes, and I dont like that fact that I dont have insurance. I havent gone far on them and Im nervous about tearing one up.

I had one dealer tell me they didnt have any bikes to test ride even if I had insurance. Which may be just bullspit. Should I just put insurance back on my Kat for a month while I test ride others? Problem with that is: My bike has a salvage title, and I cant get full insurance, which, if Im test riding another persons bike, I want full coverage. How do people that have never owned a bike test ride?

[drob]

I just test drive it without insurance but that me. i do let the owner hold the cash so if i do crash it never crash on a test drive tho.

[LAsunbird86]

good luck getting a stealership to let you test drive ANYTHING with two wheels.
Most expect you to just know how it handles and rides without riding it until you pay 10k for it.

[H-2 CHARLIE]

I have bare min. on the kat 2002 -600 ..i got it for $1050 so i chance the few years of use to save the extra money its a throw away bike anyways .. but im ready to sell it soon ..want to see the stratosphere in the early next year , if i fit on it or just get the zx-14 and be happy

[zuma]

I just test drive it without insurance but that me. i do let the owner hold the cash so if i do crash it never crash on a test drive tho.

This is exactly what I have done. It just seems right. I have purchased eight bikes, both new and old in the last four years.

Whenever I wanted to buy a new bike, the dealership I usually work with would find a used bike of a same or similar model for me to test ride. I have never test driven a brand new bike. I'm not sure that is done.

At this same dealership, the onus of the insurance responsibility was on the dealership and they had a form I had to sign before riding their bike.

My last purchase was last February with a different dealership (a 2000 Ninja 600). The bike belonged to the dealership's manager, we agreed on a price, and I handed the cash to him in an envelope. He acted surprised until I told him that I wanted him to hold the cash while I tried the bike, just in case anything happened. I came back on the bike 20 minutes later, and we finished our deal.

Again, from my experiences, the insurance issue is their responsibility, but it's always good to ask them. I love shopping for bikes, lucky dog, you.

[JimG4652]

Flaming turds are a pain in the butt.

I have liability only on the Kat. I didn't have a problem with test riding the Buell Firebolt. Guy took down my policy number, I signed the papers, and off I went.

Some dealers will have bikes set aside as "demo" bikes, but they're still for sale, for just a slightly lower price than new. The Buell I rode had right at 100 miles on it.

[The CyberPoet]

(A) BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Harley & Buell dealers traditionally let you test ride anything on their floor if they believe you are seriously interested in purchase. I've never had one ask for my insurance, but have had to sign off on theirs.

(B) I've never seen American Suzuki, Yahama, Kawaski and Honda dealers permit test rides of new bikes without you effectively buying the bike first (i.e. - money back guarantee). On the other hand, the big-four Japanese manufacturers put certain models of their bikes up at various shows (BikeWeek, etc.) for test rides -- again, with zero insurance requirement on the rider, but with a sign-off for their insurance. Which model varies by year & brand -- I've never seen a test GSXR or Busa, nor a CBR1k, but Kawasaki did bring out their Ninja 1k & ZX-14 for the last several years running.

Both of the above statements, when taken together, lead me to believe that "by definition", if you are riding a test-ride, the owner of the vehicle's insurance is the responsible one, at least in the case of commercial entities.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[IndyGunner]

What cp said...

p.s. howd you wreck your bike?

[HemiKat]

What cp said...

p.s. howd you wreck your bike?

Didnt wreck.... countershaft bearing went out, so I cracked the case and replaced it, but apparently it got metal in the oil pump. So now I have low oil pressure, a screeching noise and no desire to rip into the motor again. It will get fixed, but its on the back burner.

[LAsunbird86]

^easy fix...just find a bandit 1200 motor

[IndyGunner]

SNKL (mark) is selling one for 1,000 w/ everything you need. Hes a trustworthy guy, I give you my word on that.

[Free Coffee]

The dealership here (a yamaha/kawasaki/eton) will let you test ride if they're reasonably certain that you have the funds and are a serious inquirer. My advice would just be that money talks. I'd try and tell them that you're not going to buy a bike without knowing how it feels. You'd think they'd do what they can to accomodate you. As far as pre-owned bikes go, when I was thinking of selling the Kat I listed a cash deposit of at least my deductible as a requirement for test rides. But I had full coverage on it- so that may not be helpful to owners with liability only.

[steves]

(A) BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Harley & Buell dealers traditionally let you test ride anything on their floor if they believe you are seriously interested in purchase. I've never had one ask for my insurance, but have had to sign off on theirs.

(B) I've never seen American Suzuki, Yahama, Kawaski and Honda dealers permit test rides of new bikes without you effectively buying the bike first (i.e. - money back guarantee). On the other hand, the big-four Japanese manufacturers put certain models of their bikes up at various shows (BikeWeek, etc.) for test rides -- again, with zero insurance requirement on the rider, but with a sign-off for their insurance. Which model varies by year & brand -- I've never seen a test GSXR or Busa, nor a CBR1k, but Kawasaki did bring out their Ninja 1k & ZX-14 for the last several years running.

Both of the above statements, when taken together, lead me to believe that "by definition", if you are riding a test-ride, the owner of the vehicle's insurance is the responsible one, at least in the case of commercial entities.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

The dealer I bought my Sprint from also sells Suzuki and Kawasaki, and allows test rides. They let soulpatch take out the 675 and the GSXR 750.

Worth a shot looking for one that carries several brands.

[The CyberPoet]

The dealer I bought my Sprint from also sells Suzuki and Kawasaki, and allows test rides. They let soulpatch take out the 675 and the GSXR 750.

As a Triumph dealer, I believe they are obligated by their contract with Triumph to permit test rides (ditto the other brands I listed -- dealers & distributors have all told me those brands have that policy as part of the qualification requirements to be a dealer for them).

Once they have the test-ride mind-set and extra insurance in place to do test-rides, I could see them extending the policy to all the brands they carry (makes sense to me -- esp. if it means they score more Suzuki/Kawasaki sales than competitors as a result).

About 2-1/2 years ago, at the peak of the economic boom, Honda was actively trying to define a new type of "Super-Tier-1" dealership, and these dealerships' land-use designs to include a paved track surrounding a enduro/dirt track out, located behind the dealerships, with test rides on the track for street-bikes (& on the dirt for dirt-bikes & ATV's). American Honda was so big on this idea that they were offering to strip multiple existing dealerships in any territory of their Honda certification if someone new came along willing to build such a facility (all of this from inside business trade magazines at the time). Supposedly, they got two takers before the start of the economic down-turn from what I understand, one of which was said to have been built, and the other stalled in financing before construction started. The one that supposedly got (or was going to be) built was to be a massive combination of facilities, including separate car, truck, marine and bike/ATV sales buildings all surround the perimeter of the track (facing outwards onto the main roads). I'm actually curious as to how they are doing (financially) in this market -- whether the additional income from track-events, etc. is justifying the extra cost or not (or if they've gone belly-up due to the must-be-massive mortgage payments)

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[SKNL2]

^easy fix...just find a bandit 1200 motor

Just happen to know where you can find one. Might even be willing to work with ya on the price if you arrange pick up.