Test rides?

[JulesW]

Originally Posted by stranger12

I am based in north London .

I will try calling around but most dealers do feel you may be messing with them and simply not keen to let you test ride.

you never know, I may change my bike after a test ride

I've done several test rides and dealers have always been fine about it. No pressure, no aggressive selling. If fact quite the opposite, dealers have been very welcoming on every occasion.

Which dealers do you normally go to ?

[carelesschucca]

Originally Posted by L3nny

Best place I went to was BMW in Oxford, they gave me the keys to a brand new S1000RR, asked how long I was going to be, I said about an hour, they said, have two hours, go out and enjoy yourslelf. When I got back they didn't even seem that interested in selling it, just said, here is the price, give us a call if you want to order one. Might have to head back there and try the new model

That must be a BMW standard, they gave me a whole morning on the R1100S years ago. I did over 150 miles on it and was away for hours. I was asked to bring it back full of fuel and that was it. There was no hard sell, I had a quick chat about the bike when I brought it back and that was that. Opposite end of the scale was Victor Devines who told me the CBR is the best selling bike in Europe and the best selling 2nd hand bike we don't need to give test rides, people buy them. Told him I wasn't People and walked out with him chasing me.

Stranger maybe you should give your local BMW dealer a look up and even if you don't have a real interest in buy, get some test rides organised with them.

[NTECUK]

Triumph just launching the new 800 tiger.
They probly be keen to demo other bikes too.
I went and tried a few.

[yokohama]

Re the above post, here's an email I got a couple of weeks ago.
For a the test ride, you just go on to their website, choose a new triumph, click a tab and there's a form to fill in with your preferred dates and times.

NEW TIGER 800 LAUNCH EVENING at A1 Moto Services

Visit A1 Moto Services on January 29th, from 6pm, and witness the unveiling of the brand new Tiger 800 XRx and XCx!
Triumph have taken the best middleweight adventure bike and made it even better!
They’ve introduced a plethora of new technologies including Traction Control, switchable ABS, Ride-by-Wire throttle, and three different riding modes to make this one of the most involved riding experiences out there.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity and be one of the first to see the bike in the metal. Plus observe this ground-breaking model’s advanced technology being demonstrated by our experienced dealer staff.
After the unveil you’ll also have the chance to throw your leg over and try this new Tiger for size.
Can’t wait to see it? Book your test ride online now and be one of the first to tame this Tiger!

Be there, A1 Moto Services, 29th from 6pm.

A1 Moto Services
Technology House
Lawrence Street
York
YO10 3BU
01904 625676

[TheRamJam]

Originally Posted by carelesschucca

That must be a BMW standard, they gave me a whole morning on the R1100S years ago. I did over 150 miles on it and was away for hours. I was asked to bring it back full of fuel and that was it. There was no hard sell, I had a quick chat about the bike when I brought it back and that was that. Opposite end of the scale was Victor Devines who told me the CBR is the best selling bike in Europe and the best selling 2nd hand bike we don't need to give test rides, people buy them. Told him I wasn't People and walked out with him chasing me.

Stranger maybe you should give your local BMW dealer a look up and even if you don't have a real interest in buy, get some test rides organised with them.

Yeah Victor Devines is a **** of a shop. Had the same scenario when I wanted to take a blade out. Went to Pheonix in Grangemouth and was out for nearly 2 hours no problem.

Apart from that i've test ridden bikes from Saltire Suzuki, Ducati Glasgow, Cupar Motorcycles, Pheonix Honda and BMW Motorrad with no hassles what so ever.

I think Ducati was the only one that i had to sign any documentation stating that if anything happened to the bike i'd need to pay £2500 up front.

I have also done two Suzuki Ride events that SIII mentioned. They are ok but i personally wouldn't bother as you have to follow some guy on a predetermined route and you can't overtake him. No fun really.

Just ring the dealers and see if they have any demo models in and book up.

[JulesW]

Bikers talk about bikes a lot, even more so after something good like a test ride. Dealers love it.

[JulesW]

Originally Posted by stranger12

Which dealers do you normally go to ?

Bill Smiths Chester, A&D Denbich, Woods Abergele. All very welcoming, I'd have no probs asking them for another ride anytime. Woods would've let me ride one of their bikes for 3+ hours if I'd had the time to do so.

[Sir Trev]

Kings in Kidlington (Oxfordshire) were very happy for me to test ride their GSX-F when I was considering it vs a GRS750. They even fished out a used Blandit S so I could see the differences back to back and almost forced me to take their brand new Strom out in case I was overlooking it.

[L3nny]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Kings in Kidlington (Oxfordshire) were very happy for me to test ride their GSX-F when I was considering it vs a GRS750. They even fished out a used Blandit S so I could see the differences back to back and almost forced me to take their brand new Strom out in case I was overlooking it.

Kings were the ones who let me try an alternative bike when I wasn't to impressed with the bike I went there to test ride.

The first bike was a *cough*SV1000*cough*