Advice wanted re buying a demo bike
 

Hi all,

Thinking of trading up from the 650 to a thou. Once a v-twinner - alwaya a v-twinner! :D
I'm based in Ireland but hoping to buy a bike from the UK as they are very competitively priced (even after adding our VRT tax) and usually in great condition.
Had a look in MCN and there's an ex demo for sale - price is good but are there any downsides to buying a demo bike?

Any advice apprreciated,
Sean.

I would probably go for it, if the deal is good and providing that there's plenty of warrantee period remaining.

Hi

I bought a second hand bike from a dealer, which turned out to have been a demo/loan bike owned by them for the first 1800 miles. I was kind of startled as they could have said it was an ex-demo/loan at the time... however, it's almost immaculate - just slight marks on the footrest guards, everything else is spot on.

On the one hand, a demo bike may have been used by someone who has thrashed it badly, but equally it may have just been ridden by people taking it easy in case they crash it (dealers offer rubbish insurance/excesses on hire and demo bikes)... or a mixture of both of those.

I'm happy because the bike all seems as good as new and I got it for £3400 only 4 months after it was first registered. So long as you feel that you're getting a good deal then go for it...

Dealers are meant to be offered demo bikes at a discount by the manufacturers to advertise the bike to potential buyers, so they ought to be cheaper than *any* private deal for the same sort of bike when they sell it on to you... and they should be selling it on after a few 1000 miles, not with loads of mile son the clock for its age... should be less than a year old and 3000 miles for a demo bike, I'd have thought.

Hope that helps!

I bought an ex-demo bike. 941 miles on it when I got it; it was fine then and is now.

Dealers tend to keep their demo bike reasonably well as the last thing they want is something not right or out of kilter putting off a potential buyer.

Mine was ex-demo as well... But it was broken in properly for the first thousand anyway (or so I choose to believe :)) which is the most critical time for a bike IMO. If it had ever been dropped, it had also been fixed, so I don't really care. Obviously a demonstrator will tend to get more abuse than an average bike, but as long as it was run in right I wouldn't worry too much about that, just take it into account on the price.

i'd say that you should also check if they have any issues with their warranty and you being in Ireland. You know you gotta read the smallprint on these things.
And if any work required under their warranty can be carried out local to you. Dont leave em a loophole if they sell you a lemon.

From the above it dont sound like they will but being cautious is never a bad thing when you hand over money is it ;)

Re: Advice wanted re buying a demo bike
 

Just my view, but I don't think buying a demo is such a good idea. I am basing it on the way demo bikes are treated here and frankly, the thought of owning a demo scares me a bit. Think of it this way. How much care do you imagine someone takes when riding a demo (other than trying to keep the shiny side up)? One "friend" (I use the term loosly) bragged to me about holding the bike on the rev limiter "Just to see what would happen....." :shock: Again, this is just the opinion of one person.

You have a point there - if it's not your own bike then you don't care as much. I had an ER5 hire bike with 0 miles on the clock from the insurers after I got knocked off my bike. Did 1400 miles on it with little regard for RPM after the first 500 miles, plus the oil never got changed in that time (hey - I just got knocked off - I'm not forking out for oil to put in someone elses bike!) and nothing else ever got checked. I'm pretty certain that after a basic check, it would have just been given to someone else, maybe with an oil change at most.

So I doubt people were overly protective of the SV I bought... still, nothing wrong so far, and I've already added 1000 trouble free miles to the 1800 that were on there when I bought it. They did have another black SV there, but there were warning signs - scuffing around the ignition, flaky paint on the front disks (looked like they'd been off and on for some reason), just generally more worn and less cared for.

There would have to be a very good financial incentive for me to buy an ex demo.

If you are planning to keep the bike for years and years then I would avoid, if you are only going to have it for a couple of years then I am sure it will be fine - you will sell it before any problems raise their head.

If it was run as a demonstrator or courtesy bike from 0 miles I doubt I'd touch it with a ten foot pole, that's for sure...