Test rides/Age?

Im 19 going on 20, year and a bit into my 33 bhp restriction. Of course test rides of bikes over 33bhp are a no-no.
So i ask:
At what age will dealers let me test ride bikes?
Is it CC dependant?
Does it depend very much on the dealer? , independent/major dealership?

Ive wondered for ages and its becoming more and more relevant as i'll want to test ride alot of **** when i lose my restriction.

[Bibio]

full unrestricted licence required. sometimes depends on the shops insurance so can be over 25s only but this is very rare.

I dont see why they wouldnt allow it as soon as your unrestricted, afterall you may buy a bike if u like it.

[tonyk]

Originally Posted by stuR

I dont see why they wouldnt allow it as soon as your unrestricted, afterall you may buy a bike if u like it.

It’s more of insurance purpose, so some bike's are over 25s only.
Same for hireing a car 21+ or 25+ and some 30+... = which car you can get.
Argument sake, just so a 16 year old who just got a full license cant be letout on a brand new R1...
Age and type of license = which bike they will let you testride.
Bummer…..but that the way it goes.
Old gits like me, full licenses since the old green paper ones don’t have to worry…

[rictus01]

Oh it's a little more than just shop/dealer insurance, I've a friend who works in a dealers, and although they are given demo bikes at a discount, they will weigh up whether you are likely to buy/afford the bike you are asking to demo.

In most cases you have to sign away a good chunk of money incase of damage, and in some cases they will charge a small fee (I've not come across this yet, but have been told a couple of times, something like £12-15, you get it back if you buy).

Cheers Mark.

[Paul the 6th]

Yeah mark's first line - I've found that walking in and asking for a test ride straight off, generally doesn't get you very far... but if it's a bike you're generally interested in buying and ask all the right questions about servicing, what insurance group it is, how much they'd potentially give for yours (take them to your freshly cleaned sparkling bike and big it up) then ask how flexible they are on price etc.....

The sales guy needs to be thinking "nice one I've got a sale here", and then ask about a test ride. He'll most certainly sort it all out for you if he thinks you'll buy it after riding. As for test rides on restricted licence etc. it'll be down to each dealer I guess.

most of those test rides they don't tell you that if you crash it the excess is something stooopid like £500 or £800

[Fallout]

It was 25 for the various Triumphs at the two places I visited. I agree about making it clear you are a high probability customer. At Bulldog I went in and told them about my job and what I needed, and then they were my best friend. At Premier Bikes I went in, specifically looking at the Tiger and going to great lengths checking it all over for issues. With it being 2nd hand, that made it obvious I was a high probability customer.

If you're going in just to have a giggle and a ride with no intention of buying, then you'd need to make sure you have a nice convincing attitude to real buyer reasons for taking it out.

Last 3 bikes I have test ridden I called them and spoke to them before hand, Explained what I was after and why and told them I will be paying cash. They took all my details down but all 3 did require me to be 25+. The bikes I rode were, Triumph Street Triple, SV650s 12 plate, Suzuki Gladius and have arranged a test ride on a Vstrom for this weekend. All of them had excess between £1200 and £2000

Bloody hell, thats a decent excess, spesh if the bike you are trying is really low miles and tyres still got fat chicken strips...how can u test a bike if your really scared of an incident?