This is a VERY relevant question due to my current circumstances, but I'd like everyone's opinion.....
Would you buy a bike, New or used, if the person, showroom or dealer REFUSED to let you test ride before you bought?
Genuine question.... after a few replies I'll let you know why I'm asking! You may not believe my situation!


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As a private seller I would be reluctant to allow a test ride to someone who I had no background on, for instance an Ebay buyer with low or poor feedback but a dealer should be more open to the idea, especially if hoping to sell you a new bike.

Nope, I would neither buy nor sell without a test ride. It is absolutely self-evident.

If I'm buying from a dealer, well, they have test-drive liability forms for me to sign, saying if I break it, I've bought it. That said, I bought my current bike used from an importer, and their shop was on an industrial estate where they let me have a test-ride. (More to see if the bike was really what I wanted - the importer has a decent enough reputation that I did not expect it to be a lemon.)

If I'm a private seller... well, if the buyer feels dodgy to me, I might ask him for a cash deposit while he's test-riding. Either the purchase amount in the worst case scenario (I'm thinking for US people, where just having a moto license doesn't guarantee the person is able to ride the bike safely), or a few hundred euros as "excess" and the guy's driving license.

But both times I've sold bikes privately - once my own, once helping to sell a friend's bike - and in all the instances I was shopping and test-driving bikes from private sellers, it was just like with buying a car. I drive over, leave my car with the seller while I test-drive the bike, come back and tell him if I want the bike or not.

No test drive, no purchase unless I'm purchasing a brand new bike with which I'm already familiar. I wouldn't purchase a used bike without some type of test drive. A dealer should have no problem with used bikes being taken out for a ride but I can see how a private seller might be reluctant to do so, especially since here used bikes for sale are often "off the road" and not insured. It's a quandary for both sides.

My insurance covers test rides by others while trying to sell the bike. The idea of a deposit in the amount of the insurance deductible is a good one.

But in short, no test drive no purchase.

Thanks for your input. Here's my story......
Anyone reading my previous posts on this forum will know that I have had a 'difficult' time trying to get information out of Suzuki Philippines. Every microbe of information had to be squeezed out of them. It was like pulling teeth!
For example.... 3 emails to get the accessory price list for a V-Strom. It's almost as if they didn't want to sell anything! Just WEIRD!
However having given my order for a new V-Storm 650 XT + luggage etc., I then asked about test-riding. Another 4 emails later, both to the dealer and to Suzuki Philippines and I received the answer, ' It is policy NOT to allow ANY test rides prior to purchase!'
SUZUKI PHILIPPINES OFFICIAL POLICY!


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I've only ever bought two new bikes (both Japanese) in my life - both back in the 70's, and neither time could I get a test ride from any dealer. Whether it was policy passed down from the manufacturers or a "couldn't care less, we can sell everything we have, test free, to other starry eyed punters" attitude from the trade I don't know but back then you bought it "off plan" or not at all.

Things did change - eventually and slowly - pushed by falling sales I'd guess, but even now there's a test ride reluctance in many dealers. About three years ago I was looking to buy something half decent - whether new or newish we hadn't decided, and I did want to try them on the road first. When I compare the attitude in both my local Triumph and BMW dealers with the expensive dentition smile we get when my wife buys a new car it really showed.

The bike dealers don't say no but they put so many obstacles in the way they might as well. I've had: come back on an open day, where's both halves of your licence, you'll have to arrange your own insurance and we'll need a comprehensive riding history, whereas the car dealers are thrusting the keys into your hands almost as soon as you walk through the door.

Of course the car risk is lower - they go with you to start with and a middle aged woman is less likely to turn out to be a test pilot than a bloke swinging his leg over a Fireblade but I get the feeling there's more too it than that. "Enthusiasts" (a lot of bikers fall into that category) will put up with a lot more sh*t than people just looking for transport. If the Ford dealer doesn't come up with the goods the Renault / Nissan / VW guy down the road probably will and to many people the cars are almost interchangeable. If the bike dealer refuses you a test ride the next bloke wearing a Triumph T shirt probably won't even ask for one and he's an easier sell. That's been my experience anyway.

On the other hand, on the few occasions (mainly private purchases) where I have got a test ride I've wondered what it is I'm supposed to be checking that I can't do stationary. Most of the time I wobble away trying to get used to a strange seating position, unfamiliar controls and engine noises where I can't tell what's right or not. Add in an area where I don't know the local roads and the first half an hour is almost pointless. Only once (an early Vstrom) did the riding experience change my mind and that happened in the first 100m.

There's not many private sellers (or dealers come to that) that'll let you clear off on their pride and joy (even with my wife as a hostage) for an hour and they're even less pleased when you come back and say no. All of the four bikes I use regularly atm were bought without test rides (three privately and one from a dealer) and all four have turned out to be exactly what I thought they would be.

New bikes at the dealership? Where I live, forget about it. The problem is that they can't get the insurance to cover it. You have some newbie come in, all full of it about what a great rider he thinks he is, he gets on an unfamiliar bike and drops it leaving the parking lot. I can't say as I blame them.

When buying used, I've found most sellers are extremely reluctant to let anyone take a test ride _unless_ they have cash in hand. I don't blame them either. When I've gone to buy a bike, I check it out as much as I can without riding it. If it looks great, I'll ask for a test ride. Sometimes the seller says yes, sometimes no. If I really want the bike, I'll show up with cash, and write on a piece of paper that I will purchase the bike at the agreed price - subject to a test ride. That usually works.

If selling one of my bikes, and the buyer wants to do a test ride, I've usually said I want cash in hand before letting them take it for a spin. If they come back with the bike in one piece, they can have their money back if not interested.

Once or twice I've agreed to let the potential buyer take it for a test ride - only because I was desperate for a sale, or because the buyer was clearly both a very experienced rider and seemed to have plenty of money.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

That's our Skoda dealer. To be fair they did let me have a go in the car I was interested in - a first-gen Octavia RS wagon, fairly rare beast - but the salesman was not interested at all and nearly slapped me when I got enthusiastic with the throttle and steering. Compare that to the test-drive of a brand-new Scirocco turbo, where the salesman pointed me to a twisty empty road he knew and told me to make sure I open the window and listen to the exhaust note as I floor it...

Well, I test-rode a CBF1000 that was for sale locally. Clean, straight, well-equipped with a full set of panniers, priced to sell. Went on a twenty-minute ride and returned understanding that while it's an incredibly stable and comfy bike - start in Hammerfest and don't stop till you hit Gibraltar - it was also entirely boring and generated no emotion in me at all.

By contrast, the shop where I bought my VFR... this is a complete mea culpa, Don't Do What I Did, Children, but I showed up there on Monday morning having gone halfsies on a liter bottle of Jim Beam Red Cherry the night before. The test ride confirmed what I thought before from just sitting on other bikes - that it may not be as maneuverable and tractable as the Gladius I'd sold a few months earlier, but goddamn if it doesn't make you feel like a hero. (It helped that I'd been bugging the shop for weeks over email, looking for a day when they were open and I could come to the other town - the definition of a motivated buyer. No haggling, but they gave me a great deal on a Kappa set.)

Most local new bike dealers will accommodate some form of a test ride. The KTM dealer will just straight up rent you any of their demo bikes for a day at anywhere between 120 and 200 euros. The Honda dealer had an open day where they collected five euros per ride for a charity; they'll also let you rent a demo bike for a day for 39 euros if you are a known customer (i.e. had an oil change done there). The Yamaha dealer was the most difficult to deal with, but apparently more because they didn't get as much factory support as the others, and didn't have demo bikes in my town.

Interesting viewpoints above....thanks for the input.
I guess I'm biased due to my European upbringing, only ever bought 1 new car in U.K., test drive no problem back in 1982: several used cars all with test drives. Here in Philippines only 2 used cars, 1 from a dealer 1 private again both with test drives. I bought my VFR750 after a quick 5 minute ride , but I've never bought a new bike before.
I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and rely on just sitting on it in the showroom.


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Are there places that rent the same bike in your area? It's one way of trying it out first.

Absolutely, definitely NO. Almost every bike here is a 125 or 150 (or a scooter). I'll probably be only one of a (very) small handful of people to have anything bigger, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw anything bigger......


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I've never had a problem with test rides (or test drives) here in the UK. Just bought a new 1200GSA and the dealer was happy for me to take their demonstrator out for an hour or two, also suggested I take the 800GSA out too so went out for another hour on that.

Cars have always been fine too...I seem to remember a dealer letting me have a car overnight in the past...

I wouldn't buy without a test ride...otherwise you're spending a lot of cash just based on what others say, and it can be a personal thing...

Cars are very different I think. The seller can come along with you so they are not just watching you ride away.
I've asked on a few other forums and it seems that dealers in places other than Europe or USA are quite against allowing test rides.


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Having worked at a main dealers a few years ago I would have though any reputable dealer would have either trade plate with dealers insurance a short term (by the hour) insurance option Coopers spring to mind £10 and a £200 excess should you damage it or there own insurance in place which is usually free but with a massive excess in the thousands of pounds.

We had a guy come in 35 minutes before we were due to close on a Saturday I offered him the £10 insurance, I've been riding 35 years he said I'm not likely to drop it sonny ??? well no one sets out to damage a bike but stopping in a gravel lay-by hits the front brake down he goes.

His cheapest option was to buy the bike and as a gesture of good will we replaced the dented tank foc.

I buy and sell quite a lot of bikes.

I would never expect to sell anything without letting someone ride it if they asked to . But they put the full cash value in my hand while they're out. No exceptions. You break it, you bought it !!

I would buy a bike if I wasn't allowed to ride it. As long as they let me do a full inspection.

If they have a workshop, ask them to put it on the bench for you to see it , at least. They can run it. And work it through the gears on a centre stand etc.

I've bought a few bikes blind though. Without even seeing them. And to be honest, I'm always disappointed when they arrive. There seems to be little honour between thieves.

That said. Every deal is different. You need to ask why they refuse a test ride.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.