Dropped bike on a test ride?

[F5 Dave]

ok that's a bloody good story Trashy.

I had a neighbour who decked an RZ when they were new. A mate from school who crashed a new XR500 he couldn't afford so gave the plastics a tidy up with a file & took it back, somehow undetected. & I may or may not have married a lass who dropped a bike back as a teenager but the shop didn't get too worried about it.

Friend was selling a twist & go scooter & this lass said she wanted a test ride. Straight into her friends car door.

So ever wonder how bike shops ever make money?

[TerminalAddict]

I wonder if Terminaladdict will post here

I may

check threads I've started.

the short story: "thanks for the ride, and here's a thousand bucks"

[WRT]

Not on the actual test ride, but putting on the side stand back at the shop on a busy Saturday in front of about 15 people on a brand spankers K Series BMW. I could not even afford the indicator/mirror I broke off, let alone the machine I was pretending to be interested in. I have run out of gas twice while 'testing' bikes. Tight arse bike shops!

Hang on - you are out "test riding" (and crashing) bikes that you have no intention of buying, couldn't afford even if you liked it, and you grumble that the bike shop didn't provide you with enough free gas?

Tell me again - who's the tight arse? Dude, you must squeak when you walk!

[Street Gerbil]

Before test-riding my present bike, I've bought a coverage from my insurance company to be "better safe than sorry". The good thing, I could cancel in two weeks and have all my money refunded. Luckily nothing impressive or exciting happened during/immediately after the test ride (except Mrs. SG saying "I think you should buy it") but I felt much safer knowing I have a way out.

[Forest]

Not on the actual test ride, but putting on the side stand back at the shop on a busy Saturday in front of about 15 people on a brand spankers K Series BMW. I could not even afford the indicator/mirror I broke off, let alone the machine I was pretending to be interested in. I have run out of gas twice while 'testing' bikes. Tight arse bike shops!

Tight arse bike shops???

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

[Daffyd]

Hang on - you are out "test riding" (and crashing) bikes that you have no intention of buying, couldn't afford even if you liked it, and you grumble that the bike shop didn't provide you with enough free gas?

Tell me again - who's the tight arse? Dude, you must squeak when you walk!

Couldn't drive a needle up his arse with a sledgehammer!

[F5 Dave]

What about after dinner & a movie?

[Dodgyiti]

Hang on - you are out "test riding" (and crashing) bikes that you have no intention of buying, couldn't afford even if you liked it, and you grumble that the bike shop didn't provide you with enough free gas?

Tell me again - who's the tight arse? Dude, you must squeak when you walk!

Having spent over 80K in the last 4 years on bikes, 52 of that in one shop, the only thing that squeaks is the credit card when I walk in a bike shop. And the sales staff get the moisturiser out to prevent the chaffing as they rub their greasy hands together when they see me coming.
I like to see (and try) what is out there before I buy, hence 'demo bikes' sell bikes.

[Storm]

Havent crashed one, but I've "thrown a leg out of bed" as they say
Was testing a GSX250 and it tried to throw me off on a flat, straight piece of road, stopped to have a look, and lo and behold, theres a conrod and piston looking back at me
Didnt cost a cent - and they still let me test ride bikes - now THATS a good shop

[roadracingoldfart]

When i was working at Sawyers in the good old days we had one really bad Friday night (remember late nite Fridays ) where a guy put a brand new
VFR1000F2 into the tide half way round the bays to Kilbirnie and by the time we got a tow truck to haul it out the tide was in and the guy couldnt find the friggen thing so there it stayed till the next low tide. Then after that a guy testing an XR 600 was cuaght by the cops riding over the roof of all the cars in Courney Place just for fun. We also had a scooter fall of the back of a ute in the Mount Vic tunnel which was ok till it hit some flash as car and bashed the shit out of it . I can assure you that the Public Liability Insurance got a fair old hammering that week.
No im working on cars and we have a few loaners for folks to use and if they got no fuel in emm they winge like bastards about it . I just tell them we promise to just go around the block to test their car so we wont use much gas so can they please accord the same to us in our car. Yes i have been called an asshole hahahaha , fugg them.

[gunnyrob]

Make sure you check the bike for ANY damage before you sign for it, or you could be done for random damage if not previously detected. The Vfr I recently took for a ride had an excess of $2500.

[moko]

I was at a Kawasaki Test Day in Cornwall way back when the first Z900 came out.They had one of the few in Britain borrowed from Kawasaki's press fleet and as it was the ultimate Japper at the time and new as well there were a good couple of hundred people there.Other bikes on test as well but it was the new Z most had turned up to drool over.Greasy little herbert that screamed off the forecourt didn't look like he could afford jeans with the arse in let alone the new wonder bike.A few minutes later one of the other bikes returned,rider had a word with the salesman who all but screamed "THE ****'s DROPPED IT".Being young and British the assembled crowd let out a big cheer and when the dealer's pick-up returned the guy was sitting on what was left of a very,very bent Kwak in the back with a big grin on his place,got a big round of applause from the assembled masses,apart from the bike shop staff everyone else thought it was hilarious.
Mate of mine got nicked for speeding while test-riding a GPX600,which he bought afterwards and I still can't get over the salesman who insisted a trail bike I was about to test ride was "totally reliable" after I couldn't get it to start,he couldn't get it to start and by the time I'd given up on the thing totally the workshop had been trying unsuccessfully for half an hour to get it going.

[Hillbilly]

Had a salesman at the local Suzuki dealership lose and drop a new GSX750F on its side as he was wheeling it back into the shop!

[Reno]

I was in Brisbane in May and my mate worked in a bike shop and organised a ride on an 07 R6. He jumped on a new R1, these test bikes were all tricked mine had an Ako pipe and loads of carbon on it and his had GYTR pipes.
The only catch was the $2000 excess!!!
So we took these bikes to Mount Nebo, if you been to Brisbane or get a chance to ride there take one for a spin out here. We got to the end of Samford Rd and left is Mount Nebo and right is Mount Glorious. We didn't pick right eventhough here's the palce I wanted to go. Apparently quiet a few guys have either impaled themselves on a tree or gone over the barrier and dropped into the valley below.
Anyway this road is amazing, and me trying to prove myself (stupid, cause this bike is so opposite to mine) didn't see a 30km corner just after a crest, jammed on the anchors as normal and the back just locked up (the latest Materbike test talks about the eager rear brake on the R6). Lucky nothing was coming the other way as I crossed the centre line. About 10 minutes later lost the arse end after being a bit too keen with the wrist and alsmost high sided.
The $2000 excess finally came into my head and I backed things off a bit.
So to cut a long story short almost binned a brand new bike overseas and almost had to fork out a fortune.

PS: If I pull finger and bring the camera to work I might post some pics.

[bert_is_evil]

Hmmm, most contents insurance policies have personal liability cover for up to a million for damage you do to other people's property - I wonder if that would cover the excess (or even the entire cost) if you did drop one on a test ride? Insurance experts?