Do you or don't you?

[dawnrazor]

[Scenario: You visit a friend at Christmas time and parked in front of his house is a brand new 1450cc Harley Davidson. Your friend is the service manager at the local bike shop so he gets to take home any bike he likes! When he sees you admiring the machine he asks you "would you like to take it for a ride"?

What is the first answer that comes to mind?
]Personally I would say "yip"!

You do know that 98% of harleys ever made are still on the road - the other 2% made it home. Might be a consideration.

[Macktheknife]

I have always accepted and never would I turn it down.
That said I have never put anyone elses bike down either, and anyone who rides mine knows the "you bend it you bought it" rule

[Oakie]

No. I broke a good friend's car once after she lent it to me (lost control in snow). Trouble was that is was actually her boyfriend's car and she hadn't asked / told him. It cost her their long term relationship. Years later I still feel like shit over it.

[T.W.R]

Its someone you know & they've got respect enough in your ability to be able to ride it, and its a brand new bike as well
if it was someone you didn't know then its a different story, you don't know them, you don't know the bike or its history.

[danb]

Well have only ridden on 2 bikes lol - Yea I don’t/won’t ride others and they don’t ride mine. Have been asked to ride a FZR 1000 (bike swap) but totally declined for obvious reasons. (Restricted + Used to only a 250cc ) I would be too worried about the insurance company giving up a shit if something did totally go wrong.

[Wolf]

I find that people who mind if you take their bike for a spin don't offer but most people who offer don't do so lightly - they are mindful that it is their ride they're handing over to someone else. If the offer is made, I consider myself privileged.

Unless the bike looked physically dangerous (damaged/badly maintained) I would accept and, mindful that I don't know that particular machine's quirks and foibles, I'd take it easy (after the episode with the R100, that now includes "not-slamming-down-gears").

Even if it were a make and model I had ridden before I would take it easy as I'd have no idea of how that particular bike handled (grabby or non-existent brakes, warped frame etc)

The prospect of having to pay if I damage it means I take extra special care not to damage it. Same with test rides - at Road and Sport you sign that you will fork out a humongous excess fee if you damage the bike... EXCELLENT incentive to be bloody careful.

**recalls the time I took the R100 for a test ride, taking it easy (needle on 40 as I rolled sedately up the street, up to 50 after a while, hairy moment dropping down a gear when the bike yawed sideways, gentle downshifts thereafter, got confident, took it up to 80) then took it back and discovered the speedo was in MPH! Fortunately that bike was in good enough condition that 64km/h (40mph) was "taking it easy" **

[Goblin]

Had my first ever ride on a Hardley Dangerous today! :spudbooge Yes, we actually swapped bikes. Had talked about it before but it was always "piss-talk". Can't say I'd want to do it again but at least I can say I've ridden one.

Todd wanted me to know what he has to handle to try and keep up with us on our sprotsbikes, and what a cumbersome beasty thing it is. Lots of noise with not alot of foward propulsion. Kept on finding neutral between gears, probably because I had to lift my whole foot off the foward peg to change gears.

Cornering left a lot to be desired, as did the braking. Slow and sluggish would be the best way to describe it. I now know that Todd is actually a bloody good rider to ride that thing round corners the way he does.

I had swapped with friend on a 04 Buell Firebolt last year on one leg of a Poker Run and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. So easy to ride and before you know it, you're doing licence losing speeds.

Next time I want to try the R1, or a GSXR750..... Rick??? Only problem is, no one really wants a turn on my little rat.:slap:

[buellbabe]

A shop bike? and a brand new HD?
Hell Yeah!
But when it comes to offers from other Bikers I have only accepted once in my life and only cos I knew him well and he was begging for a ride on my Buell. So I took his brand new Night-train for a blat and we both had big smiles on our faces!

[Rashika]

A shop bike? and a brand new HD?
Hell Yeah!
But when it comes to offers from other Bikers I have only accepted once in my life and only cos I knew him well and he was begging for a ride on my Buell. So I took his brand new Night-train for a blat and we both had big smiles on our faces!

hmmmmmm wonder who that was eh??

[R1madness]

Yea why not. If its offered then the owner wants you to ride it and be impressed. Take it for a nice ride (relative to the bike and riders ability) and have a good time. You can always lie and say it was fun if you hated it.

[Divot]

Why would I want to ride a Harley when I ride a Guzzi. Go for a test ride on both then you will know what I am about.

Skyryder

I would take the harley any day!

Once was going to hire a Ultra for 4 days and a mate said I could use his. I sais yes and went Wellington and back. What a great ride and what a great mate. Also took his fatboy around the corro loop and have rode a number of shop bikes. Its is great to see what other bikes are like.