Tyre kickers and test rides

[cs363]

What he said at the end of the day you can get them to sign anything you want and show you whatever, licence ect..ect. But if they take you bike out and write it off then it's going to be a case of $10 per week for the next few years.

So you say work on the worst case scenario and plan for it? How would you deal with it ???

If you must sell privately then insure the bike, full licence holders only, be happy with ID (ideally two forms of ID such as drivers licence plus a recent phone/power bill showing their address) and if possible accompany them on the test ride on another bike or whatever.

Personally I would prefer to sell OBO at a dealer if you can find one that you can strike a good deal with or trade the bike, that way you avoid all that hassle.
The other thing that is probably worth pointing out is that if you sell on Trademe, often people will buy the bike sight unseen with no test rides.
Another suggestion is don't offer test rides but offer a 24 hour money back guarantee or something.

I think test rides are over rated - most people know what they are buying as they have researched it, probably ridden a mates in the past etc. The only real thing that is in question is the mechanical state of the bike, so you could preempt this by having the bike checked obver by a reputable dealer and getting a written valuation & inspection report.

[mynameis]

Doesn't work for the private guy but I never let them ride a bike without me being with them on another bike.
As for restricted licence holders dude that one is down to you.
But think worst case senario. He stacks the bike so its fucked --and kills himself -sorry to be blunt but thats worst case

Ok so if he's wrekced the bike and himself then they are both history 10 15 20 g whatever it is goes down the drain and so does he/she.

If you're following someone from behind then ensures the bike isn't stolen, but if they were to bin it then you'd be just watching from behind. Won't be able to do anything.

[cs363]

The golden rule is that ultimately you have the power - if you don't feel comfortable about letting someone ride the bike, say no. Walk away, there will always be another opportunity to sell/trade whatever. If it becomes a matter of having to sell then take the loss and sell it to a bikeshop if you have to, I's rather take a bit of a loss than have a total loss.

[FROSTY:Me]

Ok so if he's wrekced the bike and himself then they are both history 10 15 20 g whatever it is goes down the drain and so does he/she.

If you're following someone from behind then ensures the bike isn't stolen, but if they were to bin it then you'd be just watching from behind. Won't be able to do anything.

Sorry mate but er -doesn't happen. Me following/leading seems to rope in the lunatic a bit. I still encourage a decent ride--its a test ride after all but if they look out of their depth we stop and have a chat Its all freindly like -after all Im sellin a bike but I also don't want em cleaning themselves up in a crash.

[blossomsowner]

Right how do you deal with this? Say if your insurance has expired and you're not renewing or if it does not cover anyone else but you.

How do you sort the genuine out from the test pilots and deal with them? You'd get a general feeling about how genuine someone is about buying your machine.

But what you don't want to do is put off genuine buyers by not giving them a test ride or having too many terms and conditions like, proof of funds or getting them to sign a note ect.

Again there are some genuine ones who will not have full and would be looking at upgrading so do you just take a little bit of risk and let them?

good questions asked...........i have read through all the posts in reply and they also make sense. Frosty probably has the best approach but obviously only works if you have 2 bikes.

however i share your concern for losing a sale due to making it too hard for the prospective buyer. My current bike was bought from a dealer even though i tried to get a private deal on a different bike.

First the private guy flat out rejected my offer telling me he had been offered more by others.........this was without a test ride too. I say don't worry about it then.

A day later he texts me back that i can buy at my offer price. So I want to test ride...........he demands cash first. Doesn't impress me at all as my plan is test ride.....stop at bank...........get cash........buy bike.

Anyway i agree to this but in the meantime do an online vin check thing to discover that wof and reg nearly expired. I contact him and say for him to update these with new ones.

He refuses saying there is a little left so all good.

Stuff you then mate. I go to bike shop and test ride and buy bike with new wof etc. Easy as.

So try and make life a little easy for prospective buyers (i actually liked the private bike more). If I was buying now i would like a seller to let me have a ride.........have a written mechanical check..........new wof.

Good luck.
when i have sold bikes privately i let buyers ride and leave me their car and keys etc as security. As long as its a good car!

[raftn]

Its a hard call but i just dont let one test ride it full stop. Never seemed to stop me selling them though.

[Ixion]

I've bought a good many bikes over the years (100 ?) and looked at a lot lot more (1000?).

I VERY seldom bother with a test ride.

Why? I think it actually is a non productive exercise.

Firstly : Assume you are not familiar with the model. What is a test ride going to tell you? You won't know if it's "typical" for that model, or a bit down on power or whatever. And if you don't feel "comfortable" on it, that may just be a matter of getting used to an unfamiliar bike

Secondly: Assume you are familiar with the bike. Very seldom will you be able to test ride a bike of any size hard enough to pick up any performance shortfall. Are you *really* going to tap it out to 200kph down his street?

Thirdly: The inherent stress of a test ride (riding an unfamilar bike, that's not yours, etc), distracts your attention. And means you may miss seeing or hearing important stuff. My father was a car salesman at one time. One trick he used, was always to get the prospective buyer to drive. The punter would be so distracted by having to drive an unfamiliar vehicle, with my father prattling away next to him, that he'd hardly notice anything. And any issues could be explained away as his unfamiliarity.

Fourthly: A lot of significant signs (eg smoking) are best seen when following a bike, or from the side. When you're riding you either can't see them, or are too busy to take proper note.

My routine is first to suss out the seller. What sort of person is he? Any sort is OK, but determines what and how hard I'll examine.

Then check for any signs of abuse. Fairing damage, graunched bolts etc. Check tyres, and generally give it the equivalent of a through WoF check (I ignore whether it's got a WoF or not, I reckon I'm at least as fussy as most inspectors, and many bike WoFs aren't worth the paper they're printed on). Be *very* suspicious of anything with signs of crash damage.

Then I get the owner to start it up (make sure it's cold to start with. If not be *very* suspicious). Listen/look for noises, smoke etc. Rev it up, usual stuff. Check the odo reading. Then get the *owner* to take it for a ride, while I watch. Up the road, hard (he should be willing to ride it harder than I would be); back again, past me, and back. And watch , closely and carefully. Smoke? Sounds 'clean', no misfiring (tell him you want to hear it revved out in the gears - is it) ? Watch his gear changes, are they all neat? Any bad sounds? Then round a decent block, him riding, me following. Look and listen.

Back, turn off. Restart. Look and listen.

By now I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking at. At this point I *might* ask for a ride. But probably only if its a cheap old clunker with numerous issues , and I'm trying to determine how bad they are; or a model with a known propensity for gearbox problems or such like; or I'm suspicious based on what I've seen so far.

Bear in mind, the expensive stuff to fix on a bike is things like fairings, tyres, chains and internal engine problems. Which by and large have little relevance to a test ride. I always budget a few hundred into a bike price to cover a new battery or such like

I don't think people should use a test ride on a 'for sale' bike to try to work out if they think the model is suitable for them.

[fireliv]

Some good advice here.

When phoenix and I looked at the ZX6R, tris only had a restricted, so didnt even bother asking for a test ride. We felt that it wasnt worth it because if he crashed it, we would be screwed. Just got the guy to start it and run it for a while.

When we brought the bandit, the guy was nice enough to let Phoenix ride it (I was only on my learners and was happy to trust Phoenix's opinion). Phoenix had his full, and pulled up on the ZX6R so the guy knew he wasnt a time waster. The test ride was just around his street.

I'll be selling the Bandit in a few months when I get my full. I will probably allow test rides around our crescent. I will want to see a licence just to ensure that they have one, and will probably follow them on th 6R so they cant escape!!

Good luck with what ever you decide!

[Headbanger]

So if you're selling a 15 g machine you ask them to get 15g cash and you hold it .... eeheem.

No, They simply don't get a test ride. Been there, done that.

[CookMySock]

I've bought a good many bikes over the years (100 ?) and looked at a lot lot more (1000?). [....]

My routine is [.....]

Thanks for posting that. Great to hear how the experienced folks are doing it.

Steve

[MarkH]

-lots of really sensible stuff-

Colour me fuckin' impressed mate!

My new procedure for buying a bike is now this:
PM Ixion and see if I can bribe him with booze/money/whatever to check out the bike for me - buy it if he says it is OK.

[**R1**]

man I havnt trashed sumone elses bike for ages, thanks for all the tips I'm off to fool sum sucker out of a tank of gas and the rubber from his tyres

[ynot slow]

I am sussing out a new bike,might be a bandit1250 or gsx650f or katana750 if a suzuki,only reason I will take for a test is to see how comfortable it is 2 up,as the suzuki fest gives great bargains for new bikes.Also looking at a couple of others private and dealers,will test mostly for 2 up,i.e how does she who must ok the bike feel on the back,no sense buying a f1,gsxr,cbrr etc if she aint comfy.


Oh by the way if anyone is selling on tardme,a guy had his bike for sale,someone got the rego off the bike,found who was selling it and rang the seller,deal done.Seller emailed tardme and said the bike was totalled in a bin so the fees were refunded,he got back $39 plus highlighted listing fees as well,nifty dude.

[mctshirt]

I've bought a good many bikes over the years (100 ?) and looked at a lot lot more (1000?).

I VERY seldom bother with a test ride.

Why? I think it actually is a non productive exercise.

True - by the time I get to a test ride (or drive) it's pretty much a done deal for me.

But when I go for a ride (or drive) I head straight to a mate's place who I can count on for a brutally honest unbiased appraisal of whatever machine I consider so good I can't live without it. Saved me buying a bike with a worn timing chain last time - same thing as a bike shop appraisal I guess with more cuss words and "you're gonna die!" chants (one also gets an uncensored full appraisal on the bike to rider ability ratio)

It's a handy reality check

[Crazy Steve]

The last five bikes ive sold..3 of which were newish GSXR's...

No one even asked to ride them....They just looked/offered and paid.....

Then they rode them away....

Crazy Steve..