So why cant you test ride a dirt bike?

Xerxes
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Xerxes
Edited Date/Time 1/24/2012 12:04pm
The 011 bikes are coming out soon which made me realise that in 30+ years of mx I've bought all my bikes on trust. I wouldn't buy a Hyundia or Kia without a test drive and yet I would on a CRF which costs the same - wtf is that all about.
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kawboy388
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kawboy388 7/12/2010 3:09pm
7/12/2010 3:09pm
So, you gonna take delivery of the bike you tested with a roached out rear tire, from riding around the parking lot ?
Cygnus
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Cygnus 7/12/2010 3:11pm
7/12/2010 3:11pm
Liability. The only MC company that allows test rides is HD. Oh KTM does ride days but you do not test the same bike you would buy Just the same models.
RonSkj
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RonSkj 7/12/2010 3:13pm
7/12/2010 3:13pm
I know KTM does ride days at some of the local tracks. Sign a release and take a test ride..
BK
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BK 7/12/2010 3:13pm
7/12/2010 3:13pm
Our local Triumph dealership will allow test rides on certain bikes. But that is rare.

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pcdoc
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pcdoc 7/12/2010 3:17pm
7/12/2010 3:17pm
You would think that there would be some way to sign a waver of liability (I know it varies from state to state, and some states wont allow you to sign your rights away), and the dealer could treat the demo bike just like any car dealer would and eventually sell it to a customer who would appreciate the discount. I guess thats why we have moto mags to do the thorough testing we've come to expect over the years.Wink
DanDunes818 7/12/2010 3:25pm
7/12/2010 3:25pm
pcdoc wrote:
You would think that there would be some way to sign a waver of liability (I know it varies from state to state, and some states...
You would think that there would be some way to sign a waver of liability (I know it varies from state to state, and some states wont allow you to sign your rights away), and the dealer could treat the demo bike just like any car dealer would and eventually sell it to a customer who would appreciate the discount. I guess thats why we have moto mags to do the thorough testing we've come to expect over the years.Wink
I got fired from my last dealership job (20 yrs ago..lol) for letting an inexperienced girl test ride a dual sport. We got a phone call a 1/2 hr after she left saying it was on the side of the road on Balboa blvd in san fernando valley and she was in transport to the local hospital.. oopps
Bucky Wheat
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Bucky Wheat 7/12/2010 3:28pm
7/12/2010 3:28pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
I got fired from my last dealership job (20 yrs ago..lol) for letting an inexperienced girl test ride a dual sport. We got a phone call...
I got fired from my last dealership job (20 yrs ago..lol) for letting an inexperienced girl test ride a dual sport. We got a phone call a 1/2 hr after she left saying it was on the side of the road on Balboa blvd in san fernando valley and she was in transport to the local hospital.. oopps
Silly girls.
Kinetic1
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Kinetic1 7/12/2010 3:31pm
7/12/2010 3:31pm
I can walk into any dealer in my town and test ride whatever I want.......but that could be because I have bought bikes from all of them at one point or another. KTM,BMW,Ducati, Yamaha,Honda, Suzuki, Aprillia, kawasaki you name it.....just the street bikes though. My local KTM dealer will let me take a bike to the track to test it out though.
TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 7/12/2010 3:41pm
7/12/2010 3:41pm
Danny Dolan ran a 1981 YZ125 into the side of an Ice Cream truck during a "test-ride" and ruined it for all of us!
Sanchez
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Sanchez 7/12/2010 3:53pm
7/12/2010 3:53pm
Some D7guys on here might remember Twigg Cycles out of Hagerstown, MD holding demo ride days in the mid-90's at the (now-defunct) Antietam MX track. It was only open to district racers and there was a release to sign...but it was awesome because the dealership carried all (the big-four) brands if I remember correctly, so you got to ride them all back to back.

I remember the bikes being liberally covered with clear tape, so I'm assuming the dealer sold them afterwards. Funny thing is that several people that'd show up to ride worked at competing dealerships at the time.

scott_nz 7/12/2010 3:56pm
7/12/2010 3:56pm
i own a kawasaki and suzuki dealership here in New Zealand, i have demo KX250F's and 450's, and also RMZ250's and 450's, plus some of the endruo models, not sure why the US dealers do not do it
jeffseid
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jeffseid 7/12/2010 4:10pm
7/12/2010 4:10pm
It's called mxrentals.com
sbarrington314 7/12/2010 4:12pm
7/12/2010 4:12pm
honda and ktm have done test days for the 10s around here.

i think bikes should come with free revalve and springs for your weight.
pcdoc
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pcdoc 7/12/2010 4:13pm
7/12/2010 4:13pm
scott_nz wrote:
i own a kawasaki and suzuki dealership here in New Zealand, i have demo KX250F's and 450's, and also RMZ250's and 450's, plus some of the...
i own a kawasaki and suzuki dealership here in New Zealand, i have demo KX250F's and 450's, and also RMZ250's and 450's, plus some of the endruo models, not sure why the US dealers do not do it
I blame the trial lawyers Sick
Kinetic1
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Kinetic1 7/12/2010 4:15pm
7/12/2010 4:15pm
sbarrington314 wrote:
honda and ktm have done test days for the 10s around here.

i think bikes should come with free revalve and springs for your weight.
Now you're just being silly.
RonSkj
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RonSkj 7/12/2010 4:39pm
7/12/2010 4:39pm
scott_nz wrote:
i own a kawasaki and suzuki dealership here in New Zealand, i have demo KX250F's and 450's, and also RMZ250's and 450's, plus some of the...
i own a kawasaki and suzuki dealership here in New Zealand, i have demo KX250F's and 450's, and also RMZ250's and 450's, plus some of the endruo models, not sure why the US dealers do not do it
Cuz we live in a fucked up country. Where no matter how many waivers you get signed, some douch will sue.. And win!
jtmach1
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jtmach1 7/12/2010 4:47pm
7/12/2010 4:47pm
It would be cool to be able to test ride a bike before purchasing. I mean you are spending $6K+ for a bike. I currently ride a honda, but when I'm ready to make another purchase in a couple of years I'd like to be able to test another brand, but unless I know someone who has one it's not going to happen.
Moto East Mag
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Moto East Mag 7/12/2010 5:24pm
7/12/2010 5:24pm
I sold bikes for five years and we did test rides of street bikes all the time. The issue is having a place to ride dirt bikes and the fact that it doesn't require a license. A license is kind of a qualifier. You can't let your average 16 year old hop on an mx bike. He might say he can ride but you have no idea.
I have heard of dealers having demos at local tracks. We need more of that if people are dropping this kind of money for a bike.

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Ing
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Ing 7/12/2010 5:29pm
7/12/2010 5:29pm
Nobody wants to buy a "used" bike. Refer to post #2. We sold Husqvaarna for 17yrs. up in Iowa and anybody that really wanted to ride one could but we'd have to take them to the local track.
Sondy132001
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Sondy132001 7/12/2010 5:30pm
7/12/2010 5:30pm
Xerxes wrote:
The 011 bikes are coming out soon which made me realise that in 30+ years of mx I've bought all my bikes on trust. I wouldn't...
The 011 bikes are coming out soon which made me realise that in 30+ years of mx I've bought all my bikes on trust. I wouldn't buy a Hyundia or Kia without a test drive and yet I would on a CRF which costs the same - wtf is that all about.
It's funny you say this, reminds me of my neighbor when I was about 17 or 18 ? He's selling his Street bike...something that screamed crazy and this guy shows up, wants to buy it, hops on and takes it for a spin down our street, just eats shit and destroys the bike, my buddy is sitting there with his mouth open just shitting himself, guy hauls his ass into his car blood everywhere and my buddy is left standing there with a wadded up bike...That's why you don't test ride a bike...any kind lol

S
drummer dude
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drummer dude 7/12/2010 5:42pm
7/12/2010 5:42pm
Back in the day,there was a shop in grove city,pa called j&j cycle. craig martin worked there. i know some of you know craig.he owns actionsportscycle in decator texas,a ktm dealership .also he worked for team green kawie and worked at oakhill mx. he's a real close friend of mine. anywho,they had kawies and suzooks and they would let you test ride them in a field next to the dealership. but they had enough scooters set aside just for that reason. ah,the good old days!!! if ya see craig,tell him mr.lowe says hi. he will know exactly who you are talking about..
drummer dude
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drummer dude 7/12/2010 5:45pm
7/12/2010 5:45pm
sbarrington314 wrote:
honda and ktm have done test days for the 10s around here.

i think bikes should come with free revalve and springs for your weight.
steve,i sent ya a friend request thru my space..thanx,dd...
WhipMeister
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WhipMeister 7/12/2010 5:54pm
7/12/2010 5:54pm
Because Bob Myers said so.
pcdoc
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pcdoc 7/12/2010 6:21pm
7/12/2010 6:21pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
I got fired from my last dealership job (20 yrs ago..lol) for letting an inexperienced girl test ride a dual sport. We got a phone call...
I got fired from my last dealership job (20 yrs ago..lol) for letting an inexperienced girl test ride a dual sport. We got a phone call a 1/2 hr after she left saying it was on the side of the road on Balboa blvd in san fernando valley and she was in transport to the local hospital.. oopps
Dude, in the '90's I "played" sales mgr for our local Honda dealership...really just helped out the owner each spring for a couple months...made some money...had a ton of fun.
You can almost always tell the guys that arent gonna make it when you send them out...I remember one guy...rich college boy...arogant...his idea of riding gear consisted of : flipflops, cutoff shorts, Oakleys, and his baseball cap turned backwards...a genuine squid...He comes in with an ass pocket full of money, wants to buy the new CBR900RR. He assures me he's ridden many bikes. He made it out of the parking lot onto the street...grabs a handful...front wheel went stop to stop about 3 times and he was down! We laughed till we cried! Dude picks up the bike, pushes it back up to the shop (of course he looked like yesterdays meatloaf lol) We sent him back to get an estimate at the service dept Woohoo
Crash82
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Crash82 7/12/2010 6:26pm
7/12/2010 6:26pm
1977 Montgomey Al @ Dan Myers Suzuki and Harley Davidson. I test ride a 1977 RM80 in the field beside the store, Pops bought it for 714.00 OTD. We take it that night to Riverside Raceway and I won my first race ever after only putting about 30 mins on the bike. I was a moto-god.
dcg141
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dcg141 7/13/2010 12:23am
7/13/2010 12:23am Edited Date/Time 7/13/2010 8:21am
You really need to work at a dealership to get a real taste of the boneheads that come in with thier buddy or girlfriend talkin $hit and wanting to test ride a bike. Its freakin scary. I once relented and let a shorts, flipflop clad moron ride a clapped out KTM 200 EXC around the parking lot and he managed of course to flip it and fukup the subframe and hurt his foot. Can you imagine if I had turned him loose on a new 450.
MickeyMeanie
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MickeyMeanie 7/13/2010 6:57am
7/13/2010 6:57am
I"ve been able to test ride street bikes but never dirt... most dealerships around here don't have a track or field where you could test ride... only way would be for them to do demo rides at local tracks and I don't recall seeing that happen around here before.
jeffseid
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jeffseid 7/13/2010 8:17am
7/13/2010 8:17am Edited Date/Time 7/13/2010 8:18am
The closest thing to test riding a bike would be the North County House of Motorcycles ride days at Pala. I don't know if it's everytime but they had 2010 DC Yamahas you could ride on the track. If it weren't for the DC and Yamaha partnership though, they most likely wouldn't offer that opportunity.
SteveS
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SteveS 7/13/2010 8:31am
7/13/2010 8:31am
Back in 2004 Southside Yamaha in Dayton let my son test ride a YZ85 and a YZ125 on a dirt loop in the field next to the dealership. Worked too, because we bought both of them on the spot.
Kinetic1
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Kinetic1 7/13/2010 8:51am
7/13/2010 8:51am
Route 66 powersports in Ionia Mi has a track next to the shop and will let you ride it before you buy it I have been told. They carry Yamaha Kawasaki and Suzuki.

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