lbv Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 The good thing for me (hoping to get 1 in the spring) is that they'll have a few used ones on the lot I can test ride ... and then buy a new 1 if I prefer. Early buyers don't have that luxury of course. Current ride = 2014 Moto Guzzi California 1400 Custom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairorth Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Yes, I was given the opportunity to ride one at Woods Fun Center here in Austin, TX. They were really great, took down some paperwork (you crash it, you bought it) and copied my license and insurance, and handed me the keys. Told me to please keep it under 30 minutes and that's all they said. I'm an older rider (55 years old) so I guess they just assumed I would be careful, which I was. Had a wonderful test ride, loved the smooth throttle response and how easy it was to move the bike around. Definitely fell in love with it and decided to buy during the test ride. All in all I had it out for about 20 minutes. I'm negotiating price with several dealers in the area and hope to have one in my garage by the weekend. My bike history ----------------- 82 VT-500 Ascot 86 VFR Interceptor 04 MV Agusta F4 Brutale S (750) 10 Street Triple R 15 FZ-07 (arrived 12/6/2015)!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ralph Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Here in the UK most dealers have demo bikes, many are quite happy for you to have the thing all day, the instructions for the 07 were ride it for at lest 2 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Here in the UK most dealers have demo bikes, many are quite happy for you to have the thing all day, the instructions for the 07 were ride it for at lest 2 hours. I have a buddy in Belgium. He can demo ride pretty much anything he wants. Just the other way round here. More shops than not will say no to a test ride on anything - well, maybe if it's used and been traded in. Wrote a check for mine based on what i read only. Not at all disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotaryfz07 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I saw the bike before I bought it, but I didn't test ride it. I knew i wanted it . woohoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JA50N Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Didn't test ride it but I did get to sit on it and a 09. Liked the 07 so much more. This is my third street bike, I started on a GS500E and then moved to a SV1000N. I liked the SV1000N but the 07 feels so much more nimble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member crazycracka501 Posted February 18, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted February 18, 2015 Test rode the FZ-07 first before the FZ-09 so I wouldn't be overwhelmed and infatuated just by the power alone of the 09. Rode the Bolt and decided on the FZ-07. I recently rode the Stryker, FJ-09 and will soon ride the Raider (my friend just bought a Raider). The FZ-07 is definitely the best all around bike for sure, but I am split between the FJ-09 and Stryker for my next bike (leaning toward FJ-09). Make it stop!....Now make it go faster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cborcafz07 Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Not only did I not test ride it, I hadn't even sat on one or seen one in person yet. lol I'd been watching videos on the tube for months. Pretty much bought it sight unseen. What can I say, it was love at first sight. After riding it for the last couple weeks, I just keep falling deeper in love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantheraleo Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 No test ride. The best way to be sure you're going to enjoy a new motorcycle is to downgrade to a Suzuki GS500E for a few years. After that, any bike will seem like a dream. I was actually looking to buy a SV650 or a SFV650. I wasn't until the day I got the loan from the bank that I even found out about the FZ-07. I couldn't be happier with the ride/feel/look of this bike. Hilarious. My prior bike is a 2005 GS 500F. I still love that bike...but the power difference between the two is comical. I was thinking the SFV would surely be my second bike. Then I saw an FZ at the International Motorcycle Show in DC. Cheers. O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause...till it come back to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ralph Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Cant remember when I last bought a bike or any vehicle without a test drive, I always thought American sales and service was second to non, better than the UK, what ever happened to the can do attitude? I mate goes to the US now and then and always come back saying he is treated better over there than here, I have only ever met your armed forces personal and nothing ever seems to much trouble to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Getting to test drive a car is no issue here - even big power like a Corvette ( a friend just bought one of these http://www.conceptcars.pics/corvette-wallpaper/12/2015-corvette-stingray-white/ in the fastest color of course) or big money like an AMG Mercedes. I blame him for the cold and snow. I give him until June to lose his license, lol But bikes, most of the Japanese bike dealers will say no. There's one BMW/Ducati shop that has an open house in the spring and has bikes out for rides that day and will put a charged battery into whatever if given a day or so notice. The one Guzzi shop - forget it. Triumph has changed hands here a couple times. The same shop that would not allow me to ride a new 650 Ninja a couple years ago now sells Triumph as well as Aprilia and had a fleet of Triumphs out one day for test rides. I actually passed up an opportunity to ride a Street Triple. The R was the other bike I considered when I bought the FZ. Still boggles my mind that insuring the StreetR would have been far cheaper than this little Yamaha, but that's another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest whitegas Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Yeah, seems like the norm in the U.S. are "demo days" when trucks and trailers with various motorcycle models come to the dealership and they have mass test rides of these models. I think at my next local one I'll try a fz09 out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I test ride the 09 in october 2013. Put down a deposit on march 21st 2014 for the 07. I think it was less than a week after Yamaha Canada has confirmed the arrival of the bike. In June 8th, i took a demo ride at a Yamaha event. Even with all the articles about the MT-07 that i saw, nothing beat a test ride. The demo ride had confirm to me that the 07 was a better choice for me than the 09. I received my FZ-07 on June 27th. I usually test ride the bike before buying it. Execptions were my FZ6 and the FZ-07. It shows that i trust Yamaha. past bikes: WR250X, KLR650, V-Strom 1000, DR650, FZ-6, SV650S, Seca II, GS400S, Seca 750, YZ80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gripnrip Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 I test rode mine but it was being sold by a local Chevy dealer. They made me sign a lengthy waiver form. The test ride sealed the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyinaustin Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 test rode a used one, then saw the brand new '16 in armor grey. dammit. it was over for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugeyes Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I test rode twice, first on a track and then for an hour in traffic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 Bought mine used and could have ridden it far during the test, but rain started falling and the bike had only been ridden on dry roads up until then, so I limited the ride to 2 miles. Which was enough to tell me that brakes were good, seating postition OK, suspension crap and engine lovely. Bought at the scene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 [div]All the reviews and videos on you tube told me what kind of bike it was, that it was wild, that it needed taming, that I was the cowboy for the job. It was Yippie Ki-Yay from there out.[span] [/span][/div] Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahaha Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I've only test rode two bikes(same day) before buying. Didn't really want to but the salesman insisted. A test ride in busy city traffic does not turn me on. Funny, the bike I chose turned out to be the bike I disliked the most in all my years of riding. I did try a fz09 recently at demo day. Little test rides don't tell me much. I need to spend a few hours in the saddle before I know what I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member avanti Posted May 29, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted May 29, 2017 I bought mine online & by phone... I simply read all I felt I needed to know. If I hadn't liked it I'd have traded it for something else and learned my lesson. But, really, apart from "fit" specs, which reviews often include, most bikes are so good today, it is hard to see how one could go very wrong with bikes rated so positively, if bought from a dealer capable of proper set-up. Such was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DewMan Posted May 29, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted May 29, 2017 No test ride. I researched it online for every scrap of info I could find for a couple weeks and then went to my local dealer. I sat on it for an ergo check and ,if I'm being honest, bench raced it while making vroom-vroom noises when no one was looking. I then asked the sales guy for an out the door price. I drove it home a couple hours later. No regrets yet. DewMan Just shut up and ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Mr.Puss Posted May 30, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted May 30, 2017 Yup...what @dewman said....except I went back a second time just to admire and sit on it while my colour was being shipped in. Basically I test drove it with my eyeballs and imagination. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women. Fuss Life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member norcal616 Posted May 30, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted May 30, 2017 I voted no... They let me take 3 laps around the parking lot on the display bike that was outside since they was closing up and bringing everything back into the store... Did some research on the bike beforehand... I try to avoid reading to much into reviews postes online as the comfort/ergos/noises are highly subjective and what not and I didnt want to have an opinion that was already biased/formulated before I even experienced it myself... 2015 fz-07- Hordpower Edition...2015 fj-09- 120whp- Graves Exhaust w/Woolich Race Kit- tuned by 2WDW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShiftHer Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I rode the FZ as a demo ride. Then I ended up finding one to buy, and I had totally planned to test ride before buying (bought mine used), but I got so excited/overwhelmed when buying I forgot to ride it first. Thankfully everything has worked out okay. Find me at ShiftHer.com & My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocco Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Couldn't vote on the poll (tapatalk app) but no I didn't. Kinda crazy buying something only sitting on it. I'm short so I asked the dealer to loosen the spring so it'll compress more. They maxed it out to no give. Had to tip toe home haha But I felt it was if my ninja 500 and sv1000 had a baby in power delivery and seating position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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