Am contemplating selling one of my bikes privately, and whilst I'm more than happy for any buyer to start her up and/or put up on my workshop ramps to inspect, I am loathe to pass over the keys for a test drive - she's a special edition in mint condition, and I'm loathe to let some numpty thrash her about or worse, wind up with her scraped down the road, or over the side of the mountain. I am however happy to pillion a potential buyer, albeit that isn't a comfortable experience on this beastie.

Any bikers here who have sold/bought with a "no test ride" restriction please?

I quite simply woulnd't buy a bike I wasn't allowed to test ride. The offer of being pillion would have me laughing.

You know yourself that it's important to feel the shifts, feel for vibrations in the bars, feel for pulses in the brakes.

So, no test ride, you're not getting my money. If you didn't write no test ride in the add, I would probably give you a few expletives for wasting my time.

There are always people that will buy a bike with no test ride, if the price is good, as it raises some red flags.

Seems like you're still in love with your bike. Better keep it

0. Classic and rare private vehicles are often sold without a test drive. External and internal inspection, start an engine and maybe a slow ride around the cul-de-sac, but that's it. No experience with a bike, but my father sold his 45 y.o. car without it moving at all. A bike, usually, people want to drive, unless it is something really exclusive.
1. For any test ride, either you must have a full and unconditional casco (a very rare thing for recreational vehicles), or the potential buyer must have a sufficient insurance for any vehicle he drives. Or, if he only have insurance for personal and rented vehicles, you may be fine with a rental agreement for the test drive, but I have no idea if or how it works in Switzerland.
2. I would only let a person to test drive my vehicle, if such person arrives on a similar enough vehicle or if this person can show enough experience with and understanding of it. E.g. if someone would want to buy a sports bike from me, I would like this person coming on the closely powerful and heavy bike, or if someone would want to buy a car from me, but comes on BMW in a BOSS tracksuit, I will have to test if he knows how to use turn signals, to keep in a lane, to keep a distance and not to sponsor Nazi beneficiaries, which didn't pay for the use of the POW slave labor (they don't like being reminded of that, but it won't make it less of an issue, until they rebrand to erase the sour past associations).

What bike are we talking about here?

Tom

(Full) cash in your hands and they can test drive it as much as they want.
If they mess anything up they have just bought the bike, no questions asked.
Simple.

Great suggestion!
Now how does one exactly write this in the ad (in German) to get the message clear across?

Rare, very pretty, fabulous growl, but not so much fun for my old body anymore. I'm better off with some of my standard, non-collector touring machines these days.

You're spot on re appetite for test driving, but....

Would definitely mention no test ride in any ad, and would phone screen folks in advance as well - I don't have time for the tyre kickers who are bound to be attracted if I go with a mainstream ad. On reflection, I might actually be better off approaching a dealer or auction house to manage this.

Appreciate your input.

Vincent Black Lightning?

Tom

Oh I should wish. Ditto for a Brough Superior!

Weather is glorious in central Switzerland today - stay upright fellow bikers!

I have a friend who has a couple of Vincents, and at least 3 Broughs, that actually rides daily!

Tom

"test drive with deposit only" sorry, I am not sure enough in my German to translate it



btw. I guess that personal insurance covers that? I mean with my is this:
"bei Schäden an benützten fremden Motorfahrzeugen"


than you can ask for proof of insurance or for deposit? It would sound nicer, I guess.

Had a friend with a honda magna, which while probably not in the same category as the one you are selling, had a very sweet paint job.
When he was trying to sell it one potential buyer said he would only drive around very slowly... when it came to doing a u-turn to drive back you can guess what happened. And the guy had the audacity to claim that the scratches were there before, and refused to pay.

I suggest taking plenty of photographic evidence, just in case.

Why don't you take a small deposit. And to be really sure, follow the test rider with your other machine?

If the bike is so precious, I'd also go with the route 'pay upfront and return intact and I'll give you your money back'.
Basically, sell immediately with an option to refund immediately eg that same day / few hours.

I don't think it's completely necessary to drive a bike before you buy it, unless you have some special needs for positions and what not.
I mean, there's a ton of youtube reviews where you can learn much more than from a ride, if you're new/inexperienced driver (my SO bought a bike like that, during the training, but before he got a A licence, in order to have the bike ready immediately after getting the licence, since process here was several weeks long, and he's completely happy with it without any issues, but spend probably hundred of hours on reading/watching reviews in order to find a bike for himself and which mods he wants immediately like different levers and whatnot).

On the other side, if you're experienced and you're looking for something specific, then yes, I can completely understand why you woudln't buy it without test drive. I wouldn't either (when I become experienced driver).

Would I pay upfront for the full amount to test drive it? If I really wanted it, yes.
Would I be a bit anxious about 'what if something is wrong with bike, or I just don't like it, would I get my money back' - I would.

So, check what you can do to mitigate this anxiety, don't know if maybe notary could be impartial third side which would hold the money and bike papers? Or if there's service like that.

Or yeah, check if there's an insurance you can offer to the rider / they can buy themselves for a day that would cover eventual damages and how that works exactly.

But at the end of the day it all boils down to - do you want to sell it or not.
And how to protect yourself from damages and not payment.

If you're anxious about what will happen to the bike under someone else's thighs, maybe you're not there yet to sell it. I mean, they can pay you in full and crash in the next corner. So decipher what's your main worry - being heartbroken or being without a money for damaged vehicle and then act accordingly.