Lets try a social experiment; You go to test ride a brand new Ducati from ur local dealer. Its done 237miles. Its got a full tank. You`re in full hero kit. The dealer says to mind the revs and advises you to keep it in wet for a while then when you`re confident put it in sport, but not in race. You pull away from the forecourt............. Question??? And be honest, its simply a) or b), not inbetween, one or the other. You really intend on maybe buying this bike so want to see what its made off, after all 20k is a lot of sterling. Do you,..... a) Ride the bike civilized as you`ve be asked and merely experience being on the bike? b) Get 50 yrds down stream and put the mo-fo into race and ringe the fook out of it like an epileptic having his first wank to some flash photography? `B` Im gonna ride it as hard as I possibley dear to and not worry about the revs cos its not my bike and i want to see what I will be buying IF I do
Test ride? My local dealer won't let you even sit on them. And get this, if you do buy, they push it to the road, then you can get on and go . The explanation was some time ago someone had driven a new bike into the shops wall. So, you might as well order it off the internet for Christs sake.
A-ish. I wouldn't have it in wet, but I'd put it in normal and make "normal" progress. I wouldn't bother wringing its neck because (a) you'd be hard put to find somewhere to do it (esp if you don't know the area too well), (b) I assume from the outset it's got more than I will possibly need, so that's not what I'm there to find out. More interested in how comfortable it is, how involving it is to ride, what it corners and brakes like, what it's like from roll-on (I'm a lazy rider). At the end of the day, do I like it 20 grand's worth? That is an awful lot of money with which I could do no end of interesting things, go places, buy stuff. That's why I haven't bought a new bike in 6 years. I can't see anything delivering me 20 grand, or even 15 grand's more fun than what I already have (which let's face it, isn't close to wearing out).
I'm with glidofgood. I know the bike's way better than me I just want to know whether I'll enjoy owning/riding it.
Has to be B, anything else is pointless, might as well buy a washing machine otherwise. Why entertain buying a 20K sports/race missile without the idea of thrashing the tits off it, no brainer.
My bike must be primitive, it's only got race mode on it :smile: As to the experiment ... unless it's raining, I go with B. If it's raining, why would I want a test ride?
I'm with Glid, and actually didn't know about computerised settings on a duc - maybe worth a test ride just to see what these new fangled bikes can do (obviously far more than I can do). Maybe I would play with the settings to see what they did, but don't think I could spank the arse off it (can't touch what my 998s can deliver).
the results of above thread answer this thread :- http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f11/1199-will-they-refresh-would-you-buy-demo-5352/ quite neatly.
The dealers should run their demo bikes in so we customers dont have to worry about thrashing them so much and we should ride the demos as if it was our own bike.
Well seastar told me once they got their 1199 in they would put a 100 or so mile on and then let it be tested so no they dont always and the idea of a) or b) is so to stop morals or riding styles etc etc coming into the equation. If you read the variables and the 2 choices and that its one or the other you would have to make a choice. either ride as told ie very soft or take it for a good burn. yeah it doesnt offer varying degrees of `how i ride someone elses bike like my own blah blah blah` but thats the point. no inbetween. Its not meant to judge people or to highlight those that you would never let ride your bike or people never to buy a bike off, merely to see what percentage of people would ride a demo bike hard or not as in another thread the question was posed` would you buy an ex demo. thats why the choice is supposed to be either... ride gentle or ride hard. That way, in a round-about manor we can see how an average demo bike gets tested in the space of few months to a yr before it gets sold by the dealer as an apparent low millage bargain. Just because you or I ride a demo bike with care doesnt mean everyone does and its exactly those that we dont see riding it that should concern those who look to buy an ex demo....highlighted by this thread :smile:
Put it this way, it's not really a moral thing. If I was testing a 125 or a 400, or maybe a 600, I'd be redlining it - in the case of the 125, redlining it everywhere. But on a 1199, it can't be that easy to find the space to do it - you'd be doing 150 mph before you knew it. So where are the heroes doing it? If I was moving up from 130 bhp (my 999) to about 180 bhp, and it cost 20 large and it wasn't mine, I'd definitely want to be sure I didn't end up in the "you broke it, you pay for it" category, having wrapped it round a tree.
