Turning 40 and getting my first bike, ah that old cliche. Sights set on a Ducati but it isn't as easy as it would seem. Fair play to the Glasgow Ducati, Blair was very understanding and sympathised, hopefully one day I'll get to join their club. Although I can buy any bike I can afford, and some that I can't, it seems I can't test ride anything at any dealership or make! Despite all the salesmen trying to sell me their most expensive race replica bikes and telling me "these make brilliant first bikes", their insurance doesn't cover any rider with less than 12 months riding experience. Ask for a test ride and I'm told I could run someone over and cripple them, leaving the company open to legal action. Some salesmen told me they weren't worried about their bike, only the possible legal action (I'll come back to this later). To put this in perspective, I have only ridden the 125cc CBT bike and then the Kawasaki zxr6f during my mod 1 and mod 2 lessons and test. I think I want a sports bike, but how do I know what kind of bike I want without riding them? I was really looking forward to a few weeks testing various naked, tourers and sports bikes. I am in a fortunate position of being able to afford a relatively new bike, but I'm not about to stump up thousands of pounds without ever having ridden a bike or knowing what I want.I did wonder if anyone else had a similar experience, but everyone I speak to is shocked to hear that dealers have these restrictions. I suppose as I'm new to riding at 40 years old and all my mates have been riding since a young age, none of them had the cash to go looking at a new bike for their first bike. So is private sale the way for me to go?What have I done? I got a 1994 CBR600 F2 for a few hundred pounds and I have ridden the wheels off it since passing my test in November. Hundreds of miles, all winter with only two days too poor to ride it. I love the feeling, the freedom and it is an amazing bike. And I'm steadily increasing my distance in the saddle on great Scottish roads. When I insured it, I opted for the ride other bikes option in the policy. Now I wondered. So I called the salesmen that told me he wasn't bothered about their bike, only legal action. I informed him about the fact it would be under my own insurance but third party, but he quickly retracted the offer and I still can't test any of their bikes (not even a 250cc)
You need is a 2010 MTS1200 with full ducati service history, cjs tuned to 150bhp at the back wheel, Leo Vince exhaust, ohlins electronic suspension and all for under £8k. Well documented history... Most of it on here.
If you bin it, on your insurance, its only third party so who would pay for any damage? I'd imagine thats the main issue using your own insurance. Or, if you are paying pound notes, you could pay the lot on provision its right for you, so if you bin it, you own it!
Why not buy a cheap Ducati for now to run around on for 12 months then go and test ride the ones you like Bradders would his insurance pay for the repairs only or would it be an own fault claim ?
Nope, only damages if he smashed into someone else. Ridimg and damaging someone elses bike is not classed as third party. Or that wouod be the next scam
Frankly its not always easy to choose the right bike even with a test ride, especially if there's money burning a hole in your pocket. What seems like the bee's knees after a half hour test ride taken on a wave of adrenalin and anticipation can become a different bike six months later. Similarly, a bike you convince yourself is not for you on grounds of style or taste might be a revelation after six months of use if you gave it the chance. There really is no substitute for experience and you can't buy it or borrow it. The best you can do is do your research, take note of other people's experiences and try to keep an open mind. At least fling a leg over a prospective bike to make sure you can live with it (especially with sports bikes) and keep plugging away at dealers for test rides. You might find one who will allow you a ride if you pay the full balance of the bike in advance but I suspect they will also want you to insure it in your own name. That could get expensive. In the end, sometimes you have to take a punt. Look after the bike and if its not for you change it and put it down to experience.
How about doing a Ducati Track day I'm sure there were are some where you could hire a range of new Ducatis or is that the same 12 months stipulation to ?
Define 12 months riding experience? I mean if you go back in 12 months and produce a licence with the date test passed is now 12 months ago does that mean you have had 12 months riding experience? What do they really check for?????? I would suggest although new you are probably more up to date with Highway code more open to learning and the risks involved and most certainly less likely to high speed crash than one of our "i passed my test 40 years ago, i haven't done any further training since, but I'm 'experienced aint I" brigade............although you may well stall and drop the bike in the showroom car park.....
Andy, it is the date test passed 12 months from that date and he will be able to test ride a demo bike. Check the clauses on your insurance most state that they will never pay out on a loan bike or any vehicle lent to you under a loan or any other type of agreement so I think you will be hard pressed to find an insurance company that will pay out even to a third party as when you take a demo bike out you are entering in to some sort of loan agreement with the dealer. My local dealer have an excess policy and the excess is dependent on the type of bike you take out and who you are too. I test rode the 899 in November 2013, Mark the salesmen quoted me £500 excess so if I dropped the bike I would have to stump up £500, someone else took that same demo out and they loaded £1500 as excess on them. I also saw a young kiddie (30ish) take out one of those Suzuki cruiser type things only small capacity cc, I saw him pull away and even I crapped myself watching him, I walked in to the shop and passed comment to Mark about the kiddie and he said "we have loaded an excess of £2,500 as he had only passed his test 3 months previously. So it would appear that some dealers will irrespective of when you passed your test let you test ride. How are you finding the F2 ? would you prefer to be more upright or can you cope with a little more severe race/riding position? How does your back & wrists feel after a 100 mile stint ? If neither are giving you problems then it's quite possible you could cope with a more lean forward head down arse up riding style, if they are giving you problems I would suggest a more upright position. To be fair most bikes are pretty much the same these days, uprights are uprights sports is sports, slight differences will be width of bars and height or angle, these are all easily altered without buying anything. On my Streetfighter I have rotated the bars about 5 degrees forward which gives me a slightly more leant forward approach. My view is if you sit on a bike and it feels comfy, the chances are it will feel the same when riding, ok so you may want to soften the suspension or harden it a little to either give you more comfort or more road feedback. The seat may give you grief on a longer journey but another easy fix that is not loads of money. So now all you have to consider is what style you want and how much POWER............... I bought my 848 street fighter blind, never test rode it (mind you I had owned the 848 sports bike so had a good indication of engine performance), that was in September 2012 and I have never looked back, I did the same with the 899 although I did test ride it but that was 3 weeks after I placed my order and 1 week before they delivered my bike. Never regretted buying that either.
Your issue is more likely to be with the insurance companies than the dealers. I suspect the cover you are asking them to provide might be very difficult (and prohibitively) expensive) or even impossible to find.
yes i understand insurance company stipulations and tat may well be the stumbling block........but my point is whats the logic in this? He could in theory not ride a bike for 12 months post test, walk in to a dealer and take a fannygale out.........
Wasn't questioning the point you were making Andy. You are right in what you're saying having licence for 12 months or even 12 years for that matter does not mean you have that amount of experience. It's a farce mate.
If you think you might like an 899, sign up for a Ducati Riding Experience at Imola. Cheap Easy Jet to Bologna, then spend a day with the bike on track. There is also a section for something like a Multistrada (or there was) going around a carpark or something. Anyway, check it out. It will be a lot more informative and fun, I suspect, that just doing a few miles on some congested UK roads for an hour. Ducati Riding Experience: the Ducati Motorcycle Riding School
How about talking to an insurance broker and asking if they will cover you on a specific bike on a specific day ? It will cost a few quid but you cant beat spending an hour or two and covering a good few miles to help make your mind up.
Oi! I posted the link to it - check it out you lazy bastard!! I did it years ago, so don't remember. Think it was midweek. It's not that expensive (and they will hire you all the kit too, if you like).
