Demo bikes, buy or not to buy.

The present wife of course

 

I think it depends on how long I was going to keep it and what discount I was getting for it being a ex demo. I know when I test ride bikes I'm fairly ruthless, but equally your only using a bike within it paramenters, thats why rev limiters exist, I assume the dealers run the bikes in themselves rather than relying on prospective purchaser not going over x number of revs

 

My local dealer is selling their demo Thruxton. I have used it a couple of times when mine in for service and you can tell it's well used. I also know they have used it for track days. I also know some of the idiots that have borrowed it, in all weathers and basically thrashed the arse of it. And it's done nearly 3000 miles.

You can argue that it's been well looked after by the dealer, all the updates, serviced and any adjustments done but I wouldn't buy it..

I've bought loads of ex demos but they've done 700 miles and 3 months old, there the ones I would go for.

 

i think the bikes are pretty much run in before they arrive at the dealers, when i went for a test ride on a s1000r at my local bmw garage it only had a few hundred miles on it so i asked him what revs to keep it under and he said rev it as much as you like but try not to keep it at the same revs for too long

 

Strange advice Dougie ?
What happens if you're on a 100 mile stretch of motorway ?

 

^^^ I think the dealer meant....don't keep it at 6k revs in 2nd gear and thrash the crap out of it

 

not sure but there isn't any motorways near me..he also said it wouldn't do any harm to the bike even if i took it up to the red line throughout the gears!!

 

Dougie I think the dealer wanted the bike gone at your expense . He wanted you to ride like a mad man....then you know what follows.....crash. ...insurance claim. .....

 

I was always told ex demo bikes are the fastest not run in and lots of different riding styles beds the engine in better
modern engines are pretty bullit proof and running in was something you did in the seventies because of the poor design just my opinion of course

 

That first sentence could well be describing a 'Lady of the night'

 

My reply to biglad got stuffed into his quote. So open up to read my message !

Cheers capt.

 

Wouldn't bother me if the bike was cosmetically OK. Modern machinery is not going to fail catastrophically just because it has been used as the designers intended. They all come with a good warranty on engines going bang, but when was the last time you heard of an engine going bang without neglect being involved. Not like when you had carbs and you could rev the arse off them, fuel injection stops too much fuel washing by rings, limits revs, etc.

If you get it for a good price, all cosmetically good, warranty, etc, I would buy one.

One of the local lads bought the Honda dealers ex-demo Africa Twin, I had taken it out and given it the beans, the dealer had tidied it up, rear panel that was scraped by short arses climbing over and kicking it, serviced and good tyres. Would have happily bought that bike.

 

Hi littleade,
Wouldn't most of what you said fall into "sensible". "Normal" riding ! I still don't ride on constant throttle and my bike is well run in @ 100,000 + klms !

Cheers capt.

 

Personally I would not be too concerned about buying a demo at the right price. Modern engines can take massive abuse and still be reliable. I believe bikes that are ridden normally or reasonably hard from new make better power, seat the rings in the bores better meaning the bike uses less oil.

 

I am looking forward to the Triumph factory tour.
If we are allowed access to enough of the manufacturing processes, I will be able to make a more accurate assessment of 'running in' requirements through analysis of materials used, surface finish, machining tolerances and surface treatments.
All the above play a massive part in the longevity of an engine, our responsibility as bike owners/riders is to ensure we pay due diligence to oil and filter changes and other essential servicing requirements.

 

You guys buy more new bikes than me. If I was 1500 away from new then I think I would try to strech for new and if I couldnt I would look for a one owner bike with extras and 2000 miles for 1500 less.

 

I wouldn't hesitate, condition and price and when the first oil change is all you should worry about.

20 Years ago I was 20 and was buying a new sports bike every 10 months and covering around 12,000 leisure only (thrash only) miles during each bike. I had two brand new GSX-750 SRADS back to back on a 97 and a 98, the first one got 100 miles before a toasting and the next one got about 5 miles. Frankly, I had a death wish and just lived to wheelie, I used to like hitting the limiter just as the front came down and both bikes had that treatment literally hundreds of time - it was an obsession. I used to ride everywhere like a total knob and only just to ride it, never a commute and very rarely to get somewhere specific. Both bikes ran like clockwork, a road rider just cannot hurt a modern bike that has good oil in it no matter how hard you try (certainly not with the mileage you're quoting).

The first bike I ever raced was a little ZXR400, it had done a full 52 races plus practice days before I got it. Without a strip down I did exactly the same as did the next owner. That over 150 competitive races with nothing more than oil, filters and valve clearances plus the odd clutch. It ran perfectly, didn't smoke or rattle. My next race bike was a GSX-R that I had race tuned by Bob Farnham and it was then when I realised just how safe the standard tune is on even the sportiest road bike.

Your demo bike provided the first oil change was done on time will be absolutely fine. There are obviously enough people who agree with me as each year the Calafonia Superbike school sells off its entire Ducati Panigale fleet on ebay. Most of them have around 3,000 track miles on them and, much to my personal disappointment, they fetch strong money. I wish everyone was scared of those so they sold cheap as I'd have one in my garage....

I've owned 7 brand new "big" bikes, I've only run-in 2 of them and have never made a bike warranty claim.

Regardless, whatever you choose I hope you're pleased with it.

 

Personally i wouldn't..