[atvtom1]

Was talking to my buddy who owns a Harley Motorcycle, he tells me that Harley Motorcycles have ride days at all dealerships every
year where anyone with valid drivers licence and proper identification may sign up for a ride day, ride any or all new bikes offered in the
current production year. The Harley trailer shows up at the dealers, the bikes are unloaded and the fun begins. Apparently the ride is up to 25 riders at one time with Harley personnel at the front and rear of the ride so no one can take off and steal the bike. Anyone else heard of this ? That would be a great way to try out different ATV's - do any ATV manufacturers do this ? Was anyone ever refused a test run by a dealer
when we wanted to try out a bike ?

Love my 07 AC 700 EFI

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

BMW does the same thing at several rallies every year. They show up at the BMWMOA International Rally and I've heard that they have been at several other, regional rallies.

Can-Am is doing this and I was at two events last year here, in upstate NY where the Can-Am trailer was parked and several of their new vehicles were available for test rides.

I've seen a local Polaris dealer do this here locally where they have a day that you can ride any of the machines that they have in stock at that time.

There's another local dealer that has done this with their Polaris, Can-Am and used machines.

I've heard of sled manufacturers doing this but that's all, just heard about it.

 

[mrmrezg]

i have riden harleys at at demo days. my cat dealer lets customers ride ATVs, there isn't much room to ride, but you can ride them.
before i bought my cat i was looking at a honda (iknow, i know) but i asked to ride one and was told that, i could ride it all that i wanted after i bought it. that was when i started looking into arctic cats

 

[97rstd]

I went to my dealer originally thinking i wanted a 400 trv. I rode the 400, an H1 and a 700 in a big lot next to the store, but I was still concerned about the 400 carrying me (BIG guy) through deep mud. So the dealer suggested we load it and the 650 on a trailer and go out in the snow and mud to try it out. We TRASHED two brand new ATV's in the mud for over an hour and both of us had a ball doing it and he made a sale. Of course i didn't buy either one of those (They were dirty) I instead went back and rode a nice shiny 500 that was sitting in the showroom and purchased that one. I can't say i would like to buy a brand new quad that someone else had buried in mud, but on the other hand it sure helped me find a machine that was adequate for me and i will definately be a repeat customer to that dealer.

 

[kyleboxr]

all test riding is up to the individual dealer..not the factory!...yes harley does the ridebefore you buy program and i know for sure that none of the asian dealers test ride (at least none in illinois..i called most of'em..)
I do own a harley and i did get to ride one before i bought it... :super_happy:
atv dealers say no to test rides mostly because they then have to sell the unit at a reduced rate therefore profit is reduced if any left at all.
ALL MY OPINION ONLY!!!

 

[vintagemxr]

I've demo'd Harleys at the dealer before and in ye olden times even some of the Japanese bike dealers would let you do demo rides. BMW dealers usually have a demo program also. At the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows several mfgrs have demo fleets available for escorted rides. At the Phoenix show my wife and I rode a Honda Gold Wing, a Kaw 2000, and I rode an Aprilia Tuono. All you needed was your riding gear and a M/C endorsement on your license. We had a blast and the Aprilia ride was more like a hooligan ride through town. Before we rolled out the Aprilia ride leader told us (8 bikes) "If you get pulled over we grab the bike and you're on your own."

One of the things that's tipping me towards buying an 650 TRV is that one local dealer has a dirt lot next to his shop and was happy to roll the quad outside for my wife and I to ride. He's even built some whoops and an itty bitty hill so you don't have to just ride in circles on flat ground. It made a big impression on my wife and she said that's where we're buying the Cat if we make the final decision. The dealer doesn't have the lowest price but he seems like the kind of guy I like to do business with.

I'd love to ride the Yamaha with power steering just to see what it's like but that will happen when Hell freezes over, I'm sure. As ATV events get bigger though I image we'll start seeing demo fleets show up here and there for test rides. Probably happening here and there already but I'm not up on all the big events.

Doug

 

[MattCat500]

Our ATV club actually hosted an ATV Demo Day. We had 9 local dealers and the public was invited to test drive. It was to promote the sport and the dealers and our club. It was a good turn out. We have a really good Cat dealer that participated that had the best display and the most demo machines. Also the dealer footed the bill for the radio coverage.
The webpage link in my signature has some info about the Demo day.

Matt

 

[onyx_z71]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (atvtom1 @ Feb 11 2007, 08:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Harley Motorcycles have ride days at all dealerships every year where anyone with valid drivers licence and proper identification may sign up for a ride day, ride any or all new bikes offered in the current production year.[/b]

If you've got any kind of relationship with the Harley dealer, and they you know that you're seriously looking to buy a bike, a test ride on a new Harley should not be a problem any day of the week. I know that's the case for me. I have, however, went to the demo days and rode just to see how the new bikes were. There was no large group though. They just copied my license, and sent me on my way by myself.

 

[BriN747]

My dealer has a dirt road and a track out back. He'll hand you the keys to various machines to let you compare. He even let my kids test ride the 90's with helmets.

 

[ham_viper]

Probably one of the major reasons I have my AC is because the dealer let me ride it. He had a creek in the back with a 5 acre rutted up field behind the dealership. I was able to literally punish the quad in foot deep ruts and climb in and out of the dry creek bed with big rocks as much as I wanted. This sealed the deal for me. There is a chance if the yami dealer had had the same setup I would be driving that right now. I think the dealer are smart to have demo rides. They can pull one of each model and let them get abused then sell them for a discount later. In the meantime they make many many sales due to the demo unit. Even if they lose alittle on the demo it will easily be made up in sales.

The whoop de whoop tracks both yami and suki had where fun but in no way highlighted the capabilities of the utilitie machines like that rutted up field did. All the machines I rode were fun in the woops but none of the others could have handled that rutted up field like the AC. There is no replacement for ground clearance and suspension travel!!!