Demo

[Looney tune]

I'm sure there are members who have thought about or have bought an ex-demonstrator bike. What are your experiences on this.
To members who have not, I ask, would you buy an ex-demo bike.


Cheers in advance.

[BBROWN1664]

Unlike cars, when a demo bike goes out, the salesman generally does not go out with the potential buyer. Cue loads of abuse.

Not sure I would want one unless the price was VERY good.

[Chillum]

I wouldn't have thought that they would have been run in properly either, which could mean $$$ down the line

[Tmation]

Not bought one myself, never been lucky enough to get one, but a few friends have. If its not been crashed it will be fine, most bikes over 250cc are so fast you would have trouble abusing them in a short ride. Most people just pootle about and then open it up now and again. The ones my pals have bought generally have less than 500- 700 miles on them and come with the rest of the warranty but at considerable saving on new.


Go and test ride a new 1000cc plus bike and see if you can wring its neck, I would suggest a 2012/13 ZZR1400 



Also worth looking at (as long as you don't change your bike every few months) is pre registered or last years (or older) models, normally these can be had with big savings but come with full warranty (I have bought a couple of these in the past).


Good luck hunting around

[Tmation]

Oh and they generally have lots of extras on them, especially BMW's or Hardly Able Toos

[Grahamm]

To members who have not, I ask, would you buy an ex-demo bike.

But how different is that from buying second hand with more than one owner? Ok, the current owner may be sensible, but the previous owner might have ragged it to hell.

And, for that matter, even if you buy second hand from a dealer, how do you know that the previous test riders haven't decided to "see what it'll do" when they wind the throttle wide open or bang it down a few gears and then dump the clutch? Sure it might get some sort of service before you buy it but there could be internal damage that wouldn't show without a full strip-down.

There's no guarantees with either...

[BBROWN1664]

:agree but certainly round here, an ex-demo, whilst cheaper than new is still not discounted much compared to a second hand bike.

[VNA]

Of course often the bikes that burn oil are those that have been (too) carefully run in.
If I remember correctly the wee manual that came with my zero miles pre reg 2004 Fazer Thou said no extended running over 5000rpm for the first 600 miles or something, then no extended running over 6000 miles for the next 400.

So yeah it got plenty of wee blasts up to just over 8000rpm away from lights and over taking.  The rings and stuff need a bit of a rub to bed in, if you sit at 4000 rpm from zero miles to 1000 miles you'll just give em a darn good polish and they'll never bed down and the bike will burn oil.

Sure some folks will thrash a zero mile demo to within an inch of it's life, whilst others will respectfully potter about trying to get an overall fell for the bike.  To buy, it has to be a darn good discount, and of course you can play and haggle on it.

One of the few demos I've had my hands on, a Hornet with 240 miles on the clock I stuffed into the side of a car that turned right on me.  Ooops.  I was fine.  Rode the bike back to the dealer with a good few scratches and bent bits on it.