Private sale and test rides | GTAMotorcycle.com

Private sale and test rides

ifiddles

ifiddles

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Morning and merry Christmas to all!

Hubby had his bike for sale and a couple of guys have expressed an interest however would like to do a test ride. I know some here would never buy without one and some don't care. How does one go about allowing a test ride without worrying about what would happen with insurance if forbid, they were to crash, hurt themselves or someone else? Would having a signed bill of sale and money in hand be enough to constitute a "sale"? We'll obviously call our insurance to ask, however thought I'd ask this fine group of friends first! :D
 
Deposit or collateral, the exact amount up to you but at least enough to deter theft. You also tend to get an idea of the type of person you are dealing with pretty quickly.
 
I'm actually looking for insurance implications...would definitely do cash in hand and license however we're curious about insurance and whose policy would come into play should an accident occur...maybe some our insurance brokers/agents can chime in here...
 
ifiddles said:
I'm actually looking for insurance implications...would definitely do cash in hand and license however we're curious about insurance and whose policy would come into play should an accident occur...maybe some our insurance brokers/agents can chime in here...
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They'd be covered under your policy for a one off ride.
 
As long as the bike is insured in your name, they can ride it.

Problem with that is that if they wreck and decide to walk away, you're left holding the insurance bag. That's why you get the cash up front *before* the test ride to alleviate that risk, but you can't entirely eliminate it as if it somehow ends up "on record" (The guy dumps in traffic, police attend, and there's now a paper trail) it can end up with a ding on YOUR insurance as a result.

The second problem with that is if they wreck and someone gets hurt (them, or a pedestrian, whatever), or they hit someone elses property, you're also left holding the bag on the insurance side.

Anytime anyone operates a vehicle under *your* insurance, you are taking nearly 100% of the risk.

For me, what I do is this.....

- Buyer comes looks at bike, hears it run in driveway, plays with whatever they want to play with...in driveway.
- If they ask for a test ride, I tell them I'll ride it up and down the street for them, go through all the gears up and down, start and stop...whatever they want to hear and see.
- If they decide to buy, they come with the payment AND their own insurance slip. Beforehand, I call and suspend my own insurance (important) before the test ride/completion of sale. I then have them sign a bill of sale that the sale includes a test ride after the legal ownership transaction, and if for some reason they are not happy with something the deal can be cancelled IF the bike is returned unscathed. If they're happy, sign ownership, shake hands, done deal. If they decide to exercise that option for some strange reason, we shake hands, I hand the payment back, they walk away. No harm, no foul, aside from a tiny bit of gas used.

Realistically nobody who's gone so far as arranging the insurance at this point and handed over payment is going to back out of the deal, but it reassures them that the option exists if they to get that test ride and they find something they don't like, and shows that you've nothing to hide. I always explain why I choose to do it this way and any serious realistic buyer is fine with it.

It's a PITA, but it removes all liability for me. If they ride away during this stage and crash/wreck/whatever, it's on them - they technically own the bike at this point on paper, and the insurance liability is all in *their* name, so you don't get mixed up in any insurance nightmares that might result.

And I've never had anyone back out of the deal once reaching that point.
 
I knew I could count on you @PrivatePilot for such a well articulated and precise answer...we kind of figured insurance would come back on us should anything adverse happen and we're trying to figure out a way to facilitate this...never thought of your suggestion, so thanks...merry Christmas to all :D
 
PrivatePilot said:
- If they decide to buy, they come with the payment AND their own insurance slip. Beforehand, I call and suspend my own insurance (important) before the test ride/completion of sale. I then have them sign a bill of sale that the sale includes a test ride after the legal ownership transaction, and if for some reason they are not happy with something the deal can be cancelled IF the bike is returned unscathed. If they're happy, sign ownership, shake hands, done deal. If they decide to exercise that option for some strange reason, we shake hands, I hand the payment back, they walk away. No harm, no foul, aside from a tiny bit of gas used.
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I was a buyer once and I did exactly this. Called the insurance company and got insurance beforehand. Went to the MTO and got a temporary license plate. Went to the bank and withdrew $$$ in cash. My buddy drove me all the way to London, I showed the insurance slip to the seller (who is actually a GTAM member), test-rode the bike briefly and then handed the cash over and rode it home, while my buddy drove back behind me. Everybody was happy, especially my buddy who got gas money and a steak dinner out of it.

If the bike doesn't pass the test-ride, you're only out the temporary license plate and the one day of insurance after you call to cancel it. Plus your time and any gas money, of course. But the seller was well-known on GTAM and his pictures and description were meticulous. There was actually a race to buy his bike, and my buddy (and also another GTAM member) lost out on the bike by 2 hours, after he showed up to the seller's place with a trailer, ready to take the bike home.

A test ride should be the final step of a sale, not the initial one. If I'm selling a bike, this is what I'd expect from a buyer, so I did exactly this as a buyer, myself.

Obviously, these rules can be bent, due to circumstances. My co-worker just bought Neda's old F650GS, which has been ridden around the world a few times, already has its share of dings and the asking price was not very high at all. I let him test-ride the bike, no problem. I knew he was a good rider, and knew if he pranged the bike he'd be good for the repair money.
 
@PrivatePilot and @Lightcycle so I'm guessing we would have to give the VIN number to the purchaser in order for them to get a temporary insurance slip? Any downfalls to giving a VIN # to a stranger? (sorry for the 'stupid' questions, but we've never sold anything privately)
 
ifiddles said:
@PrivatePilot and @Lightcycle so I'm guessing we would have to give the VIN number to the purchaser in order for them to get a temporary insurance slip? Any downfalls to giving a VIN # to a stranger? (sorry for the 'stupid' questions, but we've never sold anything privately)
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I don't see any downside. I've given out VINs of my cars to buyers so they can run their own Carfax to check for the history and previous damages/repairs. If you look on Kijiji, some of the vehicle listings have the VIN listed right on the ad, since it's such a popular question to ask the seller.

If you walk up to any vehicle in a parking lot, the VIN is right out in the open for everyone to read. It was never meant to be kept private.
 
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I’ve sold about 10 street bikes and have only been asked once if they could take it for a test ride. It was Dec/Jan, Road was dry but full of salt/etc and I was quite sure my nicely hopped up GSXR1000 that I was selling was this guys first bike. I said no to his request. He asked me to run it up/down the street for him and again I said no due to crap road conditions (he made no mention of test ride before he came).
I’ll add he showed up in a rented van and asked me to load/strap it inside as he’d never done that before. I miss that bike.
 
@ifiddles, note that we're in a seller's market right now. If a buyer shows up and demands a test ride and you don't feel comfortable with that, just say no.

Your bike will sell easily to the next person that shows up and abides by whatever it is you need to feel comfortable making the sale. In about three months you can ask anything for your motorcycle and it'll sell. Even if it does show up in this thread:

www.gtamotorcycle.com

Stupidly overpriced motorcycle for sale thread

I thought we should start a thread about ads we come across that have outrageously over priced bikes in them. Why buy a brand new Ninja 650 when you can save $1000 dollars and buy one that's 6 years old...
www.gtamotorcycle.com www.gtamotorcycle.com

it'll probably still sell.

Good luck with the sale!
 
ifiddles said:
I'm guessing we would have to give the VIN number to the purchaser in order for them to get a temporary insurance slip? Any downfalls to giving a VIN # to a stranger?
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You can walk through any parking lot and collect VIN numbers through the windshield of every vehicle parked there.

No risk at all.
 
It's a unique bike (2014 Honda CTX1300) and you don't see many of them out there (only made the one year) so I think the market for them is more limited...it was up for sale in September and eventually taken off Kijiji about a month or so ago...three guys showed interest and two walked away after we said no to the test ride...this third guy is also trying to sell his bike and has kept in touch...hubby's not in any rush to sell, so I told him to relist it in the spring when things get moving again and he could probably sell it without having to worry about a test ride at all...thanks for everyone's input (we're going to call insurance next week just to gain their insight into the suggestions above)...cheers! :D
 
I’ll add, I do allow test rides but I’m selective. I denied letting the guy who was buying my 180hp machine as his first bike and on sketchy roads.
I offered a test ride to the guy who showed up to buy my Victory Magnum after he drove 4hrs to get there and showed up in a $100,000 pickup hauling a $50,000 trailer and obviously knew about bikes and had owned many of them. Same for the guy that did the same when buying my Ducati. Both paid full price and both declined taking them for a ride.
As a buyer, I’ve never asked for a test ride. If the guy doesn’t know much about the bike and obviously hasn’t maintained it much I just walk. If like the bikes that I own it comes with service history and is impeccable then it’s an easy sale for both party’s.
 
ifiddles said:
we're going to call insurance next week just to gain their insight into the suggestions above
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So just a caveat, unless things have changed, the insurance company won't issue you a policy on a vehicle that you don't own. So you can't say "I want to buy a policy for a bike, but the current address and owner isn't in our household". You basically have to tell them the deal is done and you need a slip to ride it home, then insure it under your name and address. The insurance company never asks me for a bill of sale if it's a private sale.

If the buyer doesn't end up buying the bike, they can just tell the insurance company the deal fell through and cancel the policy.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
I’ll add, I do allow test rides but I’m selective.
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Yeah, you gotta use your Spidey sense to suss out the buyer.

I've sold close to a dozen bikes private sale (one on eBay and payment through PayPal! That was a riot) and the only test rides I've allowed are with people I personally know, one to my co-worker and two to my riding buddies (also on GTAM). Although sold is a loose word... given away, more like... :(

I'm a good guy to know.
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