Ducati Demo Days? WTH?

I got an email recently about May's "Ducati Demo Days." Basically it said that May was demo month and to register interest for test riding any Ducati. I registered that I was interested in the Panigale S 1299.

About 2 days later I got an email from my local Ducati dealer saying they had a 1299 S in stock. At first I was excited but as I read the email, it went on to say that the bike is new, not prepped and if I wanted to ride it, I had to be seriously interested in buying and leave a non-refundable deposit.

Is this normal practice? I'm not slagging the dealer as they have always been nice to me. But why would I buy a bike if I've never ridden it? Of course I understand that if they prep it and I ride it and not buy it, they could lose money since they'd have to sell it as a demo vs. new.

I have seriously been looking at the Panigale S for a while, but I'm not prepared to put down an undetermined amount of money just to test one if for some reason I decide not to buy.

Thoughts?

Find another dealer

My dealer had demo's to ride. Seems weird if they don't at least have a base demo.

My dealer has asked me on two separate occasions if I wanted to test ride their 1299 S. I agreed on the second time. Your dealer is telling you he's not willing to put in the time to SELL the bike to you. You have to have already made a decision. It's a very poor dealer/salesman. Motorcycles are by nature a passionate purchase, it does not take much to build up that passion. Sadly that dealer is lazy!

The last cycle I bought without a test ride was sold in a year and I lost a lot of money trading the thing in. Never again!

I've never test ridden a motorcycle that I've owned.....ever! Total of 7 motorcycles. I did test ride a dragster in 2015 but I bought the RC recently. I guess that may be the only one that would count since it's the same model.

To me, buying a bike is purely based on looks. I haven't been disappointed with any bike purchase in the 15yrs that I've been riding. Doesn't mean everyone will take this approach but test riding a bike for me isn't necessary, nor will it help make my decision one way or another.

My dealer has a Supersport Demo! Have not had a chance to ride it though.

I didn't know Ducati offered demo rides. They must be one of the few.

double0 said:

I've never test ridden a motorcycle that I've owned.....ever! Total of 7 motorcycles. I did test ride a dragster in 2015 but I bought the RC recently. I guess that may be the only one that would count since it's the same model.

To me, buying a bike is purely based on looks. I haven't been disappointed with any bike purchase in the 15yrs that I've been riding. Doesn't mean everyone will take this approach but test riding a bike for me isn't necessary, nor will it help make my decision one way or another.

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totally agree with this. as long as i can sit on it and its comfortable i basically know how it will ride.

HiSpeed48 said:

I didn't know Ducati offered demo rides. They must be one of the few.

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In my experience there are two kinds of demo's

1) Manufacture sponsored: This is where they drive around w/ a truck full of demo bikes and they host 'demo days' events @ the dealers. Usually they have a tent and some kind of food, giveaway...etc.

2) Dealer sponsored: This vary's dealer to dealer. Some keep a fleet, some don't. Some will let you ride the actual bike you'll be buying, some won't

Sounds like the OP is dealing w/ #2 and they don't have a fleet of bikes so they are trying to hang him up for $ in the event he doesn't buy it which is BS.

mark419ny said:

totally agree with this. as long as i can sit on it and its comfortable i basically know how it will ride.

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Same here!!!

My dealers have demo fleets but I don't bother. With over 33 years of riding, I know what I want. I'll take a demo to get lunch if I'm waiting on my bike for some reason though.

double0 said:

I've never test ridden a motorcycle that I've owned.....ever! Total of 7 motorcycles. I did test ride a dragster in 2015 but I bought the RC recently. I guess that may be the only one that would count since it's the same model.

To me, buying a bike is purely based on looks. I haven't been disappointed with any bike purchase in the 15yrs that I've been riding. Doesn't mean everyone will take this approach but test riding a bike for me isn't necessary, nor will it help make my decision one way or another.

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Lol,

Yes, bikes are by in large looks and emotional purchases, but If you want me to spend 20k+ on a highly depreciating asset, it makes sense I can test how it feels to ride. After all, if I put it in my living room and just sat on it, then perhaps I don't need to ride it.

I say all of this but have in fact bought motorcycles I didn't ride. Mainly because dealers don't let you and I didn't have a choice. I was looking at a 09 R1, asked the dealer if I could demo one, he said after I signed the paperwork. Gee thanks! I ended up buying a BMW that I did demo.

Now there are options. BMW, Aprilia, Ducati all have appear to have dealer demo programs. I'm sure there are others out there.

After buying a CBR1000RR I realized I didn't like it all that much. Mainly because the tank would vibrate and it put my junk to sleep and made it numb. After about a year of that I had to move on. Demo'ed a S1000RR twice before I bought it. As far as the Ducati, I would have never considered it had I not taken it for a demo ride.

I'll stand up for dealers in general, there are many more factors that come into play on our side of things. Some dealers are in areas where they can't get insurance to cover demo rides. Some are just operating a "traditional" model and demo rides are not part of it, that's not "good or bad" it just is what it is, and that's where you get to choose where you want to do business. For most of us, we do participate in the Demo program and it's a huge net positive for us to have bikes available for people to ride. But not for the reasons stated in this thread, the guy who already knows what he wants and just wants to ride it first, does not require a demo program. We can service out any bike to let someone ride it before buying any time, if we choose to, which we have done many times. To us the demo program sells more bikes because of people who aren't sure what they want, and don't know until they get that AH-HA! moment when they ride the right bike. Honestly, we would probably sell about the same number of Panigales regardless of whether we have a demo model or not, that market (sportbikes) is generally "I know what I want", it's the other bikes that really benefit more from demos, especially bikes like the XDiavel and Multistrada.

jarelj said:

I'll stand up for dealers in general, there are many more factors that come into play on our side of things. Some dealers are in areas where they can't get insurance to cover demo rides. Some are just operating a "traditional" model and demo rides are not part of it, that's not "good or bad" it just is what it is, and that's where you get to choose where you want to do business. For most of us, we do participate in the Demo program and it's a huge net positive for us to have bikes available for people to ride. But not for the reasons stated in this thread, the guy who already knows what he wants and just wants to ride it first, does not require a demo program. We can service out any bike to let someone ride it before buying any time, if we choose to, which we have done many times. To us the demo program sells more bikes because of people who aren't sure what they want, and don't know until they get that AH-HA! moment when they ride the right bike. Honestly, we would probably sell about the same number of Panigales regardless of whether we have a demo model or not, that market (sportbikes) is generally "I know what I want", it's the other bikes that really benefit more from demos, especially bikes like the XDiavel and Multistrada.

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Well said.

jarelj said:

I'll stand up for dealers in general, there are many more factors that come into play on our side of things.

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This doesn't address what the OP reported. He reported that he would only be allowed a test ride if he put down a non-refundable deposit. Presumably that deposit could be used to purchase any bike in their inventory..but still, that is an unusual policy.

Slowdive2 said:

This doesn't address what the OP reported. He reported that he would only be allowed a test ride if he put down a non-refundable deposit. Presumably that deposit could be used to purchase any bike in their inventory..but still, that is an unusual policy.

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I think we all agree, the ops dealer is a bad dealer. Lol

The dealer is very conservative and feels he can get away with it. I have never dealt with a dealer that had a NON-refundable deposit. It's usually a credit card run in case I damage the bike. Can't blame them for that. This dealer does NOT have a demo policy. I have been to dealers (typically the Japanese makes) that didn't have a demo policy but would have me sign all the paperwork for trying before buying and if I didn't like the bike, they tear up the paperwork providing I didn't damage the bike. If I like it, I bought it. Again, that isn't a demo policy.

Slowdive2 said:

This doesn't address what the OP reported. He reported that he would only be allowed a test ride if he put down a non-refundable deposit. Presumably that deposit could be used to purchase any bike in their inventory..but still, that is an unusual policy.

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I'm not going to second-guess a specific situation at another dealer, all I'm saying is there is not a "standard" demo ride policy that is common to all Ducati dealers, it's an individual decision made at the dealer level. For example if the dealer doesn't have insurance to cover demo rides, then they very well may require "purchase" paperwork of some kind (subject to their State laws) for someone who wants to ride a bike before buying, and the new "owner" of the bike is responsible for the bike while riding it, and then if they decide not to buy the "sale" is unwound. There can be all kinds of different situations. It's not a minor deal for us to offer demo rides, it's a HUGE deal and HUGE liability risk for the dealer. Even though you sign a waiver to take a demo ride, that doesn't mean some lawyer still isn't going to sue us when you crash on our demo bike, which will cost us thousands of dollars. And some people say "Oh, you have insurance for it, so what do you care?" Guess what, the deductible on our insurance for demo rides is $10,000! Plus the issues with the waiver when you sign and then you crash, and decide you don't want to pay, our insurance company will sue you and you'll be paying for a lot more than just the repair cost on the bike. We don't like that either, when our customers get sued by our insurance company, that's bad PR. We've had that happen infrequently (only twice in 11 years, knock on wood) but still it's not something where we just throw demo bikes out there and never give it a second thought. Any dealer that is offering demo rides is doing it DESPITE all the hurdles because we think the benefit outweighs the risk in our own situation, and that's a dealer-level decision. So when I hear someone say "This dealer sucks, they don't offer demo rides" I don't think that's very cool. The dealer might very well suck, but that's a different issue!

Thanks for the clarification Jarel. That makes perfect sense.

Thanks guys. Very good opinions. I appreciate everyones input.