I've only ever bought two new bikes (both Japanese) in my life - both back in the 70's, and neither time could I get a test ride from any dealer. Whether it was policy passed down from the manufacturers or a "couldn't care less, we can sell everything we have, test free, to other starry eyed punters" attitude from the trade I don't know but back then you bought it "off plan" or not at all.

Things did change - eventually and slowly - pushed by falling sales I'd guess, but even now there's a test ride reluctance in many dealers. About three years ago I was looking to buy something half decent - whether new or newish we hadn't decided, and I did want to try them on the road first. When I compare the attitude in both my local Triumph and BMW dealers with the expensive dentition smile we get when my wife buys a new car it really showed.

The bike dealers don't say no but they put so many obstacles in the way they might as well. I've had: come back on an open day, where's both halves of your licence, you'll have to arrange your own insurance and we'll need a comprehensive riding history, whereas the car dealers are thrusting the keys into your hands almost as soon as you walk through the door.

Of course the car risk is lower - they go with you to start with and a middle aged woman is less likely to turn out to be a test pilot than a bloke swinging his leg over a Fireblade but I get the feeling there's more too it than that. "Enthusiasts" (a lot of bikers fall into that category) will put up with a lot more sh*t than people just looking for transport. If the Ford dealer doesn't come up with the goods the Renault / Nissan / VW guy down the road probably will and to many people the cars are almost interchangeable. If the bike dealer refuses you a test ride the next bloke wearing a Triumph T shirt probably won't even ask for one and he's an easier sell. That's been my experience anyway.

On the other hand, on the few occasions (mainly private purchases) where I have got a test ride I've wondered what it is I'm supposed to be checking that I can't do stationary. Most of the time I wobble away trying to get used to a strange seating position, unfamiliar controls and engine noises where I can't tell what's right or not. Add in an area where I don't know the local roads and the first half an hour is almost pointless. Only once (an early Vstrom) did the riding experience change my mind and that happened in the first 100m.

There's not many private sellers (or dealers come to that) that'll let you clear off on their pride and joy (even with my wife as a hostage) for an hour and they're even less pleased when you come back and say no. All of the four bikes I use regularly atm were bought without test rides (three privately and one from a dealer) and all four have turned out to be exactly what I thought they would be.

New bikes at the dealership? Where I live, forget about it. The problem is that they can't get the insurance to cover it. You have some newbie come in, all full of it about what a great rider he thinks he is, he gets on an unfamiliar bike and drops it leaving the parking lot. I can't say as I blame them.

When buying used, I've found most sellers are extremely reluctant to let anyone take a test ride _unless_ they have cash in hand. I don't blame them either. When I've gone to buy a bike, I check it out as much as I can without riding it. If it looks great, I'll ask for a test ride. Sometimes the seller says yes, sometimes no. If I really want the bike, I'll show up with cash, and write on a piece of paper that I will purchase the bike at the agreed price - subject to a test ride. That usually works.

If selling one of my bikes, and the buyer wants to do a test ride, I've usually said I want cash in hand before letting them take it for a spin. If they come back with the bike in one piece, they can have their money back if not interested.

Once or twice I've agreed to let the potential buyer take it for a test ride - only because I was desperate for a sale, or because the buyer was clearly both a very experienced rider and seemed to have plenty of money.

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

That's our Skoda dealer. To be fair they did let me have a go in the car I was interested in - a first-gen Octavia RS wagon, fairly rare beast - but the salesman was not interested at all and nearly slapped me when I got enthusiastic with the throttle and steering. Compare that to the test-drive of a brand-new Scirocco turbo, where the salesman pointed me to a twisty empty road he knew and told me to make sure I open the window and listen to the exhaust note as I floor it...

Well, I test-rode a CBF1000 that was for sale locally. Clean, straight, well-equipped with a full set of panniers, priced to sell. Went on a twenty-minute ride and returned understanding that while it's an incredibly stable and comfy bike - start in Hammerfest and don't stop till you hit Gibraltar - it was also entirely boring and generated no emotion in me at all.

By contrast, the shop where I bought my VFR... this is a complete mea culpa, Don't Do What I Did, Children, but I showed up there on Monday morning having gone halfsies on a liter bottle of Jim Beam Red Cherry the night before. The test ride confirmed what I thought before from just sitting on other bikes - that it may not be as maneuverable and tractable as the Gladius I'd sold a few months earlier, but goddamn if it doesn't make you feel like a hero. (It helped that I'd been bugging the shop for weeks over email, looking for a day when they were open and I could come to the other town - the definition of a motivated buyer. No haggling, but they gave me a great deal on a Kappa set.)

Most local new bike dealers will accommodate some form of a test ride. The KTM dealer will just straight up rent you any of their demo bikes for a day at anywhere between 120 and 200 euros. The Honda dealer had an open day where they collected five euros per ride for a charity; they'll also let you rent a demo bike for a day for 39 euros if you are a known customer (i.e. had an oil change done there). The Yamaha dealer was the most difficult to deal with, but apparently more because they didn't get as much factory support as the others, and didn't have demo bikes in my town.