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I was at a Honda dealer and he said they don't allow test rides. I assume most dealers are that way? Back in the day I test rode everything.
In my experience, some are, some aren't. I don't blame them; insurance probably skyrockets. However, I will NOT buy any bike without a test ride of SOME sort. One dealership I know of has a little course setup out back. They won't let you out on public roads, but they'll let you ride around back there. That's a reasonable compromise, IMO.
Our local H-D dealership has monthly days (some on weekends, some on Thursday nights) where they bring in a keg and a band, b-b-que ... and allow test rides on the local streets and highways in the context of the "party" atmosphere.
Other dealers have handed me the keys when I was "just looking" and not seriously interested in buying at the time. One fellow opened the front doors without any comment to let me ride out when I was sitting on a bike just to see the ergonomics ... which didn't suit me, saddle height way too tall for my comfort. He'd made sure that a dealer demo plate was on the bike, didn't ask for any ID or driver's license ... just wanted me to take it for a ride. I didn't.
I wouldn't buy any bike without a test ride on the bike under consideration. And if it's a tourer, a reasonable test ride would likely be an hour or two ride under real world cruising conditions.
Varies, I suppose. No one does test rides here. There's manufacturer demos which varies. Most of the big players do demo days. Honda does demo rides, which they basically pick a few dealer ships but they're limited. Usually the only bikes available to demo are new or big ticket (Goldwing). They're probably the worst in the industry as that goes. Triumph has demo models at most dealerships. Most BMWs dealers will do demo rides as well. Thing with demo rides is they're lead routes which range from going on a ten block loop to something that's actually decent. BMW of SF, for example, has pretty good test loop which takes ~35-40 minutes unless there's traffic. On the other hand I did a demo once at a Suzuki demo day where the entire ride took about five minutes and never got over 35 mph. I've never been on a demo ride where you can actually really ride the bike and get a feel for it. I mean, standard test drive with in a car I find some twistie roads and drive them pretty hard and you never get to do that with lead demo ride.
The other thing that varies is fees. I was pretty much set on a leftover '14 CB500X until I got the final price which included nearly $1,000 in "prep" fees. I've gotten quotes from four other dealers. One charged $250 but they'd sold the bike a few weeks ago and just not updated the inventory. The rest were in the $600-$1,000 range. SoCal is even worse. I've had friends down there come up here to pay $600 prep fees as they're saving over $1,000 off anything they can find down there. I get the liability concerns, but if you're going to charge that kind of money you need to actually offer something of value. It'd be a lot easier and cheaper to just have Honda drop the crate in front of my house and bypass the dealer entirely as far as I'm concerned.
I was looking at a really nice Yamaha Star Venture a few months back that a local shop was selling on consignment. They said they would pull it outside so that I can hear it run but no test rides were allowed, not just on that bike but on any bike they sell. I've had a Gold Wing in the past but didn't know how I'd like the Venture...I'd be damned if I was going to plunk down over $7,000 on the hope that I liked it. I walked away and haven't been back since (and the bike is still sitting there)
I imagine after the first 10 or 20 ride-off no-returns that their insurance simply won't allow it. Not to mention, NOBODY wants to pay full price for a bike with test drive miles on it, do they? If you actually ride, it's not hard to use the specs and Internet posts to get a really good idea as to whether it would be the bike for you.
Of course, a USED bike is a whole 'nother story...
Our local H-D dealership has monthly days (some on weekends, some on Thursday nights) where they bring in a keg and a band, b-b-que ... and allow test rides on the local streets and highways in the context of the "party" atmosphere.
Other dealers have handed me the keys when I was "just looking" and not seriously interested in buying at the time. One fellow opened the front doors without any comment to let me ride out when I was sitting on a bike just to see the ergonomics ... which didn't suit me, saddle height way too tall for my comfort. He'd made sure that a dealer demo plate was on the bike, didn't ask for any ID or driver's license ... just wanted me to take it for a ride. I didn't.
I wouldn't buy any bike without a test ride on the bike under consideration. And if it's a tourer, a reasonable test ride would likely be an hour or two ride under real world cruising conditions.
So, put a hundred miles or so on a new bike to see if you like it? I would think you would need to rent one for that kind of test.
I was a salesman at one of the larger Motorcycle shops in my area a little over ten years ago. Big four Japanese. We'd allow test rides if the customer had a valid MC license. That was pretty much for cruiser type bikes. Sport bikes, no test rides.
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