Heres a little cluster fuck I like to outline whenever these little things come up.

Approx 2 years ago, one sunny autumn day a group of friends and I were up at an undisclosed location enjoying a nice ride. I threw my mate the keys to my bike, he was riding his girlfriends Kawasaki ZX750 so I took that.

Off we went, I saw my bike ride off into the distance (R1) and I gently overtaked a group of the boys as they were putting along and went off on my own.

Approx 2klms later I rounded a corner and saw my mate and my bike stopped on the side of the road. After slowing and pulling to the left of the lane to give the thumbs up / down - I saw the whites of my mates eyes.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. The shattered remains of my mates girlfriends bike all around me, mixed with the shattered remains of another bike.

That rider, one of our 'mates' had target fixated on my arse, on the side of the road and cleaned me up at 110kmh.

The borrowed bike I was riding was totalled.
The bike that cleaned me up was totalled.

My bike, was safely on the side of the road with my mate still sitting on it and his mouth wide open at what happened.

The rider who cleaned me up, did not have insurance.

sometimes, its just not worth it dudes.

Oh, and I got the pleasure of paying all my own medical bills too.

i been riding since the early 70s had heaps harleys an work on heaps to but never take any bikes here for a ride always get owner to ride it after i do the work they know their bike better then me sure i can ride but these days with health bit touchy no fuckin way ill get on unless the owner tells me to ..tell him to do the hard slog get a license then get a loan an get his own bike if he whinges again bitch slap him he not ya mate cause he not respectin you or ya property
never lend out ya bike ya missus or ya tools
when i was rideing had many offers to take mates bikes for a ride and never took up the offers had a so called mate in 76 take my bike for ride only to find it up the road with dents in tank rear guard fucked ect he done a wheelstand an dropped it

I have the same thought as you OL SKOOL CUSTOMS, I've been offered plenty times to take a mates car or bike for a test ride/drive, I never do, I have no interest in riding other peoples bikes or driving their cars, in the back of my mind there's the What if factor.

Better safe than Sorry.

 

 Hmmm - interesting.

 

Have I loaned my Harley to a dirt bike riding mate with no license?  Yep.      And he came back - on my 4 speed Shovel FL - telling me how hard it was to shift without using the clutch  Probably 10 - 15 years down the track he now has his own HD and we ride together all the time. He attributes it back to that ride.

On another occasion, I loaned my '85 XLS to a mate who had ridden big dirt bikes and jappa's.  He recalls the ride as "white pain" as the rigid took it's toll on his back.Stainless steel struts and a springless sprung solo - not the smoothest of rides.  But with drag pipes and apehangers - who could resist it .   Would I do it again - shit yeah ! He now has his own and we ride together all the time.

I also ride with a bunch of mates and whenever we go away we swap bikes. Admittedly it's with blokes who ride and everyone has the same investement (their own bike), but it's a blast and you all should do it. Last decent ride I went on with the boys, I rode my '05 Springer, a mate's 11 Thunderbird, a mate's 08 FXSTSSE, a mates 11 FLHX and a mates 2010 FXWG. How good is that !!!

If it's a bloke you consider a mate - it's what mates do.

If it's not a mate - I agree. He shouldn't be asking.

Philthy

Sorry, my bike is like my wife, not for lending or sharing, might be different if I was an Eskimo! As a matter of fact my young (39) brother in law whom I love, asked me if he could take my 09 Heritage for a run last Easter Sunday. After I got my laughter under control, I told him to get fucked! End of story!

Dont have this problem..... I dont have any mates!

I have one very good mate who has ridden mine and I've ridden his VTR1000 and Triumph Daytona, but that's it. He owns 2 Mustangs and a 1956 Victoria and I know he could pay if he binned it. We used to race together and he is a much better rider than me!

I see no value in lending my bike, nobody else has a bike i need to ride more than i need to ride my own, dont even like the HD mechanics riding it.

No different to lending your wife!

If someone unlicensed and inexperienced asked to ride mine, I would ask them the age old question.... "Can your cock touch your arse??"  and when he lies and answers YES - I will say.. good... Go fuck yourself!!!