It's easy to say don't let anybody test ride your bike but it stands to reason that some people will be genuine and decent - I for one wouldn't spend thousands of dollars on anything without test riding/driving it first

I think a slap was in order !

I think a slap was in order

A bloke came around to look at my Z750 couple of years back, had $2k cash deposit & showed me his police ID - after I'd told him how quick it gets up to 160.

Needless to say he got his test ride & bought the bike.

Slap.

 Yes mate I certainly did.  Sweet sweet sound too!!!!

Holy Shit Choaweeza!
You're like the freakin crack troup, black beret commando ninja of test rides...you've thought of everything! *tips hat*

It's a precarious business to be sure.

I've been lucky enough to be able to use a secure area to let someone view my bike.

A RAAF Base quarantine area was great, we get locked in and only the guard can let anyone out. They get vetted on the way in by me, and all their details taken and verified the same way the Police do it.

Needless to say, it was sure fire way to make sure my pride and joy wasn't able to be hijacked. And best of luck if they tried....... Razor wire is nasty stuff.

I was happy to let them sit on it, check it over, pull plugs and inspect ever last piece of it, but rides? No way. Not until the cash was in my hand. (Real Cash...... known a bloke personally who got handed $10,000 which really turned out to be 20cents worth of fraudulent cash).

Needless to say, I ended up selling my bike to another uniform on the base and had no issue whatsoever.

The guy that actually bought my last bike -YES! IT SOLD! last saturday..
(the whole reason for this topic)

He turned up with another guy, who I think was meant to get me to budge on the price. I'd already had about 12 calls from serious buyers, so I told the young guy that I wouldn't accept a deposit for any less than asking price. So he agreed... But then turns up on the day to collect it, and his buddy starts trying to bargain with me. He wasn't even the one buying the bike..hahaha!

He looks at the brake pads and says "Gee.. they're getting down!" as if to say, "knock a couple of grand off the bike for my mate"

I told him that the bike was always serviced, said that his mate had already viewed the full history on paper, and that it had just yesterday passed a roadworthy with flying colours...even in the space allocated on the roadworthy that states % of wear currently on brakes - had been left as 0%.

Finally I asked him to show me exactly what he was looking at. He points at the gap between the brake disc and the pads.

I said "Mate if there wasn't a gap, the wheel wouldn't turn!!"

The guy buying the bike told him to sit in the car after that..haha silly bugger

Needless to say - I got asking price. I'm very happy. Went out the next day, and put a deposit on an XL883N...woo hoo!

Well ain't that a good question to ask !!! i had never really thought about it, but shit yeah how carefull do you need to be. I saw my bike on fleabay, rang the guy and spoke twice, drove a coupla hundred k's to see it.... He pulled it out of his garage, started it reved the fuck out of it until even i was feeling it's pain and said there ya go take it for a spin, walked inside and made a cuppa. No questions, No info, No licence required, I'm thinking is this for real !!! i hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years and NEVER a harley!!! So i rode it like i stole it, Liked it and bought it on HIS computer... Maybe i have an honest face or he stole it in the first place but it all checked out fine. Thinking back how lucky was he that i am as honest as my face led him to believe i was. That certainly won't be the case should I ever decide to sell it

Definite +1 on payment in advance if they want a test ride. For a private sale, they should definitely have already done their research and know it's the sort of bike they want. They only thing they really need to know is if it is mechanically sound, and that's easy enough to check in the driveway. Just say that your insurance doesn't cover you for any damage/theft during test rides (which isn't a lie, just check your policy - I'd be surprised if it said anything different to this). A deposit, even of 2 grand, isn't much use if the insurance company will refuse to pay out at all, is it? If they don't like it, well, that's what dealers are for! Holding their licence is pretty useless, because even if they bin your bike and you keep their licence, $50 for a new licence is nothing so why would they care?

I've bought bikes sight-unseen through eBay and the first time I rode it was when I picked it up to bring it home. Another time I did a no-cash swap on similar conditions. Each time, I had the assurance of the seller of the condition of the bike, and checked that it ran as promised before handing over the cash. No worries at all. I found a promising buyer for my last bike who was full of promises but short on cash, so I made him sign a contract stating the conditions of sale, requiring a non-refundable 10% deposit to hold it, and the remainder before he could take it. He bailed a few days later after (allegedly) being done for riding unlicenced (the fucker had been unlicenced when he rode around to my place to check out the bike!), but I kept the deposit as per the contract, and eventually sold the bike for the full amount I was asking, sight unseen, to a guy in Adelaide. Basically, as long as you're honest about your bike and make it clear that you wont bullshit them provided they don't bullshit you, there really shouldn't be any problems at all with buying it without even having thrown a leg over first. Like I said, you don't buy a bike privately unless you've researched it pretty thoroughly first anyway, so the only thing they actually need to know is "does it run?".

If they don't like it, don't bother with them. Plenty of buyers out there unless you're extremely desperate for a quick sale.