Why would it matter? Is the bike fixed? Are you going to say "no, don't take it for a long test ride" and then bitch when it's not truely fixed because they only went around the block? People are never happy. If they need to go thru an entire tank of gas to see if my bike is fixed, that just gives me more confidence that I will more than likely never see that problem again.

 

Damn that was Spot On!

 

That's a crazy story. I would have had somebody's *** over that deal.

 

True, but that would depend on what the issue was.

If just a normal service, then just around the block should be enough.
If the issue was something that was hard to duplicate then as stated above, a longer ride might be necessary.

 

Yah, me too. I know an engine needs to be at a running temperature to see some problems, but 50 miles is nearly an hour ride. I've watched several tech rides at our dealership and they do a six mile loop on the highway next to their location. It probably would be shorter except three miles is the first off ramp where they can turn around.

I would have questioned the 50 miles, but I would also keep an open mind to the answer.

Beary

 

To be honest, I could care less how many miles a technician puts on my bike. The bottom line is I want my bike running correctly when I get it back and whatever he has to do to accomplish that task is fine with me.

Before I ever dropped my bike off, I would find out about their liability coverage and other issues, but once I was comfortable with that I could careless how much he rides it.

As a matter of fact when I see more miles on my bike when I pick it up, it makes me confident that he went the extra mile (pun intended) to ensure my cycle was fixed and ready for me to ride. Especially if I get the bill and he didn't charge me an hour or so labor for the ride.

One last thing, I encourage my technician to ride my motorcycle. I don't want him to take my word for the problems its giving me. I want him to find out for himself, that way he knows what to do. I want him to ride it before he corrects it, and ride it to afterwards to ensure its corrected.

 

Yeah but EXTREMELY anecdotal and very outside of the norm.

 

If I remember correctly, the 50 mile test ride was to check for a leak that was fixed, that happened after a long-ish ride by the customer. In this case, I think a 50 mile test ride was not out of line. But I do agree that a phone call letting me know it was going to be done ahead of time would've been cool. Either way, I think it was the right distance for that test ride.

 

Very Very Debatable. I will say that NO One in a Dealership will ever work on my bike after purchase, unless it is something under warrenty that is expensive. If it is $200.00 fix under warrenty I will pay out the $$$ & fix it myself, more expensive work covered by warrenty I would be force to let them work on it SADLY.
I have many mechanic's in my family & have been around there place of work many times, mostly New car Dealerships. I get pissed at what I have seen them do to people auto. Very few take any pride in there jobs these days, & even less give a **** about taking care of anyone else belongings.
I bought my wife a 2004 Mercury Marauder a $35,000 car when I was driving over the road, I may abuse some of my older hot rods but I don't treat what she drives that way. I was out 2 weeks longer than planed & had agreed for her to take it to the ford Dealership (where my Uncle is a Mechanic) for a service. My plans changed at last moment but she had already drop car off. As I approached the dealership on my way home about a mile before I got to the dealership I came upon one hell of a smoke cloud & a Black car leaving its marks. Yep You guessed it, A unnessasary test drive & Brake Torqueing the **** out of our new car. If it wasn't for his wife & kids I would have had him Fired. He did get two teeth knocked out later that evening thou.
If a long test ride is nessasary it needs to be done, but care should be showed for other people's belongings. I for one treat my stuff far worse than I would ever treat someone else's.
Now I am not **** about who drives my Auto's or even my bike, but I think they should take care of it. Unless it one of my old hot rods & I tell em to give it hell.

 

My current problem I am they say they couldn't duplicate which I am sure is true since likely they rode it around the block and it has been happening while in 6th gear on the highway after I have been riding for awhile.

Test my bike make sure it is really ok not just city street or parking lot ok BEFORE you give it back to me.

I have no interest in arranging another trip to the dealer to fix something that could have caught if they rode it for any real distance.

For me the amount of miles they might put on are no matter to me compared to what I am going to put on my bike.

Some bikes are more of bar hopper or show pieces in which case the numbers on the speedo matter more.
But honestly, if my bike had a problem at 50 miles that I had to take in for you better believe I would want to make sure they really fixed. In fact I would be looking at the numbers to see if they put real miles on it to test it. I would rather the tech at the dealer get stranded by the side of the road then me. Then they will tow to their shop and fix it. Vs me getting stranded and having to deal with it.