Does your dealer do this?

Does your dealer take your bike for a 10 mile test ride after an oil change? I'm new to the area and have never had another dealer take my bike for a spin on something so simple. Also surprised they don't make appts, drop off your bike, we'll call you when its done. I don't like paying someone 1/4 hour for taking my bike for a spin.

DK

It would depend on the bike. A ten mile ride to get the bike to full operating temperature is a good thing to do for many bikes.

Does your bike have an Oil Cooler?

Personally I would rather they rode it than start it and let it sit there idling. I know and ride with the techs at several dealers of which I am referencing. If they were unknown to me I might ask why it was necessary?

I wouldn't know. I've never paid someone to change my oil...
But I do like your sig-line.

Perhaps 2-5 miles, but 10 doesn't sound terrible if they are doing a normal checkout ride.

The Motorrad Dealership I worked at insisted all bikes be ridden after being worked on no matter how small the repair. 3.6 mile circuit. It wasn't billed extra. I found a multitude of defects the owners weren't aware of. Also, after major repairs it was our ass testing the bike, not the customers. Keeps you focused on quality.

My mechanic does it always. Not sure about the 10 mi, never checked. The guy is middle aged, rider himself and I trust him ( after all he just worked on my bike).
If it was some kid from the shop, I'll voice my rejection.

+1

My independent guy even made it clear who will be test riding my bike... He has shop policy that does not allow mechanics with tickets to test ride. He test ride after single tire change. I like it...
I trust him to work on my bike, I trust him to ride it... 10 miles if he deemed necessary.

I wish they did, they might have figured out they didn't align the rear wheel after replacing the tube, or maybe not. I was 70 miles away before I figured out why my bars weren't straight.

I have 3 test loops. 4,6 and 11 miles. Oil change? 4 or 6 depending on ambient temperature. Cams,top end or new engine? 11 at least once if not twice. I use loops so the others know where I am in case the cell phone is sitting in the top of my box. I like to be confident the job is right and dry sump bikes need to be a full operating temp for verifying oil level.

Yep. I would rather them take a test ride, for the above reasons.

I had a tire changed on an SV1000 once, when I loaded the bike in the truck to pick it up I noticed the rear wheel adjuster nut was loose and the chain wasn't adjusted.

Second one was a KLR that I bought. The guy had gone to the dealer for tires, then decided to sell the bike before he even rode it again. Chain was too loose and the rear caliper wasn't installed correctly, so there were no rear brakes at all.



A guy I know, but don't ride with much, had a Hayabusa in the shop for a tire change. Leaving the dealership the rear wheel fell off and dumped him on the ground. Didn't even get to the main road luckily. The owner told him to take his pick, any bike on the showroom, and the incident never happened. He left that day with a new Hayabusa.

I've picked up a bike from a dealership and had it only firing on one cylinder (it was a v-twin). I didn't clock the lack of power in the car park and it only became apparent until I tried to pull away onto the main road in front of a truck. From another dealership, the front brake was so loose that the first time I pulled it in anger, it rotated right round the bars.

Both problems would have been spotted (and potentially very serious accidents avoided) had the dealerships concerned tested the bikes prior to returning them to me. So would I have a problem with a 10 miles test ride? Not at all, but it's approaching the limit, distance-wise of what I'd call excessive; 20 miles I'd consider too much and would query. You're supposed to shake down my bike to shake my bike down, not run errands or joyride.

Yes, kids don't get it. Had a customer with a brand new BMW K1300S that I took out after service. I may look young but am much older. The customer was on edge upon realizing this and said "I hope you took it easy on my new sport bike!" I replied "I ride these all the time, besides, if I lose my licence I lose my job." That calmed him down.

Even the new bikes fresh out of the crate were ridden after PDI. We found lots of little issues. Of course, one of the few exceptions (no time, freezing rain), the coolant was never installed at the factory but the overflow bottle was full. No coolant means no temperature reading. Owner seized it on the first ride. Thanks Murphy.

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I am getting worked up over nothing.

I don't usually take me bike in for minor service but this time convenience took priority. I just thought it seemed excessive since when I bought the bike (new), they only test rode 3/4 mile.

DK

The other 9.25 miles were done on one wheel.

I was a mechanic at a dealership and always tested anything I worked on unless it was something simple like replacing bulbs or such. I once worked on a bike that was there to be rejetted for a pipe that the owner installed. Once reassembled I pushed it out the shop door ,started it and left it idle until I grabbed my helmet,jumped on ,clicked it into gear and headed down the road when I noticed the oil light was on . The owner had drained the oil and had forgotten to mention it when the work order was written.

Oh Damn..

Oil change at every service (every ~7500 miles) for my bike so of course there has to be a test ride and a good test ride should include a full throttle acceleration up to top speed. For that the engine should be warmed up what means 10 miles is more or less the minimum to go.

Of course with an oil change only that's not necessary.

normally, the mechanic that services my bike does a test ride, he's even used to the darkside rear tire

in the winter, they don't always do a test ride, but they let me know if they didin't

Once when i picked up my bike I asked the dealer if they test rode it after the work was done. They looked at me like it was a stupid question and assured me they did.

When I rode away on the bike it was OBVIOUS right away that the brakes weren't working properly. More than once I wish the dealer had test-ridden the bike before telling me is was ready.

So...I would love to have them take an extended test ride after service work, even an oil change.

I use Motoghost in Phoenix, (exclusive BMW mechanical shop) They won't touch a bike without test riding. There are only four guys, the owner, Omar who is a highly qualified beemer mechanic, Dan and Scott, ditto and Matt, the "parts guy" also extremely knowledgeable. I trust them all to ride/work on my bike. The rides they take are usually only a few miles. If I didn't trust them completely, I might have an issue.