WetLeather Motorcycle Rider Information

A recommended approach:

Rule #1: Be fully responsible. If you borrow it and you break it, then fix it. Now, not later. And be prepared to loan an item of equal value/utility to the owner while you get the original item fixed. Don't even ask about the owner's insurance -- it's your problem, not his or hers.

Rule #2: If you can't afford to replace the item you're borrowing out of your own pocket within a day or so, then DON'T BORROW IT. Yes, this means you probably can't afford to take a quick spin on sombody's new $17,000 bike. Deal with it.

Rule #3: If there is even the most remote possiblilty that you or your heirs would bring a lawsuit against the person you're about to borrow from, then DON'T BORROW IT.

Of course there is an arbitrarily long list of common sense "rules" you should also follow that aren't listed here. For instance, if you're riding a borrowed bike, then ride conservatively and well within your comfort/skill envelope. Ride as if your life depended upon you returning the bike in the exact same condition it was in when you borrowed it.

There's a player in the LDR community whose personal rule is to *NEVER* ever loan out his motorcycles. Does he occasionally ride someone else's bike? Yup, but not very darn often, and it's usually a demo bike. This restricts the variety of bikes he gets to ride, but given his rule about his personal bikes, it's a reasonable trade-off.

An important, related issue:

My policy, having sold or traded more bikes than years I've been on this planet, after much refinement, is now as follows:

Somebody, let's call him "Sue", comes to see a bike I have for sale. I take careful note of what Sue is driving, how they look, and what kind of "vibe" I'm getting from him.

If it appears to me that Sue is just looking and maybe hoping for a free test ride, I inform him of my policy, which is something like this:

"If you're serious, and want to buy this bike unless a test ride shows up something you don't like, then here's the deal. You pay me for it. I hold the title. You go for a ride. If you come back within an hour (or whatever you agree on) and decide you don't want it, if the bike is in the same condition as when you left, then I hand you the money back. If not, then I keep the money and give you the title. If you want the bike, then I keep the money and give you the title."

If Sue doesn't agree to those terms, then my not inconsiderable experience in selling used bikes tells me he wasn't really serious in the first place. If he gets serious, he'll come back. If not, then he won't waste any more of my time.

Unfortunately, in my experience, the majority of folks who show up to look at a used bike, particularly if it's an "interesting" one, are lookey-loos who simply want a free test ride. My policy prevents that from happening.

To be honest, I have sometimes violated my own policy if I felt "good" about the person and the situation. In those cases, I sometimes jumped on another bike and accompanied the rider on the test ride. A few times I just let them ride. They almost always came back and bought it on the spot.

Things to look out for: Sue appears at the door with no visible means of transport to my house. Sue appears with his buddies who want to follow him on the test ride. Sue doesn't have any riding gear, and wants to borrow some. Sue wants to pay with a Cashier's Check that has ink smudge marks on it. Sue is wearing prison blues with "LOVE" tatooed on one set of knuckes and "HATE" on the other.