Modern Vespa

P.S.
We can thank the scoot dealers that don't give test rides, for the low mileage used scoots available to us

on the contrary, the demo bikes that are used for test rides make good low mile used scooters, I have seen Motorsports selling theirs.

Here in the States only the most prestigious insurance companies keep a database that is acceptable with DMV. If you are not insured by one of them, most likely you will have to show proof of insurance in paper form. To say that most insurance companies participate in this database is a fallacy.

Edited to insert picture

50 States, 50 laws.

Temple City Powersports, a Vespa dealer in California allows test rides. But they want to see a full motorcycle license, they want to know that you are serious about buying a bike, and may want to see you test ride one of their test models first, then they will allow you to test a model you want or even the new bike you plan to buy. They try to be accommodating, but some people will be told no.

I told the sales rep that I was concerned that the BV350 might feel to big for me, and if so I would buy a GTS instead. He assured me that it wouldn't. In the end, I didn't feel like I needed a test ride after finishing the safety course the week before buying.

I would have gone to another dealer if I wanted a test ride and it wasn't allowed. Their are other dealers that I could have gone to within reasonable driving distance instead.

Please explain how you came to the conclusion that my post is used to deliberately win an argument. This statement is more deliberate than my statement. How do we know that it's not a fallacy?

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They recently went out of business.

SDG

But Mr. SDG, please weigh in as a Vespa dealer... do you allow test rides? Why/Why not? What is your experience from the other side of the table?

I understand why a powersports dealer doesn't do test rides... there is a higher probability of damaging the merchandise than a car dealer. And if you keep a fleet of beaters as a test ride bikes, it really doesn't help the customer to ride a clapped out rattling scooter to know what it will be like to ride a nice new(er) one.

Of course, I've purchased three bikes in my life (2 motorcycles and a scooter) and I have not test ridden any of them. One had a frozen brake caliper (and I had no license), one I saw in a torrential downpour, and my scooter was too far away to see. It all worked out in the end for me, but I understand others who want a little "seat time".

I have seen the manufacturers who run a truckload of bikes out to dealers for a "riding experience" (Indian) and it takes all the risk off of the dealer to have that event.

When I called dealerships re test rides, I was upfront about the fact that I would never buy a scooter without driving it first. I'm in NJ, not sure if there are laws about this, but I had to show my license M endorsement, and then it was fine. But the guy did say, "We don't normally do test rides." IDGAF. If they want your money, I don't see why they wouldn't give a test ride. It doesn't make any sense.

I have deliberately bought demo bikes, twice. Absolute bargain, all run in, first service done plus another oil change just before purchase. However, that was in the UK, so a different mindset.

Actually, that does make sense - at least to me. Rather than NEVER giving test rides, it makes sense that a dealer would make a judgement about whether you are a likely and qualified buyer, and whether you are likely to ride his scooter for 15 minutes without damaging it. Of course, it will always help if you are a regular customer of this shop and its service. That way they already know something about your financial reliability and your riding experience. Of course, I'm the guy who would never let my brother go on a fun ride around the block on my GTS.

Couple of thoughts here....

This seems to be trending towards a polarizing subject which I don't want to participate in, they had me at "IDGAF." (See Greasy's housekeeping thread lol.)

Having said that we don't set our bikes up prior to sale as stale gas and weak batteries don't do anyone any good.

Once we had a client say "no test rides, how do I even know if I can do this?" I gave a pregnant pause and replied "well, Ventura Blvd. is a very busy city street what if you can't?" She replied "you make a very good point."

Keeping people safe is our number one responsibility and priority and mastering the bike on their own private street has made us have thousands of successful riders.

Have we ever allowed a test ride? Yes, we have.

SDG

Allow me to clarify: If you have your M endorsement, I don't see why they would not let you test ride. Hence, the IDGAF. That, to me, seems shady.

Because a US 'M endorsement' in many States (e.g. CA) doesn't count for diddly-squat in assessing a rider's ability to keep the rubber side down.

That's exactly how I feel. My dealer will let me ride whatever he has available but he knows me and that I have funds, am responsible and can ride. Having an M endorsement means squat as a lot of people get it and don't ride for years. Or someone that has only ridden 50 CC's or smaller scoots getting on a 300 can very easily drop the scoot, even at a stop. Vespa body damage is expensive.

Ah, thank you. It didn't occur to me because I'm the honest sort, I guess.

I can attest to that.

Of course, I have been a customer of the shop as long as David has owned it.

Me too! Shrewd!

I was once in Dublin with a friend and we took the tour of the Guinness brewery which came with a free pint at the end, included in the price of admission. We were halfway through ours when the guy next to us asked if he could have another one and he was informed that there was a strict policy of one pint per person. It was a good pint, as you might expect, and as we were finishing up and deciding where to go find another one, the barman set two more down in front of us. The point being, there's a rule, but that's for people for whom such a rule is necessary.

I'd like to think a "no test rides" rule could easily work the way the "one pint per person" rule seemed to operate at Guinness.

Here's how I have handled test rides at dealers. I go in and look at the scooter I am interested in. Then I ask if I am ready to buy money in hand will you allow a test die, they have always said yes. I show up show them I have a pocket full of cash and they let me ride
Only bike I haven't test ridden is the Vespa, as is was raining the day I went to buy the scooter. They offered a test ride though.
Helps if you ride up on something too.

SDG - I didn't intend to put you in the middle of a bonfire or anything, but it does seem like that's becoming common here lately.

Yes, it makes sense to Allow test rides on a case by case basis.

I'll still say I never really learned anything on a test ride other than my knee hits the dashboard on an old Nissan 240 SX with stick shift.

A few of the things I feel I can't really know from looking at the Liberty 150, or sitting on one, or reading reviews, or talking to you guys about it are:

1. My current scooter has a carburetor and I've never ridden a fuel-injected scooter. I ride a fuel-injected motorcycle all the time, but it's not a twist-and-go. What's it actually like? I'm sure it's great but is it better enough to warrant making a change or should I just put a little work into what I've got? This is probably the least important thing, but something that would be really nice to know.

2. I've never ridden a large-wheeled scooter. I'm sure it's more stable on the open road, which is very desirable to me and a big part of what sparks my interest, but what's it like in a parking lot? Or making a U-turn? It's the low-speed and even no-speed maneuverability, two wonderful qualities of scooters in general, that I'm interested in experiencing and comparing with my current small-wheeled scooter. Very important to me.

3. How comfortable am I riding along and turning with my feet where they naturally fall on the floorboard? I like a feet-pretty-far-back riding position and it's not clear where I'll end up on the seat and the floorboard and what that will feel like on the road. If it's different than what I'm used to, does it at least feel like I can adapt? This could actually be, for me, the most important and hard thing to figure out from afar.

4. I'd like to experience what it's like with me on it going up a little hill. Nothing extreme and also not necessarily possible depending on the location of the dealership, but certainly something hard to determine without doing it.

These are all things that might not even occur to a first-time rider but that from my relatively experienced point of view, really mean a lot. It wouldn't take long to find out but I just don't think I can pull the trigger without knowing. I think buying without riding would work for a newbie who's not all that specific about what they want or an experienced person who can afford to take a chance like that and just move on if it doesn't work out. I can afford the scooter, but I can't really afford to take the chance.

Which begs the question, do dealers sell more scoots by not offering test rides?

For the record, Temple City Powersports is still in business. Their website is still up and I called them tonight and surprisingly they answered the phone and confirmed that they are still in business. I had been concerned in the past that they might close, but they added Kymco about a year ago to their Vespa and Piaggio brands besides their dirt bikes. They appear to be in for the long haul.

That's hard to quantify. The big, 300+ per month, stores I've been at don't. If you're at a place that sells that many bikes, and it's a seasonal business where you have eight good months to make all your money (if you include atv season. The neat thing about selling ATVs is no test rides. Nobody will insure you to let a customer drive one in the parking lot because they are easy to flip on pavement), you are less likely to want to dick around with someone who wants to test ride, and then wait for them to get back, while there are warm bodies that want to buy. You send someone out on a test ride, and it's hard to get involved with someone else while this person is out, for who knows how long. On a busy Saturday, when it was possible to sell four or five in one day, in a store where you could sell more than 50 a month, your eyes sort of glassed over when someone wanted specs or a test ride, or to know what changed from last year's model, etc. There was a salesperson everyone called the Tour Guide, and he liked to do test rides, look up specs for his customers, give out brochures, etc. He sold 8-10 a month, but boy was he helpful.
I think in my experience, no matter what the store policy was, the more successful salespeople had a no test ride policy.

My preferred dealer is one of these superstores you describe. Every purchase by me has included a hassle free test ride,including the first time when they didn't know me from Adam. And, they have a dirt area specifically for testing the side by side ATV I purchased, so, yes, I test rode it too.

I've test ridden Buddy scoots before with no issue. The dealer just required a motorcycle permit.

Well this is a reincarnation of sorts. I had spoke with the owner and he said he terminated all of the staff and gave the new bikes back to the manufacturers. I actually bought all of the less than 2 year old Vespas from them.

Maybe they are reopening as a used bike dealer, glad to hear the owner is going to fight on.

I'll alert him that Yelp users have marked the place "closed permanently", that won't help him reopen.

https://m.yelp.com/biz/temple-city-power-sports-san-gabriel-2

SDG

This is interesting: https://www.piaggio.com/us_EN/testride/brand/#/piaggio

I filled in some of the basics and my closest options are 275 miles away, and 425 miles away, but I'm the guy who claimed he was serious about this kind of thing so I'm going to have to look into it.

Well, I'm not so sure that is very useful. Two dealers have specifically been discussed in this thread and neither come up in that search.

Hey, here's a twist! I heard from a dealer not far from me who is willing to give me a test ride in a couple of weeks!

Good things really do come from these discussions we have here.

Out of respect for his privacy I really don't want to name him right here on this thread, but I will give you sort of an obscure hint: his initials are "S.D.G."

I purchased my Liberty 150 in late January, and it was COLD at that time! Wife and I went to look at it, sit on it together and press buttons and stuff. Plus we wanted a big wheeler again (had a SYM CityCom). The owner threw me the keys and told me to go on out. I tossed the keys back and said "Cold! No thanks! But how does it ride power wise?". Was told it was like a new, crisp Buddy 125 motor wise, but a bit smoother and faster. I loved both of my Buddy's and we decided to buy it, because it was a good fit overall. Also went by the Just Gotta Scoot review. No regrets. Does everything we need it to. The seat gets kinda soft after it breaks in and windshield(s) get a nasty glare from the headlight, but the glare can be worked around. Enjoy the test ride!

Important to note Yelp has removed the "closed" status here and that suggests a reincarnation of some sorts is taking place. Good news for a fellow powersports dealer.

SDG

Of the 8 bikes I've owned, I've test-ridden 2. Personally, I don't like test-riding unless I have funds available to purchase. The nervousness of riding an unfamiliar bike that isn't mine is too distracting for me for a short test ride to mean much...at least, so far.
I HAVE noticed that dealerships I've been to only seem to offer any test ride possibility under two conditions: 1) there's a manufacturer "demo day" and they brought their own demo bikes. 2) the rider in question is a known quantity and they're reasonably sure the bike's going to come back without incident. In my case, I fell under the second condition both times. I had an opportunity twice to do a manufacturer demo, but I wasn't looking to buy and group rides make me nervous.

That reminds me: of all the test rides I've ever seen done or had offered, the overwhelmingly vast majority of them have been guided rides. My two demos weren't, but there were extenuating circumstances. The first one, I was working for the dealership and the owner offered to let me take the demo bike to run a shop errand...and they made it clear that, "you break it, you bought it." I don't know how serious the owner was, but he was enough of a jerk to mean it.
The second time was a different dealership several years later, but the sales guy was someone I had worked with at the other dealership and knew how I ride...AND how I ride on bikes that aren't mine. Every other test ride I've ever seen head out has been under the conditions that someone from the shop leads the ride and that you DO NOT strike out on your own.

Also, for new bikes, there's only test rides on designated demo bikes. If there's no demo for that model, you're SOL. Used bikes are already ride-ready, so they're usually a different story.

Well, that is interesting. I've test ridden quite a few bikes in my checkered riding career, but I have never done a test ride like that.

I was just told Temple City Powersports has stopped selling/servicing Piaggios as of end of 2019.

Yeah, Temple City Powersport dropped all of their scooter brands. No more Piaggio, Vespa, Kymco, or Honda. They were selling the new Honda Cub, too.
Their website is months out of date. They dropped two of their other regular motorcycle brands too. They appear to be concentrating on the brands they they believe can bring them the most money and charging ADM (additional dealer markup). The scooters they sold seemed like an odd fit with the rest of their motorcycle lineup, which is why I have been concerned they would close their scooter line for a long time.

This leaves no Vespa - Piaggio dealership in the East Los Angeles County Area. I.e. a further drive to the west side of LA, San Fernando Valley, or Orange County for work you can't do yourself from at dealer.

I have used an independent shop in Pasadena called Scooter Doc and I can say that Rich and his assist do excellent work. His assistant, whose name I forget, is Piaggio trained. They aren't cheap and charge to going rate, but they will fix whatever you need correctly. However, they may take a long time if they have a garage full of scooters to work on before you drop yours off. If you need your commuter scooter back right away, a trip to a dealer would make more sense.
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