Loaning your bike.......

[El Toro]

wow, it really pulls when you get up near 9k rpm

I think I could hear something like that from him if he rides it.

More info, he is looking at borrowing a Goldwing from his father-in-law, but that may fall through. My FJR is a back up plan.

Find out how the father in law is going to weasel out of it, and do the same.

This was a really inconsiderate request. He wants to double the miles on your bike in one trip.

I sometimes swap bikes on rides with others, but even that can go awry. A few years back, when riding in Quebec along the north side of the St. Lawrence, the two cops that patrolled the road were heading west, as the group was heading east. Needless to say, throttles were opened, and a 120 - 140 mph marathon followed.

One of the bikes being ridden was nearly new, and at the end of the sprint, it was knocking like a loose wrist pin. Ridden, of course, by the non-owner. His bike was being thrashed by someone else, so .... if you can't love the one you're with, at least thrash the one you're with.

Your insurance might get you off the hook. My agent tells me that I can loan my bike out for short rides up to 10 times a year. No way for them to prove what's short, or how many times I've done it, but this response from the agent would easily get me off the hook on a ride like what's been proposed.

 

[Drew]

Find out how the father in law is going to weasel out of it

Seperation and possible divorce. Can't work that angle, he'd know it was smoke.

 

[cwa]

Don't do it. I wouldn't even like being put in that position.

 

[Bounce]

I learned the hard way that there are certain things that are certain to strain a friendship.

 

[CAJW]

Good way to lose a friend and a real friend wouldn't even think of asking, IMHO.

 

[exskibum]

Thoughts?

Not enough information.

Sheesh, Joe. I thought that with the first line, you were about to ask the right questions about the missing information. Alas, you disappoint.

First question -- How hawt is his wife?

Second question -- Is she fun in bed?

Third question -- Are you sure she's ok with with sleeping in your bed for those two weeks he'll be gone to California?

Seriously, though -- some friends have demonstrated expert riding skills AND personality traits that include respect and responsibility for the property and interests of others; those friends can ride my bikes. I don't expect anything from anyone that I wouldn't give if our situations were reversed, and it would be an exceedingly rare occurrence that I would ask for the favor.

Mostly, I'm talking about a short test ride or trade of bikes, and certainly not a "let's see what it will do when I try to wring it out at the edge of the envelope" ride, or a "gee, I wish I had a bike but don't want to spend the money or time to own, maintain and learn to skillfully operate one". Under certain circumstances, with the same trusted and responsible friends, I might loan it for a day or even a week. The circumstance that comes to mind is if that friend's bike is in the shop, or if he lives elsewhere, is flying in and needs a bike to ride while here. (My position on the longer loans would likely be different if I only had one bike that I'd be without while it's on loan.)

 

[marcusorelius]

Dang, that's a ballsy request to borrow a bike to ride half way across country! I would look at my friend with furrowed brow and say "yer kidd'n me right?"

 

[jcyuhn]

Has he offered to pay for the set of tires he is going to wear out and the servicing the bike will require before and after the ride? Has he offered anythign for the depreciation of doubling the miles on the bike? We are talking quite a few hundred bucks here. If he thinks that's expensive, how is he possibly going to indemnify your loss if he damages or destroys the bike?

I say if he can't afford to buy or rent a bike for the trip, then he can't afford to borrow yours either.

 

[palerider]

I friend of mine asked me if I loan out my bike. I figured a day trip somewhere, maybe a weekend at best, but nothing too big. He said he'd like to ride it 2 up from OK to CA which is a much different request than I expected. It's a trip with him and his 18 year old daughter for her HS graduation.
I picked up the '07 in Jan '10 and have 3400 miles on it now, the farthest trip I've taken on it is about a 2 hour ride one way. I'm undecided on my answer. If anything happens to the bike, he'll take care of it, no issue there. The bike has no cruise, stock seat and only the two stock cases on each side. I would think it would be an awful tough ride for a guy (2 up) that has ridden a bike maybe 3 or 4 times so far this year....

Thoughts?

Depends on the friend's riding skills, how long he's been riding, how recently he's ridden, and whether he's proficient on an FJR. This isn't a standard motorcycle. First off, it's extremely top-heavy and he's likely to drop it in a parking lit. I wouldn't consider loaning an FJR or any other large, high-performance, heavy-weight bike to a casual rider. IMO you would be behaving irresponsibly.

 

[beacher]

You might lose both a frienddhip AND a bike, should anything happen. . . My Dad used to say there are 3 things that you should never loan anybody: 1. Your wife, 2. Your dog, and 3. Your gun. To which I'd add a forth: Your bike!

 

[S76]

Good way to lose a friend and a real friend wouldn't even think of asking, IMHO.

+1

If the guy was a friend worthy of letting him use your bike he would not have asked.

Graduation gift......baloney. It's his gift to himself at your expense.

But I could be wrong.

 

[roger dodger]

+1 to Renting ....no way to loaning.

But that said, this group and COG are VERY HELPFUL w/ trying a different ride. After you reach this level of motorcycle proficiency I may lend/swap bikes for a short ride. I enjoy dealers openness to try-out the latest BMW or Duc, but not for 100+ miles and/or overnight.

Tell him to RENT a wing, and never borrow something personal. Tell him the FJR has an intermittant electrical short, and even the dealer can't solve it, the throttle jerks, some ticking is starting around the cct, or the headshake is getting very noticable. Tell him you don't want his daughters wounds from a crash on your conscience forever.

In other words tell him the TRUTH!!!!!

 

[FJRScorpion]

I have two different friends that coincidentally, just this week, related "bike loaning stories" to me. Believe me, they did not turn out good, lots of damage and the loss of the bikes for the riding season. Even though both 'borrowers' had bike riding experience, the FJR, and similar bikes are powerful, top heavy, and require a great deal of respect, especially if you're 'smallish' in stature, like me. Heck, I've had mine for four years and still panic when the passenger squirms at stop signs and red lights. Good luck with your decision.

 

[oldryder]

No.. . . but I like the post about having his wife while he's gone.

 

[Drew]

Good looking wife, but not enough meat on her for me. No idea on the second question, go back to the first as to whether I'd like to find out.

The trip is scheduled to last 1 week, so it's a very quick turn for a bike trip IMO. It truly is a graduation thing, he did a trip last year with his other daughter, no bike involved though. I spoke with him and told him I was struggling with the request and he said to forget about it, he understands. If the Goldwing is out then he may lean toward renting a convertible. Regardless, the FJR isn't making the trip.

Thanks for the replies, lots of good points.

 

[marcusorelius]

I spoke with him and told him I was struggling with the request and he said to forget about it, he understands.

Sometimes ya think somethin's cool & a good idea till ya really think about it! Glad he understands & no harm done to yer friendship!

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I friend of mine asked me if I loan out my bike. ...2 up from OK to CA

Thoughts?

There are few persons out there that I would even consider letting ride my bike. Very few. As in maybe 3 or 4.

Friendship is a valuable commodity.

Only if you (truly) consider him "Another You."

I'd guess (if you could, somehow, poll all of the similar incidents...) you'd find that, by-far, a great majority have "gone badly"? Not that it can't happen otherwise (well) -- I know it can. It's just the odds.

Even trading bikes can come out poorly.

I once went on an overnite ride with a small group of friends of which I knew, personally, only one or two. During a stop on day 2, a rider who I didn't know (but was a friend, I thought, of the rider I did know) asked to trade bikes. I capitulated.

Later, after the ride, the rider I knew said: "I saw you let 'so-and-so' ride your bike -- I sure wouldn't have done that."

 

[wheatonFJR]

Good looking wife, but not enough meat on her for me. No idea on the second question, go back to the first as to whether I'd like to find out.

The trip is scheduled to last 1 week, so it's a very quick turn for a bike trip IMO. It truly is a graduation thing, he did a trip last year with his other daughter, no bike involved though. I spoke with him and told him I was struggling with the request and he said to forget about it, he understands. If the Goldwing is out then he may lean toward renting a convertible. Regardless, the FJR isn't making the trip.

Thanks for the replies, lots of good points.

Sounds like a fair and happy resolution, to a friendship-stressing request. :clapping:

 

[ionbeam]

You know that when the transmission doesn't want to go into gear you feather the clutch a bit then it snicks right into gear. Your friend may be tempted to try to force it into gear. You get a bike back that pops out of gear due to bent shift forks.

 

[Auburn]

My brother is the only person I would consider loaning to for the kind of ride you described. I might lets some others I trust do a short ride to test out how a seat feels, or a suspension upgrade, but it would depend greatly on who they are and their riding skills.