Loaning your bike.......

[corndog67]

Ok, I'm a new guy on here, but in 38 years or so, I've owned about 38 bikes. I used to get attached to them, but not so much any more. Just another bike. I've had people crash my bike when I loaned it to them, but on the other hand, I know a couple of guys, that if they wanted to use my Ducati for a long putt, like 4000 miles or so (good luck on it making it that far), it would come back fully serviced, with new tires, and probably a few new accessories to boot. So, as others have mentioned, there are people I would let take it wherever.

 

[Geezer]

I am going to buck the trend here and say yes, conditionally:

1) The borrower is a very good friend or relative

2) an experienced rider, and capable of making the ride safely

3) borrower is capable and willing to pay for repairs if he breaks it

4) the bike is old enough that I won't be too concerned if it gets damaged

I loaned my FJR to each of my brothers for a short 'try it out' ride even when it was new. They are both experienced riders and I would expect the same offer from them.

I let my daughter ride it to work for a week while I was out of town even though the bike was new and she was inexperienced. The objective was to help her understand that I had confidence in her at the time. It worked.

I swapped with my buddies BMW for an afternoon a couple years ago. The next season he had sold the BMW and was riding his own FJR.

 

[gazza]

Four things you never loan out

1 The wife

2 The FJR

3 The motor mower

4 The chainsaw

Live by that and you won't go far wrong

Gazza

 

[Barabus]

Four things you never loan out
1 The wife

2 The FJR

3 The motor mower

4 The chainsaw

Live by that and you won't go far wrong

Gazza

Your mower???

 

[RadioHowie]

Four things you never loan out
1 The wife

2 The FJR

3 The motor mower

4 The chainsaw

Live by that and you won't go far wrong

Gazza

Sorry, but that's too wrong for words.

First of all, the FJR should be #1.

Now, I pay someone to take care of #3, and I used #4 on #1, so there really is no #2, #3 or #4.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Four things you never loan out
1 The wife

2 The FJR

3 The motor mower

4 The chainsaw

Live by that and you won't go far wrong

Gazza

Sorry, but that's too wrong for words.

First of all, the FJR should be #1.

Now, I pay someone to take care of #3, and I used #4 on #1, so there really is no #2, #3 or #4.

Dude...If you use #3 on #1, the ride becomes much more smooth. Just my $.02

 

[Bungie]

Hum..

I'll offer my bike to some ppl who I know, trust and have the experience. But do NOT ask for a ride.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Hum..
I'll offer my bike to some ppl who I know, trust and have the experience. But do NOT ask for a ride.

Awwwwwwww...Please man. If you let me sit on the back of your bike with you, I'll hold you tight and make 'vroom-vroom' noises. :yahoo:

 

[beemerdons]

I am going to buck the trend here and say yes, conditionally:
1) The borrower is a very good friend or relative

2) an experienced rider, and capable of making the ride safely

3) borrower is capable and willing to pay for repairs if he breaks it

4) the bike is old enough that I won't be too concerned if it gets damaged

I loaned my FJR to each of my brothers for a short 'try it out' ride even when it was new. They are both experienced riders and I would expect the same offer from them.

I let my daughter ride it to work for a week while I was out of town even though the bike was new and she was inexperienced. The objective was to help her understand that I had confidence in her at the time. It worked.

I swapped with my buddies BMW for an afternoon a couple years ago. The next season he had sold the BMW and was riding his own FJR.

I'm with you 100% Geezer! Greg is right on, life is too fecking short to sweat the small material bullshit! As a heart attack survivor, life is about motorcycling friends and nothing else. Es Verdad, ese!

 

[Bungie]

Awwwwwwww...Please man. If you let me sit on the back of your bike with you, I'll hold you tight and make 'vroom-vroom' noises. :yahoo:

Now I know why Fubar likes you so.

 

[Meltdown]

I just can't see a happy ending for loaning out your bike. eagleriders.com would be my vote on how to respond to that request.

 

[old Pilot]

Um.

Loaned my 650 Bonneville to a friend. Got a call about 4 hours later, "It's broken down." I go and haul it to the dealership. Dang right it's broken down. The crank was in two pieces.

Loaned my Bug Eye Sprite to a friend. Got a call several hours later. He rolled it. He did pay to replace it.

Loaned my '69 Z28. He lost it on a wet road, hit a concrete bridge abutment.

Thankfully no one was injured in any of these incidents.

Would I still loan my bike to someone? Yes. But only to select responsible persons.

 

[dcarver]

There are few persons out there that I would even consider letting ride my bike. Very few. As in maybe 3 or 4.
Of those persons, I don't know of any that would ask.

I would suggest that for the sake of your friendship, you offer to help him find a rental bike.

Damn! I feel great now, because kaitsdad 'gave me the keys' to his fjr to ride all around the parking lot at WFO prior to the big pix taking event. Yeah, I put 1,050 miles on that bitch in 15 hours, riding circles around the parking lot. Of course I wheelied and left big long darkies on every 4 corners... The hard part was to write the code to roll back the odometer so he wouldn't know...
Ok, so I was nervous as hell about riding on a friends bike and was EXTRA cautious.. you know the drill.. OK, the side stand is

*really* down, the bike lining up next to me is within proper 'space'.. I guarded his bike more than my own. Frankly, that's the type of guy I would loan my bike to (for a parking lot)!

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.

Perfect! I have found in situations like this it's just best to be brutally honest and frank. You would be surprised that most people respond very well to point-blank honesty, especially if expressed in a caring manner.

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.

Damn. There goes my free Alaska ride. I promise I'll run it through a high-pressure car wash with maximum abrasive detergent before returning it to you! :yahoo:

 

[dcarver]

Four things you never loan out
1 The wife

2 The FJR

3 The motor mower

4 The chainsaw

Live by that and you won't go far wrong

Gazza

Your mower???

Oh gawd, never the CARPET mower! :rofl:

 

[RadioHowie]

Yer PWI, ain't ya???

 

[dunhamg]

Some of you sound a little too attached to a bike that can be replaced fairly easily.

Well, I've loaned out plenty of bikes and ridden a lot of other peoples bikes. Some ended well, some not so well. I had a '86 CR500 that I think everyone(about 10 people or so) who rode it except for me had the front wheel come over on them. That was a bit much bike for most people. Another time I had my bike in the shop and was complaining i was going to have to take my car on a trip when my friend Hank loaned me his '02 ZX-12 in the summer of '02, I think it had about 2000 miles on it and I put about 2500 on it that weekend. A month or two later one of my brother came to visit me and his friend was riding that same ZX-12 and took it wide on a corner and totaled the bike. I ended up paying out about $7000 on that deal to make sure Hank was covered. My brother covered the rest and I don't think things were ever real good with that friend of his. I also rode Hank's other bikes which included a turbo'd CBR1100XX Blackbird, a turbo'd Hyabusa and a well modified GSXR 1000. He even offered his Vette to take a friend on a date, which of course I took him up on.

That same brother totaled a CBR600F3 on the day I had ordered my '99 R1, guess I wasn't supposed to have two bikes just yet. So I ended up with his F3 for a few months until the new bike cam in. He then borrowed my '02 R1 to see his girlfriend on a 1000 mile trip and got the bike stolen from in front of her apartment. Called me on my birthday to let me know that one. But, I wouldn't hesitate to loan him my bike again.

I loaned out my first '02 R1 to my dad the day after I rode it home from Montana to Minnesota. It had about 400 miles on it when I picked it up from Hank who I had break it it for me. My dad ended up spinning it on the edge of the road and then high sided it. He fortunately had a helmet and jacket on since I pressured him or I doubt he'd be here today. He ended up with a bad concussion and a broken collar bone. I ended up with a totaled bike which was replaced a week or two later.

I borrowed a goldwing to ride the 1088 on with my fiancé a few years back. Only put on 600 miles riding from Denver to Salt Lake City and then put on 1065 miles in the rally on that bike. Then I rode his ST1300 on the way back to Denver.

I rode a Ducati 620 Monster from Denver to Minneapolis this spring for a friend of mine so he didn't have to ship the bike. Ended up certifying my first Ironbutt Ride on that bike.

Right now I've got a buddy's 1098S in the garage I've been riding for a month (about 2700 miles so far, it had 1500 when I got it from him) to get a few miles on it for him so he gets the free service done this year. We went to a track day earlier this year and he insisted that I ride his 1098R Troy Bayliss Edition. You can bet I was going to make sure not to drop that bike.

I have loaned out my FJR to multiple people so I guess I just don't see the big deal with it. Of course they were all experienced riders and I've got full coverage insurance. I probably couldn't count the number of other bikes I've ridden of other peoples over the years.

I've only asked about a couple of those rides, most were offered to me. I've offered my bike out plenty of other times.

Grady

 

[dcarver]

Hey, I need an FJR to ride to Alaska..

Will yours be ready, fully prep'd around late June next year?

...sorry, it's Friday and all!

 

[FJRay]

If it's powered in any way,I don't loan it. Period.

 

[dcarver]

If it's powered in any way,I don't loan it. Period.

Hey Ray... I need to borrow your garbage disposal... only for a week or two.... whatcha say bud?

 

[FJRay]

If it's powered in any way,I don't loan it. Period.

Hey Ray... I need to borrow your garbage disposal... only for a week or two.... whatcha say bud?

Sure thing Don. I'll send you the location of the land fill I left the piece of shit in. :****: