I remember my first time attending in a test ride event was with Honda. That was like some 10 years ago. Luck has it that Suzuki is coming somewhere nearby so I decided to went for a ride and while at it do some test rides as well.
Event was scheduled to begin at 930am but I arrived early to avoid long lines. The staff was still prepping the course. Suzuki charted the whole parking lot and made something that resembles a gymkhana course for the test ride.
Another angle at the reception booth. Notice the supply truck from Suzuki.
These were the booths for people to sit at while waiting for their turn at the bikes. They were organized by model. One model per line.
These were the bikes available for testing today. Apparently they didnt have the whole lineup for testing but there were enough bikes to grab my attention. My goal was to test ride the sub 250cc bikes. Not much interest for the larger bikes. (I already have one)
The much hyped V-Strom 250. Funny that they call it V-Strom because it isn't a V-Twin in her but a parallel twin. Anyway I can appreciate the marketing effort there. Given a chance I might even think of owning her.
This was a little stage prepared on the bed of a truck. The timetable says there would be talk show in between the test ride sessions but I didn't wait long enough to see that.
So this is how it looked like. People waiting under the tarp and the lines of bikes right in front of my eyes. Really, I was hypnotized by the combined wonder of all those bikes. I think for once I really fell for Suzuki.
My choice of bikes. Gixxer 150 and the Burgman 200.
So this is how it works. Gotta go register at the receptionist by filling out a waiver form and showing the driver's license. Then each is issued with 3 coupons - one coupon per test ride. Use up all three and your time is up. (although the staff did approach me and asked me if I would like to get another three coupons upon finishing my turns.)
Bike pix. Damn just look at that Hayabusa. It has a 1.3 liter inline 4 under the seat. That's like a car!
And all the gixxers. The one on the right is the big gixxer and next to it is the small gixxer. I test rode the small gixxer as well.
Another angle. Really, I think the small gixxer works wonder. It's not fast by all standards but it is enough to move my soul.
Yes you got me I was trying to photo the lady in pink. Nothing weird about her but she seemed to be the only woman who displayed such intense interest in bike.
This is the Gixxer 150. I really liked it. Won't turn heads but good enough for me.
A far view of the course.
There were many people attending the test ride. All in all I would say I wouldn't just go for a test ride but would mix it with a ride day. Just too much hassle to go so far for a total of 9 minutes saddle time.
In my opinion this is how the foreign manufacturers beat the Japanese brands in their domestic market in the large bike segment. For harley and BMW, there isn't any regular test day like this one. But they let you test their bike anytime anyway and practically without limit. You can just go and blast for half an hour, go onto the highway if you like. Japanese manufacturers need to get better....
Cheers,
CK
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