Motorcycle demo rides: FJR 1300, Screamin' Eagle Ultra Classic, K1300GT, and more

August 26, 11:02 AMMotorcycle ExaminerKen Bingenheimer

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Heading out on a Buell demo ride

Various of the motorcycle manufacturers had their trucks and troops offering demo rides last week at the International Women & Motorcycling Conference. Of course I had to take some rides.

What I ended up riding was not necessarily what I would have chosen to ride if I'd had my druthers. The different ways the different brands have of scheduling your rides make some choices unavailable and so you go for what you can get.

I ended up riding the following:

• Yamaha FJR 1300
• Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle Ultra Classic
• Kymco Exciting 500 scooter
• Kymco Venox 250 motorcycle
• Ducati 696 Monster
• BMW K1300GT

I'll be reviewing each of these separately, except the two Kymcos, which I will cover together. First, though, I want to talk about that scheduling thing.

I've run into this before at other motorcycle conferences. Most of the manufacturers open their sign-up early in the morning and you can come in and sign up for a particular bike at a particular time. Then you can build your schedule for the day around that time slot.

Now, on the face of it, that seems like a pretty reasonable set-up. Certainly it is a very good system -- for those who can be there first thing in the morning. But what if you can't be?

For example, I rode up to the Suzuki Cyclefest 2005 in Copper Mountain, and that's not far from Denver so I got there reasonably early. Nevertheless, even by the time I got there the pickings were pretty slim. Almost every bike was already taken for the entire day.

Then there's the way Harley-Davidson and Buell run their show. They do it on a first-come, first-served basis. You show up and tell them what bike you want to ride, and they put your name on the list. If that bike is unclaimed for the next ride and you're there when the previous ride gets back, you're on it. Or if there is someone else ahead of you, you wait until they get back and then you get the bike. If your name is on the list and you're not there, the next guy on the list gets the bike.

Now granted, that gives you less of a guarantee that you'll get a particular bike than having that specific bike locked in at a specific time. But if you can't get to the demo site until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, you're not shut out. You can still ride some demos.

I'm not saying all manufacturers should change to the Harley method, but it would be nice if some would do it one way and others do it the other way. Maybe a manufacturer could do it one way one day and then do it the other way the next day.

I do like the Harley/Buell method. When I got back from the ride on the Screaming Eagle Ultra Classic I had a couple guys ask me how long I had to wait to get that bike. They were blown away when I told them I didn't wait at all, I just walked up and asked what was available and I got it immediately.

Maybe some of the manufacturers need to think about this a little more. I'm just sayin' . . .

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