Somewhat NEW VFR

I will be picking up a new VFR that I bought this week. Before I bought the bike I asked how many K's were on it and was told 0 because it never even had oil or gas in it.
Now a few days later I received a message from the dealership that said the bike will have 4 kilometers on it because a licensed mechanic had taken it for a testride to make sure the bike was safe and everything was in working order.Sounds more like a joyride to me.
Shouldn't a new bike have 0 km on it? And even if they want to take it for a testrun, doesn't 4 kms seem like quite a trip.

 

When I purchased my HawkGT new about 20 years ago I think it had about 2 or 3 miles on it.

Another consideration is to scrub in the tires. Maybe (stretch here I know) they wanted to make sure a Newbie Rider didn't low slide on the new tires?

 

2-4 miles is aboot average, alot of parts to assemble and things can go wrong from time to time so they need to know you will at least make it home before a wheel falls off.

 

As a tech I like to test drive vehicles to make sure if anything happens because I screwed up it happens to me and not the customer. I have seen a lot of bikes leave the showroom floor with zero miles on them and I personally think that's a bit irresponsible and overconfident of the guy who uncrated it and put it together. Nobody's perfect, we just strive to be the best. Checking your work is allways the best course of action IMO if it helps.

Now if it had 20 miles on a new bike, I might call that a joy ride, but who could blame him......:whistle:

 

I wouldn't worry at all about the 4km. It would be nice to put the first mile on a bike, but if were you, I'd focus on the next 149,996 that you'll get outta her!

Enjoy the ride!

 

We test rode every bike we sold to ensure that it shifted properly, handled as advertised and would be acceptable to hand over to the new owner. We never attempted to scrub in the new tires as this could be seen as abuse in some peoples eyes. After the bikes were assembled and washed (preserving oil removal) it was good to get them hot to burn off the residue so the bike wasn't smoking after they rode it 30 seconds. 4 kilometers is about right.

 

A Ducati shop owner once told me that a bike was "new" unless it had 25 miles on the odometer. Then it's a demo. Maybe that was Ducati's rule. Maybe it was the law in Washington State. Anyway, 4 miles is new enough, eh?

 

Everyone has a different idea of what new is to them. I know that I have coasted almost 4kms into a gas station when I ran out of juice so it ain't that far. Thank god for hills and tractor trailers that you can draft when the fuel light is flashing is all I can say!

Is new in the box? Is new in the showroom after everyone has had their grubby grippers all over the bike for months? Any bike that has been to a trade show does not qualify as new in my book after hundreds of dorkaroos have been jumping up and down on it for days and days.

 

It's too bad they didn't give you the option of whether you wanted them to test drive it or not. I've bought many new street bikes over the last 20 years and have always gotten them with 0 miles. I guess from a liability perspective it is a good idea for them to do a test drive. 4 km does not sound excessive at all. Enjoy the bike.