Ex-demo bikes. Bargain or false economy?

[Sam Aigal]

I'm pretty new to bikes ( not counting moped at 16). I've spent a year on a 125 and just completed 2 years on an Interceptor 650. Both were bought new and I ran them in meticulously.
I'm looking at moving up and some dealers have very low mileage 1 year old bikes for sale at a tempting price and I assume these are probably ex-demo.
What are people's thoughts on " bargain or a money pit waiting to happen " ?

[OverSteery]

Ask if you can have VAT receipt.
If yes, then the bike has never been out of the dealer - so yes probably a demo
If No, then it was sold to the public at some point.

Not sure whether you should avoid a demo or not, but good to know!

[Krikkit]

If they're still under warranty then crack on imho, just like buying a 2nd-hand bike

[poo at Paul's]

Demos tend to go before being a year old, if it went out to a punter and is back for sale so quick, make sure you know why, as it’s possible it’s a problematic bike. It may not be, but make sure you’re happy it’s a genuine reason for sale!

[hiccy18]

Some people buy bikes and never use them. Seems like many people buy bikes and use them a little. There are plenty of "Approved Used" bikes at main dealers with a warranty that have averaged 1-2k per year, so in effect are almost new even if they're 4 or 5 years old.

[Triaguar]

If its got a couple of years warranty what's not to like

[trickywoo]

I see it as a good thing because someone else has scrubbed the tyres and bedded the brakes, plus done some of the boring running in mileage.

As long as the money is right go for it. I’ve currently got an ex demo with no regrets.

Even better than an ex demo is a bike under two years old and less than 2k miles that someone has thrown official accessories at and even choice aftermarket. You can save loads and avoid the trouble of fitting parts you would have done yourself to a new bike.

The risk is that you get a lemon that someone wants rid of.

[Slowboathome]

My MT07 had 600 miles on the clock when I bought it. Dealer said previous owner had won it in some kind of competition but didn't really want it (!).

It's been virtually faultless.

[croyde]

I bought a new bike recently and ran it in meticulously. It's loosened up nicely and is running beautifully.

I, however, feel somewhat guilty as I ragged the demo mercilessly as I truly wanted to know what it was like at any speed.

I'm sure others had too.

The dealer had a couple of the same model as ex demo with maybe £1000 off the retail price.

I went new for my own piece of mind.

[vindaloo79]

My current bike was ex demo ninja 1k. Had a good £1400 off new.

This had 1,300 miles on it and just been serviced second time and was 7 month old. Apart from a slightly furry chain it was immaculate and I’ve put 3500 miles on it since November without issues - only cost was I replaced the fast wearing s22 tyres.

There’s lots of demo bikes I see with 200-500 mileages that I’d be happy to take the risk on for the money saved. Or pre-reg also, like last years model street triple 765s are starting to be reduced

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

I bought an ex-demo 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure S. Had 400 miles on it, was £12,500. That's £4000 off list I think. Worth it. As someone's said, it was closer to the running in service! Not had any problems with it really.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

croyde said:

I bought a new bike recently and ran it in meticulously. It's loosened up nicely and is running beautifully.

I, however, feel somewhat guilty as I ragged the demo mercilessly as I truly wanted to know what it was like at any speed.

Pretty much the same circumstances for me with the bike I own. I took a dealers demo R1 out for a test ride with sub 100 miles on the clock. I rode it like I stole it...

[GM182]

croyde said:

I bought a new bike recently and ran it in meticulously. It's loosened up nicely and is running beautifully.

I, however, feel somewhat guilty as I ragged the demo mercilessly as I truly wanted to know what it was like at any speed.

I'm sure others had too.

The dealer had a couple of the same model as ex demo with maybe £1000 off the retail price.

I went new for my own piece of mind.

Ditto.
But the ex-demo bike on offer was one that had been used at Triumphs off-road school and the discount was more akin to the KTM mentioned above, like £4k.
However as the brand new one had a reasonable monthly, price on pcp, decent part-ex offer and full luggage included the cash difference was less enticing.

[trickywoo]

Matt_E_Mulsion said:

croyde said:

I bought a new bike recently and ran it in meticulously. It's loosened up nicely and is running beautifully.

I, however, feel somewhat guilty as I ragged the demo mercilessly as I truly wanted to know what it was like at any speed.

Pretty much the same circumstances for me with the bike I own. I took a dealers demo R1 out for a test ride with sub 100 miles on the clock. I rode it like I stole it...

Ragged demo bikes aren’t a concern for me. If manufacturers are worried the bikes will have electronic limitations that get removed at the first service. I maybe think twice if there was a very fast road right outside the showroom but most time you have to ride out of town a bit before you can open it up at which point it’s warm.

Lots of people advocate a hard break in anyway.

[KTMsm]

Ex demo wouldn't be my first choice because it means it probably wasn't broken in (whether bikes actually need to be, is arguable as most are run at full revs to test them when new) and has probably been thrashed from cold on multiple occasions

However unless you're keeping it forever, I doubt there will be any additional problems in your ownership, very few bikes blow up, clutches are cheap enough to change etc

Used is always a lottery but only a tiny percentage have issues IME

[Rushjob]

KTMsm said:

Ex demo wouldn't be my first choice because it means it probably wasn't broken in (whether bikes actually need to be, is arguable as most are run at full revs to test them when new) and has probably been thrashed from cold on multiple occasions

However unless you're keeping it forever, I doubt there will be any additional problems in your ownership, very few bikes blow up, clutches are cheap enough to change etc

Used is always a lottery but only a tiny percentage have issues IME

To be fair to running in demo bikes, as I lived 45 miles from work I was always given the new demo bikes to get a few hundred miles on them before they were released for test rides....