Depends on the bike. If it is a low miles version of a bike, I'll give it a good going over; mebbe ride it if I think its got some issues or it's older, or it's a high perf bike with a reputation for blowing 2nd or 3rd gears. On high miles bikes; always. The test ride will show issues that even an in depth walkaround will never show... like a tweeked fork or frozen brakes or a sloppy, stiff or worn gearbox; hesitation or backfiring from a wrongly tuned PC etc.......
I usually have no problem getting a test ride(fat, slow olde guy with wad of cash in hand ); on the other hand; you're gonna have to make me real comfortable before I'll decock and let YOU go for a test ride....
If it won't start/run....expect a substantial discount....
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