Mention the word demo ride to a motorcycle salesman and they look for a
quick exit. No one likes to turn over a new motorcycle to someone they don’t
know or who may have questionable riding abilities. And no you cannot ride my
bikes either. For I have seen proof, starting when I sold them years ago, and
Motorsport had a demo ride for each model. I never had a customer dump one, if
you don’t count the GT380 I sold to a man who showing off for his wife, ran it
into a chain link fence, and the throttle stuck on, after he had signed the
dotted line. I slid an RM 370 100 feet once while showing off, but my favorite
was another salesman who took off after a prospect he thought was stealing a
bike, he forgot to unlock the front fork on the R90/6, and rode right into the
wall in front of him. Seems the prospect stopped to put gas in the bike when it
ran out....And I have taken or been offered many demo rides over the years. A
Harley only friend and I stopped in a Harley store, and the Buell salesman
approached us, offering me a ride on the newest Buell, because of the Speed
Triple I was riding. When I inquired if my friend could also, he shook his head
“no, those guys can’t handle all the power.” Later confirmed at a Christmas
party where I offered the Harley club members a ride on the same bike, and was
cautioned by one, “don’t these guys really don’t know how to ride with all that
power.” But I do have an open invite at the local Harley store to ride anything
I want....Now I am not knocking Harleys or those who ride them, just relaying
the experience. Not judging, just describing.
When the new Indian store opened, I wanted to ride their new Scout. I had
ridden their large bikes, and didn’t care for them, too much weight and add ons
that made them handle like a wheelbarrow in gravel. But the Scout was fun, and
the salesman went off, me following. After the customary preplanned ride, we
stopped at a light to go back to the store, he motioned we were done. “I’m
not,” I said, and took off up the freeway ramp, him chasing. We went back, he
in a cold sweat, afraid I may not return, but more afraid that I might crash.
He claimed to have ridden over 100 and never caught me, too fast for him, I
guess. But now I stop in with the press bikes, we visit, and have become
friends, but no more demo rides.
For me a demo ride consists of how I ride, which makes the press bikes from
Triumph a great tool to see if I really like the model. After 1000 miles I get
to know them, how they handle, how they accelerate and brake, you do practice
braking, don’t you? How many miles per tank, and some I fall in love with, some
I do the minimum and return them. But I get to know the bike in different
situations, and become familiar with them. So when asked yesterday, “why do you
own the ones you do?” it was simple, they perform the way I choose to ride.
They fit my style, and maybe I fit them, and after 1000 miles on the Bonneville
Bobber on the street, I miss my Tiger. All three of them. And I know I will
suffer remorse when the Bobber goes back, but I will be glad to be back on my
own rides, because they suit me, and that is the reason I bought them. They
have become old friends, I know how many miles after the reserve light goes on
do I have left until I have to push, how soon to brake, and how to take better
lines in corners. And after a few miles back on my rides, I can almost hear
them telling “thou shalt not have any other motorcycles before me.” Whoever
said riding and what you ride isn’t personal never rode, not even a demo ride.
To many people being a Christian is a set of thou shalt nots, the things
God makes you not do, robbing you of all the fun you had when a sinner bound for
hell. They trip over scriptures, so afraid to get caught by some so called
loving brother who is superior and face judgment. So they live a life in the
shadows of religion instead of the light of the Lord. They may know all the
songs on K-LOVE, all the popular scriptures, even follow a pastor or two, but
live in a legalistic world, far from the freedom Jesus promises us in the
spirit. They have knowledge, but not wisdom, which only comes directly from
God, not from any teaching or study. Wisdom brightens a man’s face, and gives
him freedom to make better choices, to have special insight that only can come
form above. While some churches and study group advertise “meeting with people
who are like minded,” the spirit allows you to be the individual in him, not the
same cookie cutter Christian. They cannot function outside the church, for they
are never challenged, and only know what they have been taught. They supplant
an education for a relationship, and even think they know all the answers, not
knowing they haven’t heard all the questions. They become copies of a church or
denomination, and when meeting other Christians, ask “what do you believe?” God
made us each an original, and that scares too many, because all they know is
what they have been taught, not in who they believe to save them.
Ever notice how spiritual people have insight to ideas and situations? And
may be called judgmental, when all they are doing is describing the person based
on insight from God? Wisdom from him. Have you experienced the confidence one
has walking in the spirit, using all the wisdom God gives while others still
pray or ask others? Is your relationship with God still a demo ride, or have
you found the peace in Jesus that opens the door to wisdom, and the wisdom that
opens up the door to peace? In Ecclesiastes, the searcher tells of a life self
seeking, but not finding. But who finds the living God who gives him all the
answers to life he needs in the end. And he was the smartest person who ever
lived. The wisdom when others guess, or the faith to move while others still
ask around, seeking answers from those like minded. Jesus tells us to have no
other gods before us, are you substituting the knowledge of friends, of pastors,
of teachers, for the wisdom of the spirit? Which he pours out on all of us, and
we get to accept or reject? Is your demo ride of Christ based on books read
instead of seeking Jesus directly? Do you need to be taught how to pray, how to
worship, how to love? Don’t those things come from the heart?
So just like the numerous bikes I ride, I always return to my own. My
choice. Maybe today is the time to return to Jesus, to open up to the spirit,
to put aside teaching and knowledge, and find everything you need in Jesus. It
is the spirit that gives insight into the scriptures, do you know them or has
Jesus written them on your heart. As an example, I visited a church yesterday
advising its members to fast for 40 days. To be visible in it and tell others
what you are doing. Signs to advertise it. When scripture tells us to be quiet
about it, not bringing attention to ourselves, but seeking God. What do you
think they talk about when asked how the fasting is going? Has it become a
competition? And the like minded follow...fasting is not required to be saved
or to be a Christian. But a personal event that should be done in private for
only our father in heaven to see. Read it, it’s in the Bible you quote....why
ask man when you can go directly to the Lord?
Do we remember the purpose of a test ride is to see if we like the bike?
Do we approach Jesus like that? Or is he God, the only God for all occasions?
So have no other gods, or teachings, or false doctrine before him. Now if only
I could explain that to my personal motorcycles. Maybe if I tell them when I
swap them it is like a retreat for them, time to spend with other motorcycles,
who are like minded? I wonder, would they go for it? Would you...life goes on
after the demo ends.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com