Hey gibbo,
It's Nathan Thomas that got in touch with me about the test ride and has organised it for me. He comes across as being a sensible guy in our emails so far and looking forward to meeting him.
Your route sounds good, I may well try and do similar on my test ride. I'm definitely in no rush to buy this bike, I don't mind waiting for the perfect model to come along with regards to price, mileage, service history etc.
Kevinb - I hadn't considered hiring one before. Definitely something I'll check out. I might have a look at some of the BMW / S1000RR forums and see what people say about running / servicing costs and see if there are any particular bad points to look out for when viewing.