When I bought my '06 F4i new in Jan '06 I financed through American Honda Finance without insurance and nobody even asked. When the bike was delivered to my home, 2 days later, I called the insurance company and immediately began coverage after giving them my VIN and a copy of my motorcycle license. I never even got a call from Honda finance asking what coverage I had. I think it may depend on age, state and previous drivingrecord even whether they bust your chops about full coverage when you buy.

 

My Honda shop was going to let me ride out of the showroom without an endorsement, let alone insurance. I guess it does depend on your state. Of course, as a responsible rider, I had full coverage and had the bike delivered...

 

Yeah, mine too. They asked if I wanted to ride it home or have it delivered. I had it delivered since I didn't start coverage on it until a few days later. The dealer didn't even ask to see my license.
When a friend of mine bought a new gixxer 1000 last year, same thing. He financed through Suzuki's finance company and they didn't require proof of insurance or a motorcycle endorsement on the license. Maybe they figure 50% of the people will go get it insured right away...for the others the finance company probably doesn't care about insurance as long as they get their money each month until it's paid off in full. Then if they stop paying on it they may go into lawsuits until it is. Who knows.