Buy a bike in October or wait for Spring? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Buy a bike in October or wait for Spring?

WheelieWonka

WheelieWonka

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I am newish to Canada but not to motorcycles. Getting back on them. I will have my M2 by the beginning of October.

I've been wondering what is the best idea, buy a motorcycle in October when the market is less busy with buyers? Even if that means paying insurance for the winter months while the bike doesn't move from the garage.

Or wait till Spring and deal with a busy market? Less insurance and skipping winterizing the motorcycle, but prices might be higher and find the motorcycle might be more difficult.

If it matters, I am 90% set on getting a Triumph Street Triple RS. Ideally one that's ~2 years old with less than 10k kilometers. If I have to buy new, I am not against that.
 
I think you'll still have a decent amount of riding season open to you. It's more a question of having cold weather gear (multi layer jacket, heated glove/grips, thick pants, etc.) as morning and evening riding will get very frosty.

If you have the gear, get the bike and enjoy the snow-free months. If you don't, sit it out and see what gets listed closer to year-end.

Insurance here is year-round so it technically doesn't matter when you get it. Getting it in spring would save you money if you weren't riding till then. It's not a question of "if" you'll be paying for nothing, it's "when".
 
WheelieWonka said:
I am newish to Canada…
If it matters, I am 90% set on getting a Triumph Street Triple RS.
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It definitely matters. Get some insurance quotes before you commit to a purchase. You will almost assuredly be shocked at what you get back. New rider (to the insurance companies, they won’t care about prior experience) and a blacklisted surcharged model.
 
I would get a bike asap. That gets insurance history started and let's you ride on the good days. Insurance over the entire winter costs less than a single month in the summer.

I dont knowing it's just the speed triple that insurance hates or if the street triple catches the hate too. As others have said, ontario insurance companies dont recognize foreign experience. Expect sticker shock with insurance (may be mitigated by age but expect at least four figures and five wouldnt be surprising if you're young).
 
Wind Shear said:
It definitely matters. Get some insurance quotes before you commit to a purchase. You will almost assuredly be shocked at what you get back. New rider (to the insurance companies, they won’t care about prior experience) and a blacklisted surcharged model.
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I got a quote from Desjardins, which was high compared to what I am used to in Europe but not as crazy as the quote from Open Road Insurance.

@GreyGhost is right, lower four figures thanks to being above 35 years old.

Is there a list of motorcycles that insurance hates? (Besides the obvious liter sports bikes). Any similar good for street, country roads and highway motorcycle that is good to insure? I am pretty set on the Striple but out of curiosity.

What is insurance history? Do I even have one if foreign experience doesn't count?
 
In Ontario, your European history won't count (for insurance purposes, it may possibly help get your full M faster depending where you're from, and license history there).

So you'll be considered a new rider here. Get quotes from multiple brokers, as well as direct writing agencies (like TD Insurance, Desjardins is another you just did).

Bundle car and home if you need insurance for those also, it's saved me a ton of money.
 
WheelieWonka said:
I got a quote from Desjardins, which was high compared to what I am used to in Europe but not as crazy as the quote from Open Road Insurance.

@GreyGhost is right, lower four figures thanks to being above 35 years old.

Is there a list of motorcycles that insurance hates? (Besides the obvious liter sports bikes). Any similar good for street, country roads and highway motorcycle that is good to insure? I am pretty set on the Striple but out of curiosity.

What is insurance history? Do I even have one if foreign experience doesn't count?
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I dont know if there is an official published blacklist. Each insurance company has their own and while they dont make it public, asking for prices for two bikes that are similar on the surface may show a huge difference in premiums. Brokers like @NFP Moto have a good idea about which companies work for your age and bike.

Have you had a car insured in Canada? I cant remember if that counts at all. It's mostly based on owning an insured motorcycle in ontario without claims.
 
WheelieWonka said:
I am newish to Canada but not to motorcycles. Getting back on them. I will have my M2 by the beginning of October.

I've been wondering what is the best idea, buy a motorcycle in October when the market is less busy with buyers? Even if that means paying insurance for the winter months while the bike doesn't move from the garage.

Or wait till Spring and deal with a busy market? Less insurance and skipping winterizing the motorcycle, but prices might be higher and find the motorcycle might be more difficult.

If it matters, I am 90% set on getting a Triumph Street Triple RS. Ideally one that's ~2 years old with less than 10k kilometers. If I have to buy new, I am not against that.
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In terms of pricing - it definitely was worth buying late in the season if you have place to store your existing bike (when you have one to sell it in the spring) and the new one to ride next year - this is how I did buy almost all my bikes.. But Rona did some damage to this seasonal flow - it was crazy demand and short inventory so prices shoot up no matter the season in the last few years... Now with the rising interest rates and potential recession - who knows, maybe next spring we would have market full of "slightly used" bikes from ppl who can't afford payments anymore... I am not a financial advisor, trying to time the market myself to buy my second adv bike...so we shall see.. update us here about what you decide and why... Cheers.
 
WheelieWonka said:
Is there a list of motorcycles that insurance hates? (Besides the obvious liter sports bikes). Any similar good for street, country roads and highway motorcycle that is good to insure? I am pretty set on the Striple but out of curiosity.
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I'm 34 so my experience may help...? I just got my M2 last July.

Desjardins was the cheapest quote for me ($900/yr). My driving instructor said to stay away from anything with a model number ending in an R or RR. My insurance broker advised to keep it below 1000cc and possibly away from sport bikes. No centralized blacklist, each provider does it a bit differently (could be wrong on this one). When I was shopping for insurance and a motorcycle, I noticed older cruisers did well because they're not what appeals to the younger crowd.

Something like a V-Star, Honda Magna or Shadow, Suzuki Marauder would do well. Interestingly enough, some of the lower 250-300cc sports bikes did ok. Kawasaki's Ninja 300 came out to a ~$900 quote for me as well.
 
WheelieWonka said:
Is there a list of motorcycles that insurance hates? (Besides the obvious liter sports bikes). Any similar good for street, country roads and highway motorcycle that is good to insure? I am pretty set on the Striple but out of curiosity.
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When I was shopping around a couple of years back, I took screenshots of all the insurance quotes - bikes I was somewhat interested in. Maybe things have changed but the Street Triple always came out really high for me, higher than the Speed Triple. Asterisk next to the ones that I thought were cheaper than expected to insure. From lowest ($500/year to highest $4000/year) it went like this from the lowest quotes I found (mostly TD Meloche Monnex):
  • Yamaha TW200
  • Yamaha XT250
  • Suzuki TU250X
  • Kawasaki Ninja 300
  • Suzuki DRZ400SM
  • Suzuki SV650*
  • Moto Guzzi V7 III*
  • Suzuki VSTROM650
  • Honda CB500X
  • KTM 690 SMC R*
  • Kawasaki Ninja 400
  • Yamaha R3
  • Aprilia Tuono 1100 RR*
  • Triumph Speed Triple
  • Kawasaki Ninja ZX1000
  • Suzuki GSX-R600
  • Suzuki GSX-R750
  • Yamaha MT-07
  • Kawasaki Z650
  • Kawasaki ZX-6R
  • Yamaha MT-09
  • Yamaha XSR-900
  • Ducati Monster 1200
  • Triumph Street Triple
  • Kawasaki Z900RS
  • Aprilia RSV4
  • Suzuki GSX-R1000
 
Love the name.

If you're considering new, best bet is to buy a previous year model (or even older) leftover that's heavily discounted by the dealership or factory rebate (or both). Yes, they exist, but are usually limited to niche models which didn't sell well at regular price. I almost pulled the trigger on what I thought was my Unicorn last December, but luckily I decided to wait until I could test ride it and found it to be way overhyped (at least in stock form).

Best time for a used bike price-wise is the dead of winter, but good luck finding anything worth buying. That time of year is more opportunistic than anything, so if you haven't gotten anything by then, keep an eye out and cash ready. Anyone selling something decent at that time is either forced to sell or doesn't care about getting top dollar, which both work in your favour.

As for insurance, Desjardins is great for bundling with your car and home if you have enough vehicles to take advantage of their umbrella liability policy. It lets you choose minimum coverage on each individual policy, then adds the umbrella on top of all policies. For me, I get more coverage for less money.
 
Kawasaki's Ninja 300 came out to a ~$900 quote for me as well.
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I find this comical since my mental image of somebody on a Ninja 300 is more high-revving this-road-is-my-track kinda person than somebody with a Triumph. But I clearly don't have the stats and research that insurance companies have.

Maybe things have changed but the Street Triple always came out really high for me, higher than the Speed Triple.
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Interesting! Now I am going to go into the rabbit hole of comparing the Speed to the Street Triple. Weird that insurance is lower in the Speed since I assumed it was more racy.
 
Hey @bastak
Thanks so much for the detailed list. I like the SV650 (but already had one and different is better, right?), MT07, ZX6R, and Ducati Monster 1200. All which you listed as cheaper to insure.
 
If you’re into sport(ish) bikes, price out the CB/CBR 650. The fully faired CBR version continues to fly under the insurance radar, even though it’s basically a modern F4i (which does still command a surcharge )
 
@WheelieWonka

When I shopped around, I was looking for sub $1500/year (more or less from Ninja 1000 up in the list). From MT-07 down, I was getting quotes higher than $2000/year so they were all ruled out. I ended up with the SV650 at $800/year.
 
Thanks to everybody who is helping me with deciding what to get based on insurance being a factor. I am going to get some quotes, if the Striple is just a few hundred more expensive than CBR650R or ZX6R, I will go for it. If it's more than that, CBR650R is winning right now.

Anybody else wants to help me decide if I should buy it in October or wait for May?
 
Look everywhere. If you see someone selling what you want at a good price, go for it. The market sucks here, and it probably will be pricier come Spring.

I'd quote with TD Insurance also, I'm similar age, M2, and they came in almost half of what Desjardins quoted me. Paying $650/year for a cb500f vs $1100 something from them.
 
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