Motorcycle financing?

[ThumperX]

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Here another route, a longer one but beneficial in the long run. do you own property with available equity in it? i might be worth looking into a Home Equity line of Credit. You would be looking at Prime + (0.5-1.5%).

i wouldn't reccomend to do this just for the puchase of a bike. Most financial inststutions will only make you pay a min. of interest only (you can pay the whole thing off anytime). this can be dangerously costly to the an individual who only pays just the interest. To help force you to pay down the credit you can choose a time frame and sets up fixed principle and interets payments.

 

[bboySushi]

I am looking at a Ninja 500 or a SV650. Looking for something I can ride long distances, cheap on insurance and reliable. I was thinking SV650 because then I could keep it for many years to come and my friend recommends it.

So far, Rider Plus is telling me $2600 for the SV650, $1800 for the Ninja 500 and $1500 for the Ninja250 just for reference. I am 28 years old, had my G since I was 18 and accident and ticket free.

Those rates sound awfully high to me. I'm 25 with 1 accident/1 minor ticket and I pay $1280 a year for a '07 GSXR600. It's a supersport so the premium is much higher too. Try State Farm.

I agree with Myztyk. It depends on cash/cash flow and with a low finance rate, why not? I financed my car at a rate of 0.9%? I make more than that by putting the money in the bank. IF your insurance checks out ok (which it should) I don't see what's wrong with financing so you can enjoy a year of riding rather than save up. Yes it's a toy, I agree you should have money for other important things like rent, food, health, etc. but if you got that covered and you're responsible go for it. Plus with a small amount of money like $5k or so it won't take long to pay off I assume. If you live like a bum for a few months you'd be surprised how much money you save. I did a $50/week budget which was painful but I saved up money fast for 2 months.

 

[ATTS]

Those rates sound awfully high to me. I'm 25 with 1 accident/1 minor ticket and I pay $1280 a year for a '07 GSXR600. It's a supersport so the premium is much higher too. Try State Farm.
.

Don't want to turn this into an insurance thread but statefarm doesn't care if you ride a GSXR600 or a lawnboy 600. With Statefarm an SV650 would be more than a GSXR 600.

Back to your financing....

 

[bombshelter13]

I'm having great difficulty understanding why so many posters are saying this guy shouldn't finance his bike and call it a 'toy'. How do you have any clue whether this bike is a 'toy' for him? He didn't say anything like that in his post. For all you know, he could be planning no recreational use of the bike whatsoever and be buying it to commute. To call it a 'toy' and say it shouldn't be financed on that basis is making a lot of assumptions about how he's going to use it. He didn't say anything about his intended use case in his post, so don't make assumptions.

I'm a new rider. Two months ago, I financed my first bike - a mechanically solid used model, not a shiny new one. I had about half the money I needed for it, and took out the rest on a line of credit.

Because of the fact that I financed my first bike, I am able to get to work - and since I can get to work, I can make money and as a result I've paid off almost the entirety of the money I borrowed already (should be one more month until it's paid off fully).

If I hadn't financed my bike, I would not be able to get to work and would have ended up needing to use the half of the money that I did have to cover my random daily expenses. I would be flat broke, jobless and bikeless - but... that didn't happen. Why? Because I financed a bike.

I'm with the folks who say get a line of credit. Worked for me, and the rate was way lower than an actual loan would have been.

 

[timtek]

I'm a new rider. Two months ago, I financed my first bike - a mechanically solid used model, not a shiny new one. I had about half the money I needed for it, and took out the rest on a line of credit.

what kinda bike did you get? im broke cuz of univeristy tuition and all...but i still want a commuter bike (thus looking at cbr125) :/

 

[bombshelter13]

The one mentioned in my sig.

Wanted a naked GS500. Couldn't find one. Bought a GS500F with scraped up fairings and tore 'em off.

 

[unL33T]

I financed mine but thinking back it was stupid to finance a toy. It was also stupid to buy a new bike as a first.

I financed through the dealer. I had the choice of 0% for 6 months, 4% for a year, or something higher for longer. After the time limit it would've gone up to regular loan rates (which was like 9 or 12% at the time). I was going to go with the 0% but went with 4% for a year as I wasn't 100% sure I'd be able to pay it off in 6 months. Good thing too but I paid it off in the year.

The thing that annoyed me the most is I was asking places for the "out the door" prices and the place I went had the lowest. I told every place I was going to finance but this place didn't mention the fact that there was a $300 financing fee until the day I got there to pick it up. I sucked it up and paid it even though I was annoyed since they knew full well I was going to finance it from the first day I asked them about it like 3 months before and they never mentioned the cost until that day but I was dropped off out in Orangeville so I just paid it.

 

[pinter]

Hey all and thanks for the replies. Well I got a quote from state farm and it was better but only thing that is affordable to me is the Ninja 250 in terms of insurance which sucks.

As for financing. I guess I know it's bad to do it but what else does one do? To save up the money to where I could pay cash, I would be over 30 years old. Patients is a virtue and I lack any.

I also can't get a secured LOC because I have no property to put up against it.

 

[unL33T]

Not meaning to poke fun or insult or anything but if you can't manage to save up a few grand in a few months for a cheap bike then paying for gear, maintenance, insurance, and gas is going to be tough... but you gotta do what you gotta do I guess.

 

[pinter]

Not meaning to poke fun or insult or anything but if you can't manage to save up a few grand in a few months for a cheap bike then paying for gear, maintenance, insurance, and gas is going to be tough... but you gotta do what you gotta do I guess.

Not sure what kind of job you have but I don't know too many who can save $5k in like 2-3 months ontop of their bills and expenses. I already have cash for gear and all schooling and licensing. Insurance if I get a Ninja 250 is only $60 a month and a bike payment is only about $140. It's doable for me but again, in a perfect world I would pay cash for it. Maybe I will just wait till next year.

 

[unL33T]

Not sure what kind of job you have but I don't know too many who can save $5k in like 2-3 months ontop of their bills and expenses. I already have cash for gear and all schooling and licensing. Insurance if I get a Ninja 250 is only $60 a month and a bike payment is only about $140. It's doable for me but again, in a perfect world I would pay cash for it. Maybe I will just wait till next year.

You're right, it's hard. My job isn't anything spectacular as far as pay goes but, like other's have said, it's a toy. I was just saying if you're struggling to pay the initial costs then the other expenses might bite you later. If it's more of a matter of just wanting to get into the hobby/sport asap then I get where you're coming from. My statement was also assuming you'd get something used and therefore cheaper. You can almost buy a brand new old stock 650R for that kind of money so I figured a used 250 would be more like $2-3k which is savable in a few months depending on job and expenses. I was also assuming you had at least some money in the bank as a starting point but I guess that was wrong.

 

[Petraeus]

The truth is if you dont have the money you need to get a loan, and if you dont have good credit you 1st loan interest rate is going to be11%+ suck it up or dont get a bike and work on your credit rating.

 

[ThumperX]

Here are a couple of senarios for you, hope it helps with you financing decision.

finance value $: 6000 / 6000 / 6000 / 6000
monthly payment: 550 / 300 / 215 / 172
Int. rate%: 16 / 16 / 16 / 16
Frequency (months): 12 / 24 / 36 / 48
Total interest you will pay$: 534 / 1,039 /1,575/ 2,154

keep in mind these numbers are not exact rounded a bit. Its a good what to see what it costs you to ride. ie. if you buy the bike now and plan to pay it off in a year its cost you extra $534, pay it off in two years $1,039...etc

its all at your worst case senario @16% interest anything lower the number just get smaller.

i have known ppl to buy everything on credit, bike, all gear and courses (not the best option) but everyone's situation is different.

hope it helps, see you one the road soon!

 

[pinter]

Looks to be I should just wait. Thanks all and maybe in a few years I will be on the road.

 

[CrazyKell]

Looks to be I should just wait. Thanks all and maybe in a few years I will be on the road.

Spend what you have saved on a different bike. Get an old Honda CB or something like that. Cheap, gets you on the road, gives you the transportation you need, and valuable experience. Why not?

 

[ThumperX]

Spend what you have saved on a different bike. Get an old Honda CB or something like that. Cheap, gets you on the road, gives you the transportation you need, and valuable experience. Why not?

agreed! you get to ride, and sav money for you next bike for years down the road.

 

[dricked]

Be careful with an older bike though, could end up a money pit and then your back 2 steps.

 

[Sushii]

Go to your TD broker and ask for a LOC (Line of Credit), my rate for my LOC is about 4% with a 13k limit. Much cheaper than 16%. Give that a try.

And you can pay more when you have the money and pay less when you dont, rather than a fixed monthly payment.

 

[CruisnGrrl]

while my bike is not a toy, i wouldn't finance a vehicle unless it's 0% interest, the depreciation on a vehicle is too much.

buy something cheap, previously loved in good running order and cheap on insurance.

 

[johnnie_c]

Spend what you have saved on a different bike. Get an old Honda CB or something like that. Cheap, gets you on the road, gives you the transportation you need, and valuable experience. Why not?

I agree with this advice over line of credit or any credit product.. Buy something u can afford now..why make the Banks or institutions get rich...unless you come out on top like that .9% finance rate mentioned above (where you're better off financing)
Save up and buy with cash... No cash live without it. Don't live like the jones'

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