Buy outright or finance?

[Spazman727]

Hi everyone.
I was wondering how many people buy their bikes outright and how many get finance or a loan or whatever?
I want to get a new bike (new to me, not necessarily brand new) and I wanted people opinions of whether it's worth it to get finance or should I just save up until I can buy it outright?

I can see advantages and disadvantages to both so just want peoples opinions at this stage.

Cheers.

[Ocean1]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

[Spazman727]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

That was kinda what I was thinking, but I'd hoped someone would reassure me otherwise. I want it now :(

[98tls]

Personally i say buy it by saving mate,having a mortgage is bad enough ,the idea of having payments for a bike as well doesnt do anything for me.Depends on plenty of things i suppose,job security being top of the list these days eh.

[Oblivion]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

No matter how cheap the repayment terms may seem.

[Spazman727]

Fair enough. Those were my thoughts anyway I guess. Thanks for making me rethink something I might regret in a short time.

[mossy1200]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

You sound like you have paid for your own wedding before. Maybe even more than once.

[Ocean1]

You sound like you have paid for your own wedding before. Maybe even more than once.


Would that I could pay for my own funeral more than once.

[Ocean1]

Fair enough. Those were my thoughts anyway I guess.

'Course, those Buell 1125CRs are an APPRECIATING asset...


... if you can find one...

[Spazman727]

'Course, those Buell 1125CRs are an APPRECIATING asset...


... if you can find one...

Knowing my luck so far even if I got one of those it would turn out to be depreciating asset.

[caspernz]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

+1 on that principle.

[98tls]

Have a sort through this,might be one in there.

[jimichelle]

only because they wouldnt take a credit card and the bank wanted 10 bucks for a cheque so i said 10 bucks?!!! no way give it to in me cash then
the old bank balance looked mighty low for a long time though after that wasnt a nice feeling

[SMOKEU]

I just borrow cash off my old lady. Instant win.

[Road kill]

Credit unions are probably the fairest way to borrow money.

I bought my first HD with a credit union loan,,very low interest,no jumping through hoops to get the loan.

Plus my repayments were less than what I'd already been putting into the CU for the 12 months previous.

Any other way of financing simply costs to much and even with full insurance if you lose the bike some how your still going to come out of it well out of pocket..

Finance co's and insurance co's all went to the same thief classes.:mad:

[st00ji]

Hi everyone.
I was wondering how many people buy their bikes outright and how many get finance or a loan or whatever?
I want to get a new bike (new to me, not necessarily brand new) and I wanted people opinions of whether it's worth it to get finance or should I just save up until I can buy it outright?

I can see advantages and disadvantages to both so just want peoples opinions at this stage.

Cheers.

in general i agree with the people in this thread.

i myself also avoid paying interest on anything as much as possible. learned my lesson in my younger days, the usual car ticked up for 10k, paid 70 billion for it, was worth 5k by the time i actually owned it.

however, to some this cost might be worth paying in return for getting the bike of your dreams years before you would be able to normally by saving for it.

my theory however remains if you cant afford to pay for it out-right, you probably cant afford to own it.

[JafaSaffer]

I paid 60% cash and financed the rest over 24 months. My bike was $43k which was a bit much to pay cash all at once for me.

But if you can save up and buy cash.

[mossy1200]

Alot of people believe the world will end in Dec this year.

Those people are best to borrow alot over a long period. Interest rate is not important as you wouldnt need make any repayments as the world will be over before the repo man arrived.:eek5:

[Brett]

I have always paid cash for my bikes. However, there is one situation where I would finance it - if it were a business vehicle/asset - (hard to pull off with bikes, legitimately anyway) - as this would allow one to claim finance costs as a tax deductible expense as well as depreciation etc.

[BMWST?]

find out what the repayments will be.Can you afford it? Do it.If you listened to popular opinion you wouldnt be on a bike.
If you can afford it,and realise you will prolly pay twice what the bike is worth but want it now do it.Just shop around for the finance.If you do the sums and dont like what you see then dont do it.

[Brett]

I have always paid cash for my bikes. However, there is one situation where I would finance it - if it were a business vehicle/asset - (hard to pull off with bikes, legitimately anyway) - as this would allow one to claim finance costs as a tax deductible expense as well as depreciation etc.

Edit - Oh and Yamaha finance for 2 years at 5.xx% is pretty good as far as financing goes. That is on par with the floating mortgage rate (secured against the property). Normally you could expect at least 11% interest on finance for a vehicle.

[JimO]

i say fuck it if you want it buy it, as long as you can afford the payments

[98tls]

In hindsight re my previous post thing is you only live once and none of us have any control over the length of time we do so if its something you really want do whatever it takes to have it i guess.Enjoy what ever you decide.

[ac3_snow]

my theory however remains if you cant afford to pay for it out-right, you probably cant afford to own it.


Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

Yea I would agree with these guys on this one. Have financed a car before, nothing major only about $3k, but fuck it sucked. I absolutely hate paying the interest (unless its a deductible expense as mentioned) and no matter how short the loan is, it still takes ages to pay it off. While you may be ok now to make the repayments now, there is no guarantee you will be in the same position in a year or two.

[Ocean1]

Someone's already said, if you borrow to buy you end up paying twice the price.
And that's conservative.

And then, of course it's only worth half as much when you come to sell it...



But here's the thing: you never value something you've bought with someone else's money quite as much as you value something you've sweated for a bit.

[bogan]

You obviously don't have money to burn, so the more important question is, why do you want a bike that costs so much that you need to finance it? There's not much the newer ones can do that the older ones can't.

[BMWST?]

i didnt realise motorcyclists were such wowsers,buy the thing just have a decent deposit!

[GDOBSSOR]

Hi everyone.
I was wondering how many people buy their bikes outright and how many get finance or a loan or whatever?
I want to get a new bike (new to me, not necessarily brand new) and I wanted people opinions of whether it's worth it to get finance or should I just save up until I can buy it outright?

I can see advantages and disadvantages to both so just want peoples opinions at this stage.

Cheers.

Buy outright. You do not need a motorbike to survive, it is not worth getting into debt over and racking up interest. That said, if you have most of it saved and you just need a bit more and you're a student, then by all means put it on your loan as you won't have to pay interest. That's what I may end up doing if I can't find cheap quality gear.
That said again, if your motorbike is your only form of transport and you rely on it to function, and you can't afford a car, put it on finance, but don't get stung by the sharks. My ex partner was going to buy a GSX250 on hire purchase... stupid. What stopped him was that his car broke down and he had to borrow money to fix his car, sell it and buy a new one he could rely on. I would have done the same thing in his shoes, as he needed that car to work and earn money. However, he was very careful about who he borrowed from. Difference? He needed his car to function. He didn't need the bike.

[FuriousD]

I'm sure your smart enough to work out how much it will be with finance. If your ok with paying that much and feel stable in your employment then why the hell not???

[Hoon]

I bought an $18,000 car on finance which ended up costing me $26000. Ten years later I traded it in for $500.

I also bought a bike and borrowed $5000 to cover part of it. I smashed out the loan in under a year but once the novelty of a new bike wore off it sucked paying crippling repayments for a toy especially during the winter when I couldn't use it.

If you do get a loan make sure you factor in full insurance premiums into your budget as well. Nothing worse than spending 4 years paying off a bike you wrote off and no longer have after 3 weeks of buying it.

[neels]

Finance sucks, buy something you can afford to pay cash for. In fact, buy something cheap for shits and giggles while you save to buy what you really want.

Non of this applies if you have a mortgage, if you do you should have paid the money off your mortgage so you're paying interest anyway, for the next 20 or so years.

[Zamiam]

If you want something and can handle the repayments then FFS go out and buy it. You're a long time dead and should your circumstances change hopefully you can sell it for more than the balance outstanding. As for paying twice the price of the item, bullshit. Even if you borrowed 100% at credit card rates you;d have to take the loan out over more thn five years or so to pay the same amount of interest as the principle borrowed.

It's a really simply equation. If enjoyment factor is worth more to you than the interest bill, then go for it. It you smoke then give up the ciggies and the chances are you'll save more than the interest, if you don't smoke then say to yourself, if I did I'd be spending $100 or so a week on ciggies so the interest is a cheap vice.

All you play it safer's are either Honda riders or need to start taking the bus. Lifes to be lived NOT saved for!

[Gremlin]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.
This chappie ended the thread for me... Not sure if it's an asset though... Might be a liability as they're excellent at making spare cash disappear in a myriad of ways...

[Spazman727]

All great advice, thank you. Most of it echoing what I initially thought. I will have a look around at finance options but, unless im able to sell my shitty car for more than I expect, I will probably be sticking with the CBX for a year or so yet.

[rossirep]

all the old guys say pay cash and dont tick it up.
but i say fuck it, tick it up cause ya only live once and just pay it off as fast as ya can ;-)

[jrandom]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.

... unless it's a really awesome depreciating asset, and you can pay it off fast. Like, a year or so. Because life isn't all about the balance sheet. And because sometimes, having something brand new that's all yours can be special.


Someone's already said, if you borrow to buy you end up paying twice the price.
And that's conservative.

Nawwwww... I'm taking the above approach to my current bike. The cost of getting it for myself last Christmas and financing the majority of it, vs saving for a year or so and then getting it, adds about 20% to the purchase price.

In exchange for that 20%, I get to have the bike all this year.

I don't think I'm gonna die regretting that expenditure. I've done some pretty sweet miles on it. It's probably less money than I spend on whisky of a year.

I do agree that if your only way of affording a given bike is to finance it over multiple years, you need to accept reality and downgrade your expectations.


There's not much the newer ones can do that the older ones can't.

Starting every time without fail and being wear-induced-gremlin free, a year or two of manufacturer's warranty, and pretty much being able to guarantee the nature and interval of servicing and part replacement over the next 50,000km or so is important to some people. Like me. Particularly when the bike in question isn't just a secondary or tertiary vehicle / toy.

[clonak]

I had 10k in a term deposit with the bank, for safe keeping so I stoped spending it to drugs whores and booze. Borrowed $5k from the bank to buy my car, secured it against the term deposit, with an interest rate of 5.75% on a year long term. Had it paid off in 9 months. Paid $250 in interest. Why didnt I just buy it out right ? Because I still have that $10k invested at 3%, earning back the interest I paid the bank. I wouldnt be able to save that up again for a long time, yet debt I throw as much as I can at it to get it paid off faster. If my situation changed, I had payment insurance at like $3 a week or something to take over payments, or the money was still there to pay it off. Also H-P'd my washing machine, dryer and fridge, 30 months interest free deffered payments, had it paid off in less then a year.

Now this might not be your situation, but finance isnt the big bad devil everyone trys to make out it is. If you can use it properly, it can work in your favour. Its people that over extend them selfs that makes it look bad. But, if you already have a bike, and it works fine right now, there probably isnt a need to tick it up. I buy my bikes off cash savings. End of the week, what ever cash I have left in my walet, goes into a tin. When I have enough, I go buy a new bike.

End of the day, If you want it, buy it. F*** what everyone else says. They are just jelous you are in a situation that you can do it. It looks good on your application for a morgtage as well. As long as you didnt balls it up. :P

[Maha]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.


depreciating asset?...now theres an oxymoron!
My bike was worth $2000 less in the space of a day, because it had 800kms ticked up by the dealer, who took it around that Coro thing.
Not a asset.

[Akzle]

make the most of this bullshit debt system: sell yourself to the bank! (borrow as much money as you can and buy a nice shiny bike)

[ktm84mxc]

There's a few simple rules I follow when financing a car/bike, 1st work out what you can afford a month in repayments, 2nd maximum term 36 mths otherwise the interest will hurt, 3rd work out what you want to buy and stick to a budget, 4th factor in insurance and rego costs over the term as these will affect your out goings, 6th once you've found the bike/car of your dreams stick to the large finance companies or do a simple maths trick add up the repayments minus the amount borrowed quoted to see how much interest you'll pay , anymore then a 1/3 in interest walk away. 7th be willing to wait for the right bike/car to come along it always will[murphy's law].

[Maki]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

What??? Is that you darling? That is EXACTLY what my wife says. I don't think she is on KiwiBiker so it can't be her.

[Hobbyhorse]

I recently bought a bike that had the original finance documents included in the paperwork I received to show that the bike was unencumbered. The new price was $12,100, the deposit paid was $1300 and the payments ran for four years. The total paid for the bike on completion of the term was $19,200. Bloody expensive!!

Rhys

[Banditbandit]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

A motorcycle is an asset? Yeah right ... if you see it that way what the fuck are you doing on one? Saving money ?

To get a motorcycle I have:

Paid cash
Taken vehicle finance
Extended the mortgage


I want that bike more than paying interest pisses me off ...

But if you take finance try to pay it off as fast as possible - set up the repayment schedule and meet it .. but any unexpected or silly money or lump sums that come your way over and above what you earn, bump it all on the bike ... I have always paid off the bikes well before the repayment dates .. saves a shit load of interest.

[neels]

I have always paid off the bikes well before the repayment dates .. saves a shit load of interest.
True, but but check the contract.

I was going to finance part of the purchase price for a cheap car until I sold the old one, read through the whole contract and found that there was a $400 up front fee, and a penalty of 50% of unpaid interest for early repayment. It was only financing a couple of grand, but the standard contract was for a 3 year term, worked out cheaper to get a cash advance on the credit card at 20% and pay it off asap.

[p.dath]

I'm with everyone else, save and buy it. It might be a different story if you needed it to get to work and had no other transport, but it is is just for fun then wait.

Something I also like to do to is get the monthly payment, multiple it by the number of months, and then look at the total repayments. It can be shocking how much extra you pay sometimes.

[p.dath]

A motorcycle is an asset? Yeah right ... if you see it that way what the fuck are you doing on one? Saving money ?


Ocean1 is clearly correct. A motorcycle is an asset. Generally, if you can kick it - it's an asset.

[phill-k]

Never, never borrow money to pay for a depreciating asset.


Never.

Unless that depreciation is a taxable expense:cool:

[Ocean1]

Unless that depreciation is a taxable expense:cool:

You hear that a lot.

It's still an expense, and it only makes sense if it's earning more than it's costing you. In which case you'll be paying more tax, not less.

[Brian d marge]

I paid 60% cash and financed the rest over 24 months. My bike was $43k which was a bit much to pay cash all at once for me.

But if you can save up and buy cash.

43k

bloody ell

thats a house that is

I cant justify spending money on a bike , ( I have a few !) , Ive been racing Honda CRs for a few years now and Enfield for the last 4 ( maybe ) , I’m building a chopped road bike , started that last week hope to finish April next year .

I wouldn’t have spent 5k total ...

I’m definitely paying cash for my toys ...the only depreciating asset I am paying for is the wife ( looking like she needs a new CPU as the current one is on the blink )

Stephen

PS u can get some really class machines if you look ,,,toddles off to trade me

[JafaSaffer]

43k

bloody ell

thats a house that is

I cant justify spending money on a bike , ( I have a few !) , Ive been racing Honda CRs for a few years now and Enfield for the last 4 ( maybe ) , I’m building a chopped road bike , started that last week hope to finish April next year .

I wouldn’t have spent 5k total ...

I’m definitely paying cash for my toys ...the only depreciating asset I am paying for is the wife ( looking like she needs a new CPU as the current one is on the blink )

Stephen

PS u can get some really class machines if you look ,,,toddles off to trade me

The Panigale will have to last me a while, that's for sure. But you are correct, there are some great bikes out there which are very well priced.

[Banditbandit]

Ocean1 is clearly correct. A motorcycle is an asset. Generally, if you can kick it - it's an asset.

I kick many things ... cats, dogs, tax inspectors ... does that make them an asset??

Technically, it is an asset - that is not why I own a motorcycle ... and I certainly do not see it as an asset ... it's part of my life support system, my therapy ... part of my personality ...

People pay thousands of dollars to lie on a couch and talk nonsense to head shrinks ... I spend the same money on my therapy and relaxation ... combined with a modicum of anger management by release of tension, revolt against the system ... and so on ...

Definitely not an asset in MY life .. borrow money to get one? Hell YES ...

[ducatilover]

Personally I think throwing a deposit and paying something off fast is okay.
I don't like owing money though and I f*cking hate spending money, especially more than I need to.

So, I don't borrow (done that, 'twas ghey)
But I also don't make much money and have two shit bikes, and I'm the happiest bastard on my road.

[Muppet]

If you want something and can handle the repayments then FFS go out and buy it. You're a long time dead and should your circumstances change hopefully you can sell it for more than the balance outstanding. As for paying twice the price of the item, bullshit. Even if you borrowed 100% at credit card rates you;d have to take the loan out over more thn five years or so to pay the same amount of interest as the principle borrowed.

It's a really simply equation. If enjoyment factor is worth more to you than the interest bill, then go for it. It you smoke then give up the ciggies and the chances are you'll save more than the interest, if you don't smoke then say to yourself, if I did I'd be spending $100 or so a week on ciggies so the interest is a cheap vice.

All you play it safer's are either Honda riders or need to start taking the bus. Lifes to be lived NOT saved for!

I can't believe I'm agreeing with this Harley fag:buggerd:, but he's right. Maybe you need a couple of health scares, like a near death crash or some skin cancers to frighten you into realising that you could be gone tomorrow. Just go to the bank with cap in hand and borrow the friggin money! Then come back onto KB and tell me and the boys about your new bike.

[Banditbandit]

Personally I think throwing a deposit and paying something off fast is okay.
I don't like owing money though and I f*cking hate spending money, especially more than I need to.

So, I don't borrow (done that, 'twas ghey)
But I also don't make much money and have two shit bikes, and I'm the happiest bastard on my road.

See below ... Muppet's right ...


I can't believe I'm agreeing with this Harley fag:buggerd:, but he's right. Maybe you need a couple of health scares, like a near death crash or some skin cancers to frighten you into realising that you could be gone tomorrow. Just go to the bank with cap in hand and borrow the friggin money! Then come back onto KB and tell me and the boys about your new bike.

[Muppet]

See below ... Muppet's right ...

I didn't see that post by Ducatilover, he's right too!

[Spazman727]

At least until I figure out how much more my new job is gonna pay me I'm gonna stick with my current bike. It handles gravel roads fine and I'ts not a huge deal to wait a wee while before I tackle anything much more adventurous. :scratch:
I don't really like the idea of giving all my spare money to the bank.

[ducatilover]

See below ... Muppet's right ...
I've had a fairly decent splat on a bike and many near death things, but doesn't make me want finance.
One does not need expensive toys to be happy :2thumbsup

[Akzle]

I don't really like the idea of giving all my spare money to the bank.

you say that like you don't give the rest of "your money" to the bank. (i think you'll find, you do)
check out the OBR. hilarity.

anyway.
enough KB shit.
buy a bike you blouse. then we'll all race you.

...to the death.

[bogan]

Starting every time without fail and being wear-induced-gremlin free, a year or two of manufacturer's warranty, and pretty much being able to guarantee the nature and interval of servicing and part replacement over the next 50,000km or so is important to some people. Like me. Particularly when the bike in question isn't just a secondary or tertiary vehicle / toy.

10yo bikes are still plenty reliable if you buy a decent one. Mine just hit the 25 year mark, and just about to roll over to 0km again, still starts every time.

Paying thousands of dollars more for piece of mind is fine, but if money is tight people should realise that's about the only benefit of buying new. Apart from the rider's taste in bikes of course, but there's no accounting for that.

[xXGIBBOXx]

Tick it , pay cash for a full set of gear and first years insurance ! did the sums and that way out worked best for me

[ducatilover]

10yo bikes are still plenty reliable if you buy a decent one. Mine just hit the 25 year mark, and just about to roll over to 0km again, still starts every time.

Paying thousands of dollars more for piece of mind is fine, but if money is tight people should realise that's about the only benefit of buying new. Apart from the rider's taste in bikes of course, but there's no accounting for that.
Than, if say your bike breaks (it'd be another reg/rec)... it'd take hundreds of reg/rec fails to justify the new (probably beige too) bike