Head vs. Heart

[justsomeguy]

Head vs. Heart

I’m interested in reading different perspectives you all would have regarding buying your next bike. Especially seeing how people of different ages and backgrounds think.

Head: Buy a 2-3 year old bike, depreciation will be less, there will be more spares available. Cheaper to insure, more cash left for trackdays, you’re gonna crash it anyway with your dodgy riding. Slightly older bikes can do pretty much the same things that newer bikes do anyway, so apart from a bit of extra flickability what do you gain? Also won't learning to throw a heavier older bike make you a better rider?

Heart: What the heck mate? You’re only young once. Get something new or newish, like perhaps an ex demo. You don’t have a mortgage, family commitments, have a good income and steady job. Yeah I know it’s more money – but so what it’s on finance anyway and do 3-4 thousand bucks really mean that much in the grand scheme of things? You're young and you work hard - you deserve it.

So - Head or Heart??

[ManDownUnder]

Mate I am in support of both - but generally go for the head option.

Choose whichever is least likely to make day two begin with the word "BUGGER!"

[Pumba]

Little from box A and a little from box B.

Head is a definate requirement cause if you dont have the money you shouldnt be spending it,

However

Biking is a love for me (maybe a few others on the site) and if I didnt go with my heart what would be the point of riding

[Jantar]

Also a bit f both. So I haven't ticked either.

[Gremlin]

I've said head, because of the scenario you pose. I would normally say both, but seriously, 2-3 years old, as opposed to brand new, there ain't much diff between them.

I could have gone new for a bike I bought, but I liked the looks of the older one, and the new one wasn't much faster. Since I didn't need to be a few seconds faster, I went with the older one, owned her outright, and had dosh for other stuff...

[inlinefour]

I put down head, however I would like to retract that and say get what it is that you really want. Thats exactly what I did and now after my accident I think that life is far too short and you should live more for the moment as you never know when its all over rover...

[Big Dave]

Heart.
Being sensible is for accountants.

[Joni]

Being sensible is for accountants.Does it count if both your parents are accountants? :bleh:

Go for what you want... you know what is right, what you can afford etc etc... You dont need KB for this one hun.

:sunny:

[ZeroIndex]

Where's the box that says: I'll get the best value/cheap bike that I can afford because I'm poor. That's how I've done it for my previous 3 bikes and current bike...

[zeocen]

I didn't use my head buying my bike.. I looked at it, sat on it and said I'll take it!

But what's this 2 - 3 year old nonsense? Mines 17 years old and it still kicks ass damnit!

[James Deuce]

Look with your Heart
Test with your Bum
Buy with your Head

Depreciation is a bitch, but there is something unutterably wonderful about buying new, not having to put up with other people's "improvements", and making a bike your own.

[Stirts]

HEART....life is short...make the most of now!

[avgas]

New bikes are for posers

[imdying]

The SV was $12500... at that price, second hand wasn't even an option. Head and heart all in one, w00t!

[cowboy]

Hell I only intended to spend up to $5000 on a bike :yes:
Then I seen the VTX & the rest is history:nono:
So I spent $11000 more than I intended :gob:
I used my heart & dont regret it:Punk:

[Big Dave]

I put down head, however I would like to retract that



The old retractable head job.

[Macktheknife]

Both! you have to buy what you can afford and utilise but man if it doesn't ring your bell why bother????

[yod]

I didn't use my head buying my bike.. I looked at it, sat on it and said I'll take it!

But what's this 2 - 3 year old nonsense? Mines 17 years old and it still kicks ass damnit!

what he said!:rockon:

currently own 2 bikes; combined age = 31 years

[Big Dave]

But what's this 2 - 3 year old nonsense? Mines 17 years old and it still kicks ass damnit!

Where, and for how much?

[babyblade250rr]

i just got my bike a week ago and am a learner rider i went with both head and heart brought a 94 cbr250rr which i've always loved for the ages and finally built up the courage to actual buy a bike and put it on the road with me on it!!! haha

So welcome to me and the 2 wheeled world!!!!

[Big Dave]

Welcome to the two wheeled world.

[zeocen]

Where, and for how much?
I... don't understand ?

[KoroJ]

I tried to use my head, but ST's are such good bikes no one wants to get rid of them and there just wasn't any 2nd hand ones available, or the price difference was negligible and I got a better deal buying new.

So last two bikes, I got what I wanted at the time....heart.

[ynot slow]

Went with head but it's 20yrs old(bike),would've bought another make same size and year but dealer needed more money,bikes still there 15mths later.

Mind you with the latest sales job from both Honda and Suzuki for new bikes e.g SV1000 and VTR1000 doesn't make sense to buy second hand,most in shops were about $1-2000 cheaper than new,stuffs your trade in value though,so for difference in new or secondhand there is no option, buy new if you can afford (damn can't).

[BIGBOSSMAN]

No mortgage? No kids? No brainer! Buy a brand spanking new one (a green one especially) and it'll be better than sex with Angelina Jolie. Or maybe not...:drool:

[Marknz]

You seem to be in pretty much the same predicament as me, and I tend to see the 2-3yr warranty that comes with a brand newbie being the factor that swings me towards a nice shiney (or matt if you so desire) new bike.

[Black Bandit]

Good questions, I know I went with the heart. Don't settle for less, you could remain in lust after buying the wrong one. :love:

[Big Dave]

I... don't understand ?


I must be having an obscure day - racing talk - you reckon yer 250 kicks freckle? Well, I got access to a ZX14, KTM960, SXC640, Buell Lightning, etc etc that I'd be keen to line up against it in a negotiated wager. name your venue. kiddin with ya, eh.

[Bonez]

What is the poll about again? Oh buying a new bike. My "newest" bike in the stable is 29yo, the one before that 19yo, the one before that 23yo, etc etc....Parts problems? Just buy a cheapy and wreck. No parts problem.

[Hitcher]

While I have yet to buy a brand spanker, my answer is still "heart".

[Oakie]

Do you ride with your head ... or your heart?
Seriously! Are you a sensible rider with an eye to the future or does your passion take over from common sense whenever you throw your leg over your bike? Buy accordingly.

Me, my heart makes recommendations but my head makes the decisions.

[BarBender]

Heart - what I decide to ride.
Head - how I ride it.

[Disco Dan]

HEART....life is short...make the most of now!

I like the way you think ;) :Punk:

[limbimtimwim]

Heart - I love making ill thought out expensive decisions. I like the step into the unknown and the adventure.

And I've never felt like I have made the wrong one.

[nudemetalz]

Well over the years I've done the heart rather than head and it's wound me up in trouble.

So until a few months ago it was think with head with my purchases.
I figured it was all over when I became the (co) owner of a big mortgage but then I fell in love with the Guzzi in WMCC.
Purchasing this would have been totally illogical but Mrs Nuddy saw how much I liked it, did some calculations of our incomings and outgoings and said "we can afford it"......By the time she'd just finished said "...it", I was in Pete the Crasher's office !!!
The only condition Mrs gave me was that I'm not allowed to sell it for 5 years,.....however she didn't say it couldn't be joined by another Guzzi.............

YOU'RE HERE FOR A SHORT TIME ON THIS EARTH,...LIVE A LITTLE, DO THAT HEART-MINDED PURCHASE !!!!!

[N4CR]

go with your heart i have always done it i have always strived to get the bike that i desired the most that was achievable for me.. i've always had it as my main toy, and nothing else comes before it.. my bike is me... custom zxr250 worked up and painted modded and loved.. then a fightered 10r that i spent months on now another 10r which i spend most of my time and money on to make it the dream bike it is.... go for gold mate!

[Bloody Mad Woman (BMW)]

Heart - with all my bikes I have sat on them, bought them, then test ride them home! Never regretted it - the cost is worth every cent.

[avgas]

Hang on why did i vote head.....the FZ was the most illogical choice i have ever made in my life. I didnt have the money, there was no way in hell i was going to max it out.....hang on though it was practical.....it had a back seat and a small fairing (was looking at fighters at the time)

[SPman]

The most fun & enjoyment you'll get from a bike will be the one you buy with your heart!
You'll love it, hate it, it'll send you broke if you aren't already, but it will give you something that practicality can't.

Unless you're a BMW rider.........

[Clivoris]

In another thread that was on here not long ago, someone suggested resolving difficult decisions with a coin toss. Then if your heart sinks when you see the outcome, you know what you really wanted.
If you really can afford a heart based decision, go for it. But buy Italian.:dodge:

[ZeroIndex]

In another thread that was on here not long ago, someone suggested resolving difficult decisions with a coin toss. Then if your heart sinks when you see the outcome, you know what you really wanted.
If you really can afford a heart based decision, go for it. But buy Italian.:dodge:

Just as longs as it's not Ducati eh? :killingme

[Clivoris]

Just as longs as it's not Ducati eh? :killingme

:lol:I think I could forgive a 1098, S4rs, or Hypermotard. Now that I've been provoked into thinking about it, I could probably encourage the purchase of one of those KTM things too.:yes:

[NordieBoy]

Not sure.
I went "heart" with the Gilera Nordwest :love:

But I bought a DR650 instead of getting the cambelt and steering-head bearings done on the Nordie.
The DR was "head".
My brother had looked after it since the guy bought it and I could get parts from up town rather than Europe.
And now I find I prefer gravel to seal...

[Reckless]

Look with your Heart
Test with your Bum
Buy with your Head


I like that one jim2 sound advice.

I have a question for you to ask your self.
Is the older bike only goin to be ridden to 70% of its capability or are you going to find your being slowed by its lack of the latest bits. I for one couldn't ride a 05 CBR or ZX10 any where near its max.
The answer for me would be in the above.
Secondly you mentioned track days. I think, I would having a 'bigger go' on a not so new bike. Where I might find the odd race part or 'I crashed it' part second hand.

My 0.02¢ only!

[nudemetalz]

If you really can afford a heart based decision, go for it. But buy Italian.:dodge:

ha,...that's what I did. Buying an Italian machine is an emotive experience IMO.
Sure the Guzzi is not fast, perhaps a bit cumbersome compared to a Gixxer, maybe dear to run (well it is to insure !!) and reliability can be a little dodgy with some of the electrics, but I still fell in love with it.
Italian bikes have got something that no other bikes have.
Clivoris knows what I mean by this.

[SPman]

Italian bikes have got something that no other bikes have.

Olive pips in the gearbox..??????

[janno]

and now after my accident I think that life is far too short and you should live more for the moment as you never know when its all over rover...

A big fat plus one on this one.

Except I would substitute illness instead of accident.

Aint hindsight wunnerful?!

[banditrider]

When bikes are your thing I reckon it's always your heart - there's probably nothing wrong with the bike you have in the shed but it doesn't stop you from checking out the new stuff. How else can you explain late model bikes with low k's on them for sale in the shops?

[nudemetalz]

Olive pips in the gearbox..??????

No, it's wiring made in some cheap factory in China that makes the electrics,...mmm....fun....

[RantyDave]

Head: Buy a 2-3 year old bike, depreciation will be less
You could go 2-3 years. Did you see how much Dooley was asking for his six month old Speed Trifle? That's the sweet spot, right there :)

Dave

[Hitcher]

six month old Speed Trifle? That's the sweet spot, right there

LOOL! How do you start a pudding race?



Sago!

[limbimtimwim]

You could go 2-3 years. Did you see how much Dooley was asking for his six month old Speed Trifle? That's the sweet spot, right there :)Nah, buy the bike that is in the crate, that is brand new but is nearly at a used price.

Only way to go..

:nya::nya::nya:

[slowpoke]

Aaaaah feck it!! Here my fingers go, typing away after what's left of my brain told 'em to leave this topic the hell alone.....

For what it's worth I honestly can't see the point of buying a brand new bike. You end up forking out a shitload more cabbage for an extremely fleeting feeling of "newness". How long do you consider a bike "new"? Personally I reckon if it's got more than 1000klicks on it then it's a second handy. For those thousand klicks you've paid an exhorbitant premium and you can't even use the fekkin' thing to it's maximum 'cos you are following the manufacturers running in recommendations....bugger that.

"So how do you know how it's been run in unless you buy new?" you ask.
Hmmm, if it's good enough for the factory to dyno test the buggers fresh off the assembly line then I reckon it's good enough for the rest of us. 'Course if you subscribe to the "baby it, even though the factory have redlined it" theory then buy accordingly.

Why would you spend $20k for a bog stock new bike, buy an exhaust, power commander, tinted screen etc etc bringing the price up to say $23k...and in 6 weeks time it's worth $17k? Why not be the person who spends $17k for the bike someone else has spent $23k on? Either way you get the bike of your dreams but one option leaves $6k in your pocket.

But what do I know about common sense: I just sold my one good unbroken toy, to pay for repairs to my other completely knackered one, go figure....

[Reckless]

I do my braking in this way http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Have done over many many karting engines methanol 125 gearbox, 100cc and 125cc. And a few 4 stroke engines. Never broken anything and they've always been quick motors.

"do try it"

[Denniso]

Sod buying a bike using your head or heart , If it makes my dick hard I buy it . Thats why my lounge has become my second garage as I've run out of room in my 6m by 9m garage , still cant understand why my wife left me ,uptight bitch.:Punk: