The recession - give up biking?

[Mom]

Recession or not im seriously having to look at holding of racing this year and start getting rid of some debt. Wont ever give up riding though, my FXR is soo cheap to run, cheaper than taking the train! It'd be stupid not to be riding!!

That is smart thinking right there! Riding a bike has to beat public transport hands down So no sale for you then. Cut the play/fun/expensive at times riding.

Have to disagree where we are concerned. Our business relies heavily on building consents. They are WAY down. The staff cuts happening in our business are numbers I have never seen before. then again if you work in debt collection then you probably have more work than you can cope with.

Would I sell up my bike? Highly unlikely. I am sure I could find remnants of other hobbies I could try and flick.

Yeah see this is the crux of it, on one hand we have the super salesman in Tauranga saying all is sweet in the world, and others saying they are selling their bikes. There are industries really hurting out here, shouldn't we be encouraging a cheaper form of transport?

[DMNTD:Me]

So far so good then, none of you are affected by the economic downturn. Congratulations! Personally I am over the negativity that is prevalent at the moment, owned a bike shop through the last recession, traded and made a heap of money during the 18-23% inflation rates we had back then, however, you can not ignore the fact that there are people being laid off, and that dont have enough work to make ends meet.

The comments are on here, "selling my bike", "been told I will have to sell my bike" so should that be the first thought? I would have thought not, unless there is debt associated with ownership.

Good on your client DMNTD, that can afford to spend $85K in one go, we should all be so lucky

Don't get me wrong, I know there's a lot of people being laid off at the moment and that is tragic for the families involved.
I do also agree with what Quasi is saying re some companies using the current economic environment as an excuse to 'trim the fat' as such...sad but true.
I guess I'm in an fortunate situation that I am required to enable our business to not only stay alive but progress.

[tigertim20]

recession is great, with all these people losing their jobs and stuff, there are HEAPS of cheap buys out there, haha for the savvy biker, more cheap bikes!!!

[GOONR]

The company that I work for is the parent of a group of companies. The entire group is now worth 12 billion dollars less than it was 2 years ago.

One of the companies in the group is laying off 1 in 5, and this is the second round of redundancies for them. We have already let go over 400 staff. I may well not have a job by the end of the month, da management have decided that they only need 31 staff members in my department, we currently stand at 48. At least I would get a payout, made sure it was in my contract when I started.

I found out about the cuts in our department the day after I booked my basic handling test. I will still go and get a learners bike, might just have to trim back on what I was going to spend. I figured that if I lost my job I may as well spend my days getting some quality riding practice.

[Motu]

I've been through several recessions without giving up bikes....I've been through marrige,kids,and 17% mortgages without giving up bikes.The true test of a biker is what you will stoop to,to keep riding.For me it was a lime green C50 for 7 years.I'll keep riding thank you....even if it has no engine.....

[kave]

I have been made redundant (work in the finance industry and half my team is going). I have also written off my bike. I haven't even considered not replacing my bike when the insurance money comes through, to me biking is a quite important part of my life. Things would have to be extremely dire for me to give it up. My wife agrees with my decision to replace the bike and is even allowing me to top up my insurance money with a bit of redundancy pay so I can get an upgrade.

[98tls]

If it turns to shite on Friday then one of mine will be going i think.We were producing 110 ton a month,at the mo its about 38 so somethings got to give.

[Edbear]

Unfortunately, the recession is not only real, but it's just started. I've been listening very carefully to the people around the world who have the job of trying to stave off the worst, and they are all, from the Pollies to the bankers to the CEO's, saying clearly that the world has not seen the likes of what is happening before. They have no precedents or models to refer to.

There are few disagreements that the problem is two-fold - on the one hand, too many companies and people have been living beyond their means for too long and it's time to pay the piper. Basically they have run out of money and the means to get more so are defaulting on their debts.

Secondly, the exacerbating factor is that people have simply stopped spending, worried about the economy, thus making it a self-fulfilling event. Stop buying and businesses go under so they lay off staff and default on debt and on and on it goes.

Banks and finance companies have fuelled the situation by lending many times more than they have received, so when a loan defaults it affects several times more than its defaulter. How long can you go on lending 120% of the value of a property to people who are a bad risk? Supply and demand means that the more mortgagee sales you have the lower the sale prices become meaning that as in the case of people I know, they are forced to sell at a loss, leaving them still in debt, and the bank loses due to receiving less than it needs to cover its own borrowing on the loan.

The huge fuss at the moment over AIG, is that the Federal Govt. has been advised that if AIG go under, it takes the world with it. Hence the fact that so far, they have injected $US300 billion and are coming down hard on the company before putting in another $US50b+.

My job is by no means secure and there will be another round of adjustments about mid-year.

When you have whole countries going bankrupt and every effort the Governments make failing to do anything at all to slow let alone reverse the situation, you know it's serious.

NZ and Aus are to some extent buffered, but it will come here. Unemployment is projected to hit between 12-15% in the next 7 or 8 months according to a CEO who has been discussing things with Allan Bollard as well as senior pollies and commentators.

When you start loooking beneath the surface and the attempts to talk it up and start looking at figures, it would pay to be somewhat cautious right now.

As for selling my bike? Well it's for sale, or at least advertised for sale, but if it does sell, I'll be getting a cheaper one to get to work on. It makes no economic sense to take the car to work, let alone the stress of being stuck in traffic!

[Ixion]

Giving up biking because of a recession is illogical, makes no sense. Even in a recession you need transport. A 50cc will cost stuff all in capital cost, no wof, rego and fuel are going to be a shit load cheaper than public transport.

Give up the fancy bike, yes, if worst came to worst. But giving up biking is counter productive. Been through 40 years of good times and bad, boom and bust, always had something. Might not have been registered all the time, or had a WoF, but always something .

[Renegade]

well i havnt been laid off but im selling both bikes to trade down a bit and free up some cash flow, times are a little tough out there for a lot of people.
anyone want a ducati monster or er6n?

[Boob Johnson]

Nope not giving up anytime soon. Bike is currently for sale but its not a fire sale & will be replaced when it does sell & it won't be a downgrade

[BMWST?]

for the building industry the recession is real and a year old.This time last year we had a few jobs pulled and new work virtually stopped,We went on a four day week.Work picked up a wee bit over summer as usual but we have started a four day week again.Its real,the boss isnt taking advantage of the situation!

[Katman]

Recession? What recession?

I'm busier than I've ever been.

[Kiwi Graham:Me]

I hear about the recession but personally dont see it. I'm fortunatley in a secure job earning reasonable money. what the recession has done is make buying stuff cheaper & easier!
There are deals to be made out there guys, support your local suppliers and traders but if youre in the market for that new bike, car or boat in my case go hard and reap the savings!

I hope those feeling the pinch right now are able to see it through the other side and dont have to sell the assets to keep food on the table, indications are dear old Aotearoa is suffering less than other countries, plus we have the Kiwi can do, will do mentality. Kia Kaha dudes

[tri boy]

Recession? What recession?

I'm busier than I've ever been.

Bought ya self some new fishnet stockings to attract new clients aye.