Financing a bike, what did you do?

[CNF2002]

That's why its important never to pay the minumum...don't finance with a pre-payment penalty and finance a bike at half or a third of what you expect to pay monthly for it. I personally financed my bike for a small amount of money but pay 400% of my due amount each month.

[eugeart]

So, if I understand your method right- you managed to finance your Buell under MSRP by a significant amount. The dealer (who probably underwrote the loan) hoped to make up his profit from the interest based on the term of the loan. By paying off the principal in 1/4 of the time you evade the bulk of the interest. Is this correct? A very canny move!

Do you write two checks? One to pay the standard payment and the next noted to go entirely to the principal? This works for home loans BTW and saves thousands if done properly. One of my friends actually got a large check back from the bank when he paid off his house by doing this.

[CNF2002]

Its a simple interest loan, the interest is calculated based on the balance of the loan. Most auto loan folks seem to do this now...but some you need to be careful and write your check out for the amount of the monthly payment, and send a seperate check with 'principle' clearly marked on it...the best way to find out is to call your finance company and ask.

As for MSRP, mine was a used bike. I bought it for slightly under kelly blue book, and although I know I will end up paying a good deal of interest on it despite a low rate, I was happy with the deal and was willing to pay extra since I did not have the cash upfront. Plus in a couple months I will have my Jeep paid off, and since I've been saving so much money on gas with the bike as a daily commuter, I am saving money by having financed and using the bike now than waiting and feeding $50 into my Jeep gas tank 4-5 times a month. Once the Jeep is paid off, I can shift that payment to the bike and have it paid off in a couple of months.

[Shiv]

Check craigslist and the cycle trader religiously and you'll get a sense of the market.

I check cycle trader weekly as it doesn't seem to update very often, or at least not for my area and the 200 mile radius around it.

Craigslist I check daily for three cities around my area. Would check more except they're not on there.



Asking parents for money isn't an option. They don't know that I'm even licensed yet. They wouldn't approve and I plan to break it to them by just showing up on a bike one day and then they can't say anything otherwise.


I've seen a lot of bikes that are for $500 or so but they all need work. Like the carbs rebuilt (which I don't know how to do might I add) or something like that to get it to run. Well first off I don't know if it would even run after that and more importantly I don't have the space to do that in (I live on campus and have no garage).

If I could've done that, though, I'd have abike by now.

[CNF2002]

Might want to talk it over with your folks and have an adult discussion about it rather than just show up at their door on a bike...they'll probably flip out and won't respect you for not telling them first. Just my .02.

[blues2cruise]

I financed my bike for only 6 months. I had the money set aside and I took thier 6 months, no interest , no payment loan. When the 6 months was up I paid for it.
Starting out at 53 I decided to get a new bike. If I had my whole life ahead of me I would have started with something cheap and old...but roadworthy...

And if a person is careful, you won't necessarily drop your first bike.

If you are already strapped for cash, you will find it hard making payments. Better to wait until you can pay for it.

[Shiv]

Might want to talk it over with your folks and have an adult discussion about it rather than just show up at their door on a bike...they'll probably flip out and won't respect you for not telling them first

That'd be fine if I were using their money for it but since I'm doing it on my own (not even going to ask to be put on their insurance policy for a discount either) I don't see why they should complain.

And I know you won't necessarily drop your first bike. Hell you might drop your third bike and be fine on the first two.

But the chances are greater, and I'm not willing to risk dropping a $5,000 bike because I wasn't experience enough.

[CNF2002]

That'd be fine if I were using their money for it but since I'm doing it on my own (not even going to ask to be put on their insurance policy for a discount either) I don't see why they should complain.

Maybe my parents were different...but if I did something that was a big deal, such as buying a motorcycle that I know they would not approve of or I knew was dangerous, and did not discuss it with my parents first they would be extremely disappointed in me.

They'll respect you more if you are up front, tell them what you are doing, maybe even get them involved, and just explain that this is what you are doing and this is why - like an adult...I'm not meaning to offend here, maybe your parents are different.

Heck, I'm long out of the house and I still told my parents (I was more afraid of telling the wife!) about buying a bike...they were concerned, but we had a discussion and now they love the bike.

[TomHidd]

That's not a silly question at all