I am going to have to get a small loan to get a new bike this year. I am curious as to if there is a good outfit to use for bike financing.

I have used several companies before, including Citi, and Chase, and my bank.

Is there a company that gives the best rates, or makes it easy to finance a bike. I am considering just going to my bank, but I really don't like my bank, so I kind of wanted to "spread the love" if you will.

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Im getting a loan through my credit union which has a great rates.
I also talked to a dealer where he can finance me through their credit union.

Get a loan that you like at a credit union or bank. Then let the dealer shop for a better rate for you they make money off the financing so they will try to beat your rate.

I'd go to your own credit union first, then see if the stealership can beat it. I tried that when I bought my truck, the stealership finance guy put the form back in the drawer when he heard the rate I already had and said their banks couldn't come near that.

And my credit union's bike rates are advertised as low as car rates. I haven't tried applying for a bike loan with them so I don't know if it's true.

If all goes well I'll try next year :cheers

Do not finance a bike under any circumstances ever. Get off this merry-go-round by never getting on it. You have several months before riding season starts again - save up the money and actually BUY the bike instead of buying a payment book.

It would take me 2 years to save for a "new" bike, and by then I will have 2 kids and no money, so whats the point.

I don't like financing, but We don't all make a small fortune. I don't have time for saving, not in my current career.

Save your money and pay with cash. If you can afford to make payments, then you should be able to afford to wait a year then pay with cash.

If you don't have time to save, then you surely don't have time to buy a bike. If thats you in your avatar, you shouldn't be buying a bike anyways.

dont get a bike loan. You can go to your credit card and get a cash advance anywhere from 0.0%- 4.9% depending on your credit.

Best way is to pay all cash. If you don't have the cash, you should probably get a loan from a bank or some place else. Do not finance through the motorcycle vendor. You will get screwed.

If you don't make "a small fortune" that's exactly why you should not even consider borrowing money for a motorcycle.

See, this is why people stay broke: thinking that the only way to get something is to get it right freaking now. I'll never have any money of my own, so I'll just borrow it. Well guess what? Paying it back is much, much, much, much, much harder than saving it up. Why would you think otherwise? I'll tell you why - you've been trained to think the way lenders want you to think. And if you don't stop it, you're going to be broke all of your life. The truth is that it's pretty easy to save enough money to buy a nice bike. But if you continue to think that way - I'll never have any money - then you'll be right, because making payments on stuff you didn't have the money to buy will very certainly take all your money.

Change your income taxes to withhold more taxes from your paycheck and its money you cant touch till you get your refund. Just an idea if you already get back money on your taxes.

While you're at it, buy some gear too....

Yes for us saving is pretty hard. I hate saving, but I have to.
For my bike purchase I'm going to finance it through my credit union.
Now lets see who can sell 07's for cheap. . .

dorkfish is right! a bike is a luxury item. if you finance it, you will get screwed and have to pay the bank interest. i have always financed bike until i decided to stop doing that

j

Change your income taxes to withhold more taxes from your paycheck and its money you cant touch till you get your refund. Just an idea if you already get back money on your taxes.

most people dont realize that they are giving the government an interest free loan.

i know a friend of a friend that financed a quad through the stealorship. he ended up getting it for $7,900, and they lured him in with $99/month, and that was what he was planning paying till it was paid off. He is an idiot.

most people dont realize that they are giving the government an interest free loan.

i know a friend of a friend that financed a quad through the stealorship. he ended up getting it for $7,900, and they lured him in with $99/month, and that was what he was planning paying till it was paid off. He is an idiot.

Yeah a friend of mine localy just got him a new 07 600 gixxer from the stealership on the suzuki card, you know the one with the 129 a month payment that they dont tell you is "interest only". Well needless to say he has nearly 14k in the bike and warranty, and will probably have more like 18 in it by the time he pays it off.

I bet he didn't catch that 2 year swap to the higher apr. He's way to free with his money.

But anyway, I really don't care about giving the bank some of my money. They are doing me a favor by lending to me, and people finance things every day. Cars, homes, god knows what else. To me, a bike is a primary vehicle alot of the year, when my other car is in the shop or otherwise sucking fuel. I don't really consider it a luxuary item. Maybe if it was a show bike worth about 20k all chromed out and stuff, then i would give it a title like that.

Alot of people buy bikes to ride, not to park in the garage all year and put 500 miles on a season. My season starts around Feb and ends around Nov, so it's up for like 4 months, and if theres a warm day in december, it's on the road.

The question is: "how do I win with money?". Winning (or losing) with money is about habits. With good habits, you will prosper, retire with plenty of money, leave a legacy for your heirs, pay for college for your kids, grow wealth all out of proportion to your income.

With bad habits, you will live paycheck to paycheck, money crisis to money crisis. There will be untold stress in your marriage due to money fights and money problems. A broken HVAC system will mean more debt. Period. Your 401k will be miserly funded because you viewed a freaking Gixxer as a necessity that couldn't wait. Your kids will pick up on your bad habits and load up on student loan and credit card debt. You will be stuck in whatever crappy job you're in because you're never more than 2 paychecks away from repos and bankruptcy. You will freak out every time the price of gas goes up 20 cents because YOU WON'T HAVE ANY FREAKING MONEY. 90 days same as cash furniture, home equity loan, car debt, bike debt, money comes in money goes out. The end. Welcome to being a Normal American.

My self-appointed job on this forum is to make sure The Youngsters hear an alternative vision for money handling. So here it is:

If you can't pay for it, you can't buy it. Save up your money and buy a nice used bike. Quit rationalizing about never having more money than you have now, and a bike being a necessity. Both of those are wrong, and if you keep thinking that way you will lose long term.

My self-appointed job on this forum is to make sure The Youngsters hear an alternative vision for money handling.

:lol :lol that's awesome

Go with your credit union first as stated above. If you have great credit you should be able to get an excellent rate. If you are looking for low payment go through Suzuki Finance with HSBC.

It would take me 2 years to save for a "new" bike, and by then I will have 2 kids and no money, so whats the point.

I don't like financing, but We don't all make a small fortune. I don't have time for saving, not in my current career.

Then how would you ever be able to make the loan payment? If you can't save the money in the next two years, chance are you can't pay it off within the next two years. Therefore, you are stuck with a monthly payment for the next 5 years.

yea listen to dorkfish, i almost made the mistake of taking a loan out to get an evo :eek

Change your income taxes to withhold more taxes from your paycheck and its money you cant touch till you get your refund. Just an idea if you already get back money on your taxes.

so give the government an interest free loan........ hmm.......... no thanks!!

If you don't make "a small fortune" that's exactly why you should not even consider borrowing money for a motorcycle.

See, this is why people stay broke: thinking that the only way to get something is to get it right freaking now. I'll never have any money of my own, so I'll just borrow it. Well guess what? Paying it back is much, much, much, much, much harder than saving it up. Why would you think otherwise? I'll tell you why - you've been trained to think the way lenders want you to think. And if you don't stop it, you're going to be broke all of your life. The truth is that it's pretty easy to save enough money to buy a nice bike. But if you continue to think that way - I'll never have any money - then you'll be right, because making payments on stuff you didn't have the money to buy will very certainly take all your money.

you can't take your money with you, so if you make enough to finance something at a good rate, and you can afford to pay the payments until it's paid off, what's the issue?!?


The only way I would agree with you is if you have enough money to buy a house cash. If you have to finance a house, the money you spent on interest on the $10000 purchase will be far overshadowed by the amount of money you save by getting a better rate (from the better credit score you get by financing stuff) on the $250000 loan you get for your house.


Am I missing something?

you can't take your money with you, so if you make enough to finance something at a good rate, and you can afford to pay the payments until it's paid off, what's the issue?!?

You can't take it with you, so you should make sure you spend it all - especially by sending tons of it to banks financing stuff that goes down in value like an anvil in a pool? Is that your plan to win?


[/QUOTE]The only way I would agree with you is if you have enough money to buy a house cash. If you have to finance a house, the money you spent on interest on the $10000 purchase will be far overshadowed by the amount of money you save by getting a better rate (from the better credit score you get by financing stuff) on the $250000 loan you get for your house.


Am I missing something?[/QUOTE]

Financing a house that goes up in value, has tax advantages for those of you who itemize, and in the meantime provides a place for your entire family to live is hardly comparable to financing a motorcycle every few years, eating the depreciation, rolling the deficit balance into a new loan, and stretching the term out longer and longer which is what most youngsters do and is a recipe for disaster. The other point you made about getting a motorcycle loan in order to get a better rate on a mortgage loan and thereby easily covering the interest paid on the motorcycle via lower rate on your mortgage is just wishful thinking. Or maybe a rationalization I dunno.

And yes, I wrote a check for my house.

By the way, how do I quote your post in different pieces? I tried to respond to each paragraph individually, but I failed miserably.

dorkfish,

when you want to seperate quotes,

just put
(quote) the dudes quote and then (/quote)

but replace the ( with [ and the ) with ]

:thumbup

Dorkfish






You can put a quote
before their paragraph, and then a /quote after their paragraph. :cheers (put both of those in between [ ] symbols

90 days same as cash furniture,


what is wrong with that? I normally I agreed with everything you said but this. When I bough my first house about 9 months ago, I bought about $10grand worth of furniture/appliacnes etc that I needed. I used the stores finacing, but ALWAYS paid it off before the promotional period ended.


Why should I lower my cash flow, when I can use their financing for free? Now I understand you saying that if the person doesn't have the cash, but then they shouldn't really be buying it, no?

disregard test...

You can't take it with you, so you should make sure you spend it all - especially by sending tons of it to banks financing stuff that goes down in value like an anvil in a pool? Is that your plan to win?


The only way I would agree with you is if you have enough money to buy a house cash. If you have to finance a house, the money you spent on interest on the $10000 purchase will be far overshadowed by the amount of money you save by getting a better rate (from the better credit score you get by financing stuff) on the $250000 loan you get for your house.


Am I missing something?[

Financing a house that goes up in value, has tax advantages for those of you who itemize, and in the meantime provides a place for your entire family to live is hardly comparable to financing a motorcycle every few years, eating the depreciation, rolling the deficit balance into a new loan, and stretching the term out longer and longer which is what most youngsters do and is a recipe for disaster. The other point you made about getting a motorcycle loan in order to get a better rate on a mortgage loan and thereby easily covering the interest paid on the motorcycle via lower rate on your mortgage is just wishful thinking. Or maybe a rationalization I dunno.

And yes, I wrote a check for my house.

By the way, how do I quote your post in different pieces? I tried to respond to each paragraph individually, but I failed miserably.






You can put a before their paragraph, and then a after their paragraph. :cheers (Notice I had to spell it wrong so it wouldn't DO it here. But you get the picture.)

You can't take it with you, so you should make sure you spend it all - especially by sending tons of it to banks financing stuff that goes down in value like an anvil in a pool? Is that your plan to win?


The only way I would agree with you is if you have enough money to buy a house cash. If you have to finance a house, the money you spent on interest on the $10000 purchase will be far overshadowed by the amount of money you save by getting a better rate (from the better credit score you get by financing stuff) on the $250000 loan you get for your house.


Am I missing something?[/QUOTE]

Financing a house that goes up in value, has tax advantages for those of you who itemize, and in the meantime provides a place for your entire family to live is hardly comparable to financing a motorcycle every few years, eating the depreciation, rolling the deficit balance into a new loan, and stretching the term out longer and longer which is what most youngsters do and is a recipe for disaster. The other point you made about getting a motorcycle loan in order to get a better rate on a mortgage loan and thereby easily covering the interest paid on the motorcycle via lower rate on your mortgage is just wishful thinking. Or maybe a rationalization I dunno.

And yes, I wrote a check for my house.

By the way, how do I quote your post in different pieces? I tried to respond to each paragraph individually, but I failed miserably.[/QUOTE]

man you put some word in my mouth.

I never said to keep rolling over the negative equity and stretching out the term.



I have said on here before that you shouldn't buy something if you can't afford it, and the notion of financing some small purchases to get a better credit score to save interest on the big purchases (i.e. a house) is a simple concept.

You do understand that you can finance a bike or car without getting ripped off, or having to pay forever don't you??

Please explain to me how having a 6 or 7 % loan on my bike for 3 or 4 years (maybe $1500 in interest over the life of the loan) so that I can get a .5% lower rate on my house ($20,000 - 30,000 less over the life of the mortgage)is a bad thing.


again, what am I missing??

Is there a "best way" to finance a bike?

Have someone else make the payments

gtfast

There's many ways to establish credit without taking out an auto/ motorcycle loan. Kim Kiplinger and Dave Ramsey both offer really good advice. If you were to put the 250 ish payments into a mutual fund, or a Roth IRA the rate on return with time invested would give you a great return.

There are certain situations in which you can take out a loan and still be ahead. For example, I financed $5,000 for a K1 1000 since the bike was in excellent condition. I had the money to buy it out right, but I chose to take out a loan to further help increase my credit score (I never had credit). I calculated the amount of the loan and spread it over 12 months, minus the payment amount. Every month after the bank took out the payment I would make a priniple payment on the amount I calculated. I repeated this until the loan was completely paid off. Therefore, the intreast (or finance charge) was really low and I paid the loan off 24 months early. After the year was over I sold the bike for more than the loan and finance charge. So I got to ride a bike for free for a year and make a few extra bucks while increasing my score. Imagine that, win, win and win!!! My money which I could've used to buy the bike remained invested, so there was no loss.

I will say that this scenario can be risky if you don't know the market and your own financial limitations. The bike always had full coverage insurance for over the value of the bike. And as we all know insurance is a good expense!

There's always good deals on used bikes, because people will make irrational decisions and finance a new bike and 2 years later can't afford the payments for one reason or another. I don't know why, but most of these bikes always seem to have really low mileage!! These are great deals for the financially wiser people.


Dorkfish

You always tell the young ones not to spend their money foolishley (which is great), but how about a little more detail as to the potential gains one can have by saving vs borrowing? You paid cash for your house, right. Well, let's hear how we can all live up to financial freedom. Just a little posotive with the negative..

I put my truck up for my bike. So, I have a clean title for my bike and the bank has my truck title. I did this for Ins reasons. AND if Ins is a problem for you, you either have to do what I did, or go through a dealership. Most places, if the bike is under $15k then you dont have to have full coverage.

GSXR1000girlyman,
The impressive and profitable thing you did was you bought a nice used bike for a good price, obviously maintained it well, then sold it for more than you paid for it. Of course, if you had simply given him, say, $4,200 cash in the first place your scenario would have been much much better. I'm assuming you paid 5k for the bike, but if you actually paid more, the principle remains the same: the money is made AT THE BUY, not via some theoretical value placed on a purely theoretical increase in your FICO score.

A high FICO score is not a measure of financial success. MONEY is a measure of financial success. The only reason to "build credit" by going into debt is to be able to go REALLY FAR into debt later. The fact of the matter is that a high FICO score IS NOT REQUIRED to qualify for a fully-conforming, traditional mortgage according to FHA, VA, and FannyMae underwriting guidelines. The FICO score simply allows any Jamoke with a GED to see if you "qualify" for the loan or not, instead of having a qualified loan officer actually review the reality of your life in order to qualify you for the loan. The second process is called "manual underwriting" and all you have to do is have 2 years on the job, have paid your landlord early or on time, and not have a bunch of other debt outstanding. There are still plenty of responsible mortgage companies out there that understand that your distaste for borrowing money as indicated by a non-existent credit history indicates a HIGHER likelihood that they'll get paid back, not the other way around.

And Jimmy2Times: almost 80% of "XX days same as cash" financing arrangements are not paid off within the period. Then the interest gets back-dated to the date of the purchase, the rate is around 28-36%, and they're usually "Rule of 72" loans with huge early-payoff penalties. They push these things by telling you how wise you are to use "other people's money" or not "lower your cash flow", but the fact is they make a freaking killing on these things because something will almost always come up and get in the way of paying it off. You have to "lower your cash flow" to pay off the loan, so what exactly did you think you were gaining with this move? Play with snakes long enough and you WILL get bit. And by the way, furniture has one of the highest profit margins in all of retail. If you had picked out your furniture, totaled it up, and handed them $7,500 in $100 bills, you would have gotten a bargain. Instead you kept your 10 grand in the bank making 3.0% annually for 90 days and made 75 bucks in interest.

GSXR1000girlyman,
The impressive and profitable thing you did was you bought a nice used bike for a good price, obviously maintained it well, then sold it for more than you paid for it. Of course, if you had simply given him, say, $4,200 cash in the first place your scenario would have been much much better. I'm assuming you paid 5k for the bike, but if you actually paid more, the principle remains the same: the money is made AT THE BUY, not via some theoretical value placed on a purely theoretical increase in your FICO score.

A high FICO score is not a measure of financial success. MONEY is a measure of financial success. The only reason to "build credit" by going into debt is to be able to go REALLY FAR into debt later. The fact of the matter is that a high FICO score IS NOT REQUIRED to qualify for a fully-conforming, traditional mortgage according to FHA, VA, and FannyMae underwriting guidelines. The FICO score simply allows any Jamoke with a GED to see if you "qualify" for the loan or not, instead of having a qualified loan officer actually review the reality of your life in order to qualify you for the loan. The second process is called "manual underwriting" and all you have to do is have 2 years on the job, have paid your landlord early or on time, and not have a bunch of other debt outstanding. There are still plenty of responsible mortgage companies out there that understand that your distaste for borrowing money as indicated by a non-existent credit history indicates a HIGHER likelihood that they'll get paid back, not the other way around.

And Jimmy2Times: almost 80% of "XX days same as cash" financing arrangements are not paid off within the period. Then the interest gets back-dated to the date of the purchase, the rate is around 28-36%, and they're usually "Rule of 72" loans with huge early-payoff penalties. They push these things by telling you how wise you are to use "other people's money" or not "lower your cash flow", but the fact is they make a freaking killing on these things because something will almost always come up and get in the way of paying it off. You have to "lower your cash flow" to pay off the loan, so what exactly did you think you were gaining with this move? Play with snakes long enough and you WILL get bit. And by the way, furniture has one of the highest profit margins in all of retail. If you had picked out your furniture, totaled it up, and handed them $7,500 in $100 bills, you would have gotten a bargain. Instead you kept your 10 grand in the bank making 3.0% annually for 90 days and made 75 bucks in interest.

ALSO, if I finance at a lower rate than the % gain I can make keeping my money and investing it, then it make me more money and gives my score a boost. how exactly is that wrong?

GSXR1000girlyman,

And Jimmy2Times: almost 80% of "XX days same as cash" financing arrangements are not paid off within the period. Then the interest gets back-dated to the date of the purchase, the rate is around 28-36%, and they're usually "Rule of 72" loans with huge early-payoff penalties. They push these things by telling you how wise you are to use "other people's money" or not "lower your cash flow", but the fact is they make a freaking killing on these things because something will almost always come up and get in the way of paying it off. You have to "lower your cash flow" to pay off the loan, so what exactly did you think you were gaining with this move? Play with snakes long enough and you WILL get bit. And by the way, furniture has one of the highest profit margins in all of retail. If you had picked out your furniture, totaled it up, and handed them $7,500 in $100 bills, you would have gotten a bargain. Instead you kept your 10 grand in the bank making 3.0% annually for 90 days and made 75 bucks in interest.


I did the 90 same as cash on a lot of the furniture in my house as well. I negotiated the price of the furniture before even mentionioning the word "financing". I got a sweet price on the furniture, made the payments on time, and had no issues.


Also I'm curious why you paid cash for your house? I don't know the exact terminology/theory. But my accountant advised me against paying cash for the house. I did put down a very sizable down payment. I was told that I would get nailed in taxes, if I didn't have mortgage.

thanks

Also I'm curious why you paid cash for your house? I don't know the exact terminology/theory. But my accountant advised me against paying cash for the house. I did put down a very sizable down payment. I was told that I would get nailed in taxes, if I didn't have mortgage.

thanks

If you itemize your deductions (only 25% of Americans do this), you can write-off your mortgage interest. How valuable is that?

Here's an example:

$300,000 mortgage balance at 6%.
Annual interest = 300,000 x .06 = $18,000 interest paid for the year

If you write-off that $18,000 you don't pay taxes on it. Assuming you're in the highest tax bracket there is - 35% (income over $349,700) the amount of tax you save is:
18,000 x .35 = $6,300 saved on income taxes.

Your genius accountant is suggesting it's advantageous to send the bank $18,000 in order to avoid sending Uncle Sam $6,300.

The other thing he's doing is simply assuming the "spread" between 12% investment returns and 6% mortgage interest charge and calling it 6% free money. Comparing 2 investments without correcting for taxes and risk is naive.

I unplugged successful investments in order to pay off my previous house. That was in 2002. I re-directed my previous house payment into good mutual funds and have quickly built that account back to where it was before. The money I "spent" to pay off my house is not "gone" the same way it is when you just spend it. Plus there's the undeniable peace of mind that comes from knowing that no matter what, my family has a place to live, no matter what idiocy befalls the mortgage market, interest rates, the stock market, or the nation's voting habits.

Thread-jacking Master Switch - "OFF".

Well I just took out a loan from the Air Force Credit Union, I put a 4year note on my bike. I don't see what the problem is. Loans on a car and a bike are not considered debt to me really however, I don't use credit cards or anything else.

thank you ... I'll bring this up with him when we meet at the end of the month.

Is there a "best way" to finance a bike?

Yeah, don't.

Seriously, most of you would be wise to listen to Dorkfish. I can't believe how many retards assume that taking out ridiculous loans is actually a legitimate way to acquire goods.

thank you ... I'll bring this up with him when we meet at the end of the month.

You're welcome doc. Meanwhile ask yourself this: if you didn't have a mortgage, can you imagine yourself missing it?

Do NOT finance the bike!

Save up, buy it out in full, then utilize what you would have had as a monthly payment and divert it to a retirement fund :)

Since I have ZERO debt, I divert exactly $1000/mth to my retirement.

:shiftyThis is a ton of garbage man...:lol you make it sound so bad and dramatic.... if it was like that you, or otherwise no body else would own a house, a car or any materialistic thing... not everyone makes a ton of money to be having the luxury to be saving up like that... seriously, it's ok to try to get us to understand why money managment and patience is important but please; don't say things like that either man, its just not the way it works, hope you can give some realistic advice in the future.. good luck cuz i doubt it:dunno:offtopic:wtf:scratch:frantic

*sigh*

Okay this probably won't do much good but I'm going to try anyway...

Judging by your name (nice title btw) and your logic you're obviously pretty young. Hopefully you haven't been extended any major lines of credit because with that mentality you'd already be very screwed.

Go back to Dorkfish's 2nd post in this thread (#10) and read it. Then read it again. And again. I'm not kidding, it is that important that you grasp what is being said there.

pay cash, if you have to finance you can't afford it, Plus you will end up paying almost double for the bike once financing contract if fulfilled.

This thread is from 2007....I think he's probably figured out what to do by now. :cheers

Some people take a while to get it.

:D

--Wag--

although this thread is old, for anybody reading it now in the same boat this is still worth reading.

I work as a financial advisor for wells fargo and i'm telling you...buy a used bike with lower miles....pay cash. As has been said, avoid taking out a loan at all costs, financially it's a terrible decision.

Do you really need a brand new bike anyway? You want to deal with breaking in the engine and all of that shit? You can get a great bike if you just do a little searching.

This really is a great thread!!!! I ALWAYS pay cash for a bike, or any other "toy". Borrowing money is never a good idea IMO when buying a bike. I want people to owe me money, not the other way around. Not to mention cash deals are always better deals. "You want how much for that!?" No matter what the price is, or how great of a deal it may be, its always to much and I want it for cheaper! The only way to really get a great deal is to pay for it in full! This is JMO. Im an average income person with really no debt other than my house.

Smart.

--Wag--