Kawasaki Card vs. Personal credit card

[Porkchop]

Ok, guys and gals... I'm new to this forum so go easy on me.

I've been riding for a year now, but havn't owned due to the whole parents/finances thing. Im tired of just riding my friend's around the neighborhood and then getting left behind when they want to go on trips, so I making the jump. I've got 2 options here to choose and was wondering what you all thought was best. Buying outright is out of the question as I'm still a Junior in college, so I will have to finance.

Option 1- A dealer in northern Ohio about 2 hours away has a left over new 2007 Ninja ZX6R in Silver for $7200. My thought is to talk them down to 7 flat, have a grand down payment, and then finanace the $6,XXX after t/t/t. A brand new bike financed for six something isnt too bad with Kawi's payment options on the Kawasaki Card.

Option 2- A dealer on the OH/PA border specailizes in used bikes with minor cosmetic problems. They have a 2007 Monster Energy Ninja ZX6R(black) for $5,199 that has very slight rash on the right side, almost perfect. Could be easily fixed with touch up paint. Thay also have an 07 Daytona 675 and an 06 Special Edition 636 for around the same price range. This company only accepts cash and credit cards.

What do you think?? I mean the one bike is brand new and is on sale, but the other is super low miles with light scrapes, and way cheaper.... Is there anything wrong with using a personal credit card IYO???? I mean it has a way lower minimum payment so if i get in a pinch with an unexpected bill one month. Pour it on people!!!

[Dnyce]

they have a daytona 675 for 5k? wtf ? im coming to ohio!



as for your question, save your money, go with the used option

[OneSickPsycho]

First off, name the dealers... We have a few Ohioans on here who might know a thing or two about them. I was born and raised in Ohio, spent 9 years in Columbus... not even a year yet in FL.

I know zero about the Kawasaki card, but imagine that it's not much more than a regular loan, with the option of adding more shit to it later on (like gear, parts, labor, etc)... Probably only good at the Kawasaki dealer, much like a department store card. It might, possibly, have a low APR, but those cards are notorious for having ricockulously high interest rates.

As far as using a CC to buy the bike outright... if done properly you can save a ton of money, but you have to be very, very careful.

Generally speaking, if you use the CC to buy something big and don't pay it off immediately the APR will fuck you. Judging by your reference to your parents, I'd say you're probably a young guy... Therefore, you're likely to only get approved for cards with ginormous APR's... like 18-22%. Ballpark right in the middle at 20%, and even if you make 3x the minimum payment (of the original statement), it'd take you about 14 months to pay it off, and you'd pay about $1k in interest.

And BTW, your minimum payment would be like $136 for the first month - but all cards having different ways of calculating minimum payments so it could be more/less (this was 1% of the balance, plus interest). I kept the payment at 3x the original minimum payment, just for ease of calculation. Oh, and your first month's interest... yeah, that's $81.

Now, check this... You go into the dealer, finance a bike outright... get a 15% interest rate over a 72 month loan... Your minimum monthly payment is about $135. Pay 3x that rate for long enough to pay it off and you'd save a little more than 5% in interest.

Here's where it gets fun... and complicated...

Balance Transfers. Regardless of how you buy the bike in the first place, credit card or standard loan, you can drop your interest down to 0% by transferring the balance onto a credit card. It's a little known fact that you can do balance transfers on pretty much ANYTHING with an account number (auto loans, deliquent bills... hell use your SSN and you can balance transfer back taxes!).

What you need to do is to get a new card that offers balance transfer at 0% introductory APR (generally it will be offered for 6-15 billing cycles). Transfer whatever loan you use onto that card (or just use a card with a 0% introductory APR offer on purchases). Make your payments, as best you can... all of that money will go towards the principle (cutting your minimum payment in half as well).

The problem with doing this is two fold.

1) If you don't pay it off during that introductory period, you'll have to get another card and do another balance transfer to keep your 0% status. Otherwise, you'll jump to 20% or whatever at the end of that term. That could be a pain in the ass, but if you can save a considerable amount of scratch, it might be worth it right?

2) Balance transfers aren't free. Generally you're looking at 3-5% of the balance being transferred assessed as a fee. Even so, you're STILL saving money over 15% or whatever your original line of credit charges. If you do multiple BT's, you'd still probably save money as each time you do one the cost goes down because you'll be transferring a smaller balance.

I just sent in for a new credit card and am transferring my truck and bike loan balances... 0% until April of '09. If I continue making the same amount of payments, yeah I'll have to do another BT or two, but I'll have that shit paid off in 2 years. If I just continue to pay the original loans, it'll be 2 years until I pay off my truck and another 5 years to pay off my bike... who knows how much interest at that point...

[OneSickPsycho]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...

Many bike/auto loans include GAP insurance... you total your machine, the balance of the loan is covered. Using a credit card, not so much, however your regular insurance might include GAP.

[Phenix_Rider]

I know shit about financing. But if you've been riding your buddies' bikes for a year, you really need to look at something better suited to a new rider. Look at the SV650 and Ninja 650R or an F2/F3/F4i- you can get any of them for a few thousand less than what you're looking at now. Say under $4k slightly used because so many are jumping up after a few thousand miles.

[comonboys]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Ok, guys and gals... I'm new to this forum so go easy on me.

I've been riding for a year now, but havn't owned due to the whole parents/finances thing. Im tired of just riding my friend's around the neighborhood and then getting left behind when they want to go on trips, so I making the jump. I've got 2 options here to choose and was wondering what you all thought was best. Buying outright is out of the question as I'm still a Junior in college, so I will have to finance.

Option 1- A dealer in northern Ohio about 2 hours away has a left over new 2007 Ninja ZX6R in Silver for $7200. My thought is to talk them down to 7 flat, have a grand down payment, and then finanace the $6,XXX after t/t/t. A brand new bike financed for six something isnt too bad with Kawi's payment options on the Kawasaki Card.

Option 2- A dealer on the OH/PA border specailizes in used bikes with minor cosmetic problems. They have a 2007 Monster Energy Ninja ZX6R(black) for $5,199 that has very slight rash on the right side, almost perfect. Could be easily fixed with touch up paint. Thay also have an 07 Daytona 675 and an 06 Special Edition 636 for around the same price range. This company only accepts cash and credit cards.

What do you think?? I mean the one bike is brand new and is on sale, but the other is super low miles with light scrapes, and way cheaper.... Is there anything wrong with using a personal credit card IYO???? I mean it has a way lower minimum payment so if i get in a pinch with an unexpected bill one month. Pour it on people!!!

When we got the 250, I got it through a Kawi dealer here in Fargo... I had 6.9% financing through the Kawi card. It was for 2 years I believe. I really think that was the better option. I don't know of any cc that would give you that rate. However its really depending on what your cc rates are and the terms and conditions. For sure look around and see who can give you the best interest rates. Also check with banks with financing options. Alot are offering good rates to get your business...... Cutty got his loan through the bank cause financing from Buell wasn't the greatest...

[JoJoYZF]

Im especially curious which dealer you were lookin at thats 2 hours north of columbus since thats right up by where me and None too soft live at. Im guessin Ive at least seen which ever it is. If its rick roush they arent too bad, but state 8 marks up all their shit pretty far. Id honestly say go with the used zx6r. One because I love the look of the ninjas with green and black and the monster stuff and two because its already slightly rashed so if you drop it you wont feel as bad.

[No Worries]

If you asked Suze Orman on her call-in TV show, she would say "denied, denied, denied." Going into debt in this economy is so last year. The old-school way of saving up $1500 to buy an 18-year-old CBR600, ZX6, FZR600, or Katana 600 is the best thing to do. If they know bikes, you can have your friends check out a used one.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by No Worries

If you asked Suze Orman on her call-in TV show, she would say "denied, denied, denied." Going into debt in this economy is so last year. The old-school way of saving up $1500 to buy an 18-year-old CBR600, ZX6, FZR600, or Katana 600 is the best thing to do. If they know bikes, you can have your friends check out a used one.

This man speaketh the truth.

[Porkchop]

Ok guys, sorry i've been gone all day, I see I missed alot! To answer your questions yes i am 20, i have good credit, and minimal money... lol

Jojoyzf- The dealer in northern ohio is Powersports360 (formerly J & J) in Port Clinton, about an hour drive from cleveland on Rt 2. They have another location by the lake too. And yes State 8's prices are rediculous. But my thoughts exactly on the bike thats already been dropped, Less emotional!

Dnyce- The dealer in PA is Addams Auto Cycle. They specialize in slightly rashed bikes. The Triumph is extremely nice... one slight problem though... the bike is red and the tail is silver. I kinda like it tho... Buckeye colors. I'm gonna take shit for that one...

Onesickpsycho- Where at in Columbus?? The kawasaki card is just like all the dealer cards. High interest rate about 17%, my friend has $149 a month min payment. The funny thing tho is that he has a Suzuki Card and bought a Yamaha on it. Yes he can buy gear on the card at the dealership, or use it for service/maintinace. But thanks for all the information, it seems like the general consensus on all the forums is to carefully do 0% CCs and then balance transfer to a new card at the end of the year.

NoWorries- Why would I want an 18 year old bike?? Many people have told me that sport bikes get finickey with age and miles. I mean i know its my starter bike, but why would i want to throw more into maintinance than cost??? Oh... and I know way more about bikes and maintinace than my friends... its just they have the wallets and willing parents to let them buy one....

PS- has anybody owned/rode an older Z1000?? I saw one in the parking lot today... looked way more comfortable than the SS's, and pretty sweet for a naked!!