Kawasaki Card vs. Personal credit card

[WildKat]

Originally Posted by 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.

I was thinking the same thing..you can save yourself a ton of cash and get a great used bike that will not only be easier for you to afford but to insure as well. You can't forget about that because once your insurance company sees you wanting to pick up a Daytona 675 or anything of that nature all they are going to see is dollar signs and your insurance payment each month is liable to be as much if not more than your bike payment.

Get yourself an early generation CBR, consider a 600 or 750 Katana as well, an older FZR would be a solid option as would the SV's. There are tons of used bikes for a great price that still have a lot of miles left of them that will suit you well as you get older and get more experience. Don't rush heading out to buy the latest and greatest just to keep up with your buddies; that's asking for trouble dude

Yes, I have gone to the bank... but with a bank loan I would be forced into full coverage and with the bikes i am/was looking at, Id be paying more a year in insurance than the bike itself... screw that...

not to sound like an ass but that really is the way wrong answer here. You're a new rider, 1 year of experience is not much. You've got your whole life ahead of you to buy new stuff; take the time to do it right and carry the proper insurance but your risk of going down is way higher as a new rider on a sport bike than it is for someone 20 years older on the same bike. Get a cosigner if possible or bite the bullet and get a bike you can afford. It doesn't have to be a sport bike to be fun.

I've been riding street bikes since I was 16 and dirtbikes before that. I have as much fun on my Katana as I have on any other bike. It's cheap to insure even for new riders, it looks good, it's bullet proof, easy to work on,and very forgiving to new riders and easy to ride for experienced ones. That's just one example of not having the latest and greatest but still being able to go out and tear up the twisties and keep up with anybody else. Sure they might lose me on the straights off the line or something but regardless the thing about riding is, do what feels right not what your buddies think you should be doing.