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[VaEagle]

While wandering around on the web I was reading a Kawasakai Concours member site and found this thread about a guy looking for financing on a bike.
This was the reply made by a banker in Dallas who was a site member:

Big D
Newbie

Posts: 48


  Re: Financing deals?
« Reply #2 on: Today at 03:43:08 pm » 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fletch
5% is an excellent rate and you should jump on it if it is being offered...(I would not do one for less than 8.50% - assuming excellent credit).  As a banker in Big D I can tell you money is tight right now.  Banks, excluding factory special financing which banks cannot match, consider motorcycles as recreational toys and rates are always higher than cars.  You should go to your credit union for the best non-factory sponsored rate.  I, personally, do not finance Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha type bikes.  I will finance a Goldwing, BMW, or Harley Davidson Touring bikes (or a collectable bike...say a panhead or sidecar motorcycle).  I've been a banker 13 years and i can tell you the Touring bikers Harley, goldwing, and BMW crowd mostly consist of professionals that tend to be careful, keep their bikes insured, and almost always have stellar credits and incomes.  The other japanese imports tend to lose their value very fast and the sports models are hard to insure...not to mention demographics (mostly youngsters with no credit or low income)....Again, I mostly finance real estate (what is left of it) but i do occassionally finance bikes for my customers. 
P.s.  we do not finance custom choppers....(talking about depreciation).  Also, I am not a fan of the Sportster or any entry level Harleys....most buyers realize they are not in the Harley they want and trading out is very difficult these days....just my 2 cents...Yes a newbie on the Kawi but no newbie to banking.
 
 Here is the link to the thread if you wish to read more :
http://forum.concours.org/index.php?topic=50868.0
 

[Puzzled]

Interesting read. 

[hard10]

Very interesting. Not surprising, but interesting.

[ice6900]

very interesting!

I am not a fan of the Sportster or any entry level Harleys....most buyers realize they are not in the Harley they want and trading out is very difficult these days....just my 2 cents...



He got that right!
 

[grc]

After reading this banker's comments, you now know why the auto companies and major motorcycle companies have their own finance subsidiaries.  It's hard enough to sell a high priced vehicle in a super competitive market without having to worry about Joe the Banker scotching your deal with ridiculous rates or refusal to finance altogether.  Having a reliable and consistent source of customer financing is essential to a dealer and manufacturer nowdays, and the same is true for floorplan financing as well.  The mere existence of the "factory" finance companies keeps the local bankers fairly honest (and help prevent the "cherry picking" mentioned in the first post).  And they usually turn a decent profit for the parent company as well, making one wonder why the locals like this guy don't want more of the business.  Profits must have been so high in the inflated real estate markets that they couldn't be bothered figuring out how to make a buck financing Ninja's, Sportster's, etc. even though the factory folks were making money on them.  Of course, we are all seeing just how safe those real estate loans turned out to be.  This guy's story may have changed by now, those kids with the Ninja's are starting to look like better risks than a lot of the crooks in real estate.

Jerry

[Gone Fishin']

very interesting!

I am not a fan of the Sportster or any entry level Harleys....most buyers realize they are not in the Harley they want and trading out is very difficult these days....just my 2 cents...



He got that right!
 

Technically yes. However the Moco has just now addressed the issue in a quite grand way: If you buy a MJ '08 or '09 Sportster through March 2009, you can ride it up to one year and receive full MSRP trade-in value. If you have already a Sportster '07 through '09 you can trade that in at MSRP through March 2009. I gues the offer is, as most are, not applicable outside the U.S.

Ride safely,
Louis

[VaEagle]

From what I read that was a current opinion from that banker. I guess they look at the long term risks and consider repossessions and depreciation on the bikes.
Louis I remember a similar program from several years ago where the MOCO offered the same "ride for a year and trade in for what you paid" deal but it was on Buell Blasts and they realized then that many riders started small just to get familiar with motorcycles and quickly traded up to a bigger bike. If they got a good trade they would stay with a HD bike. I had a friend who never rode before but got a Buell Blast and after a year traded it in on a full dress Road King.
I had a sales manager at a local dealership tell me that the MOCO realizes the average time of ownership for a Sporster owner was 18 months.

[Twolanerider]

 the MOCO realizes the average time of ownership for a Sporster owner was 18 months.

I don't even have all the good upgrades and other tinkering in that little time...

[Fired00d]

I don't even have all the good upgrades and other tinkering in that little time...

Me either.




How long have I had the billet hinges now??

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[Twolanerider]

Me either.




How long have I had the billet hinges now??

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

14 years; or so.

[Fired00d]

14 years; or so.

You're to easy to get a reply out of.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[Admiral]

I don't even have all the good upgrades and other tinkering in that little time...

How much can you to to a sportster anyway?

[Twolanerider]

You're to easy to get a reply out of.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

That line might as well have been a just steamed Oscar Mayer.  No way to just let it lay there.

[Twolanerider]

How much can you to to a sportster anyway?

Truth is I've never really tried.  Only ever owned two.  One didn't last long and the other was just something to ride when that's all that mattered anyway.  But I'd sure give it a go now if someone wanted to supply a test bed bike and parts for the effort !

[Gone Fishin']

From what I read that was a current opinion from that banker. I guess they look at the long term risks and consider repossessions and depreciation on the bikes.
Louis I remember a similar program from several years ago where the MOCO offered the same "ride for a year and trade in for what you paid" deal but it was on Buell Blasts and they realized then that many riders started small just to get familiar with motorcycles and quickly traded up to a bigger bike. If they got a good trade they would stay with a HD bike. I had a friend who never rode before but got a Buell Blast and after a year traded it in on a full dress Road King.
I had a sales manager at a local dealership tell me that the MOCO realizes the average time of ownership for a Sporster owner was 18 months.

Yep. Mine went after 11 months. No modifications whatsoever. Actually, I knew I had to trade when I rode it back from dealer. Having said this, I do know several people who are very happy with their Sportsters. It is  a nice bike. I do like the Nighster. Just not for me.

Ride safely,
Louis