Buy new or buy used – what would you do?

hey, I was in exactly this dilema about 6 weeks ago.

i ended up going for the brand new one because I got it down to £4000 with the 33restrictor thrown in for dirt cheap. (they wanted to charge me £300!!)
I had about £3000 saved, so I'm paying summin like £6 a week for 3 years.

methinks its all about how much money you got/wanna spend, and how much you'll use it.


p.s. i did drop mine,,,twice! and all i did was break an indicator (cost me little cheers to baph)

p.s.s. and yes,, I have got r&gs comming in the post!

[KnightRider]

Didnt want to put all the detail into my original post as it would've made a bit of a boring read. In answer to some of your points:

Originally Posted by Baph

You've lost me... interest free, but you're paying interest? Null point IMO. You're not paying interest, you're merely paying for the bike a bit each month. No settlement fees. I bought my K6 this way, and it worked out at £127/month for 3years. I paid it all off after owning the bike for something like 8months.

The point here is that if I bought second hand I would be getting a small loan to finance the bike as opposed to the interest free option that I get when buying new.

Originally Posted by Baph

IMO, lowers are just another thing to get broken when your bike hits the tarmac. I take it as fact that sooner or later, I'll taste tarmac, and have done twice so far. Also IMO, lowers look crap on the SV, too much of an after-thought.

True but I will be doing lots of motorway driving and a number of biker friends told me that lowers would be really useful at keeping the wind off me (is this right?) - I also happen to like the look, but thats just a personal preference.

Originally Posted by Baph

Why can't you sign on the line before 15th June? .

My girlfriend gets the results of her dentistry finals on the 15th. If she fails then I wont be moving to Maidenhead and wont be commuting, will not have a second family income and will be supporting her for her retakes. This will drastically change my disposable income and bike buying decision. As someone else mentioned here, I dont like getting into debt, but if she passes then I know that we will definately have more than enough money to keep up with the payments!

Originally Posted by Baph

About the AR, there will be a lot of novices there, don't let experience put you off. If you don't do something, how do you get the experience to do it? Catch 22.

Will definately think about it if you guys think it will be ok. Hopefully my g/f will pass her exams and I will be able to find and buy a bike in time!

As far as I know, the fairing lowers do help;

1. motorway riding is more comfortable (only once riden a naked at more than 80mph, it was ALLOT worse than my faired sv)

2. when it rains all that gets wet on me is chest up, on nakeds I used to get wet legs too.

+ i prefere the look of the fairings

I ride a SV650S K6 (with no lowers). I don't find the lack of lowers a problem on motorways at all (I've taken the bike from North Wales to London non-stop before now, and I'm no stranger to distance rides). Although I conceed it might help to marginally increase fuel efficiency.

If the choice is a small loan for a second hand bike, and pay interest (plus possibly repairs to an unknown quality second hand bike), versus an interest free loan and a warranty, well, buy new (IMO)!

I understand completely what you mean about finances of supporting the g/f etc.

You should come to the AR (assuming you have the bike in time), as everyone, just remember to ride for you, and not to try & chase the bike in front, and you'll do fine.

I fitted lowers on my K5 just to keep the crap off the motor during the winter, and can honestly say they made bugger all difference to wind/weather protection as far as I could tell, and I was using it all winter.

oh, I'll shut up then! lol,

but i stand by my coment that fairings look good!

Originally Posted by Baph

I ride a SV650S K6 (with no lowers). I don't find the lack of lowers a problem on motorways at all (I've taken the bike from North Wales to London non-stop before now, and I'm no stranger to distance rides). Although I conceed it might help to marginally increase fuel efficiency.

If the choice is a small loan for a second hand bike, and pay interest (plus possibly repairs to an unknown quality second hand bike), versus an interest free loan and a warranty, well, buy new (IMO)!

I understand completely what you mean about finances of supporting the g/f etc.

You should come to the AR (assuming you have the bike in time), as everyone, just remember to ride for you, and not to try & chase the bike in front, and you'll do fine.

wot he said

If its an SV you are after then IMO you have two options:

1-Buy a new bike for circa £4k and get as many dealer freebies as possible, finance or not it makes no difference as long as it is interest free. As has been said you then get warranty for piece of mind and new bike syndrome(smile on your face). Negatives= higher initial outlay and higher insurance??(that said suzi may offer an insurance incentive)

2- Take your time and find a quality curvy for £1500. For that money it will be A1 condition with low miles. Good chance the previous magpie has put all sorts of aftermarket mods on it such as zorst,cowel,hugger,lowers,fender extender and hopefully replaced the furry bolts . Should have some decent rubber on as well. If you are really lucky front end/shock may have been sorted. The key here is to look at lots of bikes to find a peach...dont jump in head first and land yourself with a ****ter.

I went for option 2 as i planned on riding it for a year and then getting a ss600. Depending on how that went i was going to sell the SV or perhaps keep it as a commuter and run it into the ground....cant ruin a nice shiny sports bike can i.

If you find the right bike then you have saved yourself £2500 straight off the bat. That can be invested in shiny bits if the bike is stock, or invested wisely in trackdays/advanced rider training. It may also allow you to get top of the range kit which is always a bonus.

I would say 2nd hand is your friend but for gods sake get the right bike....patience is a virtue....apparently

it's defnitely worth considering how different the insurance costs would be with a new or older bike.

after our sv got written off we got a 2.5 year old z1000 to replace it partly because it was MUCH cheaper to insure than another brand new SV.