Three Easy Ways To Buy Your First Superbike
If you’re a motorcycle fanatic, you must’ve dreamt about buying a big bike (aka ‘superbike’) at least once. While there are riders who are okay with sticking with small-capacity bikes, a large majority does eventually want a superbike after outgrowing their entry-level bikes. And if you’re at the latter stage in your life, this article is exactly for you, as we’ll talk about three easy ways to buy your first superbike. Yes, all of these things apply to the average joe with an average income (and no generational wealth).
Math Is Your Best Friend
No, you don’t have to differentiate and integrate tricky equations to get your first superbike. All you need is some basic logic and simple calculations. So, imagine you have $12,000 in savings. Out of this, we’d suggest spending a maximum of 50 percent on your luxury purchase. You’ll need the other 50 as emergency funds. Or just for new gears, tires, maintenance…you get it.
Add to that your current bike’s value, and you should have about $8,000-$10,000 at your disposal. What you need to do next is understand the basic maintenance of the machine you’re eying. Service intervals, basic checks, consumable prices, and other stuff. Add it to your total, and this should be the final figure you should ideally have in hand before pulling the pin.
The number you end up with is the budget you have for your first superbike. If the number is around the ballpark I mentioned, you already have enough money for four-cylinder bikes like the Honda CB650R and Kawasaki Z900. Maintenance is quite cheap for both these bikes, too. If your savings are lower, there are two alternative plans explained below.
Own The Pre-Owned Market
On average, a superbike–even a middleweight example–costs roughly twice as much as an average entry-level machine. For example, a Kawasaki Ninja 500 starts from about $5,000 while a Triumph Street Triple 765 R is priced at $10,595. That’s a big jump if you’re not cash-rich, especially with other expenses like rent, groceries, and of course, your weekly outings. Then my suggestion to you is to use the pre-owned market to your advantage.
All you need is research skills, being active on social media (Facebook Marketplace, for instance), a couple of hours a day, and some patience. There are deals to be found all around, and you can even find near-brand-new machines for throwaway prices. Yes, there is a small chance of getting an issue-plagued machine, but that’s down to your general motorcycle knowledge. It’s a discussion for another day.
Use Banks To Your Advantage
Okay, so neither do you want to burn so much money at once, nor do you want to a used bike. Then what you’ll need is a bank. Now, taking a loan can be a daunting task, but again, math is your best friend here. If you can dispense $250 towards a monthly installment, have $5,000 to splurge, and want a $10,000 big bike, you need a $5,000 loan from a bank. Taking an average 12 percent interest rate in mind, your EMI comes out to be just under $250 for a two-year period.
I’m assuming a two-year period because that’s ideally how long you should keep your first big bike for. It’s something I would personally suggest you do unless you have $10,000 to splurge in one go while having enough for basic expenses (and motorcycle maintenance). Bonus points because you’ll understand how personal loans work and how you can use it to your advantage without putting yourself in a tricky position financially.
