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Feb. 3rd, 2006 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
growler_southI loves my new bike, but a few people are confused and concerned about how a self-confessed pauper can afford to blow $4k on a new toy. Fair enough question, and something I should really have cleared up sooner.
At present I spend $30/week on gas. With the bike that will drop to about $10. Hmmm... $20/week surplus. I wonder if that's enough to service a $4k loan? It is if you spread the loan out thinly enough...
250cc bikes have an unusual market in NZ- theyre the biggest bike learners are allowed to ride, and so depreciation is very slow. A 1988 250cc sportbike of any flavour will sell for $3k, 1998 or newer for $4-5k. A tidy VTR250 with less than 30,000 miles sells for $5500.
So the theory goes like this: savings on gas pays the bank until I'm ready to move, and then I sell the bike (which will be gorgeous shiny, reliable and well-maintained) and use the money to repay the principal. (I made very sure there were no early-repayment penalties!)
I can justify a loan that holds no financial burden. If the bike proves difficult to sell I can either take my time (at $20/week) or drop it to $4000 and still be comfortably able to clear the debt.
And in the meantime I'm a very happy Growler, zipping around the city in the last of the summer.
At present I spend $30/week on gas. With the bike that will drop to about $10. Hmmm... $20/week surplus. I wonder if that's enough to service a $4k loan? It is if you spread the loan out thinly enough...
250cc bikes have an unusual market in NZ- theyre the biggest bike learners are allowed to ride, and so depreciation is very slow. A 1988 250cc sportbike of any flavour will sell for $3k, 1998 or newer for $4-5k. A tidy VTR250 with less than 30,000 miles sells for $5500.
So the theory goes like this: savings on gas pays the bank until I'm ready to move, and then I sell the bike (which will be gorgeous shiny, reliable and well-maintained) and use the money to repay the principal. (I made very sure there were no early-repayment penalties!)
I can justify a loan that holds no financial burden. If the bike proves difficult to sell I can either take my time (at $20/week) or drop it to $4000 and still be comfortably able to clear the debt.
And in the meantime I'm a very happy Growler, zipping around the city in the last of the summer.
