A great many men, and quite a number of women too, are considering the advantages of bikes. The saving in petrol and the convenience in traffic jams are probably the reasons, but in most cases the sheer excitement of owning and riding a bike and experiencing the freedom and fresh air are the deciding factors.
Only a few people carefully go through their options before they go for bike shopping, but when you are young and vital, this does not always happen! All too often, when you see your dream bike, you have already decided to buy it, even before you have thought of how to pay for it. This is not the wisest way, but very understandable.
We all dream of getting something we have wanted for a long time.
However, sooner or later we get back down to earth, with our feet on the ground, and then it is time that we start figuring out what we can do to get the dream bike. And ……..
As long as you have a regular income, there is usually a way that you can get financial help to buy your bike. First of all, you have to see how much disposable income you actually have each month after all your usual expenses have been met.
Once you have established this amount, now is the time to go online and see what financial aid is available. Here are some guidelines to look for:
What is the monthly minimum repayment that the financial company requires?
What are the interest rates and charges? Find out whether the interest rate is fixed, or whether it is likely to fluctuate. Fluctuations can sometimes benefit you if they come down, but on the other hand, if they go up, they can ruin you!
What are all the fees and extra charges that you might not immediately be aware of? Make sure you get all this out in the open first. Read all the fine print!
Remember, there are insurance costs to be added on as well. Insurance sometimes varies a lot according to the different insurance providers, and also according to your age, past traffic record, etc.
A very important consideration that you need to find out about is what happens, should you increase your monthly payments when you have the extra cash, and how is that going to affect your contract. Will you end up paying less interest, or are you bound to a certain amount of interest irrespective of how quickly you pay off your bike loan? In some cases “break fees” may be charged if you change the contract in any way.
Once you have selected a lender, now comes the time to seek approval of this prospective lender of you, as a buyer. Obviously your financial standing and your past credit record will be very important. Your lender will most likely also require your new bike to be of equivalent value to the amount you wish to borrow. Your proposed insurance contract will be of great importance to them. They may arrange your insurance themselves, or they will want to approve the company you choose and scrutinise the contract themselves.
In your turn, you need to be just as careful to make sure you have a well known and trusted firm of financial providers. You need to carefully examine all their terms and requirements to ascertain whether they are fair and acceptable to you. You will often do well to compare financial packages of many different companies for bike loans.