Stuck in a money sucking hole

[Kram]

I'm Stuck.

I currently have an FZR600, which was bought for me february last year. (for £1500) as my Xmas and 18th birthday present.

Since i have owned the bike, i have NEEDED to replace:
(rough estimates)

Clutch - £80
Downpipes - £200
Front tyre - £90
Rear tyre X2 - £100 (each)
Chain and sprockets - £95
Reg/Rec X2 - £30 (each)
MOT - £180 (last week)

Needs new head bearings + fitting - £100 (roughly)

I have just taxed the bike, and now my insurance is due (£717 lowesr TPFT quote)

I have spent £1005 (roughly) on parts this year for this bike.
I got offered £1000 for my bike today cash, (after bearing work has been done)

I had been pondering selling it before, but it is my only means of transport so can't go without one.

If i sell my bike, I was thinking about getting a loan (3-4 grand) and buying a newer (thus needing less work) bike (ZX6R - 636 if i found a cheap one )

Everyone keeps telling me to get a new bike, as this one is ripping me apart (costing nearly £100 a week in parts to get working),

I'm currently applying for the Royal Marine School of Music, and am at the selection audition (in july ) and am working part time at the moment.

I was thinking about getting a loan of 3-4 grand and using the £1000 from my bike to pay for insurance. But i'm only working part time and on roughly £140-170 a week, and have a weekly outgoing of £60 before my bike/petrol.

Is there any way i could get a loan, but only pay back like £50 a month? for the term, but pay back larger amounts when i can (for example if i get in the marines, i can pay back nearly 600 a month - thus clearing fairly quickly)

or is there an easier way? (waiting and saving isn't really an option, because i have to pay for my insurance this year, which is an immediate £180 deposit)

Thanks in Advance. as i'm really stuck atm.

Drummer

:Edit: sorry for the long post
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FS1E -> SR125 -> CB400N -> CB650 -> FZR600 Genises -> VFR400 NC21 -> CBR900RR Fireblade -> Renault Clio 1.4

[Bendy]

The AA are one of the few companies that'll do loans over a 7 year period (most max at 5) thus making your monthly repayments lower.

While you can't make bigger payments, you could save up and then clear it in one go.

Personally, I wouldn't take on a debt like that without the security of the better-paying job (assuming they'll even give you a loan). Consider what happens if you bin the expensive bike and have to keep paying it off...

Is the FZR all good now that you've spent on it? I'd stick where I was until my finances changed. Or just buy a better old bike.

[Itchy]

credit card tarting?

Ie run up a couple of grand on one card , then transfer it to a 0% balance tranfer deal (usually 2% charge) then keep transfering it around changing a credit card once every year isn't an unusual thing and probably won't hurt your credit rating.


I'm not sure if there are any other ways to borrow as cheaply

[Skunkcap Freddie]

even if you buy a new bike, your gonna have to account for , services,new tyres,chain,sprockets. Probably pay higher insurance because the bike is new.

to be honest mate, you've replaced quite a bit that needs replaced after so long. apart from the odd bits and pieces (providing you don't run the bike into the ground) it should go ok.

i got my aprilia rs125 over a year ago.

i've replaced 4x speedo gears, 3 rear tyres (punctures ruined the second), top end rebuild, full rebuild,bought a new exhaust because the other blew a hole(arrow) and most recently replaced the swingarm and shock because the tensioner bar on the swingarm jammed tight, and shock was gone. I look after my bike and constantly throwing money at it but thats to be expected on a 4 year old bike

[Kram]

i still have to find money for this insurance deposit (let alone the repayments), and with paying that this year as well, i will have even less to spend on fixing my bike. Every time i fix something on it, something else goes wrong.

I know certain things i will need to buy, but if i buy a newer bike, and pay insurance off in one go, i won't need to fork out for that every month, and paying a lower monthly repayment on a loan, gives me a bike extra cash, to pay for any items my bike will need.

The FZR isn't to healthy, i think it needs carbs balancing, new rear caliper(possibly piston/brake lever bit) fairings(not important) and a general service. None of which i can afford
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FS1E -> SR125 -> CB400N -> CB650 -> FZR600 Genises -> VFR400 NC21 -> CBR900RR Fireblade -> Renault Clio 1.4

[Kickstart]

Hi

It has cost you around £100 a month in parts, but half of those are consumables so you need to pay the same for a newer bike. Added to which on the newer bike you will be paying a shed load of depreciation.

To be honest it could get very expensive shelling out for a newer bike.

£3000 over 7 years would be close to £50 a month, and a hideous amount of interest over the term of the loan.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Itchy]

Well you could always join the rat biker fold , those babies ain't pretty but they do the job (and piss the hell out of sports 600 riders when you can semi keep up with them on twisties).

Over the last year I must have spent less than £150 , though I'm about to spent a fair whack on some new tyres , they are getting rather close to the legal limit.

[hellkat]

*rolling laughy smiley*

I can just imagine the looks Drummer would get, turning up for the RMSM selection process on a ratbike.

There are some cool rats out there.
And plenty of them go like stink.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[iCraig]

Newer doesn't mean better in some cases.

I have had newer bikes which have been crap on reliability, and older bikes which have been great like my current bike (/me touches wood not to jinx self).

I personally reckon you should sell the FZR and get a cheaper 250 or something, cos parts are cheap for those and insurance should be too.

And how come your paying so much for insurance?

Cos my insurance should I have renewed on my old GSXF would have only been around the £400 mark. I now however pay £180 TPFT on my current hack which is a 1991 Honda CB450DX.

Also I would strongly suggest you rethink about getting a loan, it maybe all well and good now getting it but can you afford to repay it back, could you support yourself with it if you lost your job etc?
Only reason why I say this is I speak from experience, and have taken loads of loans out and wouldn't recommend to any that they get in debt for anything at all! Especially un-needed luxuries which I would consider an expensive bike one of these.

[Nath]

I agree that there's no guarantee a newer bike would be more reliable. My bike is pushing on for 20years old, but in the year I've owned it I've only had to spend money on the usual consumables and repairing crash damage.

If you've got good chain sprockets and tyres on your bike, you'd definitely be best keeping it. Yes more things could go wrong needing you to shell out even more cash, but unless you buy something almost brand new the same can be said for any bike.

Out of interest, what needed to be done for the MOT that cost you £180?
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[Visitor Q]

Wanna swap... ?

I have a vfr 750 up here that has now ended up costing me about 900 quid which ive managed to use about 10 times since coming to uni, and now i cant even shift it for 100 fucking quid with a new battery, 9 months tax and test and a cowl.

Just because theres some electrical fault somewhere...

Plus i have the Goose 350 that i bought for 1200, and instantly got lumbered with a 350 quid helicoil job and then another 350 quid electrical job, then a stupidly expensive mot to get it running... And then it stopped pretty much instantly...

So thats well over 2k, and i cant even get 350 from people... and thats with an MOT and new battery.

I mean christ! You buy non runners cheap and fix them. I can understand it being hard to sell bikes youve plucked out of the back of barns etc. But something they've rode before and then its stopped working from some benign but evil to trace reason... and poof. No one will touch it.

All bikes cost money to keep running. Its when they start costing money to TRY and get them running, thats when it sucks.
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China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Kram]

the MOT was so expensive as front + rear brakes were binding (they fixed), 2 new sets of pads, front right fork seal leaking, loose headstock.

insurance is high, as i got no NCB, 3 points, and an accident still going through. Even if i got a loan at £100 a month, and sold my bike, i would be able to afford to pay off bike+insurance in one go, then just pay the repayments, and it will leave me with more money then at the moment, to buy constant service parts
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FS1E -> SR125 -> CB400N -> CB650 -> FZR600 Genises -> VFR400 NC21 -> CBR900RR Fireblade -> Renault Clio 1.4

[Bendy]

It sounds like you've made up your mind to do it, to be honest.

Have you actually looked into whether anywhere will give you a suitable loan?

[Kram]

my brothers wife, works in liverpool victoria (loan co.) so will see what kind of deals she can get me.
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FS1E -> SR125 -> CB400N -> CB650 -> FZR600 Genises -> VFR400 NC21 -> CBR900RR Fireblade -> Renault Clio 1.4

[ZRX61]

[colin1]

[Flip]

Nearly everything on that list will wear out anyway on all bikes. After sorting everything out and paying for it all it seems a shame to replace the bike which will get the same problems eventually. You have just sorted it out, if you like the bike generally then keep it, use it and enjoy it.

And it's paid for.

All vehicles are money pits.