I was at the dealer today picking up a few things and while I was there I had a long conversation with one of the parts guys. He said times are really tough for Harley dealers right now. Maybe some dealers are doing well but most are hurting. He told me about the latest incentive to try to entice buyers. You can now finance a new Harley for 10 years!! I would never finance anything for 10 years (except a house). I wonder if offering 10 year financing will get more people to buy bikes. I wonder what the interest rate is.

The dealer I was at isn’t openly advertising 120 month financing but a quick Google search shows there are dealers that are actively pushing 10 year financing.

http://www.toledohd.com/eagle_financeapp2.asp

Would you finance a motorcycle for 120 months if that was the only way you could afford a bike? Personally I would save my money until I could afford a shorter term loan.

 

I think it will. With the latest credit restrictions and the new "method of financing" that will come out of the economy woes, we'll start to see ridiculous terms like this.

 

IMHO. This will kill the market. If a guy floats a 10yr note now for an 09 after 5-6 years he will be upside down on the bike. So he will trade it in on a new 2014 if he can, then put the neg. balance on the new bike. At this point he will have to live with the bike till paid off, I've seen this happen in the car and boat market.

 

+1 on that. Maybe a vacation home...but no car, bike or anything like that.

 

My first Harley was bought using non-HD financing. The local bank the dealer was pushing had a special financing for excellent credit applicants: 10 years @ 4.9%. I took the offer and made sure there were no pre-payment penalties and just doubled the payment each month. The APR was lower than HD on a 5 year term, so I figured why not... If I ever got into a crunch i could always afford the standard $140/mo payments...

 

Can you imagine how much this actually add's the the interest cost???

 

+1. It would be like a band-aid for a wound that needs stitches.

 

I put 25% cash down on my '08 , with the balance for seven years , but it'll be paid off in the next six months .. Knew that going in , so wasnt an issue with me , but no way if I had to make the minimum payment for seven years ..

People will do it , all they care about is the monthly payment , not what the total cost is in the end ..

 

If you need 10 year financing, you have no business shopping for a Harley.
Look for one of those 150cc Chinese scooters for $995.00

 

Maybe next year we can fund a Trillion dollar HD buyout.