&nbsp\\;I guess that this is one of those"if I knew then what I know now" situations.
&nbsp\\;I'd get my everlovin' azz back in school, education and learning is the singlemost important thing you should&nbsp\\;do.Keep what you have and deal with the situation.You like your bike,keep it ,if
you have to get 3 jobs to pay for it,then do it dammit.
&nbsp\\;Pick a field that you will be happy in and stick to it.Study it,absorb as much&nbsp\\;information that you can about it,live it.
&nbsp\\;Save some of your pay out of every paycheck,have it taken out and deposited no matter how much."If you don't see,you won't miss it".Something may come up in the future where you might need to fall back on it.Who knows what Social Security will be in the future? Make your own security.
&nbsp\\;Set your goals and priorities and stick to them,NEVER GIVE UP.Never take education for granted,study or fail,it's your choice.
&nbsp\\;Now git yer *** in gear and git busy!!!!!,you can't go back!&nbsp\\;

 

My 2 cents worth from an ex Teacher with three teenage kids, a very mixed career in IT, and a good salary with a high risk of redundancy / being layed off.
&nbsp\\;
I would most certainly, with as minimal&nbsp\\;loss to yourself as possible, finish your education and if that means going without your bike to be able to do - then so be it.&nbsp\\; At 19 you can afford to make mistakes but you can't afford not to be he best you can be.&nbsp\\; So many options and open doors then become available so you can then choose how you want to live your life.&nbsp\\; I always have said if it ain't fun then there is no point in doing it and that's what having an education these days allows you to do - make choices.
&nbsp\\;
One other choice you didn't mention was get a trade like a mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc. etc. - my tradesmen drive better cars and have more holidays than I do.&nbsp\\; Maybe that way you can get to keep your bike and have the potential to earn more in a more recession proof trade.
&nbsp\\;
One of my boys is a mechanic (chose that over a degree in Computing Science) and now repairs and maintains airport ground support vehicles and having just qualified after 4 years apprentiship will make in excess of $80,000 a year at 22.&nbsp\\; Not sure he would have done that in IT these days and he is less likely to get layed off.

 

please take this as nicely as possible, as i mean no offense. but:

you couldnt even get a motorcycle license?!?

and you got suckered into making payments on a new bike you cant afford? for your first bike?!? they must have seen you coming. i mean yeah, thats the salesmans job, to separate you from your cash, but its your job to figure out if can pay the bill. sounds like the salesman did his job better than you did yours.

it really sounds like youre not ready for the bike thing. its more than just being broke, its about having good judgment. the tickets sorta re-enforce the questions about your judgment.

i dont suppose you have any training at all? like riders edge, or MSF? add that to the previous stuff and you have a pretty grim picture, statistically, according to the Hurt Report.


my advice is similar to most of the others here. sell the bike and take yer lumps. you dont want to be a ten an hour wage slave living at home for too long. its weird, but college is a tough time, students usually have little earning potential, yet lots of bills for school and just living. if you dont come from money, that can be a pretty big challenge in itself. everyone knows that, so you get some slack to be broke and hungry and scrabble to get some education, even if that means living at home and going to community college while holding down a part time job.

but its not really a time to take on frivolous debt.

 

as someone who just graduated college I know the feeling of not having a bike. it is an itch you can't stratch. but I am now making good money and can afford the bike I want (not sure what it is yet, I am like a kid in a candy store) but trust me get school done and then worry about the bike

 

You asked for honesty in our responses, remember that as you read my post.&nbsp\\; From the looks of your writing skills and grammar - school is where you need to be.&nbsp\\; You missed a few things in the public system and to your&nbsp\\;credit, I think you realize the importance of catching up.&nbsp\\; It has already been mentioned in previous posts that perhaps the Community Colleges in your area are the way to go for now.&nbsp\\; Uncle Sam has a variety of ways to help you "find yourself" if the college scene don't work for you.&nbsp\\; USMC (and it&nbsp\\;don't stand for Uncle Sam's Motorcycle Club) or any other military branch can help with direction and education.&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
You never mentioned the reasons you bought the bike in the first place.&nbsp\\; Are those reasons still valid?&nbsp\\; For a young man with a&nbsp\\;limited income, the&nbsp\\;USED non-Harley brands can be your salvation.&nbsp\\; You don't have to give up on owning a bike.&nbsp\\; &nbsp\\;I was 40 years old before I could buy the Harley I always wanted.&nbsp\\; &nbsp\\;A poor ride is better than a proud walk...Good Luck To You.&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;

 

Find a decent financial calculator on the internet and plug in the money you spent on the bike and then have it figure out how much that would be invested in something that would give you an 8-10% return.&nbsp\\; Don't be surpised to find out that bike cost you tens of thousands, and if taken over your life time (like a retirement account) many more thousands more.&nbsp\\; I would not buy a bike unless I can pay cash for it.&nbsp\\; That same interest that makes your retire grow so nicely works for the credit company when you finance.&nbsp\\; In my world we call this delayed gratification.&nbsp\\; I can now pay cash for whatever I want and I'm not rich.

 

lots of advice given here!
&nbsp\\;
i would think that the most important thing is to get a career - school is one of the best ways, but not a guarantee.&nbsp\\; apprenticing for a trade is another.&nbsp\\; regardless, getting a career is very important.
&nbsp\\;
that having been said, there is a lot of info that would help in offering advice.&nbsp\\; from your post here is the info that i know
&nbsp\\;
you live at home
you have a bike and a car
you make 11.75 per hour
you spend 50 per month on bike insurance
you spend 225 on bike payment
you spend 40 per month on gas for the bike
you owe 9k more on the bike
&nbsp\\;
some information that i am kind of assuming
you live in california
you are not using your bike for work
&nbsp\\;
other information that i don't know at all
- if you work full time
- how much you use your car
- what kind of car
- what other expenses do you have
- could you use your bike for work
- interest rate on your bike loan
&nbsp\\;
so here are just some thoughts
- if you could cut back on your auto insurance somehow.&nbsp\\; like not use the car, or put down that the bike is your main source of transporation.&nbsp\\; any one of these options could save you money per month on auto insurance.
- could you outright sell the car.&nbsp\\; is it necessary.&nbsp\\; could you use the bike and then borrow the parents car if you had to.&nbsp\\; this would save auto insurance and depending on things could put a lump sum in your pocket for the car.&nbsp\\; gas for the bike would be cheaper.
- not sure about the loan, but based on 72 month at $225 per month you might have paid 11k for the bike at 14% interest.&nbsp\\; you could maybe refinance the bike at 9% for 5 yrs for around 185 per month (based on 9k left on the bike). looks like those bikes might be selling for a little less than 9k so i am not sure exactly if this would work, but you got the idea.
&nbsp\\;
you have some other options than
1. sell bike and go to school
2. keep bike and don't go to school
&nbsp\\;
it is almost like would completely separate the two.
question one:
should i go to school (or tradeschool, or in the military for education/training there) - answer - yes
&nbsp\\;
question two:
should i keep the bike? (or maybe, how can i work it to keep the bike)
regardless of the answer, it cannot negate question one.
&nbsp\\;
by doing this, by separating them, there is no chance that you would regret going to school because you had to get rid of your bike to do it.&nbsp\\; you are just going to school and that is it.&nbsp\\; now you address the bike and how to afford it, if you can afford it, etc.
&nbsp\\;
but slow down out there - speeding is just not worth it.
or at the very least, get a radar detector or something - but better off just not speeding.
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;

 

wait, mark10, where do you get the idea he lives in california?

if thats the case, i revise my recommendation: sell the car, keep the bike.

most of cali has year round riding, and at most colleges and universities here, parking is pretty limited for cars, but pretty plentiful for motorcycles.

 

I'm 37.&nbsp\\; I have two kids and a wife. I worked hard.&nbsp\\;Very hard.&nbsp\\;It's paid off.&nbsp\\;I have a huge 3700 sqft house with a pool, three new cars, and two Harleys.
I ALSO HAVE 14 more classes to get my Computer Science degree and another 10 to complete my Masters. It's a friggen struggle getting this done with work and all the commitments in my life. No time for anything anymore.

Why am I trying to get a degree now? This year they cut about 30% of our work force. I saw several guys in the seats next to me go...
In just one year if I don't have a degree I'm out!!! I'll loose everything I'm sure. I should have just gotten the degree in my 20's like everyone expected me to. No, I had to go and show'em...

You're 19. Learning is still easy for you. Your young brain is not&nbsp\\;turning into mush. You have no commitments to other people.
Get your Friggen *** in school. Bikes later...You can thank us all later.

Last thing.&nbsp\\;I just love working for the 24 year old college grads.&nbsp\\;Really puts you in your place.
&nbsp\\;
lp

 

Hey BDavis, what investments are&nbsp\\;returning 8-10% these days?&nbsp\\; &nbsp\\; Gotta git me some of that.