You might also check out State Farm--I got 5.8%, but that was on a new '09, not a refi. Otherwise, I'm with the rest--even at 6.5%, your payment will drop almost $80 a mth (from 17%)!!

 

I have financed both my harleys and a brand new car through my local credit union, and have never had over a 6% interest rate, def. go through a credit union.

 

17%?? That's highway robbery! Now that you know your score, shop around for the best rate and when you find the source with the best terms, that's when you let them run your credit. Something else you might not have known is that according to FCRA rules if you are shopping for a home loan, car/motorcycle loan, boat loan, etc...multiple inquiries on your credit only count once, if they are run within the same period of time. I believe the time period is 14 days in which your credit can be run to only count once. The idea behind it is to allow the consumer to shop for the best terms without being penalized for multiple inquiries.

 

"Gotta say...if my life went to $h!t and I lost everything...I'd prefer to ride away on my bike and a backpack.....just sayin....."

I like your style. Hey that's what Michael Parks did in "Then Came Bronson" and he met a beautiful woman every week until the tv show went off the air that is.

 

Thanks guys for the input, gonna start calling around today now that I know aboutit not hurting your credit. Let ya know what happens

 

Man I guess i got a good deal thru hd. i financed my new 07 heritage thru them for 5.9%

 

Never had a problem with H-D financing...my last 2 new bikes went thru them at just a little over 4%...

 

Although you haven’t said it, if you’re buying a house and have any equity in it, you’ll not only get a better interest rate with a home line of credit, refinancing or second mortgage but you’ll also be able to deduct the interest you paid on your Schedule A if you itemize your federal taxes.

You'll also have a clear title. Just a suggestion…

 

We did something different, but in these economic times probably would never be offered. We financed hubby's bike with HD, then soon after got a credit card offer for a balance transfer of 2.99%. And the limit was very high. HD was at 9.99%% so we save 7%. Since we are making the same payments as we would have to HD even though the credit card minimum is much lower we will also pay off the balance faster.

As for inquiries to your credit report - we had several inquiries due to first trying to move and buy a new house, then trying to refinance (since the house isn't getting any offers). We have had THREE credit card companies reduce our credit limits because of excessive inquiries on our credit report!!! ONE of them reversed their decision after I wrote and explained just why we had so many inquiries and said I would no longer consider them our prime credit card (which we didn't anyway, ha ha). Oh, and as a side note, the other reason the last card dropped our credit limit is because of high balances in relation to credit limit. Well, that's because everyone is dropping our limits because of the inquiries, thereby CREATING the high balance to credit limit situation!! You just can't win.

Take the advice already given - check out various bank rates (our credit union was actually the HIGHEST!!) and tell them your credit score first and see who will most likely give you the best deal before having them actually put through a credit inquiry. Good luck - 17% is really, really bad.

 

Did you contact Harley credit? They may be able to lower your rate (existing loan) or refi the bike at a much better rate given the change in your credit score. Something to think about.