You won't know until you try. Talk to a credit union because you will probably get a better rate than H-D financing will offer. The guys I know that use H-D financing do so because they are or have been credit criminals.

 

IS CREDIT NECESSARY?

For many people it is.
My dear ole Dad use to say to me ,"if you don't have cash to buy what you want then you cant afford it, PERIOD"

My take on that is there are exceptions. Mortgage and vehicles more than anything else.
I loathe the credit industry as it pertains to the individual consumer.. They use others money to make loans and charge a fee. They have nothing tangible to offer. They make no physical product. The entire industry is designed to downgrade the consumer in order to squeeze more from them. What is worse on the report than maxing out and making minimum payments? It is paying it off and closing the account.

A person would be way better off to do just that, pay it off and close the account. Take that same payment with interest and save it.

To the guy with such a low score that his partner is eating crackers in bed or filing their nails while he is getting busy, save.Save. Save.

If a new bike will put ya in a bind , don't finance it. PERIOD.
Lotsa good used ones out there
Save wait and then pay cash.

 

No, never put 20% down on a sportster, but I do have a high sperm count.

 

The OP got it right in his last response......there are a lot of ******** here. He asked a ligit question. If you were not aware, credit scores are available to ANYONE that can say they are a creditor.....it's not that hard to obtain. A credit score is just that, a friggin score and some of you are carrying on like he slapped your mother. Many of you who responded in the negative are more than likely the same ones that would be first to jump when someone claims you're not a biker................

 

My score is somewhere in the 650-700 range. I have a very low Debt to income but very high utilization ratio. Most lenders including credit unions would not approve me for anything even 6K. Harley Davidson approved me for anything I wanted.

Point being, Credit Unions can be more selective. Harley is using a relaxed criteria because they want the sale too. If you want to know if you will get approved, go to Harley. If they approve you, then you can shop around for a better rate. If they don't approve you, you probably shouldn't be using credit and most likely no one will approve you.

 

Well said and sound advice. Instead of buying a Sportster though I would get at least a Dyna.

 

HD will finance anyone for the most part. You may have to put some money down or have a high interest rate but from HD you will get approved.

I had a high score even with 5 cars on my credit. I have since sold a lot of those cars. Now just have wifes suv and bike. Rebuilding credit now, all those vehicles on my report finally caught up to me.

HD will finance you, trust me. Like someone said above. If HD doesnt approve you then most likely no one will. When I had the 5 cars on my credit I got approved for a $25k HD but denied for a Kawasaki at same dealer that was $12k. Because HD finances HD and the Kawas are through Kawas bank. If you want it bad enough but dont have the best credit you could wait and save and put a good amount down and interest rate will be better. Also could pay that high interest for a few months until you clear some things from credit and refinance with another bank.

 

You guys are right. Anyone's credit score is available to ANYONE who can say they are a creditor. Except for that little fact of needing someones SSN to obtain said credit score. And having written or verbal proof that they are authorizing you to pull their credit for the purpose of "x". Minor details though

It's not that ones ACTUAL FICO score is that private ... it's just a screwed up question. "Whats your credit score and interest rate?" Instead of "My score is X ... what can I expect for an interest rate?" Also consider that your score AND debt to income affect your rate.

 

Mine was 18 gazillion and my interest rate was - (minus) 36%

 

Don't sweat the credit score BS....just pay cash.

Tech23