I paid for mine in cash. Half from tax return money and half from a refi of my mortgage that I used to pay off my school loans.

 

I rode a ZX-12 and it is faster but it aint much faster....and it sure as hell isn't as smooth or feel as well made as the Blackbird. And the Blackbird is still WICKED fun/fast.

Well I may end up financing one.....soon enough. I'm leaning toward an EG standard......in vivid black of course....

 

I wouldn't be riding if I couldn't finace! I'm a poor skewl teacher.

 

I sell some bikes and the majority by far finance them for at least five years up to seven. They cost a pile of money but they hold their value well. You won't regret buying the Harley.

 

I paid for my bikes ,
My personal rule is to not borrow for toys.
For some a Harley might not be considered a toy. It can be therapy we can all think of a good reason to buy one.
My favourite is" I'm realocateing my assets".

 

Wrote a check. 05 FLHRI Road King

 

dont finance toys

 

My joke at work is something like the following:

Some smarta@@ sees my scoot and says: "Wow, you can't hide money!!"
I Reply: [color=#66FF00]"[color=#FF3300]Well, they're hioding the hell out of it from me, that's why they made credit!!"


No shame in credit, dude. I put about $5000 of hard-earned jack down, and financed the rest. 7 years...WOOO HOOO!!!! But, my payment is only around $260, and I pay more when I can. So, it ain't so bad...Lowest car payment I ever had....and by far the baddest ride I ever had. No regrets at all!!
-

 

I ended up paying Cash for my Electra glide classic.
Im not rich i had saved money and sold a Bike .

 

For those who finance here's a dirty little secret that the dealers will never admit but is 100% true.

All dealerships (auto and motorcycle) have a extra profit magin they like to call "Dealer Reserve"; works something like this. The person in finance runs your credit report, contacts HD credit and faxes over the proposal; HD credit either approves or deny's the financing. If approved, HD credit (or GMAC, etc if an auto dealership). the approved financing is approved at a finance rate. Make a long story short, lets say HD credit approves you @ 6.99%, the finance manager at the dealership where you applied will write the contract + 3 points (at least 1 point, I have heard of as much as 10 points). So figuring the 3 point example, your approved 6.99% rate just jumped tp 9.99%.

EVERY dealership does this. I know this for a fact. My wife is the finance manager of a very large auto dealership here in Phoenix. Another suprising fact is that that those friendly folks working in finance, trying to sell you extended warranty's, etc., make well over $100,000 a year.