Yet Another Milestone!!

D

Deleted member 192

Guest
So some of you might remember my thread "Another Milestone Today" thread over on that .net site. You might remember all the uncalled for posturing that went on there.
Well.... yesterday my son Konrad bought an new "S" model FTR!!
He picks it up from our local Indian dealership tomorrow at noon!!
He is so amped up its stoopid!! Also, his buddy Braden will be getting his new RR in a few weeks. Can you say "Harley what?" Or maybe, "what's a harley?". Those boys were fixing to go bike shopping. So I casually mentioned "hey, let's get that old Indian out and you guys can kinda have a yardstick to measure other bikes against".
After barely getting the bike rolling Braden slightly cracks the throttle. I saw his helmet snap back. From that point, FTR was a done deal.
Makes me realize just how many more would sell if we could just get folks on em. I mean, hell, a little exposure even. These boys are 20 and 24. They are just starting their careers. Even tho they got closeout pricing for the 2019 and a grand against gear, neither asked how much $$ the bikes were.
This proved to me that once ridden, the price is NOT an issue. So there is no reason younger guys cant buy em. It's just a matter of exposure in advertising to get them into the dealership. Once there a good ole test ride seals the deal.
 
K9F

K9F

Well-known member
Agree, my dealership offers 0% finance as long as you have enough coin to place a 50% deposit. There are incentives for younger generation.
 
N

nathanw

New member
What does Harley have to do with it? Seems an odd remark to throw in there.

While your son and his friend may be able to afford the bike, I'd say that there are still many that can't. I'm happy for him and it's cool that he's excited, but that doesn't change the fact that Indian marked this thing up too much. They've tacitly admitted as much by offering rebates.
When it first came out, I was pissed that they were screwing people with a huge up-charge for ( what I considered ) the only paint scheme that was worth buying. The RR look is what had everyone asking Indian to build the damn thing, and to then gouge people for it was B.S. While I have no problem affording the bike, I decided not to buy one on principle alone. The only reason I have one now is I went in for an Open House ( not looking to buy a bike ) and they were willing to knock nearly 20% off. That, to me, was a reasonable price and an offer I couldn't refuse. However, that also tells you they're struggling to sell them at the over inflated price.
 
Unruly Rider

Unruly Rider

Active member
MikieG9596 said:
So some of you might remember my thread "Another Milestone Today" thread over on that .net site. You might remember all the uncalled for posturing that went on there.
Well.... yesterday my son Konrad bought an new "S" model FTR!!
He picks it up from our local Indian dealership tomorrow at noon!!
He is so amped up its stoopid!! Also, his buddy Braden will be getting his new RR in a few weeks. Can you say "Harley what?" Or maybe, "what's a harley?". Those boys were fixing to go bike shopping. So I casually mentioned "hey, let's get that old Indian out and you guys can kinda have a yardstick to measure other bikes against".
After barely getting the bike rolling Braden slightly cracks the throttle. I saw his helmet snap back. From that point, FTR was a done deal.
Makes me realize just how many more would sell if we could just get folks on em. I mean, hell, a little exposure even. These boys are 20 and 24. They are just starting their careers. Even tho they got closeout pricing for the 2019 and a grand against gear, neither asked how much $$ the bikes were.
This proved to me that once ridden, the price is NOT an issue. So there is no reason younger guys cant buy em. It's just a matter of exposure in advertising to get them into the dealership. Once there a good ole test ride seals the deal.
Click to expand...
Congrats Mikie, definitely have Konrad post some pics when he picks it up!
 
Unruly Rider

Unruly Rider

Active member
nathanw said:
What does Harley have to do with it? Seems an odd remark to throw in there.

While your son and his friend may be able to afford the bike, I'd say that there are still many that can't. I'm happy for him and it's cool that he's excited, but that doesn't change the fact that Indian marked this thing up too much. They've tacitly admitted as much by offering rebates.
When it first came out, I was pissed that they were screwing people with a huge up-charge for ( what I considered ) the only paint scheme that was worth buying. The RR look is what had everyone asking Indian to build the damn thing, and to then gouge people for it was B.S. While I have no problem affording the bike, I decided not to buy one on principle alone. The only reason I have one now is I went in for an Open House ( not looking to buy a bike ) and they were willing to knock nearly 20% off. That, to me, was a reasonable price and an offer I couldn't refuse. However, that also tells you they're struggling to sell them at the over inflated price.
Click to expand...
Interesting point of view... Indian discounted the FTR because these are still leftover 2019 models that they need to sell. And that is mostly due to the mid-year late release of the FTR in 2019 and poor marketing from their sales people. Which is inherently due to the poor factory mapping that the bikes shipped with. I don't think they were over-priced at all, considering the build quality is equal to Ducati or BMW and not that of a Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Suzuki. I can honestly say that I am 100% happy with my purchase even though I paid $16k for my "S" model.
 
D

Deleted member 192

Guest
His payment with nothing down is $215.
That without getting the 1.99% Indian rate.
I think you are very unrealistic to think that you should recieve a new bike like that for less than $200 a month.
Are you an advocate of Indian starting an EBT card purchase program?
 
ferraiolo1

ferraiolo1

2021-2024 IMR Ambassador
Staff member
What better a way to build credit than on a power sport loan!?! Lol

and how is his payment that low with no money down? That doesn’t make sense. Even with the 1k off right now. Unless he drug it out to a 6 year loan which I hope no one would do
 
N

nathanw

New member
MikieG9596 said:
Are you an advocate of Indian starting an EBT card purchase program?
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Yes, thats it.


Unruly Rider said:
Interesting point of view... Indian discounted the FTR because these are still leftover 2019 models that they need to sell. And that is mostly due to the mid-year late release of the FTR in 2019 and poor marketing from their sales people. Which is inherently due to the poor factory mapping that the bikes shipped with. I don't think they were over-priced at all, considering the build quality is equal to Ducati or BMW and not that of a Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Suzuki. I can honestly say that I am 100% happy with my purchase even though I paid $16k for my "S" model.
Click to expand...

I too am happy with my purchase.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the reasons for the incentives. They built a specific number of machines thinking that they would sell. They did not. Now they have to hang incentives on them to move them off the showroom floor.

Max Kool said:
As much as I would like them to own a motorcycle, I'm still teaching my kids to save for things instead of using credit. :p
Click to expand...

More people should raise their kids to think this way, they will be so much better off in the long run. Mine are too young for buying cars/bikes now, but we do make them save most of what they get from birthday's/Christmas etc.. and will get jobs as soon as they're legally old enough. Financing vehicles is a terrible trap.
 
edgelett

edgelett

Well-known member
Sounds like interest rates are very different in the US.
Price is absolutely a deterrent to buy one here.

In order for me to be able to afford my $22,990 FTR, I had to apply at 3 different financial institutions before anyone would approve me for the loan, AND I had to do it in conjunction with my other half.
the reason for this is there has recently been a royal commission in to banking here where banks were caught out giving loans to people who couldn't afford the repayments and therefore they are extra careful about giving loans out.
My interest rate is 5.5% and my repayments are $110 a WEEK, and my loan is over 5 years.
Both my other half and I are fully employed, and I'm the deputy director of the company I work at so it's not like we're on minimum wage.

We're both 45 and this is the first brand new motorcycle I've ever owned.

But I'm glad that in the US people as young as 24 and 20 can afford brand new bikes - that's cool.

Congrats on his purchase. keep the rubber down and the shiny side up.
 
D

Deleted member 192

Guest
Max, my boy has learned these lessons. Later this year he and his wife will buy their first home.
This would be tough to do with a 500 or less credit score because he never bought anything. Instead, he is 24 with a 700 plus credit score. He buys Corvettes on a signature. The kid has been smart and worked hard to have the things he has.
I'm just glad he bought a real motorcycle with real safety engineering to start out with!!
 
D

Deleted member 192

Guest
Here is my deal. I love my bike enuf that I forgot what it costed. I measure it in smiles per mile!
I have noticed folks are envious when their kids surpass them. Not me. I gave em everything I had to slingshot them past their competition. Took me till 2 days before my 48th birthday to get anything brand spanking new. I am looking to upgrade to the C6 Corvette. Yet in 2022 my son will take delivery of a new C8 Corvette on Corvette Boulevard in the National Corvette Museum. Am I jealous? Maybe a little. Am I proud? Damn Skippy!!!
 

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K9F

K9F

Well-known member
Max Kool said:
As much as I would like them to own a motorcycle, I'm still teaching my kids to save for things instead of using credit. :p
Click to expand...

Hi Max, no way is my question meant to annoy or antagonise and I have no idea how things work on your side of the pond. MikieG9596 is bang on with his post (two above) and things over there don't seem too different from here!

When larger financial commitments are taken on (for example a mortgage) over here they check your credit history and expect you to attain a certain standard to be able to get approval.

To attain this standard you need to have actually had credit. Encouraging kids to save is fantastic and I have historically done the same, nevertheless if it is within the confines of affordability and interest rates are low as they are at the moment I have also encouraged them to take finance/credit on occasion simply to build up their credit scoring, even if they either pay it off early or drip feed it until the commitment is gone, simply to build up and have a healthy credit scoring.

Also if you have savings that are gaining albeit a paltry interest and you get offered a 0% interest deal I would take the credit deal as it is a free loan. I very nearly did it with the FTR as the dealership was offering 0% if you put 50% deposit down. My point is that occasionally it can be better to have credit than not!
 
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Max Kool

Max Kool

Well-known member
@K9F that's where the US is vastly different from my home country (Netherlands, where three of my four kids live). There's no such thing as good credit in the NL, where you have to build up credit trustworthyness by having credit. They look at two things:

There's a central registry that tracks two things:
- how much in loans do you already have? (including credit card limits)
- have you ever missed a payment?


If the first bullet becomes too high in relationship to your income, even though you made all your payments, you just don't get a loan, or it needs to be adjusted to get the monthly payment down. But this could mean you wouldn't get that mortgage because too much of your money already goes towards a car/motorcyle loan for example. Also, there is not credit score that makes your apr lower or higher. The rate is the rate. And having a loan has a negative effect on getting a loan. Btw, nearly nobody uses their credit card for groceries, shopping etc. Everyone uses debit. The only times I used my credit card before we moved here was when I was abroad in countries where my debit card didn't work, basically outside of Europe. And if you never had any loan but your income is high enough you can get one easily. So yes, it's different, they only mark/store bad behavior.

My wife and I are very credit shy, we have a mortgage, we pay off our cards every month, save and everything we own is our own (car, bikes, etc), yet our credit scores are over 800, and were over 750 within 2 years after arriving in the US with a blank slate. But heck, it doesn't even matter. 10 more years like this and I'm retiring. Sell everything except the bikes maybe, move to Namibia or Australia (haven't decided yet) and live happily ever after... :cool:
 
D

Deleted member 192

Guest
Ok, I can be an A$$. Max. Your story is awesome. I love to hear stuff like that.
 
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