The situation has changed quickly and dramatically.

Some of you may recall that I'm in a five year period of no vehicle purchases due to an agreement between my wife and I.

To try and sum up a long story I lost my company vehicle when that job went away. Took a new job making considerably less money. The wife's full time job slowly decreased to only 20 hours a week. The last couple of months have been very tight. We've been operating on a deficit.

My wife has accepted a new full time position, she starts Aug. 3rd. This is good news.

However, with the old job she was able to set her own schedule, even when she was full time. With the new job she won't have that luxury.

Now with my job I'm home close to the same time every day, and no weekends. That's something I haven't had for years.

She is suggesting that I should try to sell the bike and get something that I can use to pick our son up and run him around if I need to.

Ideally I would love to keep the bike and pick up something cheap to drive if I need to move the boy around. Unfortunately with finances being the way they are that is not a possibility. She will not let me ride him on the bike

While I'm excited with the prospect of getting a new car, I hate the thought of not having a bike. I really love motorcycles. I really don't want to give it up.

I'm not even sure I could sell it for what I owe on it anyway. There is no extra money to cover selling it for less than what I owe.

Also I can only afford a payment of around $200 a month for what I replace it with. From what I've seen there is very little out there that I can get financing for that even remotely interests me. There is no money left over to save up and pay cash for anything. It would take over a year to save fifteen hundred bucks.

I have no idea what to do. I guess I'm going to put he bike up for sale and see if I get any bites.

It's a $22,000 bike. Good luck with your sale.

Five year plans are a mistake anyway. Who had them? The Soviets. You don't want to be like the Soviets do you?

It's not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you can't afford to have toys right now, much less ones you have loans on.

The post sounds like a bit of venting, which is ok, but you know where the priorities are.

In reply to Wally:

It's a 6500 bike that I owe 7500 on.

Yeah, it's venting.

I don't look at the bike as a toy, it's my only mode of transportation. It takes me and everything I need anywhere I want to go. Well, except for the boy.

Unless there's something going on, XL833N's are $8k on Cycle Trader. What do you still owe on the bike?

Start hitting the List of Craigs and cars.com and see what's in your area? $8k should get you a payment well under $200/mo.

Nick,

What are you looking for and I can have my buddy the car dealer look and see what comes up on auction. He is typically very fair on the auction fee for me.

Let me know. I've got to see him monday to pick up a check for the a car he listed for me.

So, what you need is a pillion seat? Kids love motorcycles.

Like bikes but need 2 seats. I look forward to your exocet build

If the bike is payments and things are running in the deficit it's time to cut your losses and dump it. The new ride can be challenge priced and put on a visa check if necessary to cover the 2 grand. Then in a couple of years if things turn around you can expand the fleet again.

Nick,

You've been talking recently about finding your current bike lacking in some respects.

Have you thought about selling the Harley, buying a cheap used car and then buying a cheap, used motorcycle as well?

My '83 Goldwing is in great shape with 40,000 miles on the clock and it only cost me $2500.00. There are even cheaper ones out there.

If you're set on a cruiser, Honda Shadows are cheap as chips used and totally reliable.

Why not cash in the HD, buy a used car, then take $500-$1000 and shop a cheap project bike.

My first motorcycle was a pair of CX500's for $400.00 and in a week one was running and on the road.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

I'm not sure I could get financing on a cheap old car and a cheap old bike. I have no money left. If I sell the bike it will save me close to 200 a month, by my math it would take me ten months to save 2k and I wouldn't have a way to get back and forth to work.

Back in 2013 my Honda Fit (base model, autotragic) was $221 per month with zero down. It was a lease, but if I'd kept it and bought it at termination I could have flipped it for $2-3k. Did nothing but oil changes and drive it like the rental it was-which is it's own kind of fun really. Might get you some breathing room at the very least.

In reply to Nick_Comstock:

You said you weren't sure of the bike and don't sound like you want to sell it. Show the missus what the OCC builds on TV go for, since yours isn't that fancy it's worth maybe a quarter of that,. Put up a Craigslist ad showing an out of focus tail light, high price and misspelled warning that low ballers won't be tollerated. Either you end up keeping the bike or some idiot gives you a nice pile of money.

Bus pass and start a savings account.

In reply to xd:

How is a bus pass going to allow me to pick the boy up and run him around to the various things he goes to? That's not a good idea.

Dude bus pass goes everywhere buses go. Again sell the bike get a bus pass and save money until you can buy a car. You are 1k underwater on the bike. from your post unless I am reading this wrong you can afford 200 a month that you already pay on the bike. What you have not added in is the cost of insurance on a car is more then a bike and they use more gas. Which is why I said get a bus pass you will save on the insurance and gas and will be able to save more money.

Well the bike won't help you bring the kid home, and it's a financial anchor. So get rid of it, and replace it with an anchor that you can drive to transport the kid.

You're not the first to have to trade with negative equity.

Sure, it's gonna suck to lose the bike, but this is a necessary step backwards until life stabilizes some.

Hopefully you won't be further behind in a year or two, and you can get something fun once again.

In reply to xd:

The bus goes nowhere near work. And there is no way in hell I'm giving up my freedom. My original evil scheme was to get rid of the Harley and get a V-strom. I may still try to do that.

How much more does she make at the new gig? I would think with an extra 80 hours a month, if you save well, that extra income could get you right-side-up with respect to the bike loan very quickly. Then sell it and get a reasonable car. Then save and get a bike again when finances allow for it.

Or, tell your kid you are cancelling all of the 'various things he goes to'.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Most of the extra income is going to daycare, an expense we didn't have before. The small amount left will be going towards some hospital bills. So not much change in the whole situation really.

Sidecar?

Otherwise a new seat with a sissy bar and a set of saddle bags may not be cool, but they will let you use what you have to do what you need to do with a minimum cost.

Dump the bike, roll anything you owe left after you sell it into a personal service loan from your credit union, pick up a $2000-3000 miata? The interest rates are high on a PSL, but it's quick cash and not loan-shark high.. My credit union's rate calculator shows a 4k, 3 year loan @ $135/month.

This might sound harsh, but your situation sounds like the type that Mitsubishis are built for. Walk into dealer, sign away your life, drive away in a soul sucking appliance. If you cannot buy an old car (which I would recommend), then this is your best option.

Tom Suddard wrote: This might sound harsh, but your situation sounds like the type that Mitsubishis are built for. Walk into dealer, sign away your life, drive away in a soul sucking appliance. If you cannot buy an old car (which I would recommend), then this is your best option.

Mitsubishi- when your credit just won't do kia.

I would say go for a micra before a mirage... Except you guys dont get the micra, forgot about that.

In this case, the answer is get a mitsu mirage for $10k 0% financing. Thats $166/month on only a 60 month loan, and I am pretty sure 0% extends to 72 and 84 months with mitsu.

Problem solved. And dude, no offense, but kid comes first... I dont get that vibe from you in this thread. You really cant afford to have ANY bike from the sounds of it. Of course, why you have a $8k bike when barely skating by financially is another bag o worms...