How long does it take to pull the trigger on a bike purchase?

Lightcycle

Lightcycle

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I don't think I've ever impulse-bought a vehicle.

Gestation time from, "that looks interesting" till the time it's parked in my garage is generally 6-18 months.

Shortest time would be a bike that I'm replacing with the next version. Sold my R1200GS because it was getting long in the tooth, and I was pretty sure in my mind I was going to pick up the R1250GS as a replacement. I had a very short period of "what else is out there?" but that lasted a day or two, maybe.

My enduro was a pandemic-purchase, so it's close to 6-years old now. It will probably last a few more years, but if I had to replace it, I think I'd get exactly the same model but current year and it would probably be an immediate purchase/trade-in.

Longest time to purchase would be a couple of years, watching the bike develop over time and then waiting for the price or incentives to hit right.

Initially the DesertX was intriguing, but just didn't tick off all the boxes. Then the Rally came out with more off-road-oriented options and I sat up and took notice. Then the 60-month / 0% finance offer came out and it was basically a done deal. All in, was about 2 years of hemming and hawing before pulling the trigger.

I tend to do tons of research to make sure the bike really fits my riding profile so it ends up being a long-termer and not just a quick flipper.

Anyone just bought a bike on a whim? Or do you take years to finally decide?
 
If I COULD quickly decide to buy a bike, I would have bought either a 2013 Fazer8 when they were giving them away, or a 2020 Katana when they were giving them away
 
When i traded my harley and versys it happen in a day, knew what i wanted looked online and found the bike i was after at the dealer, made the phone call and discussed the deal i was looking for, dealer agreed.
i got in the car drove to look at the bike and to make sure it's what the dealer said it was.

Sat down and signed the doc and voila, i was the new owner of an AT
 
TwistedKestrel said:
If I COULD quickly decide to buy a bike, I would have bought either a 2013 Fazer8 when they were giving them away, or a 2020 Katana when they were giving them away
Click to expand...

My buddy also bought a 890 Adventure R when they were giving them away.

MSRP is $17,500, they were blowing them out for $12,500 back when KTM was getting a lot of bad press about their chocolate camshafts and the company was going through their financial struggles.

So he's happy he picked one up for $5K off list. But he never rides it. Something about not wanting to go off-road on it...

Right now he's looking at swapping out the knobs for sport-touring tires. Maybe getting a 17" front/rear instead of the 21/18 stockers...

He got a great deal... on a bike he never rides...

I think he would have been better off getting an 890 Duke. But then again, those weren't $5K off list... so... 🤷‍♂️

Everyone's wired differently, I guess.
 
Lightcycle said:
I don't think I've ever impulse-bought a vehicle.

Gestation time from, "that looks interesting" till the time it's parked in my garage is generally 6-18 months.

Shortest time would be a bike that I'm replacing with the next version. Sold my R1200GS because it was getting long in the tooth, and I was pretty sure in my mind I was going to pick up the R1250GS as a replacement. I had a very short period of "what else is out there?" but that lasted a day or two, maybe.

My enduro was a pandemic-purchase, so it's close to 6-years old now. It will probably last a few more years, but if I had to replace it, I think I'd get exactly the same model but current year and it would probably be an immediate purchase/trade-in.

Longest time to purchase would be a couple of years, watching the bike develop over time and then waiting for the price or incentives to hit right.

Initially the DesertX was intriguing, but just didn't tick off all the boxes. Then the Rally came out with more off-road-oriented options and I sat up and took notice. Then the 60-month / 0% finance offer came out and it was basically a done deal. All in, was about 2 years of hemming and hawing before pulling the trigger.

I tend to do tons of research to make sure the bike really fits my riding profile so it ends up being a long-termer and not just a quick flipper.

Anyone just bought a bike on a whim? Or do you take years to finally decide?
Click to expand...
ive made the buy decision over 50 times on bikes cars, trucks, boats, sleds and ATVs - never took more than minute.
 
Huh.

I'm very much in the minority, it seems.

I remember when I bought my first high-end sports car. The brochure (remember those?) was sitting on my nightstand for 8 months before I put the deposit down. Then another 4 months waiting for it to be built.

That brochure was the last thing I read every night before going to sleep and the first thing I looked at in the morning for all that time!
 
Mad Mike said:
ive made the buy decision over 50 times on bikes cars, trucks, boats, sleds and ATVs - never took more than minute.
Click to expand...
ditto..feels like i must be getting close to 50 by now :LOL:
 
Mad Mike said:
ive made the buy decision over 50 times on bikes cars, trucks, boats, sleds and ATVs - never took more than minute.
Click to expand...
My first new sportscar was an Audi Quattro - I went to the dealership to buy an Audi 80 they, they had a Quattro that had beed sittting for a while - they offered it to me for the same price - it took a minute.

My next new sporty car was a 300ZX. I went to the dealer to get my wife a sporty little Pulsar - they let me drive a STillen 300ZX - 1 minute later it was mine. After that, I was after a Cadillac Allante (1 year old used), when I got to the dealership I spied a 1 year old XJR, drove it and a minute later it was mine.

Same for most bikes and cars, although several were purchased when I didn't need them because they were just too good of a deal (like the 1 year old loaded Vstrom XT - a friend mentioed it was available for $5K, I kumped a bus to Brockville with my helmet and $5k in cash, roder her home he same day.

I usually have a date and type of vehicle set in my mind -- but not a specific vehicle. I know generally what I want/need and when it's time to buy it's over in a flash.
 
If it's toys, I take my time.

I have more than a few vehicles in the garage, so it's not that pressing for me to impulse-buy another toy. I still have wheels to play with in the mean time.

Right now, I'm mulling over whether I want to get back into track next year. The thought entered my mind this May, but our season was already booked with lots of travel, so 2025 was out. I'll have to make a decision this winter whether I want to dedicate 2026 to track days and then if so, I'll pull the trigger on a track bike, but still plenty of time to decide.

So it's not just the bike, it's the schedule as well. I absolutely hate buying a vehicle and not using it or selling it after a few months because it's not being used. It's just a personal pet peeve of mind. If I pay the money, I'm gonna want to wring every ounce of enjoyment out of it! I'm not rich enough to have unused toys lying around like the rest of the ballers on here...

Put 25K on the Rally this season. Took it off-road all over the country. I feel good about that purchase. Still ride all the other bikes equally, another 10K on the GS - it's my teaching bike and grocery-getter, Hyper got to see track duty and late-season, I found some street riders who ride like me, so ended up doing quite a few asphalt kms the last couple of months. Enduro is always out since the trails are outside my front door - I've done 4 oil changes on it this season, so prolly well over 100 hours. Still need to the do the final end-of-season oil change. All the pets are being exercised which makes me happy.

As for the track-bike idea, since this summer, I've joined all the forums, read all the reviews, watched all the YouTube videos. Just gotta be honest with myself about how much time I will spend on it and will that money be used wisely. If I do pull the trigger, it'll be another one of those 12-month-long decisions. I cannot have an unused toy sitting in the corner of my garage, that would bug the crap out of me!

I did visit one dealership this last week to inquire about pricing, will probably visit a couple more before Xmas before making a decision either way.

Sounds like I'm the only one who's this deliberate about purchasing toys. All my riding buddies are impulse-purchasers too...
 
Typically weeks to months, research, reviews, YouTube etc.
Then look for dealers, price etc.
 
To me vehicles are a bit like groceries. I know more or less what I’m after, when I get to the store the decision is on brand and price. I’m not cheap, but a deal on something good will grab my wallet.

The only bike I ever shopped for was my FJR. One of my riding friends bought an ST1300, I needed a bike that was faster than his.
 
Once I know what I want I'll go buy it. I can buy a bike a lot faster than the Squeeze and I take to buy a new piece of furniture.
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