Motorbike Leasing: Pros & Cons
Pros of motorcycle leasing
Opportunity to ‘try before you buy’
One of the most appealing features of any type of lease is that it’s a great way to ‘try before you buy’. If you’ve never owned a motorcycle before, or just aren’t fully sure if you’re ready to make the financial commitment, a lease can allow you to experience the thrill of riding a motorcycle without the price tag. If you end up loving it, you can always look into buying a motorcycle later on.
Lower monthly payments
If you’re leasing a bike, your monthly repayments will be lower than if you were paying back a bike loan. This a major benefit if you’re not in a position to be making major financial decisions. In addition to lower monthly payments, you’ll also probably have a lower upfront cost, as down payments are often waived by dealers.
Easy to upgrade and maintain
If having the latest model of motorcycle is something that’s important to you, a motorcycle lease can be a great option, as it will allow you to continually upgrade your bike. Additionally, the dealership or company that you’re leasing the motorcycle from will be responsible for performing basic maintenance on the bike, so that’s one less thing you need to worry about! In most cases, the only costs you’ll have to pay on the bike are petrol and rental of the bike, as fees and charges are normally built into the rental price.
Cons of motorcycle leasing
You won’t end up owning the motorcycle
If you’re wanting to end up owning a motorcycle, leasing might not be the best option for you. You’d probably be better off putting the money you’re spending on a lease towards repayments on a motorbike loan instead.
Driving restrictions
motorbike leases often come with a mileage limit, where you’re only allowed to drive a set amount of kilometres per year and you’ll be charged a fee if you exceed that limit. In this case, you might also be required to pay a fee for excessive wear and tear.
It might not suit all your needs
It’s unlikely that the bike you end up leasing will perfectly meet all of your needs and requirements. But, because you don’t actually own the motorcycle, you won’t be allowed to make any adjustments or modifications. If making vehicle adjustments or tweaking the engine is really important to you, a lease is probably not the best option for you.
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Is it smart to finance a motorcycle?
Getting finance for a motorcycle can be a great option for riders who don’t have enough cash on hand to buy the bike outright. Other benefits to financing a motorcycle are an expanded choice of vehicles, tax deductions (if you’re buying it for a business purpose) and the ability to use your loan to improve your credit score.
What finance options are there?
If a motorcycle lease doesn’t sound like it’s the best option for you, and you’d rather actually buy your very own bike, there are a number of finance options available.
- Buying it outright. Though this might not be an option for many riders, if you have enough cash on hand then this is the most straightforward way to buy a motorbike. It will also end up being the cheapest long-term option.
- Secured motorcycle loan. Vehicle loans are one of our most popular loan products, and involve making regular repayments plus interest to a lender. Secured motorcycle loans use your bike as collateral against the loan, which means you’re able to access a lower interest rate.
- Unsecured motorcycle loan. These are similar to secured loans, but your motorcycle won’t be used as collateral, so your interest rate will be a bit higher. This type of loan is normally most suitable for older and used bikes.
- Credit card. This can be a good option if the bike you’re looking at is very cheap (and within your credit card limit), as it might be ineligible for a loan with many lenders.
If you’re tossing up buying vs leasing, it can be useful to ask yourself a few important questions.
- Do you want to end up owning a motorbike?
- How experienced are you with riding/owning a motorbike?
- How much are you willing to spend in total? How much are you willing to spend in monthly payments?
- How long do you want to use the bike for?
- What type of bike are you looking for? And what are you going to use it for?
- Are you looking for a brand new or a used motorcycle?
Summing up
Before you make any major financial decisions, it’s important to weigh up all of the potential benefits and drawbacks. If a motorcycle lease isn’t quite right for you, and you’re considering getting a motorcycle loan instead, Driva can help!
To get started, you’ll just need to tell us a bit about you and the motorcycle you’re looking at buying before we can give you your personalised rates. Our smart vehicle finance platform allows you to access your best available rates from our panel of over 30 lenders in under 1 minute! The platform will automatically assess what type of motorcycle loan is best suited to you based on your personal situation and the bike you’re looking at - so use it now to find a bike finance option that suits your needs.
If you have any queries please get in touch with our team of motorbike and car finance experts here at Driva. Give us a call on 1300 755 494 or email us at hello@driva.com.au.
